Lesson 26 of 47 · Hanover
Describe how people are, act, become and resemble — a so im tan, gwaan so, yu fayva yu muma.
Fi describe people — how dem stay, how dem move, who dem look like — yu need four likkle verb: gwaan, tan, tun an fayva. GWAAN mean go on, eena two sense: carry on / proceed — Gwaan so! (keep going just like that! — also praise: gwaan bad ting!) — an behave: Wa mek yu a gwaan so? (why are you carrying on like that?). Im gwaan like seh im nice (he acts as if he is all that). Cousin word: galang — Galang bout yu business (go along about your business). TAN literally mean stand or stay — Tan deh! Mi a come (wait there) — but i also mean BE, fi describe character: A so im tan (that is just how he is). Hou yu tan so? (how are you like that?). Tan tedy! (hold still!). TUN mean turn, an i do di wuk a become: Im tun big man now (he has become a grown man). Dishclaat tun tableclaat (the dishcloth has become a tablecloth — said of someone rising above their old station). Di milk tun (the milk turned sour). FAYVA come fram favour, an i mean resemble or seem: Yu fayva yu muma (you look just like your mother). Di two a dem fayva twin. I also mean look like fi weather an situation: Fayva like rain a go faal (it looks like rain is going to fall). Yu face fayva seh yu tiyad (your face suggests you are tired). Learner error dem fi recast: (1) He looks like his father — no seh im look like; seh im fayva im faada. (2) That is how he is — di natural Patois a A so im tan. (3) He became a doctor — Im tun docta; no became. (4) Fayva no mean prefer — a resemble i mean; fi prefer yu seh im love X more dan Y. Drill di four verb dem by describing smadi yu know well.
| Patois | Cassidy-JLU | English |
|---|---|---|
| gwaan | gwaan | go on; carry on; behave |
| gwaan so! | gwaan so! | keep it up! (praise or scolding, by tone) |
| galang | galang | go along |
| tan | tan | stay; be (of character) |
| a so im tan | a so im tan | that's just how he/she is |
| tan tedy | tan tedi | hold still |
| tan deh | tan de | wait there (also a warning) |
| tun | ton | turn; become |
| tun big man | ton big man | become a grown man |
| fayva | fieva | resemble; seem |
| yu fayva yu muma | yu fieva yu muma | you look just like your mother |
| fayva like | fieva laik | it looks as if |
| come een like | kom iin laik | seem as if (Yu come een like yu tiyad — you seem tired) |
He notes the Jamaican folk use of stay, start 'and other such verbs' for 'be', which licenses tan as a verb of state ('A so im tan'), and he cites galang-galang among the iteratives (p. 72). Tun as 'become' and fayva as 'resemble' are not discussed in Chapter Four.
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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