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THE ROOTS OF JAMAICAN MAROON LANGUAGE: IS IT ONLY AFRICAN?

5/30/2011

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This video is significant to me because the place studied is where my ancestors on my maternal Great Grandmother's side come from. 

SPANISH ROOTS MAY EXIST
A professor takes time out to actually look into the language of the Maroons. He uses one Maroon as his basis for trying to understand. He says that that the Maroon speaks 'old time patwa' as well as a language variety that is similar to people in Sierra Leone and Surinam (The case with the former is obvious since many JA Maroons were taken their after the Second Maroon War). What I did find interesting is that there were traces of what appears to be Spanish within the language. The use of the terms 'Sabi', is similar to the Spanish verb 'Saber' which means 'to know' in that tongue (I could be wrong about the linking). I do not find it unusual that it exists since Xaymaka (Jamaica) was ruled for over 150 years by the Spanish (along with Moors).

TAINO AND ARABIC ROOTS
The regretable part of this video is that there are not enough people to substantiate the nuances of the language since he is only using one person. No one can base an entire language on just one individual. Moreover, the professor's interests seem to be only in the African roots but not any potential Native American (Yamaye) roots whatsoever (I say this because Maroon populations in Jamaica lay claim to being Native Caribbean peoples namely the Taino of the island that were named Yamaye). There is also the idea of any Arabic derivations as well. If Spanish had been influenced by Arabic, then certainly the early Maroons, which consisted of Moors, had to have some impact upon the language as well.

ETYMOLOGY: THE ROOT OF LANGUAGE
Questions also arise about the root of the word 'Kromanti' and where it comes from. Some scholars say it was just another way of naming the Ashanti and Fon peoples that were kidnapped and brought over to the Caribbean (I have seen the word written many ways in the literature: koramantee, koromantyne, etc. It may have a link to the world 'Garamantes', which is a populations of Dark Skinned Africans that were called Berber).  

CONCLUSION
Let us hope there are more people and more examples of the language, in terms of syntax, verbs, and other dynamics that come with it, in the near future.

Respect to the professor for giving us a peek into a language that has evolved from conflict and the meeting of Native Americans, varieties of Africans, as well as varieties of Europeans in the land of Yamaye Peoples.
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