Overstanding and being Overstood in Accompong Town

Many (including me) find patois to be so foreign to our ears that we get lost in the sentence structure or lack thereof, that what we think we hear is not what is being said. A recent example happened to me just the other day.

First let me say that patois varies depending on where you go in Jamaica. For instance, Kingstonian patois is quite a bit different than Negril patois. Kingstonians use a lot of local slang that may not be used in Negril. Kind of like an East Coaster in America trying to understand someone from the Deep South and visa-versa. And a further difference is prominent between general island patois and that spoken in Accompong Town. Many Afro-centric words from tribal Africa are a mainstay in their patois. Words and sounds from the Ashanti, Coromantee, Alcan and other dialects from Africa’s Gold Coast and a few from Eastern and Southern Africa have crept into normal conversations.

I found it generally easier to converse with and understand the younger generation of Maroons. Perhaps that is due to their understanding of my limitations or the “freshness” of their terminology which comes mostly from popular music that I listen to and understand more each and every day.
Now, the village elders are a different story. They chat effortlessly using archaic English, African words and phrases interspersed with common patois fully expecting me to understand every word which brings me to my example.

Sunday morning I was sitting on my verandah enjoying the scarlet sunrise when two elderly gentlemen dressed in dapper clothes approached from the main road. I invited them to sit for a spell before moving on. I listened intently as first one spoke and then the other and sometimes both at the same time which soon had me lost as to what they were saying almost completely. I scrambled to pick words and phrases I could understand from their speech. Soon I understood “block” so I knew bricks must be part of it. Now I searched for words that fit around blocks. I thought I heard “rum” which could have been “drum” and then later a date a few days in the future and finally the name “Thomas Rowe*”. Now, I thought I understood. Thomas Row had passed away and the burial (after a Nine Nights) would take place on the date they mentioned. This made good sense to me as it takes 40 blocks to make a cemetery crypt and a “bokkle of rum” is needed to purify the grounds before burial. While I continued to nod as if I understood, one of the gentlemen asked for my thoughts on the matter.
I confidently offered my condolences to the Rowe family over Thomas’ passing and would gladly contribute a few blocks or a bokkle of rum for the internment. They shot a glance at each other before the first gentleman, Thomas Rowe, thanked me for my sentiment but it was (as I could plainly see) not yet required. They both laughed leaving me embarrassed over jumping to conclusions.

Carefully and in more proper English, they went on to explain they were Seventh Day Adventists and they were having a raffle for “bokkles of rum” (though they themselves were not drinkers) to raise funds to build a new church. Feeling sheepish for my faux pas, I bought 20 $100 raffle tickets and, I must confess, secretly hope I don’t win!

*Name changed to protect the living!
Peace and Guidance

What a cute story! Thanks for sharing :)

:D

Bill,

Soon you will understand more and more as you are fully immersed in the country now. One day you will not even hear an accent when a Jamaican speaks to you and an American will sound funny.

It happened that way for me and after all these years I never lost the language. Full immersion into the culture is a geat teacher.

Bless

Mr. Bill -

WHAT A GREAT STORY!! I totally understand where you are coming from. Many the time I sit and look at my loved ones in Jamaica as they converse, waiting for a break in the conversation to say "HUH?" I am usually somewhat OK as long as there are a few words of English thrown in here and there. But sometimes it just gets so deep that I can't even begin to find my way. He can't overstand how I still can't understand after our years of knowing each other. My only consolation is that I have other Jamaican friends who find this particular patois difficult to understand as well, so I don't feel quite so bad.

WOW, love that story and so happy you shared it with us. And thank you for guilding to the history of this parish. I would not have known without your postings. ♥

Hope to meet up with you Bill in Accompong this Nov...Love the story..the more your around the Patois the easier it is..but so true about the different dialects across the island..

I'm Jamaican from Kingston and I don't even understand all the different types of patois.

So don't feel bad!

Great story! Thank you for sharing it.

Lol...Marie...
The first time I was in Kingston we had a lovely driver friend with us from the Negril area. We would visit various places in Kingston and more often than not, someone was saying I don't understand you (to our driver friend) and asking Rob and I to translate.

We've been in Kingston all week & listening/chatting to anyone under 30 years, maybe even 40ish...while you can definitely detect an accent, there's barely if any patois when they speak to us or each other.
After living here for years (especially for Rob) Patois of course becomes part of your life...but with these younger Kingston Jamaicans the patois was definitely not as common for everyday speaking.

Bnewb they say we Kingstonians speaky spokey... I sound like the News Reporters, we were not allowed to speak patois in our home.

you wont hear much patwa from the educated ones , in general. They will also speak patwa more amongst themselves if they recognnize yu as foreigners. Education has a lot to do with how bilingual yu are and how easy it is for a speaker to switch between both languages....namely patwa and english

Ackee...as Marie said...she's not even allowed to speak patois at home and we found it barely being spoken on the streets in Kingston either.
And, while I do understand what you're trying to say, the conversations I'm referring to have nothing to do with us or being foreign. My comments about Jamaicans talking amongst themselves were based on over hearing conversations in bars, restaurants, stores, government offices, cell yell etc.

Rob was mentioning that every time he's come to Kingston in the last 20 years he's heard less and less Patois.

It's an interesting topic...thanks Accompong

Accompng,

Very very good. Brings back lots of memories.

1st time I bought a bag water on the road. I kept trying to take it from the vendor by the bottom of the bag! LOL I couldn't understand what he was saying, but he was both frustrated and annoyed that I wasn't listening to him!!! FINALLY I realized he wanted me to grab the top of the bag!! We both had a good laugh!!!

Thanks,

VVHT

Your take on hearing patwa in Kingston is interesting. I am not disputing what your or marie said or Rob's observation. It would depend on where you hang out in Kingston when you go and with whom you hang.Educated parents often tell their children to speak only english at home so they have lots of practice with the language. The same thing was also told to students in the schools.Its not the same in most homes,however. There is a great debate now amongst academics whether speaking patwa too much is is denying children the ability to compete because their english speaking abilities have decreased or in some cases ...non-existant.
here is a link to one such heated debate..
http://www.televisionjamaica.com/Pro...x/Videos/20626

Ackee. Thanks for posting that link. Very informative. I understand both viewpoints. After all, the Bible has just been translated into Patois (of course it's been translated into Klingon also)

I never heard much Patois when I first lived in Kingston and was working in the "corporate" world but I started to learn it from my crew on the ship. Proper English is spoken at most gatherings of educated people. When I attend Lodge meetings all our proceedings are in proper English. But you will here a bit of Patois in conversation more for emphasis than for communication. Some of the folksy sayings like " can't carry water in a basket" can really only be spoken in Patois.

On the whole I rather agree with Ronnie Thwaits.

I actually wish I could learn to write in Patois. When I write in the idiom I just use properly (most times) spelled words in the Patois idiom.

:) its basically written phonetically, Cap'n..

yu nuh haffi worry too much bout di spellin atall. Jus write it dung 'ow yuh 'ear it inna yuh hed.

alright den mea give it one try

:D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ackee

Your take on hearing patwa in Kingston is interesting. I am not disputing what your or marie said or Rob's observation. It would depend on where you hang out in Kingston when you go and with whom you hang.Educated parents often tell their children to speak only english at home so they have lots of practice with the language. The same thing was also told to students in the schools.Its not the same in most homes,however. There is a great debate now amongst academics whether speaking patwa too much is is denying children the ability to compete because their english speaking abilities have decreased or in some cases ...non-existant.
here is a link to one such heated debate..
http://www.televisionjamaica.com/Pro...x/Videos/20626

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Very interesting Ackee. Absolutely agree it's about location in Kingston & with whom we hang out with...but the English seems to get more prevalent each time. Many more observations...that was just a small one & the easiest to comment on...:)