Miss Lou’s use of Jamaican Creole, called Patois (Patwa), brought new appreciation to the language from the 1940s onwards. Until then, English had been the language of education and art – Patwa was shunned in official settings. The independence era of the 1950s and early 60s coincided with the rise of Patwa in literature and music, and by the 1970s it was firmly embedded in reggae, writing and performance. Miss Lou went on to produce and host a Jamaican children’s TV show called Ring Ding, which broadcast from 1970-82.
Despite this, there has been little national desire or governmental effort to recognise a formalised Jamaican Creole, and English remains the only official language of the island. Though Patwa is the first language of many Jamaicans, there is still a stigma associated with its use. This is unsurprising for a language formed as a medium for enslaved people from different parts of Africa and the Americas to communicate with one another and their enslavers on Caribbean sugar plantations.
But Patwa is not “broken English”. While English was the lexifier (base language), Patwa finds much of its structure and vocabulary in the west and central African languages of the people who formed the majority Black population of the island. Whether or not the government recognises it, Jamaican Creole has consistent grammatical rules as well as generations of native speakers that qualify it as a language.
That’s why it’s a Creole. Because it has those internally consistent rules over its use. It’s more than just a mashup of commonly understood words.
The Caribbean’s packed with ’em as well. Someone once described Papiamento to me as Spanish numbers, English words and West African grammar.
They’ll be saying next that Welsh is a real language and not just someone with a Scrabble bag.
Big lamp in sky belong Jesus.
When I joined a new academic department:
“You’ve been here a month; how are you finding it?”
“I’ll be right as rain once I’ve mastered the patois.”
That went down like a lead balloon.
Why does anyone want to fuck around with common protocols? Does it matter that Minitel no longer exists? That almost no-one understands morse code?
You get printing, phones, trade, internet, people speak the same languages. There’s a few weirdos still speaking Occitan but mostly they speak French. It’s dying out? Who cares? What matters is that the girl in a bar in the Reepberbahn can tell you that it’s $50 for a blowjob and you understand it.
I have never been able to tell the difference between Caribbean patois and chimpanzee.
@ Theo
Try to imagine the Caribbean patois represented by the Labour party and the chimpanzee being the Tory party.
Actually, scratch that, still have the same problem.