Lesson 39 of 48 · Clarendon
Double up words fi paint character (fool-fool, so-so, one-one) an crank up adjectives wid sweet yu see!, gaan a bed, cyaan done.
Patois love fi double up word — a African sinting dat, an i sweet di language cyaan done. When yu seh a word two time, yu mek i stronga, or yu tun i eena habit or character. Fool-fool no mean 'two fool' — i mean di smadi STAY foolish: 'Di bwoy fool-fool, im lef di gate open again' (the boy is silly). Chati-chati = talks too much: 'Mi aunty chati-chati, shi know everybody business.' Licky-licky = greedy: 'No gi im di whole pot — im too licky-licky.' Picky-picky = choosy; fraidi-fraidi = timid; chaka-chaka = messy: 'Yu room chaka-chaka, go fix i up!' Two special ones from di farm: so-so mean 'nothing but' — 'A so-so wuk mi a wuk from maanin' (nothing but work). One-one mean 'one at a time' — 'One-one coco full baskit'; di proverb self teach yu di grammar. An dege-dege mean measly: 'Im gi mi one dege-dege piece a yam.' Di doubling no always mean di same ting — listen fi which sense a run. ONE AT A TIME, spread out: one-one coco full baskit; likkle-likkle. PLENTY, all kind, all bout: bit-bit; wass-wass fi wasp dem in general. KEEP ON DOING: look-look; galang-galang. HABIT, so di smadi jus stay so: a cry-cry pickney no jus a cry right now. FAMILIAR, sweet-talk: tun-tun, chim-chim. An di one dis lesson lean pon, INTENSIFYING: pretty-pretty, plenty-plenty, flat-flat. Watch dis one twist, though — sometime di doubling mek di quality LESS, no more: yalla-yalla mean yellowish, no 'very yellow'. Contex a di judge. Now di intensifier dem. Patois no really seh 'very' — i have sweeter tool: (1) well + adjective: 'Mi well hungry' (very hungry). (2) ...yu see! pon di end: 'Di mango sweet yu see!' (so sweet!). (3) ...gaan a bed: 'Grani love yu gaan a bed' (loves you to the utmost). (4) ...cyaan done: 'Money deh a Clarendon cyaan done' (endlessly). (5) ...so till: 'Di pot hot so till!' Learner errors fi watch: (1) No seh 'very fool-fool' — di doubling already strong; if yu waan more, seh 'im fool-fool bad'. (2) Start wid di set form dem above — dem a di safe way in, an dem carry meaning yu cyaan guess fram di parts. But no tek dem fi a closed lis: di pattern live, an almos any word can double when di moment call fi i. (3) 'Sweet yu see' no mean 'you see the sweet' — a one fixed tag, keep i whole. When yu slip, mi naa lecture yu — mi wi jus seh i back di right way, an yu talk i ova afta mi. Wan more intensifier weh no need no doubling: bare self, dropped inna di sentence pon i own. English use 'even' or 'at all' fi dis wuk. Patois jus put self: Im no come self (he didn't even come); Mi no have wan self; Wata self no deh. I attach to di ting yu a point at, an i sharpen di whole line. No confuse i wid di English reflexive 'myself, yourself' — dat a a different word doing a different job.
| Patois | Cassidy-JLU | English |
|---|---|---|
| fool-fool | fuul-fuul | silly, foolish |
| chati-chati | chati-chati | talks too much |
| licky-licky | liki-liki | greedy — grabby, always wanting more |
| picky-picky | piki-piki | choosy, finicky |
| fraidi-fraidi | friedi-friedi | timid |
| chaka-chaka | chaka-chaka | messy, disorderly |
| so-so | so-so | only, nothing but |
| one-one | wan-wan | one at a time |
| dege-dege | dege-dege | measly, tiny |
| boonoonoonous | buunuunuunos | wonderful, delightful |
| well | wel | very (well hungry = very hungry) |
| ...yu see! | ...yu si! | emphatic tag: so!, really! |
| ...gaan a bed | ...gaan a bed | to the utmost, superlatively |
| ...cyaan done | ...kyaahn don | endlessly, no end to it |
| self | self | even, at all (intensive) |
Cassidy's account of reduplication runs pp. 69–72: he collected close to two hundred forms in four types, notes that almost any word or phrase may be iterated at will, and sets out the senses this lesson lists — including yalla-yalla, where iteration lessens the quality instead of intensifying it.
Cassidy records self used bare as an intensive particle, in the sense English carries with 'even' or 'at all', distinct from the reflexive.
The description of the grammar is checked against the published work above. The lesson, the examples and the wording are mine.
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