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Caribbean Matters: Will Jamaican Patois achieve official language status? [1]

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Date: 2023-10-26  

The lyrical sound of what is often referred to as “Jamaican English,” “Jamaican Creole,” “Patwah,” or “Patois” is familiar to many non-Jamaicans around the globe via the popularity of musical genres, like mento, ska, rocksteady, reggae, dub, and dancehall, which were birthed there.

I grew up with many Jamaican Americans here in the states and was used to hearing their frequent code-switching between standard English and Jamaican. Later, as an adult I learned more while studying cultural linguistics as an anthropology major in graduate school. My interest was recently piqued when I saw several news stories raising the issue of Jamaica potentially making the Jamaican language dubbed “Patois” an official language on the island.

Caribbean Matters is a weekly series from Daily Kos. If you are unfamiliar with the region, check out Caribbean Matters: Getting to know the countries of the Caribbean.

The story that caught my eye was this Oct. 11, 2023, piece in the New York Times, written by Simon Romero, with photographs and video by Alejandro Cegarra (which I’ve gift-linked so that nonsubscribers can read):

Long stigmatized with second-class status and often mis-characterized as a poorly structured form of English, Patois has its own distinct grammar and pronunciation. Linguists say Patois, which is also called Patwa, Creole or, simply, Jamaican, is about as different from English as English is from German. It features a dizzying array of words borrowed from African, European and Asian languages. Now, as Jamaica moves ahead with plans to cut ties to the British monarchy — a shift that would remove King Charles III as its head of state and make the Commonwealth’s largest country in the Caribbean into a republic — momentum is building to make Patois Jamaica’s official language, on par with English. ... A major shift in language policy in Jamaica — which has about 2.8 million people and is the third-largest Anglophone country in the Americas, after the United States and Canada — would resonate across the Caribbean and parts of Central and South America.

The Week U.K. posted this take by Arion McNicoll:

Momentum is building to give Jamaica's most widely spoken dialect official status In March last year, during a visit by Prince William and Kate Middleton, Jamaica's Prime Minister Andrew Holness announced that his country wanted to become fully independent . "We are moving on," Holness told reporters in the capital, Kingston, as the royal couple stood by his side. "We intend to … fulfil our true ambitions and destiny as an independent, developed, prosperous country." In May this year, Marlene Malahoo Forte, Jamaica's minister for legal and constitutional affairs, told Sky News that the coronation of King Charles had accelerated the country's plans to become a republic, and suggested that an "urgent" referendum could be held "as early as 2024". For many commentators, Jamaica's moves to cut ties with the monarchy mean that the time is ripe for Patois to be properly recognised. "If there was ever a time to definitively change the status of Jamaican Creole, it is now," said Oneil Madden, a linguist at Jamaica's Northern Caribbean University, in the NYT.

Oneil Madden, lecturer at the University of the West Indies, wrote this response letter to the editor of the Jamaica Gleaner, which was posted on Oct. 20, 2023:

Firstly, let me debunk the notion that we (linguists and language and culture enthusiasts) are calling for Jamaican creole to become the official language of Jamaica. In a recent letter to the editor carried in The Gleaner, Adrian Lawrence indicated, "The proposal to make Patois the official language would seriously negatively affect Jamaica's social and economic development." On the contrary, we are not asking for the Jamaican standard English to be replaced as the official language of Jamaica. Instead, we are calling for the Jamaican Patwah to be made an official language. There are many countries in the world that have more than one official language, such as Zimbabwe, South Africa, Rwanda, and India. Several of these countries have recognised their indigenous languages. Even without conducting formal research, our reality is that the majority of Jamaicans are bilingual, with a variation of the Jamaican 'Patwah' being the dominant first language, while English is the secondary one. It is, therefore, counterproductive to ignore or dismiss the fact that most of the population is treated as though English is our primary native language. [...] Jamaica and its culture are known globally. Jamaican 'Patwah' is now taught at York University, Canada; Harvard University, USA; and City College, Birmingham, UK; among other institutions. In fact, during my time working in a French university, I also exposed my students to the Jamaican language. They were all intrigued and wanted to learn more. Even diplomats who come to Jamaica take a keen interest in our national language. Therefore, just as how we learn French, Spanish, and Mandarin, etc, there are foreigners who would be very open to learning Jamaican 'Patwah'. Our people ought to be empowered in both their mother tongue – Jamaican – and English. Jamaican 'Patwah', though developed through a pidgin during slavery days, forms a unique and significant part of our identity.

Lisa M. Hunsberger , a Jamaican linguist, whose online handle on several social media platforms is “YaadPikni” breaks down the history and linguistics of the Jamaican language known as “Patois”:

x YouTube Video

There are a slew of humorous social media posts on Patwah—here are two:

x Loading a Plane Jamaica Patwah Style

Love Me Culture pic.twitter.com/7vj2ZEco4E — The Black Italian (@NextChapter1234) January 14, 2019

For a trip down memory lane—some of you may remember this POTUS Barack Obama moment:

x YouTube Video

Check out the online Jamaican Patois Translator, and “Pleez join mi” in the comments section below for more on Jamaican patois, and for the weekly Caribbean news roundup.

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