Lesson 28 of 48 · Hanover
Compare things two ways (hotta dan / sweet more dan) and crown the winner with di bigges.
Fi compare eena Patois, yu have two good pattern — an nobody naa fuss which one yu pick. Pattern one: adjective + -a + dan, jus like English -er than: Wasp bite hotta dan ants bite (a wasp sting is more painful than an ant bite). Im badda dan dem (he is tougher than they are). Dis ya mango sweeta dan dat deh one. Pattern two: adjective + more dan: Hanover small more dan St. James (Hanover is smaller than St. James). Di sea calm more dan yeside. Yu wi hear di marker double up too — sweeta more dan, more betta, di most bes — an dat a ole, settle Jamaican talk, no mistake at all; English self did have i before dem call i redundant. Wi jus drill di two clean pattern fus, so yu have one steady way fi seh i, an yu wi recognise di double one when yu hear i. Pattern three: no fi seh 'as' wid a plain adjective — Hot no pepper (as hot as pepper); Cubbitch no star-apple (as grudgeful as di star-apple tree, weh no drop im fruit even when i ripe). Dat no come from English 'no' — i come from nor, weh mean 'than', an yu still hear di older shape eena di proverb Jamaica long more no rope. Pattern four: same like, fi seh two ting favour one anodda — Cane have flag same like corn. Abbay shape same like coconut. Fi di superlative, use di + adjective + -es/-is: di bigges, di swees, di fassis: Im a di bigges outta di whola mi pickney dem (he is the biggest of all my children). A di bes yam eena di whole maakit. Den yu have di famous Patois intensifier dem weh beat any superlative: I sweet yu see! (it is SO sweet!). Shi love im gaan a bed (loves him beyond measure). Money cyaan done (endless money). Di road bad so till (the road is unbelievably bad). Fi seh two ting equal: dem level, or di two a dem tan same way. Ting fi tidy up: (1) Dis ya one is more sweeter than dat — di piece fi fix deh a di English piece: drop di is, an mek than tun dan. Sweeta dan dat, or sweet more dan dat. Di double marker no wrong, jus pick one while yu a learn. (2) The most big — recast: di bigges. (3) Than pronounce dan — flat, no th. (4) No figet di article: a di bes, no i is best. (5) Adjective no need ly or very — seh well sweet, sweet-sweet, or sweet cyaan done. Drill wid real ting: two fruit, two parish, two footballer — mek di learner judge an defend dem verdict. Two more ting bout adjective before wi lef dis lesson. Fus: dem no always sit inna front a di noun. Patois can put di adjective BEHIND i, especially wen a describe a state — an di older di speech, di more yu hear i. Secan, an dis wan surprise learner: di comparative can double up. English pick one — 'better' OR 'more good'. Patois can run di two together fi weight: more betta, more prettier, mos bes. Dat a no error fi correct out; a a real pattern wid i own emphasis, an yu wi hear i inna song, inna preaching an inna argument. Yu no haffi produce i, but yu haffi recognise i.
| Patois | Cassidy-JLU | English |
|---|---|---|
| -a dan | -a dan | -er than (hotta dan, sweeta dan) |
| more dan | muor dan | more than |
| badda dan | bada dan | tougher/worse than |
| di bigges | di bigis | the biggest |
| di fassis | di faasis | the fastest |
| di bes | di bes | the best |
| outta di whola | outa di uola | out of all of |
| level | levl | equal, even |
| so till | so til | extremely, beyond words |
| cyaan done | kyaahn don | endless(ly) |
| gaan a bed | gaan a bed | superlatively (love i gaan a bed) |
| well + adj | wel + adj | very (well sweet) |
| sweet yu see! | swiit yu si! | it's SO good! |
| hot no pepper | hat no pepa | as hot as pepper (no = 'as') |
| same like | siem laik | just like, the same as |
The -er and -est comparatives are described here as fully taken over by the folk speech, along with the multiple comparatives it kept from seventeenth-century English — most unkindest, more stronger, worserer. That is why this lesson no longer presents doubling as a mistake. Cassidy describes postposed adjectives and doubled comparatives (more better, most best) as regular folk patterns rather than failed attempts at the Standard forms.
no used in comparisons to mean 'as' — 'Hot no pepper', 'Cubbitch no star-apple' — its origin in nor meaning 'than' ('Jamaica long more no rope'), and same like, are all described here.
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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