Lesson 5 of 47 · St. Andrew
Say what things ARE with equative a (X a Y) and describe them with no copula at all (Di mango sweet).
English needs 'is' everywhere; Patois splits the job in two — and one half needs nothing at all. PATTERN ONE, the equative a: when X IS a person or thing, link them with a. Mi cousin a docta (my cousin is a doctor). Dat a Blue Mountain coffee (that's Blue Mountain coffee). Dis a fi mi yaad (this is my home). You already met it in A wa dat? and Dat a fi mi. For the past, use did a: Mi grandaddy did a faama (my grandfather was a farmer). PATTERN TWO, zero copula: when you describe with an ADJECTIVE, use no verb at all — the adjective does the work, like a verb itself. Di coffee strong. Di mango dem sweet. Mi tiyad. Di hill dem pretty. NEVER put a before an adjective: Di mango a sweet is wrong (it would mean the mango is busy sweeting!). Example sentences: 1) Mi cousin a docta a UWI. — My cousin is a doctor at UWI. 2) Miss Dawn a higgla a Papine maakit. — Miss Dawn is a vendor at Papine market. 3) Dat a Blue Mountain coffee. — That is Blue Mountain coffee. 4) Bunny a di leada. — Bunny is the leader. 5) Mi grandaddy did a faama. — My grandfather was a farmer. 6) Di coffee strong, ee? — The coffee is strong, isn't it? 7) Di mango dem sweet. — The mangoes are sweet. 8) Mi tiyad tideh. — I'm tired today. 9) Di weather col' up a Newcastle. — The weather is cold up at Newcastle. Notice the three-way system now complete: a for WHAT something is, deh for WHERE it is (Kingston lesson), and NOTHING for HOW it is. Errors to recast: inserting 'is' anywhere; a before adjectives (Di coffee a strong → Di coffee strong); deh before adjectives (Mi deh tiyad → Mi tiyad); and using a for places (Im a a yaad → Im deh a yaad). Drill the contrast in triplets: Im a teacha. Im deh a school. Im smart.
| Patois | Cassidy-JLU | English |
|---|---|---|
| a | a | is/am/are (before nouns only) |
| did a | did a | was/were (equative past) |
| teacha | tiicha | teacher |
| docta | dakta | doctor |
| faama | faama | farmer |
| higgla | higla | market vendor |
| leada | liida | leader |
| sweet | swiit | sweet, delicious |
| strong | schrang | strong |
| col' | kuol | cold |
| pretty | priti | pretty, beautiful |
| tiyad | taiyad | tired |
| nuff | nof | plenty, many |
| cris' | kris | brand-new, sharp-looking (same word as 'everyting criss' — fine AND brand-new) |
The zero-copula description this lesson rests on — no form of 'is' before a noun or an adjective — is set out 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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