Weda wi Mos Tiich Patwa aar Nat!

[Bricktop]

yuh missing it by a mile.......WHO is saying it must be one or the other?

Nobody but how will teaching patois (still don't understand why we teaching something they already know) solve the problem of communicating with English speakers?

[Gamma]

yuh missing it by a mile.......WHO is saying it must be one or the other?

[Bricktop]

Who is arguing that Patois should not be the language for global business interaction ??

The question is are you going to utilize the local language to communicate knowledge and concepts or are you going to continue to force down their throats a Foreign language that the bulk of patois speakers are not familiar with ?

And when they have to deal with this "Foreign Language" in the global market what then? An interpreter?

[Muadib]

Who is arguing that Patois should not be the language for global business interaction ??

The question is are you going to utilize the local language to communicate knowledge and concepts or are you going to continue to force down their throats a Foreign language that the bulk of patois speakers are not familiar with ?

[Peter R]

The spelling looks more like something Scandinavian... the writer is trying way too hard...e.g. "Jamiekan" which I would pronounce " Jah-mee-can" which is not the way we say it... the author should just follow standard phonetics as you point out and maybe write "Jah-mi.yea-cyan" or even " joo-may-kan" or even "jum-ay-kan". All those double and triple "eyes" are a bit too much.

WHat a can of worms... by the way what ever happened to ebonics? or esperanto? the latter which I actually tried to learn in the 70s.

pr

[Mosiah]

I agree! Just on this point, however!

[Willi]

"The final 100-page draft Official Guide to the Jamaican Language will provide information on the use of the standard writing system for patois as well as its morphology and syntax, and advice on the use of specialised vocabulary necessary for public and official contexts."

Great, another forced down the throat academic diatribe!

If the bulk of patwa speakers are not familiar with it, it is NOT representative. It is just a proposal. What guarantee is there that anyone will accept it?

Patwa can ONLY be a cultural expression. Anything else is a retrograde exercise. The Swiss show you that you can use it for local reasons, but you must accept an international language for global business interaction. English is becoming the most sought after 2nd language here.

Quebec forced it down the throat of the province and screwed their economy! Quebecois is NOT standard French. if it was further removed from standard French, like Creole, Quebec would be a complete basket case.

So yes, Patois as a cultural force is great. As an official language...I dont buy it.

[Willi]

btw...willi...how came you to this conclusion..."the spelling is atrocious"?

Because it is far from our informal spelling that I am used to seeing.

It is not phonetically correct, based on ENGLISH phonics. We have no other phonics.

[Gamma]

btw...willi...how came you to this conclusion..."the spelling is atrocious"?

[Islandman]

Same here. But i realise that it is because it is not formalized though. Hence the argument that it should be.

Carolyn Cooper came up with a system (Cassidy or something like that???) that looks like what that article was using.

[Muadib]

"The final 100-page draft Official Guide to the Jamaican Language will provide information on the use of the standard writing system for patois as well as its morphology and syntax, and advice on the use of specialised vocabulary necessary for public and official contexts."

[Muadib]

Will do, soon as they are made public.

[Muadib]

certain facts are

[Baddaz]

i am the one that stated that there aren't any rules... since you know the facts, why dont you share them...

[Baddaz]

good....i am arguing for the FORMALISING of patois before we embark on teaching it in schools.

patois is NOT pidgin english....it is a language and it needs to be formalised.

no argument from me on that... are we there yet with the orthography... all formal languages has an orthography... when we develop that orthography i will be on board for the teaching in schools...