Jamaican Patois has two ways of being written. Most of what you will see online is popular spelling — English spelling bent toward the sound, inconsistent from writer to writer. The other is Cassidy-JLU, a systematic orthography where one letter means one sound. This page is the whole system. Tables verified 2026-07-24.
Short: a /a/ ban, dat · e /e/ bel, mek · i /i/ sik, gi · o /ʌ~o/ kot (cut), kom (come) · u /u/ kuk, fut. Long: aa baal (ball), yaad (yard) · ii tii (tea), biliiv · uu shuut, fuud. Diphthongs: ie /ia/ biek (bake), niem (name) · uo /ua/ gruo (grow), kluoz (clothes) · ai bait (bite), taim (time) · ou kou (cow), toun (town). English ee/oo are NOT used: → ii (ziin), uu (skuul) or u (kuk). English /ʌ/ → o (op = up, bot = but). Nasal vowels take -hn: waahn (want), kyaahn (can't), iihn (eh?).
b ch d f g h j k l m n ng ny p r s sh t v w y z zh. k always spells /k/ — never c (c appears only inside ch): kom, kaal, aks. j spells /dʒ/ (joj = judge), never soft g. Palatals ky/gy: kyan (can), kyaahn (can't), kyaaf (calf), gyal (girl); palatal nasal ny: nyam, nyuu. /ŋ/ = ng: tingk (think), tangk (thank), onggl (only). No q, no x (= ks: beks), no silent letters (no final -e; ous = house), no double consonants except the digraphs listed. h written only where pronounced (variable by region; DJNT: ous, afi, ier = hear, uman). TR/DR → chr/jr in DJNT practice: chrai (try), chuu (true/through), chuo (throw). s vs z spelled as heard: priez (praise), kaaz (because), belz (bells).
Fully phonemic: one symbol (or fixed digraph) per sound; write exactly what is said. No apostrophes for "dropped" English letters (an, tan, ous). No eye-dialect; a word's English origin is irrelevant to its spelling.
mi → mi · yu/yuh → yu · im → im · shi → shi · ar/har → ar · wi → wi · unu → unu · dem → dem · di → di · a → a · fi → fi · deh → de · ya → ya · seh → se · nuh/no → no · naa → naa · neva → neva · cyaan → kyaahn · kyan → kyan · gwaan → gwaan · wah gwaan → wa gwaan · nyam → nyam · likkle → likl · bwoy → bwai · gyal → gyal · pickney → pikni · weh → we · wah/wa → wa · mek → mek · tek → tek · gi → gi · dat → dat · dis → dis · den → den · ting → ting · sinting → sitn (DJNT; sinting) · smadi → sumadi (DJNT) · yaad → yaad · dung → dong · tung → tong (DJNT: toun) · grung → grong · wuk → wok · bex → beks · dutty → doti · duppy → dopi · nuff → nof · ova → uova · bout → bout · caa → kaa · haffi → afi · mussi → mosi · memba → memba · aks → aks · tank yu → tangk yu · maanin → maanin · tideh → tide · tumaro → tumaro · yeside → yeside · big up → big op · likkle more → likl muor · walk good → waak gud · irie → airi · zeen → ziin · bredrin → bredrin · farin → farin · baan → baan · waan → waahn · gaan → gaan · don → don · tan → tan · tun → ton · fayva → fieva · soon come → suun kom
1. Wah gwaan? Mi cyaan come a yu yaad tideh. // Wa gwaan? Mi kyaahn kom a yu yaad tide. 2. Di likkle bwoy nyam off all di food weh im granny gi im. // Di likl bwai nyam aaf aal di fuud we im grani gi im. 3. Dem seh di gyal dem a go dung a tung fi buy nuff sinting tumaro maanin. // Dem se di gyal dem a go dong a tong fi bai nof sitn tumaro maanin.
Knowing how a sound is spelled is not the same as being able to make it. The pronunciation pages measure what your mouth is doing — the sounds of Patois.