The Editor, Sir:

Many Jamaicans abroad, homesick for the land of their birth, will tell you that our language is a major instigator of nostalgic feelings. How else would you explain the effrontery of a Scientist in training (me) foraying into linguistics?

As a child learning French, I was surprised to find that several phrases when translated, in a literal sense, seemed close to how it would have been said in our Jamaican Creole (patois). Many years later, when I stumbled on a description of patois as a mixture of archaic English with contributions from other languages it all made sense; English and French used to be both closer to their Latin roots.

Modern-day French

I eventually found several instances of modern-day French (and Spanish) grammar, which were once correct for English hundreds of years ago. I especially found it interesting that 'Bien', the word for well or fine, in French is used to communicate emphasis - just as it is in Patois. Such as: "da dress deh WELL ugly"

In patois we might use 'all' to mean 'as in'. "She tidy de kitchen good; she ALL scour de stove top". The French 'tout' which means 'all', is sometimes used in a similar sense.

If Patois was your first language as it was for me, you might remember being corrected if you would say "she favour har modder eeh". The correction might have been "She certainly does RESEMBLE her mother". It turns out you would not have been wrong, she favours her mother is a perfectly acceptable, if perhaps old-fashioned way of saying she resembles her mother.

It is somewhat ironic that the people who would look at patois with scorn may not have realized that it is their English traditions and culture that they are also rejecting. My mother often tells me the story of how she was laughed at when she used the word 'copacetic' as a child. Her teacher told her it was not a word. I would guess that many people would be surprised that not only is it a word, but to this day, the way in which we use it in Jamaican vernacular shows that its original meaning has been perfectly preserved. It really does mean fine, very satisfactory.

I actually count it as unfortunate that I have lost my childhood fluency in my first language (patois); Jamaican society will do that to you. I have high hopes that one day we can come to a compromise and proudly treat both English and Patois, our cultural right, as academic equals.

I am, etc.,

KARIS CHIN-QUEE

kpc11@psu.edu

P.O. box 1051

Mandeville

Via Go-Jamaica