Lesson 16 of 48 · St. Mary
Talk about days and times of day, and master the elastic culture of soon come
Time in Jamaica has its own clock. Rule one: the day divides into maanin (morning), evenin (which starts in mid-afternoon!) and night. 'In the morning' is a maanin time: Church keep a maanin time. Rule two: the key time words: tideh (today), tumaro (tomorrow), yeside (yesterday), wa day (the other day), from maanin (all day long), one time (once, or at once), two twos (in a flash), long time (for ages). The days of the week sound close to English — Sunday, Monday, Tuesday... — just let the melody fall Patois-style. Ask the day with Wha day tideh? Rule three — the culture piece: soon come. It means 'coming eventually', and eventually can stretch: Di bus soon come might mean five minutes or an hour. It is a promise of arrival, not a schedule — learn to say it, and learn to wait on it with grace. Examples: (1) Wha day tideh? A Wednesday. (2) Mi a come a yuh yaad Sunday evenin. (3) Wi lef a maanin time, before sun hot. (4) From maanin mi deh ya a wait pon yuh! (I've been waiting here for you all day!) (5) No fret — im soon come. (6) Two twos mi done (I'll be done in a flash). (7) Mi no see yuh from long time! (8) Mek wi talk tumaro maanin, if God spare life. Common errors to recast: treating evenin as after dark (recast: evenin start from bout tree-four o'clock; afta dark a night dat); saying 'at morning' or 'in the morning' (recast: a maanin); and taking soon come literally — teach the learner to smile and answer Aright, mi a wait. Close by planning tomorrow hour by hour, Patois time words only.
| Patois | Cassidy-JLU | English |
|---|---|---|
| tideh | tide | today |
| tumaro | tumaro | tomorrow |
| maanin | maanin | morning |
| evenin | iivnin | late afternoon into evening |
| soon come | suun kom | coming eventually (elastic!) |
| from maanin | fram maanin | all day long |
| two twos | tuu tuuz | in a flash |
| one time | wan taim | once; at once |
| long time | lang taim | for ages |
| nung | nong | now |
| den | den | then |
| duppy hour | dopi owa | midnight |
| wha day tideh? | wa die tide? | what day is it today? |
Time-of-day vocabulary and the culture of 'soon come' are not discussed. His related grammatical point — that simple present and past are carried by adverbs and adverbial phrases in the context — is credited to Lesson 14 above.
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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