🇯🇲 Likkle But Tallawah: Celebrating the Language That Built Us
Jamaican Patois
I wanted to take the time to bring awareness to language, and specifically, a dialect in Jamaica called Patois.
Patois is a mixture of African and English dialects, and its origins trace back to the Atlantic Slave Trade in the 16th century, when Africans were transported to Jamaica.
Since then, Patois has remained a vibrant, expressive part of our culture, widely spoken yet still not an official language in Jamaica.
Some say our Patois might lack precision or structure, that it does not lend itself easily to executive functioning or technical measurement. We do not usually speak in terms of five pints of salt or ten kilometres from here.
Instead, we might say “likkle bit of salt” when our Canadian cousin asks how much to add to the rice and peas. Or, when describing our favourite beach that is well within sight, we would say “di beach deh dung di road,” rather than “it is down that road.”
For greater clarity, we might even say “ten minutes from here” instead of “ten kilometres,” perhaps because time feels easier to picture than distance. With Patois, time, though subjective, may be more palatable, while distance feels too fixed and exact.
Our language is colourful, rhythmic, and deeply expressive. You can hear it in our music, feel it in our dances, and see it in the passion of our sports — the same energy that has defined Jamaica across the world.
As we approach National Heroes Day on October 20, I am taking a moment to reflect on our ancestors and the remarkable foundation that Patois has built for us.
Let us celebrate the beauty, resilience, and creativity of our language — the heartbeat of who we are.
#NationalHeroesDay #JamaicanPatois #LikkleButTallawah