Guidelines for the orthography of Jamaican Creole

The writing system was developed by Frederick Cassidy, a Jamaican-born linguist. The system is really quite easy. The symbols always represent the same sounds. In the Jamaican system, 36 symbols are used: 12 for vowels and double vowels; 24 for consonants.

The basic rule is that each sound corresponds unambiguously to a single symbol and vice versa. However, there is no ambiguity of pronunciation.

Vowels
The simple vowels are divided into short and long vowels. The long vowels are visually represented as such by using a double vowel symbol.

The simple vowels are also called monophthongs

The short vowels are: a, as in kyat-cat
e, as in get- get
i, as in win- wind
o, as in kom -come
u, as in gud - good

The long vowels are: aa, as in kaan-corn
ii, as in biit -beat
uu, as in skuul- school

Complex vowels involve a change in their pronunciation. These vowels can be broken into two short vowels. Their spelling identifies the two short vowels of which they are composed.

The complex vowels are also called dipthongs.
The complex vowles are: ai, as in laik- like
ie, as in rien - rain
uo, as in guot - goat
ou, as in out - out

Consonants

Most consonants symbols correspond quite straightforwardly to those used in English spelling. Two symbols that do not occur in Jamaican Creole spelling are q and c, as the sound which they represent are already represented by k and s

The simple consonants are b, as in bait-bite p, as in pik-pick
d, as in def-deaf t, as in tek-take
g, as in goli-gully k, as in kaal-call
v, as in van- van f, as in feda-feather
m, as in mada-mother s, as in staam-storm
n, as in neva-never l, as in lait-light
w, as in wiik-week r, as in rait-write
h, as in hous-house y, as in yelo-yellow
j, as in jos-just

The complex consonant symbols gy, ky, ny, ch are used for consonants which involve a combination of two consonants in their pronunciation. The spelling represents this fact.

In the spelling of ng and sh, we see some deviation from the one sound per symbol.

Another deviation is seen in the case of j, which is a single symbol, but a double consonant in pronunciation.

The complex consonant symbols are:
gy, as in gyaadn-garden
ky, as in kyaan- cannot
ny, as in nyam- eat
ng, as in ting-thing
sh, as in shuga- sugar
ch, as in chakachaka- untidy

One final remark concerns the spelling of the first sound in words like trai as in try, and drai as in dry. This sound is not really pronounced as t or d: it sounds like ch in trai, like j in drai.

Now that you have gotten a hang of it see how well you can read.

A lang taim nou wi fi tek fi wi uona langgwij siiryos. Wi kyaan dis a gwaan so, a dis wi kolcha. Fi riil. It don gaan to di worl, an wi a gwaan laik se it no gat no valyu.

Dialect Variation

Dialect variation refers to spoken and written differences in the use of language within a speech community; in our case English. Speech related variation within the Caribbean may all be located on the creole continuum. This is a spectrum of language variation linking the more standard end of the linguistic range to the creole end.