Jamaican Patois (Volume 1 Issue 2)

SAKURAIRO LANGUAGE SERIES

Oral Dialect or Written Language?

I mentioned in Issue 1 that Jamaican Patois is a dialect of the English Language and not a separate language. 

I also mentioned that some people were of a different opinion. One of those persons is a widely known Jamaican and University Lecturer, Miss Carolyn Cooper. 

Carolyn Cooper writes a blog, called Jamaica Woman Tongue, in which she uses Standard English, and two forms of Jamaican Patois phonetic styles. In reality, most Jamaicans do not intentionally write Patois because it is a spoken dialect. https://carolynjoycooper.wordpress.com/

I'll be home for Christmas

A long time ago, when I was a mere child of less than 10 years, my big brother went to Cuba to work. On the day he left, my parents took him to the airport and of course, my little brother and I tagged along to see him off. Back then the Norman Manley International Airport (NMIA) in Kingston, Jamaica was much smaller and more open. We went upstairs and watched the passengers, including my brother walk to the plane while waving and shouting our final goodbyes.

(For the evolution of the NMIA in pictures, visit: http://arc-it-studio-architecture.blogspot.jp/2010/12/evolving-norman-manley-airport-since.html)

It was a bittersweet moment. The days following the departure were tear-filled days. My mother and I cried a lot. I don't remember seeing my brother or father crying though.

Some time after, my brother started writing letters to us and we wrote back.  He also telephoned us sometimes. We never returned the favour though. I guess back then it was very costly to place foreign calls.

After some time he told my mother that he would be coming home for vacation for the Christmas holiday. We were all elated.

Soon after, my mother started singing "I'll be home for Christmas" almost everyday.  I had never heard that Christmas Carol before, but by the end of the year, it had been indelibly marked on my brain. My brother came home that Christmas and all was right with the world again. I can't remember exactly what we did, but I remember how I felt during that holiday. After that holiday, Christmas became the most precious time of the year for me.

Jamaican Patois (Volume 1, Issue 1)

SAKURAIRO LANGUAGE SERIES

What is Jamaican Patois?

The Purpose of this article is to teach Jamaican Patois.

To some Jamaicans, Patois is considered a complete language. However, to others  it is considered a dialect of the English language.

I am an advocate of the latter argument. I believe that Patois is a dialect of the English language and you may choose for yourself over  time as you learn more about patois.

To me, many of the Patois words are bastardized English words and some English words have no Patois translation. They are just used as they are.

So, the SakuraIro Language Series will provide weekly insights into the Jamaican Patois dialect and give short, but sweet lessons :).

Scuffy, the Tug Boat.... I was meant for greater things!

When I turned 5, my brother's godmother (one of our neighbours) gave me a stack of books. I still remember it as one of my happiest memories. The covers were hard on all of the books except one. In that moment I realized that I preferred hard covers to soft covers. The books were mostly nursery rhymes and other children stories. They were not fairy tales. The book covers were so pretty and the pictures that were strewn over all the pages inside the books were even more enticing. You couldn't find a happier 5 year old than me at the time. I read all the hard cover books in no time, maybe a day or two then I re read them. The soft cover book was not so enticing as it was about Jesus and his 12 disciples. Even at five I found it strange that 12 grown men dropped their previous lives and decided to walk around behind or beside this guy who was preaching a message incongruent with the popular beliefs at the time. They didn't paint an industrious picture to me, therefore, I did not properly read that book until years later when I became more interested in religion.

To my husband

To my husband,

I wish that you will never steal, lie or cheat,
but if you must steal,
then steal away my sorrows.
If you must lie,
then lie with me every night
and if you must cheat,
then cheat death.

~An Irish Blessing

Scene from the movie 'Leap Year'