More on language

All this recent extended discourse, online and in the local papers about the value of the local dialect and how we can show that it's respectable and an accepted variation of the 'official' language without compromising our children's ability to become conversant with the English Language have me thinking in general about languages and how we communicate (That's quite a mouthful I know).

Is it right then for anyone to denigrate other country's equivalent of our patois? I'm just thinking about the way people communicate globally. If we (quite rightly) conclude that patois should be recognised for its cultural relevance and uniqueness, does anyone then has the right to degrade or speak disparagingly about other country's 'local speak' or variation to the 'official' language?

Just to illustrate my point - let's look at the USA. I know quite a few people regard 'american speak' as the way 'uneducated black americans' express themselves. Y'all (that's an example) know the kind of language that I'm referring to. Afterall some of us are guilty of using it at times. So 'aight'(all right) and 'yo' and 'ho' (whore) and expressions like 'his/her ass had better..........' should just be seen as another way of expressing oneself. Right?

Maybe we really shouldn't put anyone in a box based on how they speak. When you think about it, it really doesn't necessarily indicate level of education nor intelligence. Yet we're all guilty of doing that. I have bloggers in my blog-roll who blog predominantly in patois and they are all are all degreed professionals.

Personally, I alternate between standard english and patois depending on the situation because of the stereotype which I know exists. Example, if I have a complaint to make about the poor service of an organization and I demand to speak to the manager/CEO/Head of Department(as I'm wont to do) I know that the chance of me being referred to the head honcho depends on part how I sound. If I sound reasonable educated, manager will think 'Oh, she's at my level, she might be 'somebody' let me speak to her.' However, if I stop by the roadside to buy a coconut jelly from the goodly rastaman, I might say something "Whappen brethren, yu 'ave any cold jelly deh?" I do wonder now though, if that's not being condescending and just as stereo-typical as everyone else. Truth be told, I don't speak to the roadside rastaman like that because I have doubts of his intellectual capacity, I really do it because I love communicating in patois sometimes (it's quite liberating), I get a better response when I come across as being 'real' which might result in me procuring the product at a cheaper price :-)

We Jamaicans all know that telling a good Jamaican joke has to be done in patois in order to capture and relate the nuance and essence of it. Quite possibly, an American is able to do a rant more effectively in 'american speak' - we all therefore use language to our convenience.