Dear Editor,

In response to Andrew Holness’s effortless denunciation of the predominant use of Jamaican Creole “patois” by the populace in the article ‘Holness emphasises importance of speaking English’ dated October 12, 2011, it first must be noted that Jamaican Creole is not broken English or a dialect of English, but in fact a language with its own structure and purpose.

Structure speaks to the systematic arrangement of words within a sentence where there is a subject and a predicate; phrase similar to that of the English Language. And without getting into the technical jargons used by linguists, language enables communication, and communication should not be subjected to prescriptive ideals of a language.

In fact, many people are not able to speak Standard English but are able to communicate effectively using Jamaican Creole. So communication is not hinged on the use of English.

Throughout history, persons who were and are not exposed to English in their homes are communicating effectively. The issue, therefore, stems from the word “properly”. And I ask, who and what determines proper communication? When is it “proper” for someone to use the language he/she knows intuitively, and oftentimes creatively transmits an intended message?

Jamaican Creole came from the need for enslaved Africans to communicate without being punished, and in an effort to suppress their culture, but at the same time retain some semblance of their identity, they merged their native tongues with the language of the oppressor.

The now creolised slaves had their own language with its own purpose. It was nicely put by Mr Holness that “the school room is the best place to establish among the youths what it truly means to be Jamaican in a global setting”. I must insist that being Jamaican is not monolithic, but there are common traits that identify us as Jamaicans, one of which is our language, which is Jamaican Creole. It is the lingua of the masses.

Not to detract from the importance of speaking Standard English, which is the language of globalisation and the language of education, but national pride must be maintained and the first step is acknowledging our indigenous language as a viable language and it should be respected as such.

The misconception that many have is that Jamaican Creole is only used by the uneducated, hence it is termed as “broken English”. To validate the aforementioned, many academics and business professionals use and appreciate the language and therefore it must not be described as the language of the uneducated.

The truth is that Jamaican Creole was intended to be used informally, which does not make it less significant than English, French or Spanish. It is a language that most, if not all, Jamaicans can identify with. Children are able to speak Jamaican Creole without it being taught to them. It is innately ingrained. It’s ironic that at political rallies, this same broken language is used by the educated to somehow “communicate” to the masses, or is it the uneducated?

Kemmone Hall

kemoneall@yahoo.com