Onomatopoeias
When learning a language, some of the most exciting things to learn are onomatopoeias. An onomatopoeia is a word that is created on the basis of a sound. They tend to be funny sounding words and definitely add some excitement to language classes.
They are fun to say but they are very difficult to explain at times because sounds are heard differently in different languages.
For example, in English, a dog's bark is 'woof woof'; while in Japanese, the same dog's bark is 'wang wang'. We hear the same sound, but we imitate it differently. This realization helps to understand each other a little bit more. Sometimes we forget that as human beings we all experience very similar things, however, we internalize, imitate and interpret differently sometimes.
Therefore, without further ado, let's dive into an assortment of Patois onomatopoeias.
Jamaican Patois Onomatopoeias
Patois ---- English
booyaka booyaka --- The sound of a gun
chaka chaka --- Messy
saaka saaka --- Rough edges, to do something in an untidy way
nyaa nyaa ---- to incessantly annoy someone verbally; to take small nibbling bites (similar to a rat)
fenkeh fenkeh ---- to do a task lifelessly
bengelengelen --- The sound of an old metal bell
deady deady ----- to act in a weak, lifeless manner
kaboom ---- the sound of a loud explosion
buduff baf ----- the sound of something heavy falling three times consecutively
deggeh deggeh ---- only a small amount
Til nex time, walk gud!
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