Thursday, September 30, 2010

Welcome to Jam Rock by Damien Marley

Around the world there are many cultures which speak different languages, but some of those languages have been influenced from other ones, such as the Jamaican Patois. Jamaican Patois has French, English and African influences.

For this exposition I have chosen the ¨Welcome to Jamrock¨ song by Damian Marley because the language used is similar to English, and I am interested in Jamaican patois because in this language some words have different meanings and pronunciation from English. For example, in the Jamaican Slang Glossary and Phrases, the word ¨Cat¨ means “female genitals”; BUT on the other hand, The Marriam-Webster Thesaurus Dictionary declares that ¨cat¨ is “a small domestic animal known for catching mice”.
Also, this song is really interesting because in it many words are pronounced in reduced form like ¨nothing at all¨ they pronounce it like /natinatol/. In addition, the writing is different, as well, because Jamaican people write some words as they pronounce them; for example in English you write ¨bother¨, but in Jamaican Slang that word is written ¨bodda.¨
Another aspect that caught my attention from this culture was that the Jamaican slang has many variations, and it also has important influences from Rastafarian Movement, farming and Dancehall music. Moreover, what that song talks about is really important because the poverty, hunger, political corruption, ignorance and discrimination are happening around the world right now, and I am aware of that.

To conclude I can say that I feel identified with that slang because Jamaican Reggae and dancehall music are some of my favorite kinds of music, and the way that Jamaican people speak, the significant meaning that music has, and important aspects that make me appreciate and be interested in this culture.

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