Bob W wrote:
Hi,
Jamaican English is a diglossic language. This means that it comes in two
quite different forms, which are used in different situations.
The article you cited, says (as do I) that Jamaican patois is *not*
English. It's not "Jamaican English" -- it's not English at all.
Since I don't know anything about Greek or French, I'm not going to
comment on them.
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.
What you are calling the "high" form of "Jamaican" already has a name.
It's English. It's not another language at all. Only what you're calling
the "low" form is different.
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.
You know, I really am sorry I brought up the newspapers at all. It was a
throwaway comment in the first place, intended as a joke, because they
are riddled with errors. The sort of errors that copy editors are
supposed to remove, not something that implies a different language.
Which, come to think of it, was what I said in the first place.
