#patwa

"The lesson everybody in the world can learn from speaking Jamaican is that language isn't fixed – play around with languages," says Singh. Music also helped the language gain global status. Junior Marvin, my maternal grandad, was born in Jamaica, but spent his childhood in London and then later moved between the US and Jamaica while pursuing his musical career. As a child, I always admired his transatlantic version of Patwa, which gave him a global Jamaican identity. He would effortlessly switch between his London accent, US accent and the Jamaican language, yet uphold a strong sense of authenticity and respect in the family and amongst his peers. He made the Jamaican language feel like a hidden passport that held together his identity even as he toured the world. "Better mus come," he recently told me, a Jamaican phrase full of optimism meaning greater things are yet to come, as I begin to embark on a new chapter in my life.

Such a decision would mean that Patwa would then be able to evolve without being limited by arguments demanding its perpetual reduction to its relationship to English. It would be constructed day-by-day and would develop in a literary dimension as well as an oral one.”

Hiya! I think you're saying you're speaking Kwéyòl! (translate is not picking this language unfortunatly)

zero - zéro - cero - zéwo - null

one - un - uno - yonn - eins

two - deux - dos - dé - zwei

three - trois - tres - twa - drei

four - quatre - cuatro - kat - vier

five - cinq - cinco - sènk - fünf

six - six - séis - sis - sechs

seven - sept - siete - sèt - sieben

eight - huit - ocho - (y)wit - acht

nine - neuf - nueve - nèf - neun

ten - dix - diez - dis - zehn

eleven - onze - once - wonz - elf

twelve - douze - doce - douz - zwölf

thirteen - treize - trece - twèz - dreizehn

fourteen - quatorze - catorce - katòz - vierzehn

fifteen - quizne - quince - kènz - fünfzehn

sixteen - seize - dieciséis - sèz - sechzehn

seventeen - dixsept - diecisiete - disèt - siebzehn

eighteen - dixhuit - dieciocho - dizwit - achtzehn

nineteen - dixneuf - diecinueve - diznèf - neunzehn

Rastafari be my eyes, I can't see

All the possible things people could be

Jah Jah, be my guide 'cause I can only protect my flesh

But people wear disguises

Help me realize

Teach me love unconditionally

Can't go around pree-ing everybody

The closest of friends will deceive you badly

I learned that Rastafari is my family