Kolleen

>I obviously find this fascinating, and have read a lot of books on the
>subject, which I would recommend if I could remember the titles...
>Dar


Ever hear Rastafarian? (sp), a COOL dialect of english that is almost
unrecognizable to people speaking english. I would love to know the
origins of that!

My dear friend lived in Jamaica for many years and taught me some. She
also pointed out what people were saying when we heard them talk. It was
awesome!

Living in NYC has allowed me to come in contact with some of the most
fascinating cultures without leaving my own backyard!

Although, while in Canada recently, someone mentioned to me about how
THEIR dialect was correct because it was the closest to 'Oxford'
english.. how silly eh? :-)


regards,
kolleen

[email protected]

On Wed, 27 Feb 02 13:06:19 -0500 Kolleen <Kolleen@...> writes:
> Ever hear Rastafarian? (sp), a COOL dialect of english that is almost
> unrecognizable to people speaking english. I would love to know the
> origins of that!
>

Yes. I think it's called patois, or patwa, although that word can be used
both generically and specifically. Not sure if it's a creole or an actual
recognized language, I would figure it began as a pidgin mixing English,
some African language, Spanish, Portugese, with some uniquely Rastafarian
words. It sort of reminded me of the pidgin we heard on Hawai'i (which I
think is still a pidgin - a pidgin becomes a creole when it' someone's
native langauge, rather than a mixture of languages used for
communication).

> My dear friend lived in Jamaica for many years and taught me some.
> She also pointed out what people were saying when we heard them talk.
It
> was awesome!

It sounds very cool! A friend of mine lived in Jamaica for a couple of
years - her daughter's father is Jamaican and she was born there - and
we've all talked about going back some day...
>
> Although, while in Canada recently, someone mentioned to me about how
> THEIR dialect was correct because it was the closest to 'Oxford'
> english.. how silly eh? :-)

Yup. It's that prescriptive vs. descriptive thing, which I've tried to
explan to my sister but she doesn't want to hear it, she prefers to
think that her college instructors are idiots. Which they may be, but not
because the linguistics tecahers is teacher desciptive phonology and the
English teacher is tecahing prescriptive presciptive phonology...

Dar

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donabak

>Although, while in Canada recently, someone mentioned to me about
how THEIR dialect was correct because it was the closest to 'Oxford'
english.. how silly eh? :-)

This IS silly because, in Canada we have different dialects as you
move from West to East, which I believe is a reflection of the
populations that inhabited certain areas. (Lots of Celtic influence
in the maritime provinces and Nova Scotia)

I have a half-brother who was raised by his mother in Nova Scotia. I
was raised in Alberta. He and I do not sound the same at all. He has
a very distinct accent to my ear that is peculiar to Nova Scotia. He
would say that I sound like a Westerner.

People from PEI and New Brunswick have their own unique way of
speaking and Newfoundland is probably the most individual of all the
Canadian provinces. They have, for most purposes, evolved their own
language! Not to mention Quebec, where of course, they speak French
and the territories of Nunavut and North West Territories, where many
people speak Inuit or Cree as their first language.

I find this interesting as well. Thanks for the thread.

Tia Leschke

>
>Although, while in Canada recently, someone mentioned to me about how
>THEIR dialect was correct because it was the closest to 'Oxford'
>english.. how silly eh? :-)

Oh Pu-leeze!
Tia, the naturalized Canuck, who speaks almost exactly the same now as she
did in California.

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
Eleanor Roosevelt
*********************************************
Tia Leschke
leschke@...
On Vancouver Island

Tia Leschke

>
>
>Oh Pu-leeze!
>Tia, the naturalized Canuck, who speaks almost exactly the same now as she
>did in California.

And I should add that I sound pretty much like all the born-in-Canada
people who live around me. Tia

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
Eleanor Roosevelt
*********************************************
Tia Leschke
leschke@...
On Vancouver Island