Lesson 35 of 47 · Manchester
Front any element with 'A' for focus, and double the predicate for emphasis.
This is THE signature Patois structure — the one that makes you sound truly fluent. English adds emphasis with loudness or 'really'; Patois moves words to the front behind the little marker A. Pattern 1 — predicate doubling: copy the verb or adjective to the front with A: A run im a run! (he is really RUNNING); A no joke mi a mek (I am NOT joking); A tief dem tief i (they STOLE it — it was theft, plain and simple); A bex im bex? (is he actually ANGRY?). The classic from the old Peace Corps course: A tief Maas Chaali tief mek im a sel fi-im fish so dier (it's because Mr. Charley is a THIEF that he sells his fish so dear). Pattern 2 — focus any element by fronting it with A: subject — A mi tell im (it was ME who told him); object — A im foot im lick up (it was his FOOT he hurt); place — A deh-so mi lef i (it was right THERE I left it); possession — A fi mi dat! (that one is MINE!). Questions use the same trick: A who do i? (WHO did it?); A wa dat? (WHAT is that?); A yu do i? (was it YOU?). Sentence-initial A also carries 'it is': A one wicked man dat (that is one wicked man); A summertime now (it's summertime). In the mesolect you will hear iz/is instead: Is Pam eat di mango — recognize it, but drill the A form. Common learner errors to recast: shouting the emphasis instead of restructuring — recast 'Im REALLY run' as A run im a run; forgetting to repeat the verb — 'A run im' is incomplete, the verb must appear twice; putting A in the middle — the marker leads the sentence; and translating 'it was me who...' word by word — the whole machinery is simply A mi tell im. Drill until fronting feels automatic — this structure carries argument, comedy and storytelling all across Jamaica.
| Patois | Cassidy-JLU | English |
|---|---|---|
| A run im a run | A ron im a ron | he is really RUNNING |
| A mi tell im | A mi tel im | it was ME who told him |
| A tief dem tief i | A tiif dem tiif i | they STOLE it |
| A no joke | A no juok | it's no joke, seriously |
| A fi mi dat | A fi mi dat | that one is MINE |
| A deh-so | A de-so | it's right there (that...) |
| A who do i? | A huu du i? | WHO did it? |
| A wa dat? | A wa dat? | WHAT is that? |
| A yu do i? | A yu du i? | was it YOU who did it? |
| A so im tan | A so im tan | that's just how he is |
| iz / is | iz / is | mesolect cleft marker (Is Pam eat di mango) |
| A lie! | A lai! | no way! that's a lie! |
This is his 'peculiar expression' that anticipates the verb with itself for emphasis: 'A no lie Sammy lie mek im dead'; 'Is dye dem dye it'; 'Is chaw im chaw de rope'. He notes the earliest printed example he found is from 1929, and the mesolectal is- variant the lesson flags is in his own data.
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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