Jamaican English

1st diapositive: (Pedro)

Jamaica is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning 10,990

square kilometers (4,240 sq mi) in area, it is the third-largest island of the
Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about 145 kilometers (90
mi) south of Cuba, and 191 kilometers (119 mi) west of Hispaniola (which is the
island that contains the countries of Haiti and the Dominican Republic); the
British Overseas Territory of the Cayman Islands lies some 215 kilometers (134
mi) to the north-west.

Talk about the main cities (image)

2nd diapositive: (Pedro)

Brief fact file:

•Official language: Jamaica English
•Other languages: Jamaican Patois
•Ethnic groups: 92.1% Afro-Jamaicans; 6.1% Mixed; 0.7%
Indo-Jamaicans;0.2% Chinese Jamaicans; 0.2% European Jamaicans; 0.7%
Other
•Religion: 68.9% Christianity (64.8% Protestantism; 4.1% other Christian);
21.3% No religion; 1.1% Rastafarianism; 6.5% Others; 2.3% Not stated
•Population: 2,818,596
•Anthem: "Jamaica, Land We Love“
•Area: 10,991 km2 (4,244 sq mi)
Currency: Jamaican dollar (JMD)
3rd diapositive: (Bia)

History of Jamaica

The history of Jamaica is a vibrant one, which inspires a lot of other nations.
Their history speaks about the experiences of hardships, growth, and
determination of people.

Little is known about the island’s early history, except that there are many
traces of Arawak habitation, and that Arawaks, agriculturists who made
good-quality textiles and pottery, were living there when Christopher
Columbus landed on 14 May 1494, on his second American voyage of
exploration.

He named the island Santiago (Saint-James). However, the name was never
adopted and it kept its Arawak name Xaymaca, of which ‘Jamaica’ is a
corruption.

Lacking gold, Jamaica was used mainly as a staging post in the scramble for
the wealth of the Americas. The Spanish arrival was a disaster for the
indigenous people, great numbers of whom were sent to Spain as slaves and
many killed by the invaders, despite the efforts of Spanish Christian
missionaries to prevent these outrages.

There were no Arawaks left on the island by 1665, but there were enslaved
Africans who replaced them. In 1645, the British captured Jamaica from the
Spaniards, whose former slaves refused to surrender, and repelled all attempts
to subjugate them. These people came to be known as Maroons (from the
Spanish cimarron, meaning ‘wild’, a word applied to escaped slaves).

Between 1660 and 1670, pirates used Jamaica as a place of resort. In 1670
Spain formally ceded the island to Britain. Two years later the Royal Africa
Company, a slave-trading enterprise, was formed. The company used Jamaica
as its chief market, and the island became a center of slave trading in the West
Indies. Nonetheless, the battles of the Maroons to retain their freedom
succeeded when, in 1740, the British authorities recognized their rights to
freedom and ownership of property.
4th diapositive: (Bruna)

Jamaican English

Jamaican English, including Jamaican Standard English, is a variety of

English and the country's official language. There is a distinction between
Jamaican English and Jamaican Patois (or Creole), though this is not entirely a
sharp distinction but a gradual continuum between the two extremes.
Jamaican English tends to follow British English spelling conventions.

The term “Jamaican English” is sometimes used about Jamaica’s use of

English as an official language and at other times about Jamaican patois.
However, in reality, Jamaican English is no different than Australian, Canadian,
or the English language that is spoken in any other English-speaking country.

English is the official language of schools, businesses, and government in

Jamaica, and is widely spoken all over the island.
However, with Jamaican patois being an English-based creole, this may lead to
some confusion among other English speakers who may identify some words
they know, but can’t quite understand others.

English was introduced into Jamaica in 1655, because of the colonization by

Britain.
British English was spread through post-primary education, and through
British teachers that immigrated to Jamaica.
But also, American English has contributed to the Jamaican English dialect.
These impacts can be traced to the development of stronger social and
economic ties with the United States, the popularity of the U.S. cultural
offerings, including film, music, television dramas and comedies, and tourism.

The Jamaican accent is similar to many others in the Caribbean, but it boasts a
unique combination of traits due to the influences of the various peoples that
have ruled or populated the island over the centuries.
5th diapositive: (Bá)

About the Jamaican varieties..

Missing consonants

When words end with a consonant followed by a <t> or a <d>, Jamaicans will
often omit the sound of the final consonant. The word “accept” is therefore
pronounced “accep” and the word “sound” is pronounced, “soun”.
Historically, lost consonants were also common in English West Country
dialects.

Dropping the <h>

As in many areas of the United Kingdom, Jamaicans often drop the initial [h]
sound in words. The word “history“ becomes “istory”.

Merging diphthongs

Jamaicans tend to merge diphthongs (pairs of vowels). This causes words that
would sound very different in Standard English to become homophones. For
instance, “bear” can sound the same as “beer”. The diphthong is pronounced
as “eeair”.

Rhoticity

Rhoticity ( the pronunciation of the letter <r>) varies quite dramatically in

Jamaica. However, with some words, the use of rhoticity is common while with
other words it is not. Rhotic <r> sounds are less likely where the <r> in the
word is followed by a consonant.

Vowels and velars

When the velars [k] and [g] appear before a central vowel [a], they are
pronounced with palatalization. Thus, “cat” becomes “kjat” and “gap”
becomes “gjap”
The Jamaican lilt

The Jamaican accent is instantly recognizable, partly because of the pleasing

lilt that native speakers exhibit. Some factors have combined to produce this
melodic quality. Probably one of the most significant characteristics is the
additional stress that Jamaicans place on certain words in sentences that
would not be stressed in standard English.

Jamaican grammar

There are several grammatical constructions that Jamaicans use when

speaking English that have been borrowed from Patois. The past tense
markers of verbs may be dropped so that “I saw a pack of wolves” would be
expressed as “I see a pack of wolves”. Sometimes definite and indefinite
articles are also dropped. For instance, “I was looking for a house” would
become “I was looking for house”. Jamaicans also tend to use singular nouns
when the plural form would be used in Standard English. Jamaicans would say
“my dog are fighting” instead of “my dogs are fighting”.