Review of Jamaican Creole Used in the Poem

C. Review of Jamaican Creole Used in the Poem

MosteofeLKJ’sepoemseareeperformedeJamaicaneCreole,eorepatwa,eandewrittene usingeJamaicaneCreoleeorthography.eHence,eiteiseimportantetoeknowehoweiteworkse ine ordere toe understande LKJ’se poems.e Ine Jamaica,e colonialisme broughte differente racese intoe contacte withe onee another.e Suche varietiese ofe language-communitiese resultedeinetheedevelopmenteofepidgin.ePidginethenedevelopedeintoecreoleewhenethee descendante ofe thee slavese ande indenturede laborerse livee ande worke togethere overe generations.eCreoleewaseusedeineJamaicaelongebeforeeitewaseusedeinepoetry.eInehise booke Postcolonial Poetry in English,e Rajeeve S.e Patkee quotede Louisee Bennette whenesheerecollects,e“WheneIewaseaechild,eeachedayecontainsepoemeofefolkesongs,e folke stories,e streete cries,e legends,e proverbs,e riddles”e 2006:e 96.e Yet,e thee orale traditionselackederespectabilityeduringetheecolonialeera.eBenneterecollects,e“Theye hadenoesocialestatuse.e.e.eInefact,etheyewereetoebeedeploredeandedespisedeasecominge frome thee offspringe ofe slavese whoe weree illiterate,e uncultured,e ande downrighte stupid”e2006:e96.e Patwaehasetheeuniqueepronunciationeneededetoecreateetheedistinctiveeaesthetice soundseofedubepoetry.eJohnson’sepoem,eandedubepoetryeinegeneral,eareeoralepoetry,e poeme whiche intendede toe bee performede ine ae communitye ore publice spaces,e note merelyetoebeereadeindividually.eThiseisesimilarewitheJamaicaneCreoleethateheeusede inehisepoem.eSinceeJamaicaneCreoleehasetraditionallyebeene confinedetoeoraleuse,e theree ise noe generallye acceptede spellinge system.e Therefore,e thee spellinge usede ise largelyeadehoc.eThus,eoneewordemightebeewritteneinemoreethaneoneeway.e IneorderetoeunderstandeJohnson’sepoemeoneeneedetoeunderstandehowespellinge inepatwaeworks.eToereadewrittenepatwa,eoneeneedsetoeconsiderethatetheespellingse are:e 1.e Identicale withe thee spellinge ofe itse Englishe cognate,e thoughe thee Creolee pronunciationeisequiteedifferent.eForeexample,etheeworde‘this’eiseveryelikelye toebeepronouncedease‘dis’.e 2.e RepresenteaneattemptetoeproduceetheeCreoleepronunciation,eforeexamplee‘di’e fore‘the’,e‘mi’efore‘me’,e‘lickle’eore‘likkl’efore‘little’,e‘waak’efore‘walk’eande soeon.e 3.e Combinee featurese ofe Creolee pronunciatione withe thee usuale spellinge ofe thee StandardeEnglisheSEecognate,easeine‘de’efore‘the’,e‘bwoy’efore‘boy’,e‘cyar’e fore‘car’,e‘dyamn’e‘damn’,e‘eediot’efore‘idiot’,e‘perfec’e‘perfect’.e 4.e Suggeste thate thee writere ise patterninge ite one thate ofe ane unrelatede Standarde Englishewordewhicheisepronouncedesimilarly,ee.g.e‘ole’e‘old’ecf.eSEehole,e ‘sum’ee‘some’ecf.eSEesume Anotherethingewortheconsideringeinepatwaeisetheegrammarewhichesometimese confusinge fore peoplee whoe nevere hade contacte withe thee Jamaicane Creolee before.e Belowe ise somee parte ofe thee Jamaicane Creolee grammare usede ine LKJ’se poeme ine particular.eTheefirsteoneeisepersonalepronoun:e e e e e e Subjecte Objecte Possessivee Singulare Firstepersone mi a mi Mi Secondepersone yu yu Yu ThirdePersone him him him Plurale Firstepersone wi wi Wi Secondepersone unu yu Yu Thirdepersone dem dem Dem e TheeexamplesefromeLKJ’sepoemseare:e •e “W’enemiejus’ecomeetoeLandanetoun”.e‘WheneIejustecameetoeLondonetown’e Johnson,e1980,estanzae1,elinee1.e •e “Y’uehaffiestruggleefiemekeen’semeet”.e‘Youehaveetoestruggleetoemakeeendse meet’eJohnson,e1980,estanzae1,elinee4.e •e “Demestaatemieaafeaseaedish-washah”.e‘Theyestartemeeoffeaseaedish-washer.’e Johnson,e1980,estanzae3,elinee11.e •e “Fusedemerabeitewidedemebigetaxerackit”.e‘Firstetheyerubeitewithetheirebigetaxe racket.’eJohnson,e1980,estanzae5,elinee22.e Theerelativeepronounseare:edate‘that’,ewheye‘whichwhat’,ehue‘who’.eThee examplesefromeLKJ’sepoemseare:e •e “Deme sehe date blacke mane ise verye lazy”.e ‘Theye saye thate blacke mane ise verye lazy.’eJohnson,e1980,estanzae9,elinee35.e •e “Ise wheye wie ae gohe dhue ‘boute it?”.e ‘Whate aree wee goinge toe doe aboute it?’e Johnson,e1980,estanzae14,elinee56e Theenexteoneeisetheelisteofedemonstratives:e Singulare disya, dis ‘this’e dat de, dat ‘that’e Plurale demya, dem ‘these’e demde, dem ‘those’e e TheeexampleefromeLKJepoemeis:e •e “Innaedisyaefacktriealledemedhueisepackecrackry”.e‘Inethisefactoryealletheyedoe isepackecrackery.’eJohnson,e1980,estanzae11,elinee42.e VerbseineJamaicaneCreoleesometimesedoenotechangeetheireformetoeindicatee timee referencee tense,e number,e continuouse action,e ore passivee meaning.e Fore exampleeine“mieuseetoeworkepanedieandahgroun”eJohnson,e1980,estanzae1,elinee2e ise‘Ieusedetoeworkeonetheeunderground”.ee AnotheredistinctiveeuseeofegrammareineJamaicaneCreoleeisetheeprepositionse andeconjunctions.eSomeecommonlyeusedeprepostionseare:einnae‘in’,eoutae‘oute of’,e panpone ‘on’,e aafe e ‘of’,e e fahe fifee ‘for’,e fie ‘to’.e Ande ine additione toe moree commonlyeusedeformselikeeane‘and’,eare‘or’ebote‘but’,esomeeconjunctionseinepatwae are:ecausecawe‘because’,edowealthough’,etille‘until’.e e

D. Review on Socio-political Background