Websta hAnlain Dikshineri - Jumiekan hIngglish
Webster's Online Dictionary - Jamaican English

Jumiekan Langwij Yuunit
Dipaatment a Langwij, Linggwistik & Filasafi
Yuniversiti a di Wes Indiz
JAMAICAN LANGUAGE UNIT
Department of Language, Linguistics & Philosophy
University of the West Indies

Bak Ansa
hAnlain gruup fi promuot di langwij
Online group to promote the language

Jumieka 2K

Sasayati fi Kiaribiyan Linggwistik
Society for Caribbean Linguistics

Langwij Varayati
Yuniversiti a Nyuu hIngglant
Language Varieties
University of New England

UsingEnglish.com
hIngglish Langwij Laanin hAnlain
English Language Learning Online
ESL / EFL / TESL / TEFL / TESOL / ESOL

Updated

hOpdiet

A B Ch D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W Y Z

Tel nou, Jumieka Taak a hongl wahn huoral langwij, paas dong an tu an, chruu wod-a-mout. Di fyuu piipl we chrai fi raiti raiti aal difran kain a wie so no kaman haatagrafi no de tel ebribadi dis kankluud sei aad fi riid ahn rait an dis no bada widi. So wi no gat no badi a lichicha fi luk pan muo dan fi Klaad Makie ahn Luiiz Benit puohim an fiuu Nansi tuori ahn refarans buk. Kiasidi ahn LiPiej, Jamaica Talk, ahn Kiasidi, Dictionary of Jamaican English a di habvios exepshan. Wi a chrai wid dis fi bil pahn wa dehn du aredi ahn opdiet di rekaad wid niu wod ahn yuusij we hinchradiuus sens dem poblish.

Nuot pahn di haatagrafi

Di haatagrafi yuuz ya a di Kiasidi-LiPiej sistim, wid slait madifikieshan. Di muos nuotobl dipaacha a di hinchradokshan a hn fi riprizent di fainal, saaf "n" soun iina wod dem laik dehn, ihn, sohn. Far bikaazn Jumieka piipl no taak wan wie bot sebral, frahn di Kwiin hIngglish, ar wa wi kaal piiki-puoki, tu braad patwa, som tingz kiahn se op tu aal faib difrahn wie. Wi chais di muos exchriim verjan, Jumiekan3, di wan we de di foris frahn tandad hIngglish fi rait iina da sait ya. Wi hadap di hinishal "h" soun bifuo vowil dem siem wie laka ef smadi ben a kot di patwa a yaad.

Kraitiiria fi silekshan

Di wod dem inkluud fi dem yuuniiknis tu di Jumiekan langwij ar fi dehn potikila miinin we difrahn frahn hIngglish. Sens disaya a wahn hopin-en prajek, muo wod wi galang had.

Heretofore, Jamaican has been an oral langwij, passed on by word-of-mouth. The few people that have tried to write it, have used differing systems, with no common orthography. The conclusion has been then that it is difficult to read, so most do not attempt to either write or read it. So we have no body of literature to speak of beyond Louise Bennett, some Anansi stories and a few reference books. Cassidy and LePage's, Jamaica Talk, and Cassidy's, Dictionary of Jamaican English are the obvious exceptions. This then is an attempt to build on what they have done and update the record with new words and usages introduced since they were published.

Note on the orthography

The orthography used here is the Cassidy-LePage system, with slight modifications. The most notable departure is the introduction of hn to represent the final, soft "n" sound in words like dehn, ihn, sohn. Since Jamaicans have several modes of speaking, from the Queen's English, or what is referred to as "speaky-spoky", to broad patois, some things can be said in up to five different ways. We have chosen the most extreme version, Jumiekan3, the one furthest from standard English in which to write this site. The initial "h" sound before the vowels has been adopted, in the manner of someone speaking patois at home.

Criteria for selection

Words are included for there uniqueness to the Jamaican language or for their particular meaning differing from English. Since this is an open-ended project, more words will be added continuously.