Communication One

• In this presentation we

will discuss the

Jamaican Language

Continuum and the

features of Jamaican

Creole in terms of the

linguistic components it

possesses in common

with all other

languages.

• These linguistic

features are:

1. Phonology

2. Lexicon

3. Grammar

4. syntax

• Each country has its idiosyncrasies regarding the languages used within its borders and Jamaica is no exception. The Jamaican Language situation is referred to as a continuum.

• It depicts the range of languages and language dialects spoken in Jamaica. (Indeed there are a few other Caribbean territories which are described in a similar manner.) This range is represented as a continuum because:

• Not every point on the continuum is a separate language

• Jamaicans will switch from one to the other continuously in conversation and in different situations andAccording to some linguists, the Creole is continuously changing and becoming more like English. (Decreolisation)

Basilect Mesolect Acrolect

• BASILECT is the form of Creole with more African

derived features than other forms and is said to be the

first point on the continuum. It is most often spoken in

rural areas and by uneducated persons.

• MESOLECT is the form of Creole with more English

derived features than the basilect and is said to be the

point on the continuum next to the basilect. It is most

often spoken by urban and educated persons.

• ACROLECT is the Jamaican Standard English and it is

the last point on the continuum. It is most often spoken in

formal situations.

• Undoubtedly this notion that each form is most often

spoken by particular persons is debatable as the

increased accessibility of new technological mediums of

communication throughout the country has enabled

Jamaicans to choose even more freely any variety they

wish to use along the continuum.

• The lexicon of a language refers to its vocabulary. In the

case of Caribbean Creole English the vast majority of

lexical items are derived from English but, there are

many other lexical items that are derived from other

languages (Europe, Africa and Asia). Also, there are

some English words, that the usage and meanings of

which are inconsistent with traditional English usage.

Some creole words are not recognized to be English

words but they do not mean the same thing as they do in

English.

Lexical Item English Meaning Creole English

Meaning

Ignorant Lacking in knowledge or

information

Irritable and lacking in

self control

Miserable Wretched or unhappy Fussy or difficult to

please

Salad A cold dish of raw

vegetables

Tomato/ football

technique

Tea A beverage or a drink

made from dried leaves

of an evergreen Asian

shrub

Any hot beverage

Belly A person’s stomach Pregnant/ Resentment

Dark With little or no light To be bashful and

introverted.

Corner A place where two

streets meet

Street as well as a place

where two streets meet/

• In Jamaican Creole English, some English words have

been compounded to create nouns, adjectives and verbs

which do not exist in English. Many of these compound

nouns refer to body parts.

• For eg., ‘eye-water’(tears), ‘hand-middle’ (palm), ‘nose-

hole’ (nostrils), ‘neck-back’, (nape), ‘arm-hole’ (armpit),

‘head-top’ (crown), and ‘foot-bottom’ (sole).

• Compound adjectives formed in creole are: ‘hard-ears’

(stubborn), ‘sweet-mouth’ (flatter), ‘bad-mouth’ (to

discourage by destructive critcism), ‘force-ripe’ which

means forward or precocious and ‘red-eye’ (envious).

• Creole words are also formed by reduplication (base

words are repeated to form new words).

• For example: ‘freni freni’ (very friendly), ‘chati-chati’ (talk

excessively or out of turn)

• The sound system or phonology of Caribbean Creole

English is not identical to that of English. For eg, the

English word ‘this’ is pronounced as ‘dis’, the word ‘with’

is pronounced ‘wid’ and ‘these’ is pronounced as ‘dese’.

• Final consonance clusters tend to be devoiced for some words in Caribbean Creole English. So ‘becomes’ is pronounced ‘become’ and ‘reduced’ is pronounced ‘reduce.’ Sometimes the final consonant sound is deleted.

• ‘child’ pronounced ‘chil’

• ‘last’ pronounced ‘las’

• ‘respect’ pronounced ‘respek’

• Colloquial aphesis

(Alleyne, 1980) is a

tendency to omit

unstressed syllables

in pronunciation.

• Kaazn- because

• Gainst- against

• Kaal- call

• Dawta- daughter

• In English, possession

is signaled by the

addition of the

apostrophe ‘s’ to

nouns. In Creole

English this is not so.

Instead the word ‘fi’ is

used.

Creole English Standard

English

A fi Jon mango It is John’s

mango.

A fi mi mango It is my mango.

• Pluralization

In English, plurals are signaled by the addition of a suffix to regular nouns or by the changing of the noun form as is the case with irregular verbs.

• In JC, plurals are signaled by the addition of the word ‘dem’ to the noun phrase.

• De by dem- the boys

• De two book dem- the two books

• Mary dem want to come- Mary and her friends want to come.

• ‘Dem’ is also

multifunctional and not

soley restricted to

marking plurals of

count nouns. It can be

used as a pronoun.

• Dem a come- They

are coming.

• Mi si dem a come- I

see them come.

• Dem boy de ready

now- Those boys are

ready now.

Copula Verb

Construction

• In English a copula

links the subject of a

sentence to the

predicate. It is derived

from the verb ‘to be’.

Creole English, in

contrast, can have a

zero copula structure.

• In English you would

say ‘I am happy.”

• In creole it would be

expressed “mi happy”

or “I happy”.

The Past Tense

• Verb forms do not

change in Caribbean

Creole to signal the

past tense.

• “mi drive de van

yesterday”

• Him did see mi at the

beach las Sunday.

• In Creole English the

ordering and

placemen t of phrases

and sentences are

used to highlight and

emphasize different

aspects of meaning in

a sentence.

• Is Pam eat de mango.

In this sentence, the

focus is on the doer.

• Is yesterday pam eat

de mango.

• Is eat Pam eat de

mango?

• List five compound words that exist in the Creole English

spoken in your territory which are derived from English

words but with non- English meaning.

• Identify the feature(s) of Caribbean Creole English that

is/are present in the following sentences.

1. Mi big sister dark yu see but mi younger sister id de

opposite, she have belly aready.

2. Di house ketch fiya an de brigade had to out out it.

3. Mi vex wid de boy dem.

4. Fi wi team play football like dem fool fool.