Lesson 44 of 48 · St. Catherine
Read an write yaad-style text: wagwan, dwl, kmt, zeen — di shorthand weh run WhatsApp an social media.
Patois never have no official spelling pon di street — so when Jamaicans start text, dem jus write weh dem hear. Dat mek WhatsApp an social media tun one big Patois playground. Firs ting: greetings. 'Wagwan' (what's going on) a di king — yu wi see i spell wagwan, wah gwaan, waguan. Answer wid 'mi deh yah' or jus 'wagwan' back. 'Yow' open a chat like 'hey'. 'Zeen' seal i — understood, cool. Den di abbreviation dem — Jamaica build i own set, no borrow all from America: DWL — dead wid laugh — di yaad 'LOL'. KMT — kiss mi teet — vexation, cut-yai inna letta form. CSL — cyaan stop laugh. WBU — wah bout yuh? (what about you?). DMST — dat mi seh to (that's what I'm saying too). MNL — mi naa laugh (I'm serious). YK — yuh know. SMH — shake mi head — borrowed, but read inna Patois. Spelling run free out deh: yu/yuh/u, di/de, deh/dey, seh/say. Nobody naa mark yu paper — but inna dis app, keep di house spelling when yu practise, an jus learn fi READ all di variant dem. Sample chat: — 'Yow wagwan' — 'Mi deh yah. wbu' — 'Mi jus reach yaad. Grani cook curry goat dwl mi belly full so till' — 'Zeen. Link mi tumaro' — 'Bless' Learner errors: (1) KMT no mean 'ok' — a vexation dat; send i wrong an yu start war. (2) DWL a laughing, MNL a seriousness — no mix dem up. (3) No text grani abbreviation — write ar full warm Patois; shorthand a fi yu peer dem. (4) Some abbreviation stand fi di claat curse word dem — learn fi recognize dem, but no send dem.
| Patois | Cassidy-JLU | English |
|---|---|---|
| wagwan | wa gwaan | what's going on; hi (also wah gwaan, waguan) |
| yow | yo | hey, yo (chat opener) |
| zeen | ziin | understood, cool, agreed |
| dwl | dwl | dead wid laugh (LOL) |
| kmt | kmt | kiss mi teet (irritation) |
| csl | csl | cyaan stop laugh |
| wbu | wbu | wah bout yuh? (what about you?) |
| dmst | dmst | dat mi seh to (that's what I'm saying too) |
| mnl | mnl | mi naa laugh (I'm serious) |
| yk | yk | yuh know |
| smh | smh | shake mi head |
| link mi | lingk mi | meet up with me, get in touch |
| bless / bless up | bles / bles op | goodbye, blessings |
| mi deh yah | mi de ya | I'm here, I'm good |
Orthography, abbreviations and digital register postdate his 1951-55 fieldwork entirely. His remark that the spellings seh/sey render /se/ more truly than say (p. 63) is the closest he comes to a spelling judgement.
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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