Jumiekan Wikipidia
Jamaican Wikipedia

Jumiekan Languij Yuunit
Dipaatment a Languij, Linggwistik & Filasafi
Yuniversiti a di Wes Indiz
JAMAICAN LANGUAGE UNIT
Department of Language, Linguistics & Philosophy
University of the West Indies

Sasayati fi Kiaribiyan Linggwistik
Society for Caribbean Linguistics

Languij Varayati
Yuniversiti a Nyuu hIngglant
Language Varieties
University of New England

UsingEnglish.com
Ingglish Languij Laanin Anlain
English Language Learning Online
ESL / EFL / TESL / TEFL / TESOL / ESOL

Updated

Opdiet

hAborijinal dedlef
Di fos inabitant a di hailant wi nuo bout wena di Taino dem uu taak Arawak languij. Dehn get waip out likl afta di Paniad dem kech a di hailant ina deh saach fi Kiatie, di lan a guol a di hIis. So deh no de bout lang anof fi hinfluens di divelopment a Jumiekan. Di fyuu wod we deh dedlef gi wi a laik orikien, kasaava, Liganii, amok, kalalu ah guaava.

hAibiirian Toch
Di Panish dem dehself neh lef moch muo dan fyuu wod laik pasiero frah pasajero ah eskobiich frah escabechar. Plies-niem laka Sivil, hUochi Rayas, Raya Kuoba, Raya Byuuno ah Puoto Siiko maak deh paas. Aalduo di Puotigiis neba ruul Jumieka, deh weh aal bout Afrika ah di Kiaribiyan chuu di Migl Pachiz a chried sliev. Fidem wod pequeno a di harijin fi pikanini ah aal voerjan a i we fain ina Kryuol ah pijin languijdem. Wi get gizaada frah guisado ah palaava frah palavra. Buot Panish ah Puotigiis Juudem flai kom a Jumieka fi hexkiep di hIngkuizishan ah som kom frah Suurinam ah hada hels paat a di Kiaribiyan tu. Deh gi wi niem laka Lindo, Liivi, Dakasta, Gyaasha ah Agilar.

Di British Tamp
Chuu deh nehna du so wel fi kanchuol di Nyuu Wol gens di Panishdem, soh hInglish admiral disaid se dem a go tekwe Jumieka fi hAliva Kramwel no tuu bex wid dem. Di Panishdem neh hexpek fi get atak so deh neh pripier nontaal so nof a dem ronwe go a Kyuuba. Som a deh sliev tek di hapachuuniti fi hexkiep ina di ildem ah jainop wid di Maruundem. Frah da taim ya hIngglish tek ruut, tiich bai di suoja ahn sieladem, ah lieta bai di sekladem wid deh uovasia, buk-kipa, hindencha saabant ah mishineridem. Som a demaya taak difrah riijanal British dayalek ou koms wi get di Skatish ah hAirish influens.

Aboriginal legacy
The first inhabitants of the island we know about were the Tainos who spoke the Arawak language. They were exterminated shortly after the Spaniards arrived on the island in their search for Cathay, the land of gold in the East. So they were not around long enough to influence the development of Jamaican. The few words they have left us include hurricane, cassava, Liguanea, hammock, callaloo and guava.

Iberian Touch
The Spanish themselves did not bequeath much more than a few words like pasiero from pasajero and eskobiich from escabechar. Place-names like Seville, Ocho Rios, Rio Cobre, Rio Bueno and Puerto Seco mark their path. Although the Portuguese never ruled Jamaica, they were all about Africa and the Caribbean through the Middle Passage trading slaves. Their word pequenino is the origin of pikanini and all versions of it found in Creole and pidgin languages. We got gizaada from guisado and palaava from palavra. Both Spanish and Portuguese Jews fled to Jamaica to escape the Inquisition and some came from Suriname as well. They gave us names like Lindo, Levy, Dacosta, Garcia and Aguilar.

The British Stamp
Since they were not very successful in wresting control of the New World from the Spanish, some English admirals decided to seize Jamaica to palliate Oliver Cromwell. The Spanish were not expecting an attack so were not prepared, forcing many of them to seek refuge in Cuba. Some of their slaves took the opportunity to escape into the hills to join the Maroons. From this time on English would take root taught by the soldiers and sailors, and later by the settlers with their overseers, book-keepers, indentured servants and missionaries. Some of these spoke different regional British dialects which is how we got the Scottish and Irish influences.

Piis a ischri
wa hexplien ou sumoch difrah komiuniti raichuu di wol kom fi chat Jumiekan.
A snippet of history that explains how so many communities throughout the world came to speak Jamaican.

"The sugar plantations of Cuba, the banana plantations of Central America, the railway systems of Panama, Central America, and even of Brazil and Mexico, by recruiting labour from the British West Indies, have ensured that in some of these areas there remain nuclei of the descendants of Jamaicans and other West Indians, who yet retain some of the patterns of culture that they took with them early in the twentieth century."
- Patrick Bryan
in "Story of the song: Lyrics, literature trace emigration of Jamaicans," Jamaica Gleaner, 2011 May 3.

Afrikan Ruut
Wails di British put deh hanmistiekobl tamp pah di langij wid a muosli hIngglish-bies lexikan, enibadi we hie Jumiekan a-taak wi shuo se a som Afrikan languij. No onggl di soun bot som a di vokiabileri, sintax ah kanschrokshan kiahn chries rait bak a Wes Afrika tu di dairek chraibal kolcha we ikom fram.

African Roots
While the British put their unmistakable stamp on the language with a mostly English-based lexicon, anyone who hears Jamaican being spoken will be sure that it is some African language. Not only the sound but also some of the vocabulary, syntax and construction can be traced right back to specific West African linguistic groups.

Riflek bak
Siek a Yuuropiyan kalanaizieshan ina hAfrika ah di Kiaribiyan, ebriwe deh go, deh languij mixop wid di luokal piipldem taakin fi gi haadaz ah lou chried fi gwaan. Out a dis, wah huola faambli a languij divelop we deh kaal Pijin ar Kryuol. Nof a dem ab nof tingz in kaman far dem shier simila lingguistik arijin. Pan tap a dat, Jumieka Kryuol, ton roun influens ada plies az Jumiekan mishineri ah woerkadem go aal bout. Siek a dat, som a di languijdem we deh taak a Kamaruun ah Siera Liwuon a siem Jumieka taakin. Den Jumiekandem maigriet go luk wok aal a Panamaa, Andyuuras ah Kyuuba, ah lieta aan tu Landan, Bruklin ah Taranto, a-kyaa deh languij wid dem. Aal nou, di Jumiekan maigrant jinarieshan a Limon, Kasta Riika, taak wa deh kaal Mekatelyu. Yu siit duo.

Reflecting back
Because of European colonization in Africa and the Caribbean, everywhere they went, their language blended with the local tongue for giving orders and allowing trade to be conducted. Out of this, an entire family of languages developed known as Pidgin or Creole. They have many things in common for they share similar linguistic origins. On top of that, Jamaican Creole, in turn influenced other places as Jamaican missionaries and workers spread abroad. Because of that, some of the language heard in Cameroon and Sierra Leone are identical to Jamaica talk. As Jamaicans migrated to seek work in Panama, Honduras and Cuba, and later to London, Brooklyn and Toronto, they took their language with them. Even now, the descendants of Jamaican migrants to Limon, Costa Rica speak what they call Mekatelyu. There you have it.

Tide ah tumaara
Chruu di hintanashinal papiulariti a Jumiekan myuuzik ah Jumieka ai-op pruofail fii saiz, inchres ina Jumiekan languij neba nof so yet. Frah taim wen piipl yuus fi luk dong pah bad-piikin patua ah kryuol spiika, nof smadi, hespeshal di yuutdem we baan a hIngglant ah Moerka wid Jumiekan pierans ar grampierans, a kilop dehself nou fi taaki. Aal uu no riili ab no Jumiekan ruut a-chrai kechi tu. Wi uop da sait wi elp dem likl bit.

Today and tomorrow
Through the international popularity of Jamaican music and Jamaica's inordinately high profile for its size, interest in the Jamaican language has never been as great. From the time when bad-talking patois and creole speakers were looked down on, many, especially youngsters born in England or America with Jamaican antecedents, are now falling over themselves to speak it. Even those without Jamaican connections are trying to master it. We hope this site will help a bit.

Bakgrong himij adap frah / Background image adapted from
Adolphe Duperly, Cornwall Street, Falmouth, dagerotaip/daguerrotype