English to Jamaican Transition Primer_Selected Portions

Fi Wi Chatn - Fi Wi Raitn

0 | P a g e

Fi Wi Chatn -

Fi Wi Raitn

Reading & Writing JamaicanReading & Writing JamaicanReading & Writing JamaicanReading & Writing Jamaican


2 | P a g e

Illustrations, including that on the cover page, are from The Art of

Reading, SIL International English/Indonesian

The Gayles

Gayles for Jamaican Languages

Mannings Hill Dist,

Stony Hill P.O.

Kingston 19, Jamaica

[email protected]

First Edition

Copyright © 2011 Gayles for Jamaican Languages

ISBN # 198 0 19 82 20 08

Printed by Self-Print Printers

Kingston, Jamaica


3 | P a g e

BOOK DIVISION

Part 1................................................................... 4-8

First Words: To Begin/Fi Staat Out............................................................ 5

Reading & Writing Jamaican ........................................................................ 6

Di Jamiekan Alfabet....................................................................................... 7

Part 2.................................................................... 8-22

Lesson 1: Jamaican Vowels................................................................................... 9-16

Lesson 2: Jamaican Consonants.......................................................................... 17-21

Lesson 3: Other Jamaican Sounds ................................................................... 22

Part 3..................................................................... 23-32

1. Reading Exercises: ........................................................................................ 24-28

a. Jamaican Bible Selection.......................................................... 24

b. Anancy Story ............................................................................ 25

c. Letter . .......................................................................................... 26

d. Dub-Poem...................................................................................... 27

e. Jamaican Proverbs ..................................................................... 28

2. Games: ............................................................................................................... 29-30

a. Crossword Puzzle .............................................................................. 29

b. Word Search Puzzles ...................................................................... 30

3. Resources: ........................................................................................................ 31

4. Concerns Regarding the Jamaican Bible..................................................... 32


5 | P a g e

FIRST WORDS:

If you are Jamaican like me, it is very likely that you grew up in a home where English was

rarely spoken. If that is not the case, it is very likely you grew up hearing a lot of

Jamaicans speaking a language that is not English! Most of us refer to this language as

“Patwa.“ In this booklet, however, I shall refer to this language as “Jamaican.” Why? Well,

first, the name “Jamaican” makes us feel proud of our language. Second, referring to the

language as “Jamaican” makes us think of the origin of the language and the name of the

people who speak it. Many languages are named in this way: English came from England,

Turkish from Turkey, Moldovan from Moldova, Irish from Ireland, Finnish from Finland,

Icelandic from Iceland, Russian from Russia and Welsh from Wales!

Though we are generally proud of our language, many of us believe it should not be used

for communication in our schools, in our churches, in our business places or in any “serious”

setting. These persons believe Jamaican should be used only when we want to talk to

family and close friends, to “cuss off” people and to tell jokes and stories (e.g. Anancy and

Big Boy stories).

In 1993, the Bible Society of the West Indies, located in Kingston, told the country of its

plan to translate the Bible into Jamaican. Naturally, this made many persons angry. Why?

Well, as I just mentioned, a lot of persons believe Jamaican is only good enough for talking

about everyday things, for cussing and for telling jokes and stories. They believe the Bible

is a very, very serious and important book and that Jamaican is not a language that we use

to discuss things that are serious and important.

Wycliffe Bible Translators, Caribbean, is one of the committed supporters of the

Jamaican Bible. In fact, I am a full-time missionary with Wycliffe. Wycliffe sent me to

work at the Bible Society on its behalf. Wycliffe supports the translation project

because, like the Bible Society, it believes that God’s Word touches our hearts in a special

way when it is in the language we understand best.


6 | P a g e

READING & WRITING JAMAICAN:

The Bible Society and its partners have a problem! Most people cannot read and write

Jamaican. In fact, some persons say that Jamaican cannot be written. Owing to this

reading/writing problem, the Society is concentrating on an audio translation of the Bible.

The Society plans to make the Jamaican Bible available in written form for whomever

wishes to have it. This guide is for those who wish to read (and write) Jamaican.

Many years ago, Fredrick. G. Cassidy and Robert B. Le Page developed a way of writing

Jamaican. This way of writing the language was revised by the Jamaican Language Unit

(JLU). JLU is located on the campus of the University of the West Indies in Jamaica.

This is how the writing system works: for each sound, there is only one and always one

letter or combination of letters. It does not matter where in the word you hear the

sound. This means that there is always consistency in spelling as what you hear or

pronounce is what you spell with the relevant matching symbol-per-sound.

In my experience, persons beginning to read and write Jamaican usually sometimes

unconciously put on a “braalin” (course) accent. Many times, this is due to their belief that

Jamaican is an inferior, course language and the mark of the uneducated person; it is used

when someone doesn’t want to be “prim and proper.” Watch out for this as you go through

the lessons. When reading out aloud, read naturally. Do not put on anything. Be yourself.

This writing/reading guide is divided into into two (2) sections. The first section contains

three (3) lessons: the first is about vowels, the second about consonants and the third

about some issues that relate to both consonants and vowels. Each lesson is accompanied

by several practice expercises that will engage your ability to see, hear, speak and feel the

language. The second section contains several different texts in Jamaican. It serves two

purposes: 1) to show you that Jamaican can be used to express anything we want; 2) to

provide you with more opportunities to practice reading and writing. The Jamaican used in

this booklet is only meant to help you to read and write the language. Not all letter

combinations used are representative of authentic Jamaican words. The authentic

Jamaican used isn’t representative of the language or of how it is used by all Jamaicans.

Before we start learning to write and write Jamaican, I’d like to make it clear than I am

not arguing against the use of Standard Jamaican English (SJE). Rather, I am

encouraging greater recognition and inclusion of our national language.


7 | P a g e

If you have access to John McAnuf’s Jumiekan Langwig Alfabet Song and Project CD,

listen to tracts one (1), two (2), three (3), five (5) and seven (7).

DDDiii JJJaaammmiiieeekkkaaannn AAAlllfffaaabbbeeettt Aa

arinj

Ee

eg

Ii

invilop

Oo

okro

Uu

uman

AA / aa

aatis

II / ii

iigl

UU / uu

shuuz

AI / ai

ai

IE / ie

iez

OU / ou

kou

UO / uo

kluoz

Bb

baal

CH / ch

choch

Dd

daag

Ff

feda

Gg

giet

Hh

hat

Jj

jog

Kk

kyaar

Ll

leda

Mm

maka

Nn

niel

Ng / ng

chring

Pp

pikni

Rr

rat

Ss

sandalz

SH / sh

shel

Tt

tiebl

Vv

volkieno

Ww

was

Zz

zip


9 | P a g e

LESSON 1 – Jamaican Vowels

SHORT VOWELS

Let us start with short vowel sounds and the symbols we use to represent them. There are

five (5) short vowel sounds. These are also called single vowel. If you have access to the

John McAnuf sound files, listen to tract four (4):

Jamaican

S’t Vowels

Sample

Word

Sample Picture Notes

a arinj

________________________

________________________

________________________

e eg

________________________

________________________

________________________

i invilop

________________________

________________________

________________________

o okro

________________________

________________________

________________________

u uman

________________________

________________________

________________________

IMPORTANT

Jamaican has no silent letters.

Only write the symbols for the

sounds you hear / say.


12 | P a g e

LONG VOWELS

Now, Jamaican has three (3) long vowel sounds. There are easily represented by

simply doubling up the short vowel sounds (letters). If you have access to the John

McAnuf sound files, listen to tract four (4):

Jamaican

L’g Vowels

Sample

Word


aa aatis

________________________

________________________

________________________

ii iigl

________________________

________________________

________________________

uu shuuz

________________________

________________________

________________________

Practice Exercise B: Read and say the following out loud. Do one column at a time. (You can select the exercise you prefer and or move on to the next lesson, if you think you’ve grasped this lesson well enough.)

AA aa II ii UU uu

1 aa

maa

maamaa

2 baa

taa

waa

3 baabaa

taataa

waawaa

4 aabaab

aataat

aawaaw

5 gaabaa

maawaa

aagwaa


14 | P a g e

DOUBLE VOWELS

Jamaican also has what are called double vowel sounds. These are a combination of

two dufferent single vowel sounds. There are four (4) of them. If you have access

to the John McAnuf sound files, listen to tract four (4).

Jamaican

D’ble Vowels

Sample

Word

Sample

Picture

Notes

ai ai

_______________________

_______________________

_______________________

_______________________

ie iez

_______________________

_______________________

_______________________

_______________________

ou kou

_______________________

_______________________

_______________________

_______________________

uo kluoz

_______________________

_______________________

_______________________

_______________________


17 | P a g e

LESSON 2 – Jamaican Consonants The consonants are fairly easy to handle. Most of the symbols you will already know, due to the exposure you have had to English. If you have access to the John McAnuf audio files, listen to tracts one (1) and five (5).

Jamaican

Consonants

Sample

Word

Sample

Picture

Notes

b ball

_______________________

_______________________

_______________________

_______________________

ch choch

_______________________

_______________________

_______________________

_______________________

d daag

_______________________

_______________________

_______________________

_______________________

f feda

_______________________

_______________________

_______________________

_______________________

g giet

_______________________

_______________________

_______________________

_______________________

h hat

_______________________

_______________________

_______________________

See page 22


18 | P a g e

Jamaican

Consonant

Sample

Word


j jog

_______________________

_______________________

_______________________

_______________________

k kyaar

_______________________

_______________________

_______________________

_______________________

l leda

_______________________

_______________________

_______________________

_______________________

m maka

_______________________

_______________________

_______________________

_______________________

n niel

_______________________

_______________________

_______________________

_______________________

ng chring

_______________________

_______________________

_______________________

_______________________

p pikni

_______________________

_______________________

_______________________

_______________________


19 | P a g e

Jamaican

Consonant

Sample

Word


r rat

_______________________

_______________________

_______________________

_______________________

s sandalz

_______________________

_______________________

_______________________

_______________________

sh shel

_______________________

_______________________

_______________________

_______________________

t tiebl

_______________________

_______________________

_______________________

_______________________

v volkieno

_______________________

_______________________

_______________________

_______________________

w was

_______________________

_______________________

_______________________

_______________________

z zip


22 | P a g e

LESSON 3 – Other Jamaican Sounds

Jamaican

Letter

Sample

Word

Sample

Picture

Notes

h hat

Some Jamaicans do not pronounce

the letter ‘h’ at the beginning of a

word. They would say “at” not

“hat.”

or pors

Together, these letters stand for

the weak unstressed vowel sound

you hear sound in words such as ,

purse, her , early, Bert etc.

hn plaahn

Together, these letters stand for

what is called a “nasal marker.” You

hear this sound at the end of

Jamaican pronunciation for words

such as “can’t” and “want” - kyaahn

and waahn. When you produce this

type of sound, some air pass

through your nose. Try it!

(If you have access to the John McAnuf audio files, listen to tracts one (1), five (5) and

nine (9). Sing along as you listen. This should help you become familiar wth the

Jamaican alphabet very quickly.)


31 | P a g e

Resources:

Writing Jamaican the Jamaican Way – You can buy this if you

want a more detailed and professionally done book to help you read and

write Jamaican well. The books and the CD that accompanies it are

available in bookstores all over the island.

Jamaican Bible – The New Testament becomes available in

2012. For now, only text of Luuk is available. Get your copy at the

Bible Society of the West Indies, opposite the Half-Way-Tree

Courthouse. Visit the project at www.jamiekanbaibl.org

Our Blog – The blog is for those who want to read and write the

Jamaican. Here, you can submit your own stories and articles

written in Jamaican for other people to read and practice. Visit the

blog at http://fiwiraitn.blogspot.com/

TVFiWi - This is a Jamaican Language Company channel which

seeks to offer a range of programming from news commentary to

interviews and much more. All of which is done in Jamaican Creole.

The channel offers programs such as Akshan Taak and Aks Mi

Kwestyan. Visit them at http://www.youtube.com/thejamaicanlangco


32 | P a g e

CONCERNS REGARDING THE JAMAICAN BIBLE

1. There is no Standard Jamaican

Languages do not standardise themselves. The standardisation of any language results from human efforts. Over the years, Bible Translation has helped to develop and standardise many languages. This was the case of English and German. 1. Persons Cannot Read Jamaican

Most Jamaicans read and write Jamaican using a spelling system that makes Jamaican look like English. Ms Lou’s books are written like that. The Jamaican Creole Translation Project is promoting a much better way of reading and writing Jamaican. True, most persons are not yet used to the system. It is for this reason that the Jamaican Bible will be released pirmarily in audio format. Wycliffe Bible Translators, Caribbean, is working on a plan to help persons read Jamaican. 2. Jamaican is Only Spoken by Jamaicans

This is true. But Chinese is only spoken in China, Turkish is only spoken in Turkey,

Moldovan is only spoken in Moldova, Irish is only spoken in Ireland, Finnish is only spoken in

Finland, Icelandic is only spoken in Iceland, Welsh is only spoken in Wales, etc!

3. We Should Concentrate on Improving English in Jamaica

In 2009, persons from the University of the West Indies completed an experiment in some Jamaican primary schools. They wanted to see how well children learn when school teachers teach them in both Jamaican and English. The results show that the children who are taught in both languages do better than those who are taught only in English. This is the experience of teachers all over the world. 4. The Jamaican Bible will Cause more Laughter than Seriousness

BSWI and its partners are very serious about what they are doing. They believe the Bible is a respectable book and that persons who read or hear it must be able to identify it as a book that is to be taken seriously. The Bible will be translated with this in mind. Also, the translation will be tested in locations on the island before it is published.

5. The money could be used for more worthwhile

It is important to remember that the mission of those who are financing the project is to make God’s word available to persons who do not have it in the language they understand best. WBTC, for example, cannot provide for all of our society’s needs – no organisation can. All the churches in Jamaica give spend a lot than $12 million Jamaican dollars on education, medicine, disaster relief, poverty eradication and so on. Can the church not invest a fraction of its budget to help its people understand God’s word better?


35 | P a g e

_____________________________________

The Bible Society and its partners have a problem! Most persons cannot read and write

Jamaican. In fact, some persons say that Jamaican cannot be written; it can only be

spoken. Due of this reading/writing problem, the Society has decided to give more

attention to an audio translation of the New Testament. The Society plans to make the

Jamaican Bible available in written form for whoever wants to have it. This guide is for

those who want to read and write Jamaican.

Many years ago, F. G Cassidy and R. B. Le Page developed a way of writing Jamaican. This

way of writing the language was revised by the Jamaican Language Unit (JLU). JLU is

located on the campus of the University of the West Indies in Jamaica. This is how the

Jamaican writing system works: For each sound, there is only one and always one letter

or combination of letters. It does not matter where in the word you hear the sound. This

means that there is always consistency in spelling as what you hear or pronounce is what

you spell with the relevant matching symbol-per-sound.

English to Jamaican Transition Primer_Selected Portions

Documents

Transcript of English to Jamaican Transition Primer_Selected Portions