Can you speak "Jamaican?"
source: http://www.globalexchange.org/countries/americas/jamaica/language.html
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- ejasun
- added this
A Jamaican Conversation
"Bredrin, wa gwaan?"
"Bwai, ya done know seh mi deya gwaan easy."
"Yes I, a so it go still. Not 'n na gwaan, but we a keep di faith, nuh true?"
"True. How de pickney dem stay?"
"Bwai, dem aright. One a dem wan tun DJ an bus. Nex one wan go a foreign an bus. A try mia try reason with dem still."
"Yeh man, a so pickney stay fi real. Dem fi know seh every mickle mek a muckle."
"True. Mi deh pon haste, ya hear? A faawod mi a faawod."
"Yeh man, lickle more, seen?"
"Lickle more."
The English Translation
"What 's up, man?"
"I 'm here just taking it easy."
"Yeah, that 's how it is. Times are hard but we have to keep the faith, isn't that right?"
"Yeah. How are your kids?"
"They 're alright. One wants to be a DJ and make it big. Another one wants to migrate and make it big. I 'm just trying to reason with them."
"Yeah, that's how kids are. They have to know that you have to work for things little by little."
"True. Listen, I 'm in a hurry. I'm going to leave."
"OK, see you later."
"See you later."
http://www.globalexchange.org/countries/americas/jamaica/language.html
"Bredrin, wa gwaan?"
"Bwai, ya done know seh mi deya gwaan easy."
"Yes I, a so it go still. Not 'n na gwaan, but we a keep di faith, nuh true?"
"True. How de pickney dem stay?"
"Bwai, dem aright. One a dem wan tun DJ an bus. Nex one wan go a foreign an bus. A try mia try reason with dem still."
"Yeh man, a so pickney stay fi real. Dem fi know seh every mickle mek a muckle."
"True. Mi deh pon haste, ya hear? A faawod mi a faawod."
"Yeh man, lickle more, seen?"
"Lickle more."
The English Translation
"What 's up, man?"
"I 'm here just taking it easy."
"Yeah, that 's how it is. Times are hard but we have to keep the faith, isn't that right?"
"Yeah. How are your kids?"
"They 're alright. One wants to be a DJ and make it big. Another one wants to migrate and make it big. I 'm just trying to reason with them."
"Yeah, that's how kids are. They have to know that you have to work for things little by little."
"True. Listen, I 'm in a hurry. I'm going to leave."
"OK, see you later."
"See you later."
http://www.globalexchange.org/countries/americas/jamaica/language.html
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ejasun
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How can it be that a conversation between two Jamaicans needs translating into English?
So different, in fact, that the average English speaker cannot go into a Jamaican rum bar and understand the men sitting at the counter, or go to a dancehall session and understand what the selector is saying, let alone the DJs.
This article is a brief attempt to trace the history of Jamaican language and how it is used in Jamaica today, to help us all understand one another a little better.
RESPECT RASTAFARI i-n-i
http://www.globalexchange.org/countries/americas/jamaica/language.html
- 3 years ago
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ejasun
