Jamaica: Language Situation

Jamaica's main vernacular language is the English-lexified Jamaican Creole called Patwa, a language of ethnic/national identification, largely unintelligible to non-Jamaicans. Patwa, which comprises the basilect and mesolect of a Creole continuum, is not genetically descended from its English or African input languages. The acrolect, Standard Jamaican English, is used in literacy, education, and print media; it is a regional standard dialect of English. Patwa has made significant inroads into broadcast media. Patwa's long subordination to Standard English resulted in the Creole continuum and the demographic dominance of the mesolect, a systematic but variable Creole grammar incorporating elements of English structure.