Why talk in patois when not brought up that way?

[sean]

for several months last year, huddersfield police were after a thug..a white thug..who assaulted a lot of people on a train and "stunk of cigarettes and spoke with an assumed and exaggerated jamaican accent" ..sounds a true numpty to me....i think they caught him too....

[Rootsgal]

THX Leggo....I go back and forth so much, that I have great difficulty switching so I do a combination sometimes..plus, why it bother you so?
"me nah wanna start quarrel...seen?" LOL....

[reggae originator]

It's like why do some people wear dreadlocks when they are not Rastafarians...
Just fashion...

[MightyZ]

I think you should not take it too seriously if someone who is not bought up with patois, but uses it on here. I don't tend to - I write as I speak. However, when I'm getting into some good heavy sounds, I might start chanting out some patois and the occasional 'Jah Rastafari' (even though I'm Christian) - when you listen to music for many years that contains this stuff - sometimes it's hard not to emulate it. After all - that is how kids pick up their accents when they learn to talk - they take on board what is being said around them.

I did used to find it amusing back in the 80's though - a couple of things come to mind. Firstly we supported Talisman at a gig in pompey - they were from Bristol I think. On stage the black guys in the band were all 'Jah Rastafari' - off stage they spoke with thick west country accents! Another time the two singers from Portsmouth's only two reggae bands of the mid 80s (I played bass in one) were round my place - normally they spoke in a Brummie accent and a London style accent - together it was 'blood clot' etc. Seemed wierd when I knew they didn't speak like that normally!

MightyZ

[=Nilo82=]

You see, my mother language isn't patois (it's not even english). Still i use some patois phrases sometimes. Not to be cool or because i want to be a jamaican. Quite happy with being german. Why use patois than? Well, i use it to cite . Citing is a lot of fun - of course only, if others can get it. You won't see me going to the bakery shoutin out "whaa gwan star?" to the grandpa sellin bread. But talkin to friends, knowing they listen to reggae a lot as well, it's fun talking some patois sometimes (not all the time though).
As long as you don't take it serious but a little ironic..
Bless!

[Kemikals]

Dis nadi pure lingua I n I afi chant inna dis universe cos patois is interesting fi ear. Nice and genkle fi overstand. Wah I di bredren dem running tins I feel fi di lingua lika moma tonge.
Kemikals Ghana

[ACEtone]

I definitely cringe when people try an Irish accent on with me - and why should I really? Any time it has happened it has been intended to be flattering. So I usually say nothing. It is worst when it is a really poor effort!

I'm not averse to using a few Jamaican-isms myself but purely in di contex of reasonin on Jah music seen? So if any Jamaican feels offended I would like them to know that it is always meant with respect, honour and praises.
Also some Jamaican inflections are remarkably similar to some regional accents in Ireland so I generally feel a strong affinity to the musicality of the Jamaican spoken (and sung) word.
It's really all about how far it is taken and the intentions behind it.

I think Jamaicans should feel good about it because it means that they have made their way in the world and people outside their culture adopt their phrases and style and want to be a part of the culture.

Plenty of Jamaicans speak the so called 'Queen's English' better than the average Brit either on a day to day basis or when the need arises. They can as easily slip back into the patois when talking to people with similar backgrounds. We all do this.

We're human animals after all and we adapt to different situations and language is one of our most flexible tools for making our way through life.
Wite bwoy im know im nah go speakin patois when im a gwan hinterview fi job at di bank - A Jamaican wouldn't either.
But if you're listening to some chunes and yu feel Irie yu might just slip in to a bit of talking that kind of talk. No harm done.

Another point perhaps more directly addressing the subject is that most Jamaicans that attended school (compulsory by British law?) were taught 'proper' English and traditionally 'respectable' parents brought their kids up to speak 'properly'. A lot of this has probably changed - this is conjecture, but I suspect that the education system is not as rigid there as it once was and parents are probably more accepting of the patois as a significant part of Jamaica's cultural identity but leaving out the 'cuss cuss' and 'slackness'.

Reggae got no respect domestically for years, was not played on the radio was considered to be inferior to foreign music and not to be encouraged if you wanted your children and indeed your country to succeed in the world.

Here's a question:
Again addressing the subject. Should people of a certain culture reject the influence of a foreign culture?
When this happens, humanity is in serious trouble and supremacist, nationalist, fascist regimes sprout up all over the world at different times. The results are basically a disgrace.
Music is not separate from language, poetry, the arts in general. Why not speak a bit of patois if you feel like it? Whether you or I are any good at it is another subject.

I do go on don't I?
Ha!

[ACEtone]

I just read through some of the other posts in a bit more detail and didn't realize that there was quite so much heat to this debate.
I get the feeling that the mods think it should be dropped and they may be right and within their rights to scrub it.
But it is an interesting a valuable discussion in my opinion.

I'm not sure if this story illustrates or elucidates any on this matter but I'll give it a try.

A few years ago on holiday in Ireland (where I'm from) in Dingle (a still rural and beautiful but unfortunately heavily tourist area) there was a buzz on in the town about a young German (I think) fiddle player who everyone wanted to hear play. Apparently this kid was a total Irish traditional music junkie who could play it better than a lot of Irish master musicians. Well being no fan then or now of Irish traditional music I had nothing but disdain for this weird phenomenon. Pah!

In hindsight I think of myself then as a snob, a cultural purist and basically someone who had a lot to learn about human culture. Still lots more to learn.
I'm still no fan of 'my musical heritage' but I accept that cross-pollination is healthy and essential for the survival of much cultural activity.

Music is a language as obviously the spoken word is too. Use it, feel it, play it.
there are too many people in the world that know only what they see and hear around them through no choice of their own. Share the knowledge and joy of language, music, art and learning, without snobbery, elitism.

[stepping razor]

The funny thing is these people talking french patois that is not their first lingwah, but not many people can understand someone talking in full patois accent, like on the tele they have sub-titles cause they may not understand what their saying and the sub-titles miss out quite a lot of what they are actually saying.
So before you try talking patois you have to understand what other people talking patois are saying.
Multi-lingwah accent is confusing to some people in life when hearing it.

peace edit on spellin
peace

[toucan]

I moved to Devon nearly 30 years ago and married a local girl. I am told that I now have a bit of a Devon accent and use a lot of Westcountry phrases. It is all around me and it would be strange if this didn't rub off on me.
I listen to a lot of (mainly roots) reggae - I was bought up near High Wycombe with a then large West Indian population - this has rubbed off on me.
Some local words and phrases are more descriptive than the Queens English so I naturally use them.
Should I not use the word 'riddim' for example because it is not from my mother tounge? Is 'babylon' not a brilliantly descriptive word that would take hours to substitute?
After listening to music for a few hours I can feel quite 'in tune' with the 'culture' and would be more likely to speak / write in that manner, especially if liberated by some good herb.
Live and let live, lighten up and dont be too quick to judge / knock others