Patois Question: Should Jamaican Patois be Recognized as a Language?

[Tropicana]

Inspired by Xavier....

- How does one define a language?

- Is the fact that there is no standardized written form of patois a barrier to having it recognized in schools?

- Should patois become Jamaica's official language or, like many other countries, should Jamaica have 2 official languages....Patois and English?

- How about teaching patois in schools? Are you in favour of that...now, after it becomes an official language?

[Xavier]

Inspired by Xavier....

- How does one define a language?

- Is the fact that there is no standardized written form of patois a barrier to having it recognized in schools?

- Should patois become Jamaica's official language or, like many other countries, should Jamaica have 2 official languages....Patois and English?

- How about teaching patois in schools? Are you in favour of that...now, after it becomes an official language?

See my comments here

[Tropicana]

Wow interesting perspective Xavier:

For most of my life I never thought of Jamaican patois/patwa as a language. Like many Jamaicans, patois/patwa to me was either “talking bad” or “a dialect”. When I started in Jamaicans.com 1995, we had sound clips of patois/patwa and a patois/patwa dictionary. I was providing information on patois but I never thought of patois/patwa as a language. Even when the email inquires would come from all over the world about speaking Jamaican; I would deny it being a language. I would correct the person saying there is no Jamaican language and explain that patois/patwa is an English dialect. In many cases I would get emails asking to translate a Standard English sentence to patois/patwa. I was confused why they would not understand that it is not a language and some words did not have a patois/patwa equivalent. . Today I am here to say I have made a 180 degree turn. Jamaican patois/patwa is a language. So what has convinced me? Here are just a few brief encounters that helped to change my mind.A conversation with a friend, who is a linguist, was the first to erode my strong foundation that patois/patwa is not a language. I started with the typical argument. There is no structure to Jamaican patois/patwa. There is no correct written form. There is no proper grammar. There are no rules. I always seem to win on this. He responded explaining that all languages started like that before there was print. He explained that paper and the print lead the way for grammar rules and structure. He explained that all languages have another base language. The bottom-line was that any form of communication is a language. It was a convincing argument but I was still not fully ready to grasp Jamaican patois/patwa as a language. My response however to users who asked about Jamaican language changed. I would n longer try correcting them about it being a dialect.
Last year I received an email from a gentleman in Costa Rica (I wrote about this in my blog). We had just started to include patois/patwa videos of standard English stories on Jamaicans.com . This gentleman’s grandfather was Jamaican and he wanted to learn to speak the Jamaican language. He was adamant it was a language and he needed to learn it before he could visit Jamaica. Then he made a revelation that would again chip away at my foundation of denying patois/patwa as a language. He said, in Costa Rica patois/patwa is called “Mekatelyu” (make I tell you or let me tell you) and it is prevalent in some communities that have strong Jamaican descendants. He explained that there was a town called Jamaica Town that was later renamed Barrio Roosevelt. I asked a friend who lived in Costa Rica about “Mekatelyu” he confirmed it true.

Next was the final blow to my foundation. I met a few Panamanians who spoke patois/patwa. I know that may not sound mind boggling but every word they spoke was patois/patwa. There was no English base. They told me that in some community the people do not understand or speak English but they speak patois/patwa. Every word was in patois/patwa. There is no “sprinkling” of Standard English words in their speech. The pronunciations were changed to patois/patwa. Everything was in patois/patwa. I could not grasp that concept. I asked a few other Panamanians I knew who were from Jamaican decent. They were shocked that I did not know this. You see we speak patois/patwa with sprinklings of Standard English. He used an example:“I-an bud” (Iron bird) which means “a plane”. They do not see patois/patwa as a slang or “bad English”. To them it is a full blown language.

Many of us will cling to idea that English is the base language, that patois/patwa has no structure and is not a language. I was one of those skeptics. I am not one of those skeptics anymore. Patois/patwa is a language.

Read more: http://www.jamaicans.com/speakja/pat...#ixzz2c5isZkBH

[Emperah]

ok good dis chredd cyan close now

[Tropicana]

No Emperah....for example, you haven't weighed in yet.

Please clarify this "should patwa be taught in schools" bit

Do you mean school lessons should be taught in patwa?

Or that patois as a language should be taught in Jamaican schools?

Either or or both.

[Emperah]

weigh in, a wah dis championship fight

Dis is an old topic dis nuh new and I bet if de archive di deh you stawt dis same poas in 2000 suh wah wi a guh back deh again fah?
No sah mi nah tep pan fi yuh scale atall atall.

[Tropicana]

I didn't even know about this site in 2000 but it is an old topic (not started by me):

2005: http://www.jamaicans.com/forums/showthread.php?43-Majority-favour-patois-as-an-official-language-of-Ja


2004 http://www.jamaicans.com/forums/showthread.php?615-Should-Patois-be-the-official-ja-language


but then haven't we covered just about every topic under the sun on here by now.

[RichD]

I think if they formalize patois fewer people would be in favour of it. A lot of people would realize that what they though was patwa was nothing close to what the intellectuals are trying to teach them or formalize.

it would be like learning latin interesting hard work but not very useful going forward.