So in light of a recent article I found online here, those of us that hail from the island nation of Jamaica have something to be happy about: a version of the Bible will be written our dialect, Jamaican Patois, for the first time. To my knowledge, this is the first time that our language has ever been taken seriously enough to have a huge piece of literature transposed into our common tongue. Personally , I think that this an awesome event! I have been emerged in Patois since I was a child and speak it at home to convey a sense of familiarity and cultural belonging with my mom and other Jamaicans I feel comfortable around. Most of my life, when I am confronted about my ethnic background and mention that I am a first generation American from the West Indies, people automatically ask me if I speak "Jamaican" or holler "Bomboclat" or Battibwoi" or some phrase that shows they recognize my cultural distinction. Usually, if the person is unfamiliar with West Indies or has limited knowledge of the region, the next question is "what language to do you speak there?"...in which my response is "English, but there is a dialect, Patois that exists as well". I always get "uh uh, I don't understand you guys" or "that's English?"...Which I then begin to explain that English is the formal language, but we tend to rattle off in Patois, if we speak. This formal recognition of a tongue that has developed from West African dialects, Portuguese , Spanish and English (and God knows what else) has demonstrated to me that our history is rich and our culture is growing after 46 years of independence. But of course, there are critics of the new attempt to systematically develop a system of writing our language and defining punctuation and capitalization...read about some of it here.
Here's what I agree on:
- The money being spent to distinguish our culture and set up a formal way of writing is priceless. Just because our culture was formed out of the remnants of West African customs and forced European dominance, does NOT mean we cannot use it to further define our identities. In order for us to leave a drastic mark on the world , we have to start to unite and having a uniform tongue would be a common variable for all individuals of the Jamaican Diaspora.
- It might be comical to see a dialect that's mainly spoken being transposed into word,but it doesn't make the use of it any less potent to cultural development. I don't think it's degrading to utilize Patois in a social or written context. Most people outside the island are fascinated by the dialect, they want to learn it...we are the ones that are living in shame of it, reverting to English because it sounds more "proper" or "polished". We are no longer English subjects...and Queen Victoria is dead. No more Victorian era rules to control our behavior or speech.
- I find it highly offensive to think that an aspect of our culture is going to degrade the Bible. I have heard some horrible sounding languages spoken in Miami and I'm sure those people (those who know me, know what group I'm referring too) are very proud of their language-written & spoken. In fact, almost all English speaking Caribbean islands have a Bible published in their local dialects. The notion that our form of communication is a degradation of the word of God is ridiculous and you have deep seeded hate for yourself and your country if you belief so. There are far uglier languages with countries that have notorious pasts and yet, they have a Bible written in their language. Consider that if UWI and The Bible Society of the West Indies didn't think this was worthwhile, it wouldn't have even gotten this far. Most linguist are even noting that Patois is as at least a Creole.
I would like to say, let's leave this to the academics . Unless you have a degree in Linguistics, which I do not, we cannot place a value on whether this is just a "joke language". From what it appears, there is a consensus in that community that we have broken through and have a valid claim to a native tongue. Let's embrace it. Don't let the hegemonic European brainwashing let you think you have to strip your new found identities to have some other "valid"one. English is great, but we only speak it because the English colonized and dominated us for hundreds of years( and probably still have significant influence). My point is, don't let the dominance continue any longer...emancipate yourselves and cut the chains in your mouth...and besides we can have 2 official languages like our commonwealth sister, Canada.
"Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery; None but ourselves can free our minds."
-Bob Marley, Redemption Song
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