Jamaican Patois facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Jamaican Creole |
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| Patois | ||||
| Native to | Jamaica, Panama, Costa Rica, United States, United Kingdom, Puerto Rico, Canada | |||
| Native speakers | 3.2 million (2001) | |||
| Language family |
English creole
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| Dialects |
Limonese Creole
Bocas del Toro Creole
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| Linguasphere | 52-ABB-am | |||
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Jamaican Patois, also called Patwa, Jamaican Creole, or simply Jamaican, is a special language spoken mainly in Jamaica. It's a mix of English and West African languages. Many Jamaicans living in other countries also speak it.
How Jamaican Patois Started
Jamaican Patois began to form in the 1600s. This was when people from West Africa were brought to Jamaica. They needed to learn English quickly to talk to each other and to the people in charge.
However, they also kept many words and ways of speaking from their own African languages. This mix created a new language, which is what we now call Jamaican Patois. It's a bit like a new recipe made from different ingredients!
Irish Sounds in Patois
You might hear some sounds in Jamaican Patois that sound a bit like Irish English. This is because some Irish people also came to Jamaica a long time ago. Even with these influences, schools in Jamaica mostly teach British English for reading, writing, and speaking.
African Roots of Patois
Jamaican Patois has strong connections to African languages. These influences go back to the 1600s. Many parts of Patois show its African roots. This includes how sentences are put together (its syntax), the sounds of the words (phonetics), and many of the words themselves.
See Also
Want to learn more? Check out the Spanish version: Idioma patois jamaiquino para niños
