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Fi Wi Chatn -
Fi Wi Raitn
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Fi Wi Chatn - Fi Wi Raitn
Illustrations, including that on the cover page, are from The Art of
Reading, SIL International English/Indonesian
The Gayles
Gayles for Jamaican Languages
Mannings Hill Dist,
Stony Hill P.O.
Kingston 19, Jamaica
jamaicanlanguages@gmail.com
First Edition
Copyright © 2011 Gayles for Jamaican Languages
ISBN # 198 0 19 82 20 08
Printed by Self-Print Printers
Kingston, Jamaica
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Fi Wi Chatn - Fi Wi Raitn
BOOK DIVISION
Di Jamiekan Alfabet....................................................................................... 7
c. Letter . .......................................................................................... 26
d. Dub-Poem...................................................................................... 27
3. Resources: ........................................................................................................ 31
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FIRST WORDS:
If you are Jamaican like me, it is very likely that you grew up in a home where English was
rarely spoken. If that is not the case, it is very likely you grew up hearing a lot of
Jamaicans speaking a language that is not English! Most of us refer to this language as
“Patwa.“ In this booklet, however, I shall refer to this language as “Jamaican.” Why? Well,
first, the name “Jamaican” makes us feel proud of our language. Second, referring to the
language as “Jamaican” makes us think of the origin of the language and the name of the
people who speak it. Many languages are named in this way: English came from England,
Turkish from Turkey, Moldovan from Moldova, Irish from Ireland, Finnish from Finland,
Icelandic from Iceland, Russian from Russia and Welsh from Wales!
Though we are generally proud of our language, many of us believe it should not be used
for communication in our schools, in our churches, in our business places or in any “serious”
setting. These persons believe Jamaican should be used only when we want to talk to
family and close friends, to “cuss off” people and to tell jokes and stories (e.g. Anancy and
Big Boy stories).
In 1993, the Bible Society of the West Indies, located in Kingston, told the country of its
plan to translate the Bible into Jamaican. Naturally, this made many persons angry. Why?
Well, as I just mentioned, a lot of persons believe Jamaican is only good enough for talking
about everyday things, for cussing and for telling jokes and stories. They believe the Bible
is a very, very serious and important book and that Jamaican is not a language that we use
to discuss things that are serious and important.
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The Bible Society and its partners have a problem! Most people cannot read and write
Jamaican. In fact, some persons say that Jamaican cannot be written. Owing to this
reading/writing problem, the Society is concentrating on an audio translation of the Bible.
The Society plans to make the Jamaican Bible available in written form for whomever
wishes to have it. This guide is for those who wish to read (and write) Jamaican.
Many years ago, Fredrick. G. Cassidy and Robert B. Le Page developed a way of writing
Jamaican. This way of writing the language was revised by the Jamaican Language Unit
(JLU). JLU is located on the campus of the University of the West Indies in Jamaica.
This is how the writing system works: for each sound, there is only one and always one
letter or combination of letters. It does not matter where in the word you hear the
sound. This means that there is always consistency in spelling as what you hear or
pronounce is what you spell with the relevant matching symbol-per-sound.
This writing/reading guide is divided into into two (2) sections. The first section contains
three (3) lessons: the first is about vowels, the second about consonants and the third
about some issues that relate to both consonants and vowels. Each lesson is accompanied
by several practice expercises that will engage your ability to see, hear, speak and feel the
language. The second section contains several different texts in Jamaican. It serves two
purposes: 1) to show you that Jamaican can be used to express anything we want; 2) to
provide you with more opportunities to practice reading and writing. The Jamaican used in
this booklet is only meant to help you to read and write the language. Not all letter
combinations used are representative of authentic Jamaican words. The authentic
Jamaican used isn’t representative of the language or of how it is used by all Jamaicans.
Before we start learning to write and write Jamaican, I’d like to make it clear than I am
not arguing against the use of Standard Jamaican English (SJE). Rather, I am
encouraging greater recognition and inclusion of our national language.
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Aa Ee
Di Jamiekan Alfabet
arinj eg
Ii Oo Uu AA / aa II / ii
Bb CH / ch Dd Ff Gg
Hh Jj Kk Ll Mm
SH / sh Tt Vv Ww Zz
If you have access to John McAnuf’s Jumiekan Langwig Alfabet Song and Project CD,
listen to tracts one (1), two (2), three (3), five (5) and seven (7).
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Fi Wi Chatn - Fi Wi Raitn
Let us start with short vowel sounds and the symbols we use to represent them. There are
five (5) short vowel sounds. These are also called single vowel. If you have access to the
________________________
________________________
e eg
________________________
________________________
________________________
i invilop
________________________
________________________
________________________
o okro
________________________
________________________
________________________
u uman
________________________
IMPORTANT
Jamaican has no silent letters.
Only write the symbols for the
sounds you hear / say.
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LONG VOWELS
Now, Jamaican has three (3) long vowel sounds. There are easily represented by
simply doubling up the short vowel sounds (letters). If you have access to the John
McAnuf sound files, listen to tract four (4):
________________________
________________________
ii iigl
________________________
________________________
________________________
uu shuuz
________________________
Practice Exercise B:
Read and say the following out loud. Do one column at a time. (You can select the
exercise you prefer and or move on to the next lesson, if you think you’ve grasped this lesson well
enough.)
AA aa II ii UU uu
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DOUBLE VOWELS
Jamaican also has what are called double vowel sounds. These are a combination of
two dufferent single vowel sounds. There are four (4) of them. If you have access
to the John McAnuf sound files, listen to tract four (4).
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z zip
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“hat.”
(If you have access to the John McAnuf audio files, listen to tracts one (1), five (5) and
nine (9). Sing along as you listen. This should help you become familiar wth the
Jamaican alphabet very quickly.)
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Resources:
Writing Jamaican the Jamaican Way – You can buy this if you
want a more detailed and professionally done book to help you read and
write Jamaican well. The books and the CD that accompanies it are
available in bookstores all over the island.
Our Blog – The blog is for those who want to read and write the
Jamaican. Here, you can submit your own stories and articles
written in Jamaican for other people to read and practice. Visit the
blog at http://fiwiraitn.blogspot.com/
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_____________________________________
The Bible Society and its partners have a problem! Most persons cannot read and write
Jamaican. In fact, some persons say that Jamaican cannot be written; it can only be
spoken. Due of this reading/writing problem, the Society has decided to give more
attention to an audio translation of the New Testament. The Society plans to make the
Jamaican Bible available in written form for whoever wants to have it. This guide is for
Many years ago, F. G Cassidy and R. B. Le Page developed a way of writing Jamaican. This
way of writing the language was revised by the Jamaican Language Unit (JLU). JLU is
located on the campus of the University of the West Indies in Jamaica. This is how the
Jamaican writing system works: For each sound, there is only one and always one letter
or combination of letters. It does not matter where in the word you hear the sound. This
means that there is always consistency in spelling as what you hear or pronounce is what
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