Should Patois be the official ja language?

[draino]

Re: Should Patois be the official ja language?

mi no lyk ou da tapik ia nheem. nof man mi si kom-aan-ia a ansa i sopn lyk se wi a txat bout ef patwa wan wi fi put-iin an hingglix fi tek out txuu dem no riili a fala di aaghument. tu ou mii siit patwa a fi wi koltxa an paat a di istxri a wi piipl. nof a dem we a taak a se beta wi jos lou di 'dyalek' no nwoo se a no likl iuut fi mi iihej we khaac txat patwa. dem nwoo nof mwoor bout merikan koltxa dan fi wi. memba se a wi afi valhu fi wi istrxi an fi wi koltxa an tek step fi protek-i. nobadi naa kom ia kom dwiit fi wi. mi no-eec bizniz ef govament se im waac mek i sopn ofixal. mi mwoor bizniz bout weda iaad man an uman wi ron wid it an proud a dem eritij an diil wit di patwa pan di sed lebl we dem huda-iic diil wid hingglix. don taak.

[babydoll]

Re: Should Patois be the official ja language?

Originally posted by babydoll:
[qb]

Originally posted by alpha:
[qb]

Originally posted by babydoll:
[qb] the military opened fire on the children in South Africa, killing more than a doze and injuring several hundred children.... no it is not the same as patois. [/qb]

Mi havin a serious visual here seein Reneto Adams an im people dem a "bum-up" di whole a wi cause wi naw talk di right language. I am dyin over here!!!!! woooiiieeee! [img]/forums/images/graemlins/704555_dwl.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/graemlins/704555_dwl.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/graemlins/704555_dwl.gif[/img] [/qb]

You think it is funny that kids were killed for standing up against something they belived in??? It was not their language. Patois belongs to Jamaica.
[/qb]

[Mahkka]

Re: Should Patois be the official ja language?

Originally posted by babydoll:
[qb]

Originally posted by alpha:
[qb]

Originally posted by babydoll:
[qb] the military opened fire on the children in South Africa, killing more than a doze and injuring several hundred children.... no it is not the same as patois. [/qb]

Mi havin a serious visual here seein Reneto Adams an im people dem a "bum-up" di whole a wi cause wi naw talk di right language. I am dyin over here!!!!! woooiiieeee! [img]/forums/images/graemlins/704555_dwl.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/graemlins/704555_dwl.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/graemlins/704555_dwl.gif[/img] [/qb]

the kids protested.

I don't think in ja that would happen but jamaicans like patois, the south africans did not like Afrikaans. We as jamaians love to speak it or try to but to be an official language -- I dont think that would work. I don't live there and haven't live there in years but I do know that even growing up my family did not care for the language. [/qb]

Why should it not be an official language if almost 100% of the population can speak it while a much lesser percentage can speak "the kings english". That's backward to me. My problem with the supression of patwa is that it is the only form of expression for many jamaicans. And if we silence patwa then these folks will not have a voice.

[Q3210]

Re: Should Patois be the official ja language?

You`re right. Backward for sure. btw. Who is silencing patwa?

I remember a poster, Aimee... someone here reminds me of...Spoke backways...made patois more foreign and more strange...more like a foreign dialect from outer space.

[draino]

Re: Should Patois be the official ja language?

spoke backways? what you mean? word order right-to-left?

[Q3210]

Re: Should Patois be the official ja language?

Figuratively I mean. But to be serious, patois lacks sufficient vocabulary to cover the many definitions in existence that English Language basically covers.
For instance, Figuratively. Whats the patois word?

[draino]

Re: Should Patois be the official ja language?

Originally posted by Q3210:
[qb] Figuratively I mean. But to be serious, patois lacks sufficient vocabulary to cover the many definitions in existence that English Language basically covers.
For instance, Figuratively. Whats the patois word? [/qb]

taki-taki is a language with a vocabulary of 400 words. like any other language that does not have a word to represent an idea correctly, patois will have to "borrow" (just like english which uses hundreds of thousands of words of foreign origin). these words will go through a process of "jamaicanisation."

honestly, it is not the vocabulary that is terribly important but we are trying to feel out the syntax, intonation, grammar of patois that makes it a distinct language and document them and make them available for reference. i will be the first to admit that patois indeed relies heavily on english words. it does not make it english.

your example:
figuratively, a single word in english, would be expressed in multiple words in patois. how i would express that idea is not necessarily how another jamaican speaker would.
eg.

english: in the bible the creation story is to be interpreted figuratively.

one way of expressing the same in patois:
A: kriheexan stwoori ina bybl a no sopn fi yu tek wo[e]d fi wo[e]d.
B: creation story inna bible a no sumn fi yu tek word fi word. (yes, i know, i cheated... but it more or less expresses the same thing as figuratively)

[draino]

Re: Should Patois be the official ja language?

by the way, i like the word "fi" in patois. it's such a short way of expressing "supposed to."

[draino]

Re: Should Patois be the official ja language?

a so kom (a suh come) <-- well this is more like that's how.. but you dig [img]/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]
das wa mek
dat a wa mek
a dat mek

all equal "that's why" .. isn't patois cool?

[Mahkka]

Re: Should Patois be the official ja language?

Originally posted by Q3210:
[qb] Figuratively I mean. But to be serious, patois lacks sufficient vocabulary to cover the many definitions in existence that English Language basically covers.
For instance, Figuratively. Whats the patois word? [/qb]

Dat easy...."Inna-a-way". In fact, any word, idea or concept can be expressed in patwa via words or gesture. Further, patwa makes for emotional expressions that loose the full impact when translated to "kings english". So, Sekkle.

[draino]

Re: Should Patois be the official ja language?

Originally posted by Mahkka:
[qb]

Originally posted by Q3210:
[qb] Figuratively I mean. But to be serious, patois lacks sufficient vocabulary to cover the many definitions in existence that English Language basically covers.
For instance, Figuratively. Whats the patois word? [/qb]

Dat easy...."Inna-a-way". In fact, any word, idea or concept can be expressed in patwa via words or gesture. Further, patwa makes for emotional expressions that loose the full impact when translated to "kings english". So, Sekkle. [/qb]

glad that you're defending patois but i disagree with you there. "inna-a-way" more closely fits "is almost like" which loses the meaning of "figuratively."

[draino]

Re: Should Patois be the official ja language?

by the way, 'figurative' is a latin origin word.

[Mahkka]

Re: Should Patois be the official ja language?

Originally posted by draino:
[qb]

Originally posted by Mahkka:
[qb]

Originally posted by Q3210:
[qb] Figuratively I mean. But to be serious, patois lacks sufficient vocabulary to cover the many definitions in existence that English Language basically covers.
For instance, Figuratively. Whats the patois word? [/qb]

Dat easy...."Inna-a-way". In fact, any word, idea or concept can be expressed in patwa via words or gesture. Further, patwa makes for emotional expressions that loose the full impact when translated to "kings english". So, Sekkle. [/qb]

glad that you're defending patois but i disagree with you there. "inna-a-way" more closely fits "is almost like" which loses the meaning of "figuratively." [/qb]

True, my learned friend, you do have a point. However, figurative--"poetic, metaphoric, representational", the word has a spectum of interpretations depending on the context in which it is used and the subtleties being conveyed. So does "inna-a-way". Where it can convey comparisond in one instance and intimate a metaphoric representation the next. To convey a particular definition the word might be accompanied by a raising of the eyebrow and a slight smile. This is the same for English. That's why sarcasm works. We can color words using gestures and voice inflections.

That's one of the powers of patwa..it's very intuitive. The language is alive and is expressed with the voice and body. So, "Inna-a-way" can and does mean "figurative".

[draino]

Re: Should Patois be the official ja language?

why i seldom write patois here.

- most don't understand when i write patois like i did above
- i refuse to write words that look like english when they don't sound anything like english (would a portuguese speaker write in spanish-form and call it portuguese?)

[JamBrit]

Re: Should Patois be the official ja language?

Originally posted by Ms. Powell:
[qb] waieeeee mi belley.
[img]/forums/images/graemlins/704555_dwl.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/graemlins/704555_dwl.gif[/img]

***jus a imagine PJ a talk to international government officials ina patois*** [img]/forums/images/graemlins/704555_dwl.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/graemlins/704555_dwl.gif[/img] [/qb]

*BOAL* ~ Waaiiieee, Ms. Powell, can yuh imagine?? [img]/forums/images/graemlins/704555_dwl.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/graemlins/704555_dwl.gif[/img]

"Ahem.....good hevelin nice an genkle people, most hanarebble ministaz an distinguish guess. Ahm, before wi goh eena di cawze fi dis meetin, mi juss waan clear up sitten. Di suss wat is spreadin bout mi is a batty man is lie an I want unoo doan pay such untroot any mine...yuh hear mi? Arrite, good....run di meetin!"