Lesson 21 of 48 · Trelawny
Commentate a race, a football match and a cricket stroke in live Patois.
Jamaica a sprint country, an Trelawny a di navel-string a i (the very birthplace of it) — so yu haffi learn fi chat sports. Commentary run pon di progressive a an di cleft emphasis: Di gyal dem a line up... dem buss weh! (the girls line up... they take off!). A run im a run! (he is REALLY running!). Im run fass cyaan done! (he runs endlessly fast — cyaan done means beyond measure). Bolt lef dem! (Bolt left them behind). Im dip a di line an win i! (he dipped at the line and won). Fi relay: Dem pass di baton clean; but if ting go wrong: Lawd, im drap di baton! Fi football: Di bwai tek di ball, dribble two man, an shat i gaan eena di net — goal!! Di goalie neva even see i. Fi cricket: Im lick di ball gaan a boundary — four! An when di bowler good: Wicket drop! Im out! Notice how di verb dem stay bare an di excitement live eena di melody — commentary a pure intonation, so practise wid yu voice up an dung. Emphasis pattern dem fi drill: A win dem a win! (they are really winning). A fass di bwai fass mek im ketch i (it is because the boy is so fast that he caught it). Learner error dem: (1) No seh im is running fast — seh im a run fass. (2) No seh he ran very fast — seh im run fass cyaan done or im run fass yu see! (3) Di word fass no tek -ly: run quick, run fass — same word fi adjective an adverb. (4) Past commentary stay bare once di time set: Laas year im win di race, den im bruk di record. Recast every English-shaped sentence back eena Patois shape an mek di learner shout i like commentator.
| Patois | Cassidy-JLU | English |
|---|---|---|
| fass | faas | fast |
| buss weh | bos we | take off, burst away |
| lef dem | lef dem | leave them behind |
| drap | jrap | drop |
| baton | batan | relay baton |
| di line | di lain | the finish line |
| lick | lik | hit, strike |
| boundary | bounjri | cricket boundary (four/six) |
| wicket drop | wikit jrap | a wicket falls |
| shat | shat | shot, to shoot |
| goalie | guoli | goalkeeper |
| ketch | kech | catch |
| cyaan done | kyaahn don | endlessly, beyond measure |
| bruk di record | brok di rekaad | break the record |
He states that almost any adjective or participle serves as an adverb with no -ly ('im walk strong', 'im sleep heavy'), which is the lesson's 'fass no tek -ly'; the commentary clefts match his focus construction on p. 63.
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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