The List of African words in Jamaican Patois notes down as many loan words in Jamaican Patois that can be traced back to specific African languages. Most of these African words have arrived in Jamaica through the enslaved Africans that were transported there in the era of the Atlantic slave trade.
| Patwa | Language | Original word | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accompong | Akan | Acheampong (or Akropong) | Ashanti surname, which means destined for greatness. "Akropong" comes from the conjugation of the Akan words "kro" and "pɔn" meaning "Great City." |
| Ackee, akeee | Akan | Ánkyẽ | "a type of food/fruit", "cashew fruits"[1] |
| Adopi | Ga Language | Adópé (Dwarf in Ga language) | Ghost, often written in Jamaican English as "duppy"[2] |
| Red Eye | Akan | Ani bere | "envious – direct translation from Akan into English" |
| Adrue | Akan, Ewe | Adúru, adrú | "powder, medicine, drug"[2] |
| Afasia, afasayah | Akan, Ewe | Afaséw, afaséɛ | "inferior wild yam"[2] |
| Afu | Akan | Afúw | "yam" or "plantation"[3] |
| Ahpetti | Akan | O-peyi | A certain amulet[4] |
| Akam | Akan | A wild and inferior yam | |
| Anansi | Akan, Ewe | Anansi | "Spider"[5] also name Akan folktale character. |
| Adru | Akan | a medica herb | |
| Bafan | Akan | Bɔfran | a baby or toddler. A child that did not learn to walk between ages two and seven.[6] |
| Bissy | Akan | Bese | Kola Nut |
| Broni | Akan | Oburoni | a white person[6] |
| Casha | Akan, English | Kasɛ́, acacia | "thorn"[7] |
| Dookunu | Akan (Asante Twi) | Dɔkono | (also known as blue draws or tie-a-leaf in Jamaica) food, a dessert item similar to bread pudding.[8] |
| Cocobay | Akan | Kokobé | "leprosy"[5][9] |
| Ginal | Akan (Ashanti Twi) | Gyinaa | Someone that is not taken seriously, a stupid person. A con-man (in Jamaica only) |
| Kaba-kaba | Yoruba, Akan, Ewe | "unreliable, inferior, worthless"[10] | |
| Kongkos | Akan | Konkonsa | "gossip"[5] |
| Mumu | Akan, Ewe, Mende, Yoruba | "dumb", "stupid"[5][11] | |
| Odum | Akan | a type of tree[12] | |
| Obeah | Akan (Ashanti Twi) | Ɔbayi | "witchcraft"[13] |
| Igbo | ọbiạ | "doctoring", "mysticism"[14] | |
| Opete | Akan | "vulture"[6] | |
| Paki | Akan | apakyi | calabash[15] |
| Patu | Ga Language | "owl"[6] | |
| Poto-poto | Yorùbá | "mud", "muddy"[5] | |
| Backra | Efik | Mbakára | "white man"[5][16] |
| Juk | Fula | Jukka | "poke", "spur"[17][18] |
| Akara | Yoruba | àkàrà | Type of food[2] |
| Attoo | Igbo | átú | "chewing stick"[19] |
| Breechee | Igbo | Mbùríchì | Nri-Igbo nobleman[20] |
| Chink, chinch | Igbo | chị́nchị̀ | 'bedbug'[21] |
| Country ibo | Igbo | Ị̀gbò | Pluchea odorata or Ptisana purpurascens[22] |
| Himba | Igbo | Mba | "yam root", a type of yam, Rajania cordata[23][24] |
| Nyam | Akan | Nyam (also means to blend) | to eat |
| Okra | Igbo | ọkwurụ | a type of vegetable[5][14] |
| Red Ibo, Eboe | Igbo | Ị̀gbò | a person with a light skin colour or a mulatto of mixed parentage[25] |
| Unu | Igbo | únù | "you (plural)"[26] |
| Dingki | Kongo | funeral ceremony[23] | |
| Dundus | Kongo | ndundu | "albino", "white person", "European"[9] |
| Duppy | Kongo | "ghost"[5] | |
| Pinda | Kongo | "peanut"[5] |
References
- ^ Cassidy & Page (2002:3)
- ^ a b c d Cassidy & Page (2002:4)
- ^ Cassidy & Page (2002:5)
- ^ Cassidy & Page (2002:6)
- ^ a b c d e f g h i McWhorter (2000:77)
- ^ a b c d Cassidy & Page (2002:20)
- ^ Cassidy & Page (2002:93)
- ^ Cassidy & Page (2002:155)
- ^ a b Cassidy & Page (2002:112)
- ^ Allsopp & Allsopp (2003:323)
- ^ Mittelsdorf (1978:34)
- ^ Cassidy & Page (2002:328)
- ^ Williams, Joseph John (1933). Voodoos and Obeahs: Phases of West India Witchcraft. Library of Alexandria. p. 90. ISBN 9781465516954.
- ^ a b Eltis & Richardson (1997:88)
- ^ Cassidy & Page (2002:335)
- ^ Cassidy & Page (2002:18)
- ^ Cassidy & Page (2002:153)
- ^ Watson (1991:10)
- ^ Cassidy & Page (2002:14)
- ^ Cassidy & Page (2002:68)
- ^ Allsopp & Allsopp (2003:152)
- ^ Cassidy & Page (2002:124)
- ^ a b Graddol, Leith & Swann (1996:210)
- ^ Lewis (1996:24)
- ^ Cassidy & Page (2002:378)
- ^ Cassidy & Page (2002:457)
Bibliography
- McWhorter, John H. (2000). The Missing Spanish Creoles: Recovering the Birth of Plantation Contact Languages. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-21999-6.
- Graddol, David; Leith, Dick; Swann, Joan (1996). English: history, diversity, and change. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-13117-0.
- Bartens, Ángela (2003). A contrastive grammar: Islander - Caribbean Standard English - Spanish. Finnish Academy of Science and Letters. ISBN 951-41-0940-6.
- Allsopp, Richard; Allsopp, Jeannette (2003). Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage. University of the West Indies Press. ISBN 9766401454.
- Institute of Jamaica (2000). "Jamaica journal". Jamaica Journal. 27–28. Institute of Jamaica.
- Cassidy, Frederic Gomes; Page, Robert Brock Le (2002). A Dictionary of Jamaican English (2nd ed.). University of the West Indies Press. ISBN 976-640-127-6.
- Mittelsdorf, Sibylle (1978). African retentions in Jamaican Creole: a reassessment. Northwestern University.
- Menz, Jessica (2008). London Jamaican-Jamaican Creole in London. GRIN Verlag. ISBN 978-3-638-94849-4.
- Watson, G. Llewellyn (1991). Jamaican sayings: with notes on folklore, aesthetics, and social control. University Press of Florida. ISBN 0-8130-1053-5.
- Holloway, Joseph E. (2005). Africanisms in American culture. Indiana University Press. ISBN 0-253-21749-0.
- Rickford, John R.; Romaine, Suzanne; Sato, Charlene J. (1999). Creole genesis, attitudes and discourse: studies celebrating Charlene J. Sato. John Benjamins Publishing Company. ISBN 90-272-5242-4.
- Lewis, Maureen Warner (1996). African continuities in the linguistic heritage of Jamaica. African Caribbean Institute of Jamaica.
- Eltis, David; Richardson, David (1997). Routes to slavery: direction, ethnicity, and mortality in the transatlantic slave trade. Routledge. ISBN 0-7146-4820-5.
- Huber, Magnus; Parkvall, Mikael (1999). Spreading the word: the issue of diffusion among the Atlantic Creoles. University of Westminster Press. ISBN 1-85919-093-6.
- Sheller, Mimi (2003). Consuming the Caribbean: from Arawaks to zombies. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-25760-3.