| It is said that Jamaicans, Trinidadians, Guyanese, St. | | | | or relating to; therefore, Jamic simply means of or |
| Vincentians, Antiguans, all speak patois, which is the | | | | relating to Jamaica. In this case, it refers to the |
| dialectal offspring of the language of the colonial | | | | language. It must be noted, also, that the Rastas |
| powers of these islands. What do we really speak, | | | | during the 1950s to 1980s took the language and |
| and does our language have a distinct name? Let us | | | | formed their own argot: Iyaric. The lingo was |
| first find out what is patois. It is an illiterate or | | | | developed in the spirit of self-determination, and the |
| provincial form of speech; broken English; jargon. | | | | goal was to harness the power of word and its |
| Jargon is confused speech, gibberish, or technical | | | | sound. |
| phraseology. | | | | SPEECH PATTERN |
| SCHOLARS OF LINGUISTIC GEOGRAPHY | | | | This speech pattern is the "Principle of Word + |
| Ever since the late 17th century, English scholars of | | | | Sound = Power" (W+S=P), a phonetic system that |
| linguistic geography have been fascinated by the | | | | inflects specific words, depending on their sounds, to |
| "broken English" spoken by Jamaicans. Broken English? | | | | make them more appropriate in the context that |
| What about the West African languages, namely | | | | they're used, for instance, the word 'downpressor'. |
| Akan, Igbo, Wolof, Twi and others that are rooted in | | | | Professor Hubert Devonish and others of the |
| the linguistic protest of enslaved Africans in Jamaica: | | | | linguistics department at the University of the West |
| These so-called slaves, forbidden to speak in their | | | | Indies have advocated for the recognition of our |
| native tongues, eventually developed an alternative | | | | language. But is it our language that they are |
| to the King's English by incorporating words from | | | | promoting, or is it 'broken English' (as in Creole or |
| their various West African languages. Those words | | | | patois?) Remember, if it is not Jamic, it is not ours. |
| influenced today's Jamaican words, such as | | | | Interestingly, courses are being taught of "our" |
| dugu-dugu, quashie, buju, and countless others. Yes, a | | | | language in Britain's Birmingham City College. Our |
| lot of the words we use are African, but very few | | | | national pride and self-determination make us, |
| people know about this. Why? The word patois does | | | | Jamaicans, the forerunners of change from |
| not take these things into consideration, and it | | | | oppression; therefore, we mush redefine ourselves. |
| undermines our unique and creative spirit as a people. | | | | As a beginning, we must redefine the name of our |
| The name of our language must reflect that out of | | | | language. Bob Marley said, "Emancipate yourself from |
| many, we have one language. Thus the ideal name is | | | | mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our |
| Jamic. Jamic must be given credency because it | | | | minds." In celebrating our 43rd Independence, it |
| represents the legacy of the Africans who formed | | | | should be made clear that we have a language of the |
| the mode of communication, this vernacular. In this | | | | people, for the people. We do not speak broken |
| vein, Jamic is not just our spoken and written | | | | English, or patois, we speak Jamic. And we do so |
| language, it is our language as a nation and people. | | | | with pride. |
| Jam is short for Jamaica, and the suffix -ic, means of | | | | |