What's worse than a bad movie? If you ask linguist Joseph Farquharson, he might say a movie that makes a caricature of the distinct patois of Jamaican accents. When asked to be an advisor on the new ...

As Jamaica continues to loosen its ties with the British monarchy, momentum is building to make Patois the country's official language alongside English. The proposal was recently floated by the ...

Many Jamaicans speak “patois” or Jamaican creole in addition to Caribbean Standard English. The following patois words and phrases appear in this report: battyman: “Batty” is slang meaning buttocks.

What is Jamaica’s true “official language”? Does it have two? Should it acquire a “second language” and if so, what should it be? These questions have had Jamaican commentators tied up in knots for ...

A young Harry Belafonte was preparing his repertoire of Caribbean songs in the 1950s and looking for expert input, when he sought out Louise Simone Bennett-Coverly, known affectionately as Miss Lou ...