Cassidy/JLU orthography
The Cassidy/JLU orthography is a phonetic system for writing Jamaican Patois originally developed by the linguist Frederic Cassidy.[1] It is used as the writing system for the Jamaican Wikipedia, known in Patois, and written using the Cassidy/JLU system, as the Jumiekan Patwa Wikipidia.
Background[edit]
Patois has long been written with various respellings compared to English so that, for example, the word "there" might be written ⟨de⟩, ⟨deh⟩, or ⟨dere⟩, and the word "three" as ⟨tree⟩, ⟨tri⟩, or ⟨trii⟩. Standard English spelling is often used and a nonstandard spelling sometimes becomes widespread even though it is neither phonetic nor standard (e.g. ⟨pickney⟩ for /pikni/, 'child').
Creation[edit]
Cassidy advocated for creole languages to use an orthography, or writing style, that did not rely on European spelling conventions.
The more the creole differs phonemically from the lexicalizing language (English, French, Dutch - whatever), the more it must differ in its orthography. It should be taught and learned in a system of its own ... Paramount should be a phonemically accurate, consistent, autonomous system
— Cassidy (1993)[2]
Cassidy's orthography, initially proposed in 1961, uses a phonemic system that closely reproduces the sound of the language. The Cassidy System was later adopted and modified by the Jamaican Language Unit (JLU) at the University of the West Indies.[3]
Development[edit]
In 2002, the Jamaican Language Unit was set up at the University of the West Indies at Mona to begin standardizing the language, with the aim of supporting non-English-speaking Jamaicans according to their constitutional guarantees of equal rights, as services of the state are normally provided in English, which a significant portion of the population cannot speak fluently. The vast majority of such persons are speakers of Jamaican Patois. It was argued that failure to provide services of the state in a language in such general use or discriminatory treatment by officers of the state based on the inability of a citizen to use English violates the rights of citizens. The proposal was made that freedom from discrimination on the ground of language be inserted into the Charter of Rights.[4]
Comparison with standard English[edit]
The JLU standardized the Jamaican alphabet as follows:[5]
| Letter | Patois | English |
|---|---|---|
| i | sik | sick |
| e | bel | bell |
| a | ban | band |
| o | kot | cut |
| u | kuk | cook |
| Letter | Patois | English |
|---|---|---|
| ii | tii | tea |
| aa | baal | ball |
| uu | shuut | shoot |
| Letter | Patois | English |
|---|---|---|
| ie | kiek | cake |
| uo | gruo | grow |
| ai | bait | bite |
| ou | kou | cow |
Nasal vowels are written with -hn, as in kyaahn (can't) and iihn (isn't it?)
| Letter | Patois | English |
|---|---|---|
| b | biek | bake |
| d | daag | dog |
| ch | choch | church |
| f | fuud | food |
| g | guot | goat |
| h | hen | hen |
| j | joj | judge |
| k | kait | kite |
| l | liin | lean |
| m | man | man |
| n | nais | nice |
| ng | sing | sing |
| p | piil | peel |
| r | ron | run |
| s | sik | sick |
| sh | shout | shout |
| t | tuu | two |
| v | vuot | vote |
| w | wail | wild |
| y | yong | young |
| z | zuu | zoo |
| zh | vorzhan | version |
h is written according to local pronunciation, so that hen (hen) and en (end) are distinguished in writing for speakers of western Jamaican, but not for those of central Jamaican.
Publications[edit]
In 2012 the Bible Society, in collaboration with the JLU, translated the New Testament into Jamaican using the Cassidy orthography, it was published as Di Jamiekan Nyuu Testiment.[6]
References[edit]
- ^ Farquharson, Joseph T. (2013), "Jamaican structure dataset", Atlas of Pidgin and Creole Language Structures Online, Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, retrieved 2024-02-16
- ^ Sebba, Mark (2007). Spelling and Society: The Culture and Politics of Orthography around the World. Cambridge University Press. p. 119. ISBN 9781139462020.
- ^ Durrleman, Stephanie (2008). The Syntax of Jamaican Creole: A Cartographic Perspective. John Benjamins Publishing. p. 10. ISBN 978-9027255105.
- ^ "The Jamaican Language Unit, The University of West Indies at Mona". Archived from the original on 2020-11-06. Retrieved 2015-11-26.
- ^ ""Handout: Spelling Jamaican the Jamaican way"" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-08-09. Retrieved 2012-12-26.
- ^ Tomlinson, Rhoma (5 February 2012). "Some churches, schools now using Patois Bible". Jamaica Observer. Retrieved 2017-05-04.