Lesson 2 of 48 · Kingston
Ask and answer Wa yu niem?, Wa dat?, Wa yu a du? — wh-questions with no inversion and no 'is'.
Wa (also written wha) is your all-purpose 'what', and niem works as a VERB: Mi niem Jan means 'my name is John' — no 'is' anywhere. So the question is simply Wa yu niem? — what are you called? Patois questions never flip word order and never add 'do' or 'is'; the question lives in the word order staying flat and the voice rising. Point at things with Wa dat? or, sharper, with the cleft A in front: A wa dat? (what IS that?). For people use a who: A who dat? For actions, Wa yu a du? — what are you doing? (that little a before the verb marks -ing; we drill it fully in St. Andrew). Example sentences: 1) Wa yu niem? — Mi niem Marcia. — What's your name? — My name is Marcia. 2) A wa dat? — Dat a bulla. — What's that? — That's a bulla cake. 3) Wa yu a du? — Mi a cook. — What are you doing? — I'm cooking. 4) A who dat deh-so? — Dat a Maas Joe. — Who's that right there? — That's Maas Joe. 5) Wa dis? — A likkle sinting fi yu. — What's this? — A little something for you. 6) Wa yu seh? — What did you say? 7) Im niem Pearl, but everybody call ar Miss P. — Her name is Pearl, but everybody calls her Miss P. 8) Wa yu waan? — What do you want? Common learner errors to recast: word-for-word English ('What is your name?' → Wa yu niem?); sneaking in 'is' or 'do' (Wa is dat? → A wa dat?; Wa yu do? for present action → Wa yu a du?); forgetting the a in Wa yu a du; and answering with 'My name is...' (recast Mi niem...). If the learner says name with a long English ay, accept it — mesolect — but model the deep form niem so they can hear both ends.
| Patois | Cassidy-JLU | English |
|---|---|---|
| wa / wha | wa | what |
| niem | niem | name; to be named |
| dat | dat | that |
| dis | dis | this |
| ting | ting | thing |
| sinting | sitn | something |
| smadi | sumadi | somebody |
| du | du | do |
| a who | a uu | who (is it) |
| seh | se | say |
| waan | waahn | want |
| maas | maas | respectful title for an older man |
| miss | mis | respectful title for a woman |
He states that interrogation in the folk speech differs from Standard in just two ways: 'who' takes no inflection and subject and verb are not inverted; of Standard English's ways of forming a question the folk speech keeps only the rising pitch, never inversion and never do-support. He also gives copula-less question types of the 'Is wat?' shape.
The description of the grammar is checked against the published work above. The lesson, the examples and the wording are mine.
Practise this lesson in the app →← Greetings & the melody of Patois · Pronouns & fi-possession →