Alis Advencha ina Wandalan
Alices Adventures in Wonderland in Jamaican Creole
Ina da direkshan de, di Pus se, a wiev roun im
rait paa, wahn Hat-Man liv: an ina da direkshan
de, a wiev di ada paa, wahn Maach-Hier liv. Luk
fi eni wan a dem yu waahn luk fa: di tuu a dem
mad.
Bot mi no waahn go mongks mad piipl, Alis
ansa.
Oo, yu kyaahn elp dat, di Pus se: aal a wi mad
ya so. Mi mad. Yu mad.
Ou yu nuo mi mad? Alis aks.
Yu mos mad, di Pus se, ar yu wudn kom ya.
Luwis Karal a wahn nik-niem: Chaalz Lutwij
Dadsn a did di riil niem a di man wa rait di buk,
an im did a wahn lekchara ina Mats a di Krais
Chorch a Aksfod. Dadsn staat di tuori pan Julai
4, 1862, wen im did go pan wahn jorni ina wahn
kanu pan di riva Tiemz ina Aksfod wid Revren
Rabinsn Dokwort, an Alis Lidel (ten ier uol) di
Diin fi Krais Chorch daata, an wid ar tuu sista
dem, Lorina (tortiin ier uol), an Iidit (iet ier uol).
Laik ou di payem a di staat a di buk shuo klier
klier, di chrii gyal dem aks Dadsn fi tel dem wahn
tuori an duo at fos im neehn riili waahn fi dwiit, im
staat fi tel dem di fos vorjhan a di tuori. Duo no
so klier, di faiv a dem get menshan woliip a taim
ina di uol buk, wa aftaraal did get poblish ina
1865.
Wan onjred an fifti ier lieta, mi did glad wen Jan
Linset, di mien edita a Alice in a World of
Wonderlands (wahn buk wa av in som
chransilieshan a Luwis Karal tap-a-tap wok ina
174 langwij) lingk mi fi du wahn chransilieshan
ina Jamiekan Patwa. Im lingk mi op siem tiem
In that direction, the Cat said, waving its right
paw around, lives a Hatter: and inthat direction,
waving the other paw, lives a March Hare. Visit
either you like: theyre both mad.
But I dont want to go among mad people, Alice
remarked.
Oh, you cant help that, said the Cat: were all
mad here. Im mad. Youre mad.
How do you know Im mad? said Alice.
You must be, said the Cat, or you wouldn't
have come here.
Lewis Carroll is a pen-name: Charles Lutwidge
Dodgson was the authors real name and he was
lecturer in Mathematics in Christ Church, Oxford.
Dodgson began the story on 4 July 1862, when
he took a journey in a rowing boat on the river
Thames in Oxford together with the Reverend
Robinson Duckworth, with Alice Liddell (ten years
of age) the daughter of the Dean of Christ
Church, and with her two sisters, Lorina (thirteen
years of age), and Edith (eight years of age). As
is clear from the poem at the beginning of the
book, the three girls asked Dodgson for a story
and reluctantly at first he began to tell the first
version of the story to them. There are many
half-hidden references made to the five of them
throughout the text of the book itself, which was
published finally in 1865.
A hundred and fifty years later, I was delighted to
be contacted by Jon Lindseth, the general editor
of Alice in a World of Wonderlands (a book of
translations of Lewis Carrolls masterpiece in 174
languages), for a translation in Jamaican Creole.
He immediately put me in contact with Michael
wid Maikal Evasn, di poblisha uu put out woliip a
di edishan dem fi di chransilieshan dem. Tangks
tu dem tuu man ya Alices Adventures in
Wonderland nou de ina Jamiekan Patwa.
It gud se Karal tap-a-tap buk de ina wahn neda
langwij, bot ina dis ya kies ya, it beta fi di langwij.
Jamiekan Kriyuol, wa piipl uu lov it kaal
Jamiekan Patwa, a di langwij ina Jamieka
alangsaid Ingglish, di langwij wa muos a di
Patwa wod dem kom fram, bot fi ierz ya nou piipl
maak it out fi bi wahn bad wie fi chat Ingglish. A
onggl roun 40 ier abak piipl wa stodi langwij
rekagnaiz se Jamiekan Patwa a wahn ful langwij
ina itself. Jamiekan Patwa, wa spred woliip chuu
wi myuuzik, de aal uova di worl an a wahn
langwij wa wi lov woliip, wa shou uu wi bi an dat
wi proud a we wi kom fram. Duo it de bout fi ova
300 ier ya nou, an bout 2.8 miliyan piipl a yaad
chat it, an uova 1.8 miliyan muor abraad, stil
muos a di taim a jos chat piipl yuuz it fa. Rait ya
nou dem a du woliip a sitn fi tiich piipl uu chat
Jamiekan Patwa fi riid an rait it tu. Frejrik Kyasidi
did kom op wid wahn wie fi rait it fraa ina di
1960z an no tuu lang ago di Jamiekan Langwij
Yuunit did chienj it op likl bit, an a it wi yuuz fi du
dis ya buk ya nou. Wi put iin wahn likl sitn fi elp
piipl uu waahn fi riid di buk bot uu no nuo ou fi
riid di prapa wie ou it rait.
Di chransilieshan a Alice Adventures in
Wonderland did chienj op likl bit so dat it mek
sens ina di Jamiekan sityuieshan and kolcha, an
dat it kyan bi nais fi di piipl dem wa a go riid it.
Farinstans wen Alis did a sen prezent go gi ar fut
nier di Fenda wudn mek no sens ina di wie ou
wi liv a Jamieka, kaa Jamieka a wahn hat konchri
wa no niid no hiit frahn no faiya-plies. Wahn neks
egzampl a wen shi chat bout shi a go chravl pan
di rielwie, wa wi no du nou a diez ina Jamieka.
Wahn sitn wa meks sens fi wi ischri a fi muuv out
Wiliyam di Kangkara uu did atak Ingglan an put
Admiral Jan-Baptis du Kas, uu did atak
Jamieka. Di maisi tuori get chienj op tu fi shuo
sitn wa gud bout di ailan Jamieka frahn lang taim
til nou, rada dan sitn bout Ingglish ischri.
Fordamuor, ina dis ya buk ya, wi mek shuor se wi
tingk bout di woliip a difrant wie wa piipl chat
Jamiekan Patwa. Wan sitn wa klier klier a ou
som piipl jrap aaf di h frahn di staat a som wod,
an chrai fi karek dat, an en op a put di h soun we
no h soun no fi de. Wi shuo dis ina di wie ou Pat
chat ina Chapta IV, we farinstans im kaal han
Everson, the publisher who has published many
editions of the translations. Thanks to these two
gentlemen Alices Adventures in Wonderland is
now in Jamaican Creole.
It is good that Carrolls work of art is in yet
another language, but in this case, it is better for
the language. Jamaican Creole, affectionately
called Jamaican Patwa, operates in Jamaica
alongside English, its lexifier language, but has
over the years been stigmatized as bad
English. It is only around 40 years ago that
linguists have recognized Jamaican Creole as a
language in itself. Jamaican Creole, as primarily
transmitted globally by our music, is known
world-wide and is a well-loved symbol of our
identity and national pride. Despite over 300
years of its existence, with approximately 2.8
million speakers at home and over 1.8 million in
the diaspora, it however remains primarily an oral
language. Initiatives are now being made to
teach speakers how to read and write in
Jamaican Creole. An orthography developed by
Frederic Cassidy in the 1960s was recently
modified by the Jamaican Language Unit, and
has been used for the present work. A guide has
been included to help readers who are not
knowledgeable of the standard writing system.
This translation of Alice Adventures in
Wonderland was marginally modified so as to
apply to the Jamaican context and culture, and to
appeal to its readers. For example Alice
addressing presents to her feet near the Fender
would not be applicable to the Jamaican
situation, being a tropical country without the
need for heat from a fireplace. Another example
is her reference to travelling by railway which is
not a modern day practice in Jamaica. Of
historical interest is the change of William the
Conqueror who invaded England to Admiral
Jean-Baptiste du Casse, who invaded Jamaica.
The mouses tale was also modified to reflect
something of historical and current interest about
the island of Jamaica, rather than English history.
Additionally, the different varieties of Jamaican
Creole were given consideration in this book.
Notably, is the tendency for some speakers to
drop the initial h from some words, and to
hypercorrect, by putting the h sounds in places
where there is no historical h. This was captured
in the speech of Pat in Chapter IV, for example
laka an and apl laka hapl.
Da chansilieshan ya mek wi av muor sitn wa rait
ina Jamiekan Patwa, wa evribadi kyan get iizi iizi,
wa pruuv se Jamiekan Patwa a no onggl wahn
langwij wa piipl chat, nar it no onggl kyan yuuz fi
rait payem, an sang, an likl chit-chat ina di
nyuuz-piepa a yaad. Mi uop se da chransilieshan
ya (plos Di Likl Prins, mi chransilieshan a Antuan
de Sient-Eksuperi Le Petit Prince) wi bi wahn wie
fi elp piipl lorn fi riid an rait ina Jamiekan Patwa,
an it wi gi Jamiekan pikni, an di big sumadi dem
wa fiil laka dem a pikni diip dong ina dem aat,
klasikal tuori ina dem uona langwij.
Tamirand Nnena De Lisser
Geneva, Maach 2016
where han hand was pronounced as an and apl
apple was pronounced as hapl.
This translation increases the number of
accessible written material in Jamaican Creole,
proving that Jamaican Creole is not confined to
being an oral language, nor is the written form
only restricted to poems, songs, and small
excerpts in the local newspaper. It is my hope
that this translation (in addition to Di Likl Prins,
my previous translation of Antoine de Saint-
Exuprys Le Petit Prince) will be used as a
medium for increasing literacy in Jamaican
Creole, and to provide Jamaican children, and
adults who are young at heart, with classical
stories in their own language.
Tamirand Nnena De Lisser
Geneva, March 2016