Hi, Jamaican English is a diglossic language. This means that it comes in two quite different forms, which are used in different situations.
Greek is also a diglossic language, with different forms used in speech (demotic) and writing (katharevousa), and is often cited as the classic example. It's quite likely that the Romance languages such as French, Spanish, Romanian etc. began as 'low' forms of regional diglossic varieties of Latin. Arabic is also diglossic. In Jamaican, as in many other diglossic languages, the decision to use one form or the other is based on the social situation. The so-called 'high' form would tend be used in commerce, law, high-culture situations and such-like. The 'low' form would be used at home, between friends and so on. If the Jamaican newspapers are written in Jamaican English then they are probably using the high form. However, newspaper language is usually a variety all of its own, distinct from the rest of the language. When I was learning French at school we weren't officially taught newspaper French until we'd been studying for about 5-6 years. When I taught English as a foreign language, newspaper English was taught to intermediate and advanced students. In addition, different newspapers use different varieties of language depending on the educational and social status of their intended readership. So, the language used by newspapers is not a good indicator of the standard form of any language. -- Cheers, Bob > > Jamaican "patois" is not "Jamaican English" in the first > place; in the second place it doesn't have any standard > spelling scheme; in the third place I don't need to google > it. I lived there for eighteen years and still maintain close > ties to the country. > But after writing the previous sentence I looked up the link > you posted and found that the article neither used nor even > cited "Jamaican English" as a name for the dialect. I also > found there the same point I just mentioned to you -- that > there IS no standardized spelling for terms in that dialect. > If, however, you wish to find a use for the term "Jamaican > English" then it should surely be "the form of the English > language understood by the most Jamaicans" and of course > that's what the newspapers would be using (after all, they > are intended to be read!)
