Most words in Jamaican patois, like other English Caribbean patois, are English words filtered through a distinct phonetic system with fewer vowels and different consonant sounds. Patois is written ...

Currently, one of the topical discussion points in Jamaica is the conundrum of delayed English learning, but before this can be resolved there is an urgent need for the majority of its citizens to ...

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Walk into any government office, courtroom or classroom in Jamaica, and you’ll be expected to speak the official language, English. But venture into the street, tune into a radio ...

I write in response to Professor Carolyn Cooper’s article entitled ‘Emancipating the Jamaican language lickle-lickle’ published in The Gleaner on August 7. As usual, her argument is on point. In ...

Tamirand De Lisser, Hubert Devonish, Rhonda Jeffrey and Charlene Wilkinson Tamirand Nnena De Lisser is a Lecturer of Linguistics at the University of Guyana. Her main research topic is the L1 ...

“Well, I’ve always known that my views on Jamaican Creole or Patwa, the native language here, were contentious but sound”: Annie Paul is vindicated. Global Voices stands out as one of the earliest and ...

What's worse than a bad movie? If you ask linguist Joseph Farquharson, he might say a movie that makes a caricature of the distinct patois of Jamaican accents. When asked to be an advisor on the new ...

The Bible is, for the first time, being translated into Jamaican patois. It's a move welcomed by those Jamaicans who want their mother tongue enshrined as the national language - but opposed by others ...

Pamela Mordecai has published poetry, short stories, children's books and essays. She's also written a play and published numerous anthologies. Now, at 72, she's written her debut novel, Red Jacket.