Lesson 25 of 48 · St. James
Ask and give directions (which paat, tun lef, straight so) and survive the route taxi like a yardie.
Fi fine yu way, di key question a which paat — Patois fi where / which part: Beg yu tell mi which paat di bus park deh? (please tell me where the bus depot is). Which paat Sam Sharpe Square deh? Di ansa dem come wid landmark, caa a so wi gi direction — by tree, church an shap, no by street name: Yu see di big mango tree dung so? (down there). Tun lef deh-so (turn left right there). Go straight so till yu buck up one white church (keep straight until you run into a white church). Di square deh right cross fram di courthouse (directly across from). Yu cyaan miss i. Odda direction talk: tun right, gwaan up so, dung deh-so, ova deh-so, a di corna. Now di route taxi — di real classroom a Patois. Route taxi run one set route, pack in four-five passenger, an di culture have i own language. Fi stop one: han out, an aks Yu a go a tung? Eena di taxi, when i full an one more smadi haffi squeeze een, di driva baal out: Small up unuself! (squeeze up, everybody!). Fi come off, yu shout: One stap, driva! (next stop please!). Den yu pay yu fare — have smalls ready, driva no love big bill. A robot a one unlicensed taxi weh run same way — yu wi hear di name. Learner error dem: (1) Where is...? — seh Which paat ... deh? — memba di deh a di end. (2) No aks Can you tell me — jus Beg yu tell mi. (3) Excuse me sir — Excuse mi, sah works, an always greet fus. (4) Di ansa fi Which paat yu a go? a place, no yes — a no yes/no question. Practise di whole taxi ride out loud: stop i, board i, small up, one stap, pay.
| Patois | Cassidy-JLU | English |
|---|---|---|
| which paat | wich paat | where, which part |
| tun lef | ton lef | turn left |
| tun right | ton rait | turn right |
| straight so | schriet so | straight ahead |
| dung so | dong so | down there |
| ova deh-so | uova de-so | over there |
| cross fram | kraas fram | across from |
| buck up | bok op | run into, come upon |
| yu cyaan miss i | yu kyaahn mis i | you can't miss it |
| route taxi | ruut taksi | shared taxi on a fixed route |
| robot | ruobat | unlicensed taxi |
| bus park | bos paak | bus/taxi depot |
| small up unuself | smaal op unuself | squeeze up, make room |
| one stap | wan stap | next stop (to get off) |
He treats de/deh as a locative verb meaning 'be', which is what carries the lesson's sentence-final deh in 'Which paat X deh?'. His interrogative list has we for 'where'; 'which paat' itself is not recorded in the chapter.
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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