The meaning of "I"

[jaglinus]

Greetings,

I was wondering about the meaning of the "I" found in so much of the Rasta vocabulary: I&I, Iration, Ital etc. Why "I"? Has it got african roots? Is it the resemblance between I and 1 that signifies oneness? Is it to show that everything is a part of yourself and you are a part of everything?

If anybody has any knowledge in this question I would be delighted!

Thank you,
Linus

[reggae_ragga]

it surely have a few meanings
one meaning is high, a ras is a high soul - not low, devil is low, god is up in higher heights so the ras is, ras is a copy of god (genesis) devil is also a copy of god but something went wrong and god put him in low places mental & physical.
Mutabaruka have a daily show on radio called Irie fm and the shows called something with "edge", he is talking about such stuff daily, maybe you should get an access its only a few dollars/month. or try look up the web for recorded shows

[Klaus5]

I would also be very interested to know about the origin of this. Is there an african equivelent or is it a rasta invention etc

[reggae_ragga]

there is nothing like "I" in amharic so I would guess its a babylonian word / word created in babylon

"Ras" could be used same as I and "El" I think

but there s no straight linking

bless

[Arkle]

In Word, Sound & Power, the documentary about the Soul Syndicate, Dallas Rogers gives a good explanation of the "I".

[6anbatte]

**["Rastafarian Vocabulary"](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rastafarian_vocabulary)**

[Dubhead]

...and yes, the the "I" is a so called rasta creation and has no direct relations to african languages. its all about the meaning of objects and subjects and the differences.

[Visitor]

I've always thought it derives from "Selassie I" (selassie-aye). Although that doesn't make sense, cause it should be: Selassie the First.

[bmd]

I=You
I=Us
I=I
I=Jah
I=Iniverse

[k.anderson3454]

I knew about this just now.