Jamaican English and Creole PDF

JAMAICAN ENGLISH AND JAMAICAN CREOLE In Jamaica, there is a **dialect** **continuum** which goes from the **basilectal** **Creole** varieties, passing through a series of **mesolectal** (intermediate) varieties, to an **acrolectal** variety which is Standard Jamaican English which are correlated wi...

JAMAICAN ENGLISH AND JAMAICAN CREOLE In Jamaica, there is a **dialect** **continuum** which goes from the **basilectal** **Creole** varieties, passing through a series of **mesolectal** (intermediate) varieties, to an **acrolectal** variety which is Standard Jamaican English which are correlated with the socioeconomical status of speakers. There is a situation of **diglossia** among educated Jamaican English speakers, using the Creole variety in "private, informal and predominantly oral interaction \[and the acrolectal variety\] in public, formal and in written discourse" (Devonish, 2004). There is also a number of speakers who are near monolingual Creole speakers. Jamaican creole is popularly called "Patwa" or "Patois" by Jamaicans. Creoles derive from a language form called **pidgin**, created from the need to communicate between speakers of mutually unintelligible languages The language of a group of speakers in a dominant position (merchants, slave traders) provide the basis for the dominated group of speakers (native population, slaves) to create the pidgin. The pidgin takes its lexicon and phonology from the dominant language and the syntax from the original languages of the speakers (African languages and other languages they have been in contact with). When a pidgin passes from one generation of speakers to the next, it becomes a creole, developing a more complex syntax and expanding the lexicon from the language they are most in contact with. Standard Jamaican English (SJamE) is based on a different varieties of English English, not necessarily the standard form, and developed great variation in the vocalic system. There is also Irish English influence. The phonology of Jamaican Creole (JamC) shows great variation from SJamE, especially, in the realization of vowel sounds. SJamE shares the consonantal system with JamC, except for the dental fricatives /θ/, /ð/ and the voiced palatoalveolar fricative /ʒ/. The occurrence of /h/ is variable, being mostly dropped in low mesolectal and basilectal varieties. Aspiration of voiceless stops occurs in accented position. However, it varies from speaker to speaker, and even in the same speaker. The accent is semi-rhotic. /r/ does not [usually] occur in word final position before pause, but it occurs before consonant in the same word (for example: \, \, \, \, etc). This varies from speaker to speaker, however. From basilectal to low mesolectal JamE, /θ/ and /ð/ are pronounced \[t̠\] and\[d̠\]. This phenomenon is called TH-stopping. /h/ is dropped in word initial position in mesolectal and basilectal varieties. The onset cluster /θr/ is pronounced \[t̠ɹ̝̥\], or even \[tʃɹ̝̥\] or \[tʃ\] in low mesolectal and basilectal JamE. It is realized \[θɹ̝̥\] in acrolectal JamE. \ in JamC is pronounced \[t̠ɹ̝̥iː\], \[tʃɹ̝̥iː\] or \[tʃiː\]. In onset position clusters where the first element is s+C /sp, st, sk, spr, str, skr/ etc. /s/ is elided sometimes even in the acrolectal variety. Listen to \