Life
Jamaica: Finally Bible translated into Patois
While most words in Jamaican patois have English origins, much of its grammar derives from the languages of West Africa, so it can be nearly incomprehensible to foreigners. The language was created by slaves who were brought to the island by European colonizers, and some say it was designed to prevent slave masters from understanding their words.
Despite the low view some Jamaicans hold for patois, nearly all islanders, regardless of class, can speak and understand it. Those who speak standard English fluently, mostly people from the middle and upper classes, tend to use patois for emphasis, to affect a down-to-earth persona or to talk to someone of a lower class.
The New Testament translation was recently released in Britain, where there is a large Jamaican diaspora.
“The reaction was curiosity at first, mixed with some skepticism, surprise and amusement when the words were spoken, but quite quickly replaced by enthusiasm and admiration,” said Matt Parkes, fundraising director for the Swindon, England-based Bible Society.
In the central England town of Northampton, the Rev. Dennis Hines of the New Testament Church of God said the patois Bible has been received well, especially in prisons where he works as a chaplain and inmates of Jamaican heritage are clamoring for a copy.
“Just to know that there was a Bible in their native tongue has made people feel really proud and excited,” said Hines, who was born in Jamaica but moved to Britain when he was a boy.
The translation is a touchier subject in Jamaica, where activists are pushing for patois to be granted official status alongside English and used in classrooms.
