Part of the pronunciation section of Patwa Partner — how to physically make the sounds of Jamaican Patois.
Yuh nuh haffi tun linguist. But six words show up pon every sound page, so mek wi kill dem right now. Each one come wid someting yuh can feel.
Sound vs letterA LETTER a someting yuh write. A SOUND a someting yuh mek. Dem nuh match up — English write th wid two letters fi one sound, an write c fi two different sounds. When wi talk bout sound, forget spelling fi a minute.
Di slashes: /d/When yuh see a sound between two slash — /d/ — dat mean "di SOUND d", not di letter. It come from di International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), a worldwide chart weh give one symbol to every sound a human can mek. Wi only use a handful, an wi spell out every one inna English first.
Voiced vs voicelessPut two finger pon yuh throat, right pon di Adam apple, an seh a long sssss. Nutten buzz. Now seh zzzzz. Yuh feel it vibrate. Dat vibration a yuh voice. Same mouth shape, voice on or off — dat a di only difference between /s/ an /z/, /t/ an /d/, /f/ an /v/.
Consonant vs vowelA consonant a when someting inna yuh mouth block or squeeze di air (di tongue, di lips, di teeth). A vowel a when di air run free an di tongue just move round fi change di shape a di space. Vowels a weh accent live di most.
Place an mannerTwo questions bout every consonant: weh di block happen (lips? behind di teeth? back a di roof?) — dat a di PLACE. An how di air get past (full stop den burst? steady squeeze?) — dat a di MANNER. Every step pon di sound pages a just answering dem two.
Long vs shortSome Patois vowel hold longer dan others, an di length change di meaning. Cassidy-JLU write di long one wid a double letter: bad (bad) vs baad (SERIOUS). Same mouth, more time.
SyllableA beat inna a word. Wa-ta a two. Ja-mai-ca a three. Yuh can count dem by tapping. Wi need dem fi di rhythm page, weh a one a di most important page inna dis whole section.
Dat a di whole vocabulary. Anyting else weh show up get explained pon di spot.