<h1>Jamaican Patois Translated</h1>

Patois bodderashun
By Simone Hudson

wah mek dem haffi chobble wi likkle twang?
mek dem nuh tek dem propa inglish an galang?
nuh everybady mek fi chat inglish lakka di queen
nuh everybady mek fi play golf pon put-put green

wah mek di whola wi haffi roun up wi mout
lakka seh wi deh nyaam whola trout?
lawd! mi cyaan tek dem deh sorta bodderashun!
jus undastan di patois an mek wi tan!
cho!...

Ah our beautiful creole, Patois (pat wa). I don't think English can truly express the deep emotions of our people. When we are really passionate about something "wi draw fi di the patwa"(we speak Patois). Patois is Jamaican creole and it is a hybrid of the African and the English language, essentially resulting from slavery. Slaves and indentured workers brought to the island, carried with them their native tongue and, mixed with the language of the colonizers resulted in the hybrid Patois. Patois has been made popular world wide by persons such as Miss Lou, and various Reggae, Dancehall artistes

Here are some basic Patois to English translations:

Patois	English	Sentence
mi	me, I	mi waan go (I want to go)
yuh	you	yuh nuh hear? (don’t you hear?)
dem	them, they, forms all plurals	call dem (call them) car dem (the cars)
wi	we	wi want justice (we want justice)
cyan	can’t	mi cyan bodda (I cant be bothered)
deh	there	go out deh (go out there)
a go	am going to	mi ago a dung deh ( I am going down there)
a fe	its for	a fe him own (it is his)
outa doh	outside	go outa doh nuh (go outside)
inna	in	she inna di house (she is in the house)
madda	mother	mi madda a call yuh (my mother is calling you)
fada	father	mi fada a go come now (my father is on his way)
pickney	child	pickney stop nuh (child, stop)
mek	make	mek me se’t (let me see it)
di	the	di man cyan come now (the man cannot ocme now)

Click below for pronunciations