Patois and the perfect English

THE need for true expression of self and the adaptation of standard English has never been more profound or of greater significance to some Jamaicans than at that moment when foreigners visit the island, those brief visits abroad or moreso when the masses are asked to represent themselves in the media or in front of political representatives.

This need is also expressed when the otherwise mild-mannered and unexposed are given the opportunity to voice their opinion about controversial subject matters at which time the merger of standard English and patois come to the fore and we are greeted with the combination of “we is gwain to protest” or “I are not an idiot or ignorant smaddy”.

I think the written version is just as entertaining and has formed the basis of comic relief for many HR personnel who have been privy to vast e-mails or letters that come in from a wide cross-section of persons seeking employment.

What was once a means of distinguishing the town folk from country folk has, as all languages evolved to meet a new breed of Jamaicans. To this new species or emergence I dub the dialect “Epatlish” (cross between patois and English).

How often have you heard someone criticise people who are from the country and mock their speech? They may even ask, “How yuh suh country?”

Oftentimes such an outburst would immediately draw attention and ridicule leaving you dumbfounded as others gaze upon you in disdain. Well I have heard it so many times it often irritates me to the point where I have to defend “country people”. Moreover, since I was born in the country, I should understand what this stereotype feels like, worse if it is not exactly true.

It is even more intriguing how this ignorance has turned into fashion and a cultural norm so much so that the mere misuse and misrepresentation of a perfectly structured sentence satisfies more than just the need for communication when we ignore subject/verb agreement and misuse adjectives and pronouns. Illiteracy has become more than a socio-economic tumour and is now camouflaged under lyrical creativity and social jest. For some, it’s a way of expression but for others it’s the reality, attitude and only means of communication deemed socially acceptable.

Some people who were born in Kingston somehow feel that they have this standard English speech under their belt, when in fact they too are guilty of the very thing they mock “country people” about. And I say this based on my own experience after I moved to Kingston and was quite surprised that these individuals who pride themselves on thinking they are modern as opposed to those of us who were born or live in the country areas of Jamaica are still not able to construct a decent sentence in English.

Not once during my days in the country have I ever heard the word “yours” being pronounced “yourn”, and used so widely by both children and adults alike until I was introduced to the education system in Kingston. Suffice to say, when I first heard it, I was puzzled, since I was never taught that word. The students at my country school, though we were not exposed to the extracurricular activities as I would have wished, had to endure hours at school to get our penmanship and diction correct.

Even though I will continually defend the people from rural backgrounds, I find myself more and more every day being poked with the startling reality that there are indeed people in Jamaica whose patois has become so diversified that it has begun to pinch my eardrums miserably.

It is funny though that it is not the children from whom this painful dialect is heard but from adults, who are quick to shun and reprimand kids for speaking patois. But let’s not confuse the issue. My problem with these individuals is not the fact that they speak patois, but the “calibre” of patois which is spoken. I myself have been reprimanded for speaking patois which has caused me to defend myself on most occasions.

“Embrace your native tongue,” I’d say. “There’s nothing wrong with expressing yourself in your native dialect.”

Yet I often find myself ashamed of my speech especially if I am in a crowd where one is frowned up on for speaking patois openly without it being for comical purposes.

One would think that individuals who have had a tertiary-level education would understand this more, but I have come to notice that knowing how to speak standard English becomes not that big of an issue especially when we are locked in our little space and have established our comfort zone. So it is quite easy for us to ask, “Whey, yuh been deh?” or “Whey yuh wheey deh” instead of the standard English version.

I have heard people in St Elizabeth replace the word “tank” with “tenk” which I am yet to hear in other parts of the island. Or some of my friends from Trelawny saying, “mi ney did a go dung deh so”.

It is OK, I suppose, if we become adventurous and explore our cultural and creative expression be it language or other forms of art but when disruption of a language deviates into blatant disregard for the rules governing its use, where do we draw the line when the line becomes obscure and the need for correction passive?