Jamaican Creole is considered a language based on two reasons. One reason is that Jamaican Creole has the characteristic features of a language, and the second reason is that this creole performs the functions of a language. Languages have linguistic features that include phonology, lexicon, grammar and syntax. Phonology is the sound system of a language. Lexicon is the vocabulary of the language. Grammar is the correct use of the language. And syntax is the proper arrangements of the words in a sentence within a language. These linguistic features play a different role in Jamaican Creole from what it plays in English.

In terms of phonology, Jamaican Creole has a sound system which is independent from English. The speakers of the language do not use the “th” sound. They also don’t pronounce the “h” sound in the beginning of a Standard English word. An example given from the article entitled Linguistic features Of Jamaican Creole reinforces this idea that ” [the speakers of the language] do not pronounce the ‘h’ sound at the beginning of [Standard] English words[;]therefore, the pronunciation of the word ‘hour’ becomes ‘our’. Similarly there is the tendency to hyper-correct and pronounce the ‘h’ sound at the beginning of words that do not require it, therefore English ‘egg’ becomes ‘hegg’ and ‘exam’ becomes ‘hexam’ and so on” (Admin).

Within the Lexicon for Jamaican Creole, some words look similar to Standard English words but do not have the same meaning. For example, the word “Belly” is used to refer to pregnancy. Also, instead of using the word “tears,” the term “eye water” is used. The lexicon of Jamaican Creole does not only include words from English but also from other languages; some of these words that were adopted from other languages include the word ‘maroon’ from Spanish, ‘pikni’ from Portuguese, and ‘unu’ (which is the plural of the word ‘you’) from Igbo.”

In terms of grammar in Jamaican Creole, pluralization is created by adding “dem” after the noun. And in syntax, Jamaican Creole uses this feature to highlight certain elements in a sentence.

The following table depict examples of verb tenses in Jamaican Creole:

Present mi  love yu  love im  love wi  love unu love dem love

Present progressive mi  a love yu  a love im  a love wi  a love unu a love dem a love

Past mi  en love yu  en love im  en love wi  en love unu en love dem en love

Past progressive mi  ena love yu  ena love im  ena love wi  ena love unu ena love dem ena love

 

The following video features words and phrases from Jamaican Creole and their meanings:

 

 

 

References:

Admin. “CAPE-Communication Studies.” Linguistic Features of Jamaican Creole (Patois), 1        Jan. 1970, cape-commstudies.blogspot.com/2011/08/linguistic-features-of-jamaican-            creole.html.

“Austin J., Diane History and Symbols in Ideology: A Jamaican Example.  Man, New Series,           Vol. 14, No. 3 (Sep., 1979), pp. 497-514 Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain             and Ireland.” Debate Central – Since 1994, debate.uvm.edu/dreadlibrary/Noordwier.htm.

“English in the Caribbean.” The British Library – The British Library. Web.                            <http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/case-studies/minority-ethnic/caribbean/>.