Jamaica

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See photo of Jamaica. Copyright owned by photographer.
See photo of Jamaica. Copyright owned by photographer.
See photo of Jamaica. Copyright owned by photographer.

The Languages spoken in Jamaica


Jamaican language is an expression of the diversity of the people of the country. The great combination of several races and cultures has influenced the languages spoken in the country. The official language of Jamaica is English.

The Jamaican Patois also recognized locally as Patois or Jamaican Creole is the most typical dialect formed by the combination of words from several languages with English. It exists as the common spoken language of the country. Patois and English are often used for stylistic distinction in new outlines of internet writing. Jamaican Patois have numerous loanwords mostly comes from English, but are also adopted from African, Arawak, Hindi, Portuguese, and Spanish. Other significant languages in the country are Taino blend with Spanish and Arawak which are restricted to specific regions.

Native speakers of the Jamaican language are also found in Brazil, Costa Rica, Hartford, London, New York City, Nicaragua, Miami, Toronto, Washington D.C., and Panama (Caribbean coast).

The vocabulary and pronunciation of Jamaican are notably different from English, in spite of deep use of English words. An indigenous speaker of non-Caribbean English language can only understand a deeply accented Jamaican speaker if the person speaks slowly and avoid using several idioms that are frequent in Jamaican.


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