@@niimorale4311 No Ga-Adangbe don’t not speak Twi they speak Ga with is not of Akan dialect even though a lot of Ga ppl do speak twi which is the common language in 🇬🇭
I’m from Dominica 🇩🇲 and we use a lot of these words, like juk ,mumu, jumbi. All these years I thought we made those words up. Thanks for shining a light on this.
Nwanne, Chukwu gozie gi. Greetings from a Ghanaian Hausa-Ga-Fante sis w/ some Naija ancestry. Friends and I even with knowing the Ghanaian and Jamaican connection have pointed to Jamaican friends upon seeing proud Nigerians is very serious traditional clothing bragging or flexing, I say, "Have you seen your people?" because as with Jamaican pride and assertion that they are here, Nigerians will let you know they rep GREEN WHITE GREEN. Blessings to good Black people worldwide.
Peace, bruh. I hope to one day visit both Congos: Brazzaville & Kinshasa. Lingala is one of the most beautiful languages I've ever heard. I'm a Ghanaian sister w/ some Nigerian & Sierra Leonean ancestry. Mpoto-mpoto is even the nickname of a potage made from yam or cassava and I think it's because it has a similar texture to the muddy area we call poto-poto.
kungkus = gossip in patois . Kokonsa gossip in akan. this is so spot on. Patu/apatu, Obeah (obeyie), bissi dorkunu, mumu, ackee (akye), ananse etc . The Ghana presence in Jamaica is really strong
So funny! I am from Suriname and I hear the words we use. Words that Surinamese also use are: doti, With us it also means dirty or mud, sand, etc. We say lokoe ya, it looks like kooya and is also known, look here. And of course we also know Anansi the spider. We also know dukunu. But we call it dukun. Haha cocobay we also say. We pronounce it cocco bè. Also means leprosy. We also know Obea with the same meaning. In Suriname we write it as Obia. We also use backra for white people...wow great that it matches so well. Juke, we also say jukoe with the same meaning. We say Njang and that also means food. We also say unu and bm it is known to you. We also say djumbi for spirit. Wow haha great, we are all family. Slavery tried to divide us but we are still one family❤.
I'm Jamaican 🇯🇲 and I always feel that connection when I meet up with my African friends in the US. Most words we use here in Jamaica 🇯🇲 that you mention is quite familiar to them. We have strong African roots. Out of Many ONE People.Nuff ❤❤❤❤❤ to my African family❤
Thanks for this video. It reminds me of some of the words my grandmother and people of my community used during my childhood years in Jamaica. One example is the word “jumbi”, which means ghost. One inescapable fact is that Jamaicans descend from the countries which make up West Africa today. Back in the day, before the enslavers and colonizers divided up Africa, West Africa was a region with kingdoms or peoples. I have always maintained that one can see the various peoples of West African countries in the Jamaican population. Some think we have connections with only Ghana, but it goes much wider.
My lovely husband Leeroy was London born of Jamaican parents. He died of cancer before we could go there together. I heard some of these words before and love your Patwa Academy. Thanks Shan
This is great. Thanks for sharing. It's interesting because growing up using words like nyam was considered improper. Colonization has taught us to dislike so much about ourselves and our roots.
Great video! I am glad someone took the time to highlight the origin of the various words that we use every day in Jamaica. I am sure this is true of every Caribbean countries.
I've heard a majority of all of these terms growing up, but never know how they connected with Africa. Thank you for helping me to put the pieces together.
I remember when I was a teen at school in the UK White kids would ask us what did bumboclaat mean, these White kids would start to use it as part of their vocabulary....UK
I'm from Ghana 🇬🇭. Akan is one of the dominant tribes in Ghana. The people of Akan speak Akan language. Twi and fante are two major dialects of Akan. Other dialects include sefwi, nzema, anyii/burosa, ahanta. Twi has "sub-dialects": asante (not Ashanti which is just the whiteman's corrupted version), assin, twifo, akyem, kwahu, wassa, akwapim, bono, denkyira, akwamu, others... Fante (better known as mfantse) also has sub-dialects: abura, guae (of Oguaa or Cape Coast) edina/komenda; gomoa, ekumfi, agona (arguably more twi than fante), enyan, breman, nkusukum, ajumako & others. In fact, one will struggle to identify the difference with the sub-dialects of TWI on the one hand & fante on the other. What I'm sure about is Asanti Twi, Akwampim Twi, Abura fantse & Oguaa fantse are the ones currently written as examinable languages of the Akan FANTSE & TWI language in schools. Never say asante & twi languages. It is even worse to say ASHANTI!! There's is a large Akan tribe in La Cote d'Ivoire.
Did you forget to mention that the Alan are cousins of the Ashant, according to the map she showed the Ashanti is sandwiched between the Akan tribe, there’s a history behind that. Ghana is huge, I was up in the Akan mountains, they say Kumasi is 4 hrs away. They must be the largest tribe, to me if you are cousins you’re still one family.
@@kwameamponsa-achiano4857 I was told when I went to Ghana that the Akan and Asante are cousins…. I guess it was meant they are related.😀 So then Akan is the Mother and Asante is the child.😀 Why do people differentiate the Akan from the Asante if the Asante is part of Akan?
When I was in Malabo Guinea Equatorial, I hanged out with the Ghanians at the court yard restaurant near their embassy, Twi was widely spoken and used. In fact most of the better English speakers in that country where from Ghanians
@@zawadiyahb.7982 Akan is the name of the tribe but there are groups within the Akan tribe like Ashanti (Asante), Akyem, Fante, Bawule, Akuapem, Nzema,… there are many Akan groups and instead of Akans being recognized as one group like Yoruba or Igbo, Akans prefer to be known by their subgroup more like Asante, Fante and so on… Akans represent about 45% of Ghana population and about 30% of Ivorian population making them the largest tribe in both countries.. in Ghana, Twi (the Akan language) is spoken and/or understood by about 70% of the population
Jamaican Akan memory is so beautiful and moving to me as a Ghanaian who is globally ProBlack and PanAfrican. Bob Marley's maternal grandfather called him Kubina (as documented in the book Catch A Fire). It was intentional on Omeriah Malcolm's part. Kobina/Kwabena's a boy born on Tuesday. 06Feb1945 was a Tuesday.
@@loveheals6184 my bro nickname is Shango (fighter/warrior), another name Chukuwu. My name name Kuhkuhm ( another name is for slim or slender). My first girl I’ll call her Oya or Yemoya…keeping our west African ancestors legacy going. Wish we would connect on deeper levels back to the motherland. As a Jamaican, it’s instilled in me that I’m of African descent and origins… so I’ll always put my best efforts in how I carry myself
Me too, I am a Black Brit of Jamaican heritage and I know all these words but it was only last year that I realised that these words are African in origin, it gives me so much pride. UK
This was very informative and intriguing, thank you for taking the time to put this one up. Kooya/Kuya was one of my favorite sayings as a kid growing up.
I was in Belize a few years back and was surprised that many there spoke what I call Jamaican patois.They even have a folklore hero similar to our Anansi😁😁
Because they are of Jamaican descent especially thought of Bluefields. Slaves were taken in mass from Jamaica to Belize, San Andres and Cayman also Bermuda, Honduras we were in charge of them . These were sold .also Limon Coast Rica
Shan , “Patu” is owl from Akan (Twi). - this is so true all the Akan and twi words in English are true… I’m glad. I’m an Akan (a Kwahu or Kwawu). I decided to learn history this month and I’m seeing many things omg. I want to learn patwa … may be you are even part of my lineages still living in Jamaica. 😀
Hi Albert, Thank you for your feedback. Lol maybe we are related. If you want to learn Jamaican Patois there is a playlist here, Jamaican Patois for beginners. Please check out some of the videos and let me know if you have any questions. Blessings!
When I was a child we would say UNU push CUNU. This was fighting words when I was a child! As soon as these words was uttered the fists would began to fly.Thank for teaching me that UNU is you.I would love to know the meaning of the word CUNU.
I always thought we should have at least one African language taught in every school so we can reconnect with our esse. Unfortunately we prefer European cultures over our own.
@@Barlinlove1884 I agree it should be Swahili, but unfortunately Black leaders don't want to offend other nations that they seem to answer to. Frantz Fanon had a point
I am a Black Brit of Jamaican descent. I couldn't understand why Jamaicans used the term 'red eye' instead of green-eyed, green-eyed being a British term, to describe someone jealous and covetous. Last year I found out that the original phrase was from the Akan language and it comes from the Akan word anabere which means red eye, I tested this on my South African friend and he laughed and said that they use that term all the time. UK
@@ricosuave8615 We also use the Ibo term 'unu' which means all of you. I remember being able to understand what my fellow Ibo students were saying when I was a student at University, at the time I thought that it was because they were speaking pidgin English and that was why I could understand I didn't know at the time that the word 'unu' was actually African, I find this new knowledge has really made me feel spiritually closer to my African roots. UK
I always say it’s easier to destroy what people say than it is to destroy HOW they say what they say. During the maafa, the euros were able to destroy a great deal of the actual African words we spoke, but they were less successful in destroying HOW we spoke. So, even though they destroyed the word “anibere” from our vocabulary, they weren’t able to destroy HOW we came up with that word. It’s the same thing for the english word tears(crying). We don’t say tears in Jamaican Creole. We say “eye water”. And the term for tears in Twi is anisuo. Ani = eye and suo = water.
Patois should be Jamaicas national language, just like how Haiti nationalized Haitian Creole. We should be able to write in patois Reid books in patois just like Haiti. We need to get rid of the colonial overhang that sits on top of Jamaica because the language will die if it is not standardize.
@@gena3136 Do you really think that is enough? I don’t. Lots of people have their own version of what Jamaican patois should be, that’s why I said it needs to be standardized like the English language like Spanish like French. Jamaican patois Is the language of its own made from other languages. It’s special and should be honoured not scorned not looked down on by high Jamaican Society More than just a local lingo.
Two words got me looking for this video. earlier this week and out of nowhere it occurred to me that the words "unu" (Origin: Igbo) and "pum pum" (Origin: Delta region of Nigeria) each mean the same thing in Patios. It unshakably got me scratching my head that I felt the need to find a video that explains other words that are the ssme or similar between Patios and other Nigerian words/languages. In Igbo, "unu" means "you guys"/"you all". In certain Delta regions of Nigeria, "pum pum" means s.ex (granted it means v.irgin.a in Patois, but I think it is close enough in meaning). Further, I suspect if there ever was a word "una" in Patios that it would mean exactly the same as in Pidgin English, which means "you guys"/"you all".
Dokun “Kenkey” is a type of food in Ghana. It’s made from corn and similarly steamed in a leaf but it’s savoury unlike like Dukunu/Blue Draws. For all my Ghanaians, I noticed the maroons still use words such as Nyakupon “Most High God” and Aben “Horn”. It’s all love 💕
These are some of the Akan words I heard some Maroon Jamaicans speak when I met them in Grand Anse Beach in Grenada. 1. Bommo = Cloth used as menstrual pad in ancient Akan. 2. Abe = Palm Tree🌴 or Palm nut. 3. Aben = Flute 4. Ananse = Spider 5. Odum = Hardwood Tree 6. Afu = Farm 7. Adru = Herbal Medicine 8. Kokobe = Leprosy 9. Bafan = Crawler 10. Opete = Vulture 11. Patu = Owl 12. Nyam = Grind 13. Mumu = Dummy
@@johnjackissorryinfrench7777 Of course, Bommo was the first cloth invented by Akans before Kente. It was the Akans regular wear. Kente was only used by Royals during ceremonies. Bommo was heavy and dirty brown in color so women used its strips as menstrual pads. This is why Bommo Cloth was used by Jamaican slaves to insult people who are considered dirty. So the words Bombo Clat is actually Bombo or Bommo Cloth. In ancient Akan it was called Kantanchi Bommo, meaning the Cloth that covers all parts.
@@agoogo5026 It's true, Bommo was also used as a blanket in the olden days because it was very heavy but the true Akan word for a blanket is Kuntu. As a matter of fact Bommo was described as the poor man's cloth because it had so many purposes. It was used as an everyday wear, a blanket, a wound pad, a menstrual pad, a kitchen wipe and even as a toilet paper when it gets old.
You must have got this from Wikipedia that any and anybody can edit but what you copy and pasted is not true. We don't use any of those terms. A spider is just called a spider. We don't say "mumu" that's Nigerian, we say "foo, foo". Vulture is called "jancro". Nyam means to eat and all the other ones are not used in Jamaica at all.
i thought it was yoruba cos we use it too potopoto means muddy especially on the road example - becareful dont get stained by the potopoto on the road.
Sister Shan, this Ghanaian sis thanks you for this video, sis. (Small edit: nyam is from Fulani also known as Fulbe, Tukulor, Toucouleur, ). I'm smiling at all the wonderful inclusions here. I have a Peter Tosh shirt from the brand Cooyah, but didn't reflect that "Kweh" in Ga is look. "We" in Haitian Creole for "see" may have the same origin. Still family centuries later. Yes!!!
Nyam seems to be spoken over much of Africa. The Dinka People in Sudan even have the term niami niami meaning “great eater” or even cannibal. And we use nyami nyami in Jamaica to mean someone who eats voraciously, like nonstop, greedy, will eat anything.
@@ahfimiwonawun Wow. I hadn't known the Dinka meaning! The Patois one, yes. It stands to reason was from the Fulani in West Africa. The Hausa and Fulani are from several countries and in Nigeria so intermingled that they're sometimes referred to as Hausa-Fulani, though they're distinct groups. Hausa presence in JA is in words like myalman ("Maye" is Hausa for "wizard"). Igbos/Ibos -also present in Jamaica- are Nigerian. The Akan from Ghana and Côte D'ivoire are obviously present, too. Patu (owl), Bissi/Bissy (kola nut), Tchaka tchaka (messy). Even with different-sounding foods like kontomire (callaloo) and piwa (bammy). Dokon(u)/kenkey is the same in Jamaica.
Yuh a not jamaican ! Shame to yuh! Yuh better know yuhself. Fada marcus garvey seh: A people without the knowledge of they past history origine and culture he likes a tree whithout roots!
@@sarahharas1692 what Errol says is correct. I am a Jamaican residing in Ghana and learned that the slaves were the ones who named the country under the Spanish enslavement. First, the Spanish bastardized the name Gyama-ya-ka-ha and said Xaymaca. Secondly after the spanish/english treaty spain and england, the english changed the name to Jamaica. Those two words, Xaymaca and Jamaica are corporate names for the country (even sizla mentioned it on state once in one of his performances). The slaves were the ones who named the country which means: " We are stuck." When one comes to Ghana and go to the palace in the ashanti region, the tour guide will provide details about the naming of Jamaica by the slaves. The below link also provides further information to backup Errol's statement czcams.com/video/LruM6xpCRMI/video.html We were brain-washed to think otherwise. I suggest that Jamaicans all over research their history not from our colonizers perspective but through the lens of our people near and far.
@@sarahharas1692 how much of your history do you know or are you one of those who are too ashamed, embarrassed or contemptuous of errols's facts???. You remind me of people who discover they are not what they think they are..... The British really left their mark, yet not too long ago they were refusing to accept as British, Jamaicans who had lived among them since childhood. Jamaica is an anglicised version of the real name those slaves had given it. The meaning so poignant.
As a Jamaican of MAROON ancestry, I know a lot more than you. You don’t even know me and you think I’m ashamed of of being Jamaican? You is a fool. You cannot tell me about MY heritage and history when YOU don’t even know. Cockroach nuh business inna fowl fight.
I am a born Jamaican and my the other half is a Nigerian, igbo tribe. There are many words i recognised when he speaks both Igbo and Pidgin. A reminder that our ancestors are from many tribes from West Africa but i feel we Jamaicans have lost a lot of valuable information about our ancestral lineage due to the slave master plus there is many gaps in recordings about our history. Thanks sis for highlighting some of this. Note that a lot of words are no longer used that used to be spoken by the older generation. Therefore, many of the younger generation wouldn't recognised many of the old words and phrases. Its so important to document so generations can be informed. I know i rambling on but DNA testings have become much smarter and more precise, and who can afford it should definitely do the test to pin point your lineage. Much love
That was extatic! Loved it. It was extremely useful, informative and necessary. Thank you. The words that I would like to see clarified are the Caribbean swear words. It is my opinion that all the swear words around the world portrayed the abuse of the female genatelia. So, the swear words used in Patois would be the starting point. Many thanks.
@@radcliffemurphy5273 sranangtongo is the language that the slaves that brought to Suriname created to speak to each other.. It's now a days one of the important language besides Dutch that is speaking in Suriname...
The people of Suriname say that they came from "Kromanti". Well. Kromantse (or Kromanten) is a town on the coast of present-day Ghana. It has a slave Fort/Castle, called, Fort Amsterdam, and which was built by the Dutch. It was one of the 31 forts/castles - out of 42 on the coast of West Africa - that dot the coast of present-day Ghana and was the storage/points of departure for many of our ancestors who were shipped of to the Americas centuries ago. Note: I am an Ashanti -from Ghana - and I submitted this response on a desktop computer at work here in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. The photo connected to this link does not belong to me.
True! The core of english is germanic, but it's highly influenced by roman languages, mostly latin, and french. Also greek and other languages influenced english. The grammar is still germanic, so one could say, when english evolved, it stopped in the process of creolazation.
Another word "bombo" is from the Mende region in west Africa. It is the word for the female genitalia hence the word "bombo cloth" or ""claart" as it would be pronounced in Jamaica
I learned a lot just now. I remembered hearing and speaking these words myself growing up but didn't realize they were brought by our ancestors. We always called then country talk or chat bad. Sad how the colonizers brainwashed most of our people into this speaking proper BS, only to steer us away from the language of our ancestors. They tried but we still held on to them. Now some of us are really understanding where we really originated from. Most of us didn't even know that we were from Africa as a lineage. Those devils really did a job on us. Thanks to the most high we held on to our roots, today we are learning more and more about who we really are as a people, and where we came from.
Woww you’re 💯💯 correct. I even observe that Africans-(Nigerian and Ghana people) say pickney for child and so do Jamaicans. I’ll tell you this, we’re all sisters and brothers , just separated once captured by the demons.
We say pikin in Nigerian pidgeon English which a version of English original brought back to Africa by returning British former slaves from the West Indies to act as clerks for the newly colonised Nigeria
@@kofisam4106 y'all.arguing over a derogatory word pikin, pikni comes from picaninee which british used to describe, exclusively, black children as if they were sub human. I hate that word !
@@kofisam4106 see this ewu +ode, does Ghanaians speak pidjin? Everything you want to claim, Ghanaians trying to speak Nigeria pidjin for thousand years and they still can't. Do you know how the word pikin came about. Most of the pidjin you speak is naija pidjin. You guys think pidjin is just about breaking English down, there's so much secret to pidjin. If you're not Nigeria you don't know what pidjin is. Ghanaians try to copy but can't get it right because you people don't know what pidjin is and how we create the words. We Nigeria don't even have time for English anymore, we're promoting our pidjin to the world. Ghanaians trying to speak English and not pidjin. Liberia has their broken like pidjin also, but Sierra Leon and Cameroon created their broken from Nigeria pidjin which is cool, not like Ghanaians trying to copy everything Nigeria but yet can't get it right. Banko brains 🧠 🤣
@Marcia Simpson James I think he means would you be willing to give up the privilege of your european master's name to go back to the humble traditional African name your forefathers answered to.
Shan.. I was watching a Nigerian movie something like “usofia in London” and they called all the older men in the village “mazzy” as in “mazzy joe” as in how Jamaicans have called our elders in the country “maus” “maus joe”… just thought I would share
The Ga language of Ghana is a derivative of the Yoruba language of Western Nigeria. That makes it one additional language from Nigeria. Since no part of West Africa was spared it will not be a surprise to see many words from the different parts of W. African region
This is so refreshing. There is so much significant history confirming the connectivity of a people explaining a practice an yes, silencing misinformation. Good stuff, Shan. Keep it coming.
Accompong Town in Jamaica was built by the kwadwoe's brother Accompong, Kwadwoe was the leader of the Jamaican Moroons who fought and always defeated the British, the Moroons were the first black Africans in Jamaica, they were taking there by the Spanish before the British took over Jamaica,there is a place called Abioquita in Jamaica said to have been built by Nigerian slaves .
@@donjazzy5510 Who is Nago? We have a place called Naggoes Head in Jamaica. We were told that Yoruba's named it after Nago. However, I do not know who Nago is😂🤣
Thank you for taking the time to do the research and sharing. I also like...no! No fi se: "Tengk yu gyal! Yu gwaahn gud! An mi lov ou yu ombl an tel wi we yu get di infamieshan fram an no fried fi aks piipl fi shier an karek! Nof gig op!
Thats my problem with the language. There is no standard way of spelling . People spell the words anyway. As long as them get the sound..for example i want to say look here. I could write "koo ya " "ku yah"..or luk ya. Those kinda things. Fact is patwa/ patois harder fi rite dan fi talk. I also think its the most expressive language like for example .. fenkeh fenkeh. Poto poto,and mauga. Certainly one of the best language that is not recogonised i think. Wanda y di hatarities nah deal wid it . See i might need some corrections in my spellings
Bless-up sista Weldone, again most of this words are used in Surinam too you know, with exactly the same meanings.; dotti, doppy. Djumbi, Kooya or luku ya, Obeah, kongosa, acampong, potopoto = tokotoko, backra for the european, juk for poking or stabbing, Nyam for eating or food, okro, pinda, Anansi and anansi stories, yh all a we a African pikni from the same tribes no doubt. Thanks and blessings
I’ve got my DNA and know that I’m from Togo/Benin ancestry and would love ❤️ to hear more of the language that still is spoken in Jamaican patois from there…
Are you Yoruba? If so can you explain who is Nago? We have Abeokuta in Jamaica as well as Yoruba Klan dances that have survived but Yorubas also name a place in Jamaica after Nago. What or who is Nago?
@@opemalik7181 Wow! Thanks! So they named places after where they came from and who they were? Abeokuta is near a rock settlement and river in Jamaica and Nago is in Portmore Jamaica. Thanks for the heads up.
The Yorubas are called Anago or Nago in Brazil, Benin Republic, Haiti, Togo, Ghana, Ivory Coast, e.t.c. The word Lucumi and Anago were used earlier to qualify the Yorubas before the Christian missionaries made the name Yoruba popular in their writings.@@rqubedrqubed1634
@@baffourboaten9402 Really? I had no idea. No surprises though. I found out that some tribes in Ghana have links to the Igbo tribe. I'm especially keen to investigate the Ga-Adamgbe, because we have an ancestral Ga male. And another, a female ancestress named, Adamgbo. It will be an interesting study for me. What do you call chicken? We call it okuko or okuku. Waiting for your response because I found out that it is central in sacrifices in a few African tribes. Take care!
@@baffourboaten9402 I think the Baganda have a similar name for chicken. What it tells me is that more research needs to be done into our immediate past as Africans. Some of what we've been brainwashed to regard as myths, are anything but. In the meantime, what we've been sold as authentic world history is not. There is a deliberate attempt to conceal our history, because some people have trouble dealing with the reality of our contributions to civilization.
Great work. I like what you started seeing all us of African desent trying to put our lineage back together which was destroyed by Europeans. By the does anyone know the word "bunky" it was used in the the community in Jamaica where I grew up by elders when greeting young men
Seeing that someone claimed that the Igbo tribes were dispatched to two parishes in He Jamaica,(St .Ann and St.James) The two top tourist places ,maybe you need to visit .Additionally Bob Marley and our National Hero Marcus Garvey are from St Ann,you definitely should visit.😁😁
@Anniobi Anyanwu Igbo influence is huge in Jamaica. Where Bob Marley was born back in the day retained a lot of igbo musical instruments and his family used to play the igbo flutes, drums and banjo. To this day Jonkunu retains the same musical beats and instrumental sounds and costumes as Igbo celebrations. In fact Jamaican-Canadian author Malcolm Gladwell is Igbo on his Jamaican side.
The maroons didn’t mix a lot but I heard they had mixed with the Spaniards before the British took over Xyamaca and called the island JAMAICA … our patois is a mixture of all the different continents ..a lot of course from Africa but a lot from the old English and a bit from the Spanish.
Not mixed with Spanish but the word Maroon comes from Spanish Cimarrones. They more likely mixed with indigenous people or at least adopted some of their culture and craft..jerk is said to be a fusion between African and Taino/Arawak methods Introduced by thr Maroons
Thé first wave of ´maroons ‘ were enslaved people left from the Spaniards, they just left them on the island. Spaniards got Atleast some of their captured from Slavic region. This is where the original word ‘slave’ comes from, the Slavic. Those people mixed with the aboriginal/ Taino who eventually mixed with the Africans who came along later.
There are also traces of Celtic words in Jamaican Patios. We tend to lump all the Europeans in together and forget that the Scottish and Irish are Celtic peoples with a seperate language from the the English. I believe the word "nae" pronounced "naa" i
Thanks for your post. 'Unu' means 'you' plural in Wolof. The word "cunumunu" is used in Senegal, and may be of Wolof origin. It means 'biggest idiot' and is also used in Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago. Many of these African words are used throughout the Caribbean, and we have barely touched the surface as there are many villages with African names all over the Caribbean as well. Another important category is the names of our food dishes, plants and animals. You can take a man out of his environment, but you can't take his environment out of him. By the way "Igbo" is pronounced as "Ibo". The 'g' is silent.
No, it's actually "Igbo". The British were the ones who called it "Ibo" because there isn't the "gb" consonant sound in the English language hence struggled with the pronunciation. As a people, they are called "Ndi Igbo" meaning people of Igbo ancestry.
It's not silent. It's a consonant blend, /gb/, which doesn't occur in English. So, the colonisers used the nearest sound they know, /b/. Several Nigerian languages have the /gb/ sound though it may sound slightly different between them.
I learned a lot, what they call bad language is really a language 😀😀 my mother couldn’t stand the word nyam because we use to say that we are eating out food greedily or fast. Thanks 😊
More Patois/Patwa words that is from Ghana: plaka plaka (pleki pleki)/ muddy, woie woe/a place far away, susumba (susumuoa) green round bean. Please forgive my spellings.
@@snakeslayer831 Lol, Whatever u heard is a myth as both countries have some similarities in cuisines and share the same African heritage/food/culture.
Twi is the biggest dialect of the Akan language and used for everyday transaction by over 80% of Ghanaians. Ashantis are part of the Twi Group of tribes in Ghana. The other major Akan groups are the Fante people from the Central and Western coastal areas of Ghana.
im Ghanaian. nyam is Akan, to mash or grind. like mashed yams, mashed potatoes. mashed pepper. some other words i heard as part of the koromanteng language abeng is akan for horn obroni is also akan for foreigner
Also the Akan language is spoken in the Eastern Region of Ghana ttoo. The Akwapims, Akwamus and Akyems. Ashanti is an Akan tribe. Language spoken is Akan Twi. We have dialects in Akan as follows: Ashanti Twi, Akwapim Twi, Akyem twi and Fante twi.
Fante or Mfantse is as it is, not Fante twi please. According to the Bureau of Ghana Languages Asante Twi, Akuapem Twi, Mfantse ... among others are languages. In Ghana Akans are from parts of Oti region, the Eastern, Ashanti, Brong Ahafo, Central and Western regions.
Im from Jamaica and many times, when words like these are said , due to ignorance ( thank God for your channel), persons are scolded ," stop speaking badly, yuh speak too bad, say albino, not dundus or not dutty ( doti) say dirty," only to find out they are our own African ancestors tongue or language ( shake my head). Definitely our African roots should be implemented in our schools so we know and understand the connection. We allow eurocentrism to soak too easily in our minds
Very informative but I'm from ghana 🇬🇭 and an Ashanti one thing I will like to point out is the name accompong. In ghana we say acheampong and it's a name given to the male thanks
No, Accompong is different from Acheampong. The name Accompong is usually found in Denkyira and Assin while the name Acheampong is very common in Ashanti. Anytime you see the word "pong", it means great or big. For instance, Oppong means the big or great one. Akropong means the big or great town. Manpong means the big or great state. So, Accompong from the word Ako ( war) means the great warrior while Acheampong from the word Okyeame or Akyeame (assistant ) means a great assistant. The true Akan spelling for Accompong and Acheampong are Akompong and Akyeampong. In Twi, KY is pronounced CH like Chinese and HY is pronounced SH like Shanghai or Shoe while the letter C as in the word Capital or Cape, is written as K.
It's a myth we Jamaican tell each other that the majority of our ancestors are from Ghana. A typical DNA test of most Jamaicans show a larger percentage of Nigerian.
If majority of Jamaicans are Nigerians, how come the patios has a lot of Ashanti language then Then it means that the few Ashanti taken as slaves were very powerful and influential then
@@Kingoftheimmigrants4646 Potois has lots of Igbo and Yoruba languages as well. When speaking a Jamaican sounds more Nigerian than Ghanaian, even in mannerism Jamaicans behave more like Nigerians than Ghanaian. You may be right by saying the Ghanaians taken over there might be more powerful and influential, but Kwame Nkrumah's Pan-Africanism helped spread the myth. Honestly I've watched lots of this DNA videos of Jamaican and I see a larger percentage of Nigerian in the DNA results than Ghanaian.
Akan language is also spoken in Ivory Coast.
Yes and Togo
@Gideon kobby Yes, the Akan group contains the Ashantis, Ewe, Fanti.
I believe the Ga’s aren’t under the Akan group.
@@SunnyGhandle The Ewes aren't part of the Akan group. You are right about the Gas though. I'm a Ga.
@@niimorale4311 No Ga-Adangbe don’t not speak Twi they speak Ga with is not of Akan dialect even though a lot of Ga ppl do speak twi which is the common language in 🇬🇭
@@raskofi8406 @S G guessed that "the Gas aren't under the Akan group". I was only saying he was right about that. I am a Ga.
I’m from Dominica 🇩🇲 and we use a lot of these words, like juk ,mumu, jumbi. All these years I thought we made those words up. Thanks for shining a light on this.
Are you from Dominican Republic?
@@imhotep1613Dominica and Dominica republic are different
French Creole Dominica and Spanish speaking Dominican Republic two different types of dominica's
I’m Nigerian, from the Igbo tribe and I definitely know a lot of these words.. “Unu” “atu” etc. much love to all my Jamaican cousins ❤️
What do you know about the igbo Jews from that area ?
Nwanne, Chukwu gozie gi. Greetings from a Ghanaian Hausa-Ga-Fante sis w/ some Naija ancestry. Friends and I even with knowing the Ghanaian and Jamaican connection have pointed to Jamaican friends upon seeing proud Nigerians is very serious traditional clothing bragging or flexing, I say, "Have you seen your people?" because as with Jamaican pride and assertion that they are here, Nigerians will let you know they rep GREEN WHITE GREEN. Blessings to good Black people worldwide.
MOST OF THE SLAVES SHIPPED TOO VIGINIA WAS FROM IGBO TRIBE WHAT'S YOUR KNOWLEDGE. I CAN TRACE BACK TO 1800 TO 1826
Nwanne, Chukwu is strictly IGBO Language of Nigeria…
Yes Jamoica are from your country not our country Ghana
I am Congolese and I confirm the words: poto-poto, ndundu, etc. Good job my sister
Peace, bruh. I hope to one day visit both Congos: Brazzaville & Kinshasa. Lingala is one of the most beautiful languages I've ever heard. I'm a Ghanaian sister w/ some Nigerian & Sierra Leonean ancestry. Mpoto-mpoto is even the nickname of a potage made from yam or cassava and I think it's because it has a similar texture to the muddy area we call poto-poto.
This is amazing! I always suspected that some of our patois had originated from the great continent of Africa. We are one people.
kungkus = gossip in patois . Kokonsa gossip in akan. this is so spot on. Patu/apatu, Obeah (obeyie), bissi dorkunu, mumu, ackee (akye), ananse etc . The Ghana presence in Jamaica is really strong
Congossa=Cameroon
Nanny and Cojoe one of our national heroes was born in Ghana.
So funny! I am from Suriname and I hear the words we use. Words that Surinamese also use are: doti, With us it also means dirty or mud, sand, etc. We say lokoe ya, it looks like kooya and is also known, look here. And of course we also know Anansi the spider. We also know dukunu. But we call it dukun. Haha cocobay we also say. We pronounce it cocco bè. Also means leprosy. We also know Obea with the same meaning. In Suriname we write it as Obia. We also use backra for white people...wow great that it matches so well. Juke, we also say jukoe with the same meaning. We say Njang and that also means food. We also say unu and bm it is known to you. We also say djumbi for spirit. Wow haha great, we are all family. Slavery tried to divide us but we are still one family❤.
❤❤❤
I'm Jamaican 🇯🇲 and I always feel that connection when I meet up with my African friends in the US. Most words we use here in Jamaica 🇯🇲 that you mention is quite familiar to them. We have strong African roots. Out of Many ONE People.Nuff ❤❤❤❤❤ to my African family❤
Thanks for this video. It reminds me of some of the words my grandmother and people of my community used during my childhood years in Jamaica. One example is the word “jumbi”, which means ghost. One inescapable fact is that Jamaicans descend from the countries which make up West Africa today. Back in the day, before the enslavers and colonizers divided up Africa, West Africa was a region with kingdoms or peoples. I have always maintained that one can see the various peoples of West African countries in the Jamaican population. Some think we have connections with only Ghana, but it goes much wider.
I also think there is a lot of Gambia in the Jamaican DNA
Trust me Jamaica same life style same ghetto life,so many similar things
True
My lovely husband Leeroy was London born of Jamaican parents. He died of cancer before we could go there together. I heard some of these words before and love your Patwa Academy. Thanks Shan
Sorry for you loss, my dear. Peace onto you and love from Jamaica 🇯🇲
@@sanjaymoncrieffe7126 ditto that
This is great. Thanks for sharing. It's interesting because growing up using words like nyam was considered improper. Colonization has taught us to dislike so much about ourselves and our roots.
Mentions colonisation and forgets Africa colonised and enslaved Spain and Portugal for eight hundred years.
"Nyam" (to eat) also exist in Cameroonian bantu languages, not only in western african languages
Yep I heard it in Zimbabwe NyAM NYAM
@@stopmotionandgaming4877 ok
Great video! I am glad someone took the time to highlight the origin of the various words that we use every day in Jamaica. I am sure this is true of every Caribbean countries.
Very informative. I have a greater appreciation for Patois/ Patwa with every video I watch. THANK YOU👍👍
It’s my pleasure 😁
We are all one ,all you saying is correct 💯
🇳🇬🇯🇲
I've heard a majority of all of these terms growing up, but never know how they connected with Africa. Thank you for helping me to put the pieces together.
I remember when I was a teen at school in the UK White kids would ask us what did bumboclaat mean, these White kids would start to use it as part of their vocabulary....UK
Kmt
I'm from Ghana 🇬🇭. Akan is one of the dominant tribes in Ghana. The people of Akan speak Akan language. Twi and fante are two major dialects of Akan. Other dialects include sefwi, nzema, anyii/burosa, ahanta.
Twi has "sub-dialects": asante (not Ashanti which is just the whiteman's corrupted version), assin, twifo, akyem, kwahu, wassa, akwapim, bono, denkyira, akwamu, others...
Fante (better known as mfantse) also has sub-dialects: abura, guae (of Oguaa or Cape Coast) edina/komenda; gomoa, ekumfi, agona (arguably more twi than fante), enyan, breman, nkusukum, ajumako & others.
In fact, one will struggle to identify the difference with the sub-dialects of TWI on the one hand & fante on the other.
What I'm sure about is Asanti Twi, Akwampim Twi, Abura fantse & Oguaa fantse are the ones currently written as examinable languages of the Akan FANTSE & TWI language in schools.
Never say asante & twi languages. It is even worse to say ASHANTI!!
There's is a large Akan tribe in La Cote d'Ivoire.
Did you forget to mention that the Alan are cousins of the Ashant, according to the map she showed the Ashanti is sandwiched between the Akan tribe, there’s a history behind that. Ghana is huge, I was up in the Akan mountains, they say Kumasi is 4 hrs away. They must be the largest tribe, to me if you are cousins you’re still one family.
@@zawadiyahb.7982 Asante is part of Akan. It is NOT a cousin. Please read my earlier submission again. Also, it is ASANTE not ASHANTI.
@@kwameamponsa-achiano4857 I was told when I went to Ghana that the Akan and Asante are cousins…. I guess it was meant they are related.😀 So then Akan is the Mother and Asante is the child.😀 Why do people differentiate the Akan from the Asante if the Asante is part of Akan?
When I was in Malabo Guinea Equatorial, I hanged out with the Ghanians at the court yard restaurant near their embassy, Twi was widely spoken and used.
In fact most of the better English speakers in that country where from Ghanians
@@zawadiyahb.7982 Akan is the name of the tribe but there are groups within the Akan tribe like Ashanti (Asante), Akyem, Fante, Bawule, Akuapem, Nzema,… there are many Akan groups and instead of Akans being recognized as one group like Yoruba or Igbo, Akans prefer to be known by their subgroup more like Asante, Fante and so on… Akans represent about 45% of Ghana population and about 30% of Ivorian population making them the largest tribe in both countries.. in Ghana, Twi (the Akan language) is spoken and/or understood by about 70% of the population
Jamaican Akan memory is so beautiful and moving to me as a Ghanaian who is globally ProBlack and PanAfrican. Bob Marley's maternal grandfather called him Kubina (as documented in the book Catch A Fire). It was intentional on Omeriah Malcolm's part. Kobina/Kwabena's a boy born on Tuesday. 06Feb1945 was a Tuesday.
Funny enough many of our grand ppl tend to have an African nickname for the loved ones they’re close to
@@tiffanybrown368 that's amazing!!
@@loveheals6184 my bro nickname is Shango (fighter/warrior), another name Chukuwu. My name name Kuhkuhm ( another name is for slim or slender). My first girl I’ll call her Oya or Yemoya…keeping our west African ancestors legacy going. Wish we would connect on deeper levels back to the motherland. As a Jamaican, it’s instilled in me that I’m of African descent and origins… so I’ll always put my best efforts in how I carry myself
@@tiffanybrown368sister to sister, I can't hide this smile 😀😁. This is beautiful. Shango tells me yuh nuh easy none atall😩🤣 and Chukwu means God.
All I can say is wow.
I’ve heard half of these terms and never knew they were African words.
Not being rude, but what did you think they were, English?
Me too, I am a Black Brit of Jamaican heritage and I know all these words but it was only last year that I realised that these words are African in origin, it gives me so much pride. UK
This was very informative and intriguing, thank you for taking the time to put this one up. Kooya/Kuya was one of my favorite sayings as a kid growing up.
I was in Belize a few years back and was surprised that many there spoke what I call Jamaican patois.They even have a folklore hero similar to our Anansi😁😁
Because they are of Jamaican descent especially thought of Bluefields. Slaves were taken in mass from Jamaica to Belize, San Andres and Cayman also Bermuda, Honduras we were in charge of them . These were sold .also Limon Coast Rica
@B1Chronixx Yes Panama and Nicaragua
Shan , “Patu” is owl from Akan (Twi). - this is so true all the Akan and twi words in English are true… I’m glad. I’m an Akan (a Kwahu or Kwawu). I decided to learn history this month and I’m seeing many things omg. I want to learn patwa … may be you are even part of my lineages still living in Jamaica. 😀
Hi Albert, Thank you for your feedback. Lol maybe we are related.
If you want to learn Jamaican Patois there is a playlist here, Jamaican Patois for beginners. Please check out some of the videos and let me know if you have any questions.
Blessings!
Very good I like it
Is this channel still exis because i alway feel deep in my gutts that i am not speaking my own language,but i dont know it .
Before I camed to England I didn't know the world owl I only knew patu
"NYAM" is also a word from Luo (River and Lake Nilots) tribes found in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, S.Sudan and Ethiopia, meaning To CHEW eg. Food etc.
When I was a child we would say UNU push CUNU. This was fighting words when I was a child! As soon as these words was uttered the fists would began to fly.Thank for teaching me that UNU is you.I would love to know the meaning of the word CUNU.
C unu..the same in Sierra Leone.
I always thought we should have at least one African language taught in every school so we can reconnect with our esse. Unfortunately we prefer European cultures over our own.
Swahili language African
@@Barlinlove1884 I agree it should be Swahili, but unfortunately Black leaders don't want to offend other nations that they seem to answer to. Frantz Fanon had a point
so true, we hate anything Africa.
What's esse? Thanks
Kiswahili
Love from us congolese people 🇨🇩
I am a Black Brit of Jamaican descent. I couldn't understand why Jamaicans used the term 'red eye' instead of green-eyed, green-eyed being a British term, to describe someone jealous and covetous. Last year I found out that the original phrase was from the Akan language and it comes from the Akan word anabere which means red eye, I tested this on my South African friend and he laughed and said that they use that term all the time. UK
They use red eye in current Ghana too
@@ricosuave8615 We also use the Ibo term 'unu' which means all of you. I remember being able to understand what my fellow Ibo students were saying when I was a student at University, at the time I thought that it was because they were speaking pidgin English and that was why I could understand I didn't know at the time that the word 'unu' was actually African, I find this new knowledge has really made me feel spiritually closer to my African roots. UK
I always say it’s easier to destroy what people say than it is to destroy HOW they say what they say. During the maafa, the euros were able to destroy a great deal of the actual African words we spoke, but they were less successful in destroying HOW we spoke. So, even though they destroyed the word “anibere” from our vocabulary, they weren’t able to destroy HOW we came up with that word. It’s the same thing for the english word tears(crying). We don’t say tears in Jamaican Creole. We say “eye water”. And the term for tears in Twi is anisuo. Ani = eye and suo = water.
Thank you. This is informative and shows the diversity of influences of languages in one place.
Patois should be Jamaicas national language, just like how Haiti nationalized Haitian Creole. We should be able to write in patois Reid books in patois just like Haiti. We need to get rid of the colonial overhang that sits on top of Jamaica because the language will die if it is not standardize.
Sure right......yeah man!!!!
There is the Patois bible
@@gena3136 Do you really think that is enough? I don’t. Lots of people have their own version of what Jamaican patois should be, that’s why I said it needs to be standardized like the English language like Spanish like French. Jamaican patois Is the language of its own made from other languages. It’s special and should be honoured not scorned not looked down on by high Jamaican Society More than just a local lingo.
@@blackpanda7298 no where in my comments did I say it was enough. Was just stating a fact.
@@gena3136 ok gena
Two words got me looking for this video. earlier this week and out of nowhere it occurred to me that the words "unu" (Origin: Igbo) and "pum pum" (Origin: Delta region of Nigeria) each mean the same thing in Patios. It unshakably got me scratching my head that I felt the need to find a video that explains other words that are the ssme or similar between Patios and other Nigerian words/languages. In Igbo, "unu" means "you guys"/"you all". In certain Delta regions of Nigeria, "pum pum" means s.ex (granted it means v.irgin.a in Patois, but I think it is close enough in meaning).
Further, I suspect if there ever was a word "una" in Patios that it would mean exactly the same as in Pidgin English, which means "you guys"/"you all".
Pampae also attributes to sex in Akan /Twi language
Dokun “Kenkey” is a type of food in Ghana. It’s made from corn and similarly steamed in a leaf but it’s savoury unlike like Dukunu/Blue Draws. For all my Ghanaians, I noticed the maroons still use words such as Nyakupon “Most High God” and Aben “Horn”. It’s all love 💕
In Guyana 🇬🇾 we call it Kankie which similar to kenkey. It is prepared in the same manner
@@kenajiyo Both kenkey and dokun (Fante)/dokunu(asante) are used in present-day Ghana. But kenkey is acceptable throughout the country.
@@jwills3347 758 Also called Conkie or Pemee
I want to try it. 😋
Totally correct❤💯💯
These are some of the Akan words I heard some Maroon Jamaicans speak when I met them in Grand Anse Beach in Grenada.
1. Bommo = Cloth used as menstrual pad in ancient Akan.
2. Abe = Palm Tree🌴 or Palm nut.
3. Aben = Flute
4. Ananse = Spider
5. Odum = Hardwood Tree
6. Afu = Farm
7. Adru = Herbal Medicine
8. Kokobe = Leprosy
9. Bafan = Crawler
10. Opete = Vulture
11. Patu = Owl
12. Nyam = Grind
13. Mumu = Dummy
I wonder if Bommo if the origin of the saying "Bomba claat" because, correct me if I am wrong, I think that's what it means i.e menstrual rag.
@@johnjackissorryinfrench7777 Of course, Bommo was the first cloth invented by Akans before Kente. It was the Akans regular wear. Kente was only used by Royals during ceremonies. Bommo was heavy and dirty brown in color so women used its strips as menstrual pads. This is why Bommo Cloth was used by Jamaican slaves to insult people who are considered dirty. So the words Bombo Clat is actually Bombo or Bommo Cloth. In ancient Akan it was called Kantanchi Bommo, meaning the Cloth that covers all parts.
@@oseitututawiah2109 I don't know which Akan group you come frome, because The word Bommo meant blanket.
@@agoogo5026 It's true, Bommo was also used as a blanket in the olden days because it was very heavy but the true Akan word for a blanket is Kuntu. As a matter of fact Bommo was described as the poor man's cloth because it had so many purposes. It was used as an everyday wear, a blanket, a wound pad, a menstrual pad, a kitchen wipe and even as a toilet paper when it gets old.
You must have got this from Wikipedia that any and anybody can edit but what you copy and pasted is not true. We don't use any of those terms. A spider is just called a spider. We don't say "mumu" that's Nigerian, we say "foo, foo". Vulture is called "jancro". Nyam means to eat and all the other ones are not used in Jamaica at all.
Poto poto is also from the Ewe language and also means mud or muddy. Loved the video!
Same in Sierra Leone. Look poto poto pan u!
i thought it was yoruba cos we use it too potopoto means muddy especially on the road example - becareful dont get stained by the potopoto on the road.
Sister Shan, this Ghanaian sis thanks you for this video, sis. (Small edit: nyam is from Fulani also known as Fulbe, Tukulor, Toucouleur, ). I'm smiling at all the wonderful inclusions here. I have a Peter Tosh shirt from the brand Cooyah, but didn't reflect that "Kweh" in Ga is look. "We" in Haitian Creole for "see" may have the same origin. Still family centuries later. Yes!!!
Nyam seems to be spoken over much of Africa. The Dinka People in Sudan even have the term niami niami meaning “great eater” or even cannibal. And we use nyami nyami in Jamaica to mean someone who eats voraciously, like nonstop, greedy, will eat anything.
@@ahfimiwonawun Wow. I hadn't known the Dinka meaning! The Patois one, yes. It stands to reason was from the Fulani in West Africa. The Hausa and Fulani are from several countries and in Nigeria so intermingled that they're sometimes referred to as Hausa-Fulani, though they're distinct groups. Hausa presence in JA is in words like myalman ("Maye" is Hausa for "wizard"). Igbos/Ibos -also present in Jamaica- are Nigerian. The Akan from Ghana and Côte D'ivoire are obviously present, too. Patu (owl), Bissi/Bissy (kola nut), Tchaka tchaka (messy). Even with different-sounding foods like kontomire (callaloo) and piwa (bammy). Dokon(u)/kenkey is the same in Jamaica.
My Jamaican parents and cousins understand all and more of these African words 🎉🎉🎉🎉
There were a few I'd not heard before growing up in Jamaica as a young girl in the 80s so was surprised(Djumbi, Pinda, Breechee, Himba, Attoo).
Jamaica IS Africa WE love our Jamaican familly ! MORE LOVE!
Jamaica is not Africa. Jamaica is Jamaica.
Yuh a not jamaican ! Shame to yuh! Yuh better know yuhself. Fada marcus garvey seh: A people without the knowledge of they past history origine and culture he likes a tree whithout roots!
In the Twi language of Ghana: Jamaica is the 3 syllabus - Gyama ya ka, meaning we are stuck here. The same meaning as Marooned.
Ah lie. The name Jamaica comes from the Taino word Xaymaca meaning ‘Land Of Wood And Water’ Or ‘Land Of Springs’.
@@sarahharas1692 honestly! What a lie indeed!
@@sarahharas1692 what Errol says is correct. I am a Jamaican residing in Ghana and learned that the slaves were the ones who named the country under the Spanish enslavement. First, the Spanish bastardized the name Gyama-ya-ka-ha and said Xaymaca. Secondly after the spanish/english treaty spain and england, the english changed the name to Jamaica. Those two words, Xaymaca and Jamaica are corporate names for the country (even sizla mentioned it on state once in one of his performances).
The slaves were the ones who named the country which means: " We are stuck." When one comes to Ghana and go to the palace in the ashanti region, the tour guide will provide details about the naming of Jamaica by the slaves.
The below link also provides further information to backup Errol's statement
czcams.com/video/LruM6xpCRMI/video.html
We were brain-washed to think otherwise. I suggest that Jamaicans all over research their history not from our colonizers perspective but through the lens of our people near and far.
@@sarahharas1692 how much of your history do you know or are you one of those who are too ashamed, embarrassed or contemptuous of errols's facts???. You remind me of people who discover they are not what they think they are..... The British really left their mark, yet not too long ago they were refusing to accept as British, Jamaicans who had lived among them since childhood. Jamaica is an anglicised version of the real name those slaves had given it. The meaning so poignant.
As a Jamaican of MAROON ancestry, I know a lot more than you. You don’t even know me and you think I’m ashamed of of being Jamaican? You is a fool. You cannot tell me about MY heritage and history when YOU don’t even know. Cockroach nuh business inna fowl fight.
Love it 😀 Sista we needs more of these words father knows ❤️💯❤️
I am a born Jamaican and my the other half is a Nigerian, igbo tribe. There are many words i recognised when he speaks both Igbo and Pidgin. A reminder that our ancestors are from many tribes from West Africa but i feel we Jamaicans have lost a lot of valuable information about our ancestral lineage due to the slave master plus there is many gaps in recordings about our history. Thanks sis for highlighting some of this. Note that a lot of words are no longer used that used to be spoken by the older generation. Therefore, many of the younger generation wouldn't recognised many of the old words and phrases. Its so important to document so generations can be informed. I know i rambling on but DNA testings have become much smarter and more precise, and who can afford it should definitely do the test to pin point your lineage. Much love
Jamaica will never relinquish our African culture we are not European, did you know we have a patwa Bible
That was extatic! Loved it. It was extremely useful, informative and necessary. Thank you.
The words that I would like to see clarified are the Caribbean swear words. It is my opinion that all the swear words around the world portrayed the abuse of the female genatelia. So, the swear words used in Patois would be the starting point. Many thanks.
Doti, anansi, obeah, backra, pinda are also words that use in Sranangtongo and have also the same meaning as in the Jamaican patwa..
Where’s is that
@@radcliffemurphy5273 sranangtongo is the language that the slaves that brought to Suriname created to speak to each other..
It's now a days one of the important language besides Dutch that is speaking in Suriname...
The people of Suriname say that they came from "Kromanti". Well. Kromantse (or Kromanten) is a town on the coast of present-day Ghana. It has a slave Fort/Castle, called, Fort Amsterdam, and which was built by the Dutch. It was one of the 31 forts/castles - out of 42 on the coast of West Africa - that dot the coast of present-day Ghana and was the storage/points of departure for many of our ancestors who were shipped of to the Americas centuries ago.
Note: I am an Ashanti -from Ghana - and I submitted this response on a desktop computer at work here in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. The photo connected to this link does not belong to me.
Omg I’m wollof. And I can see why The Gambians love Jamaica 🇯🇲
I have a friend who went to Gambia for a vacation. We’re Jamaicans, and he told me how the locals treated him very well. Big up the Gambian people.
@@ronnycush we play Jamaican 🇯🇲 music in our naming ceremony’s & parties 🎉. That’s how we love ❤️ them fr
Thank you for your efforts in educating us about our roots.
Asante is Akan. Akan is huge and most widely spoken language. We love Jamaica and Ghana
Thanks for sharing this information. It’s time we make the links between Africa and the Caribbean.
Wow! We really are one people! I am Igbo and I am amazed at the connection !
Me too and I am of Jamaican descent.
We are not. Jamaicans have nothing to do with Africa. We are a different people.
You are really good because as you started mentioning the regions in Ghana I thought you have been in Ghana before.
Just like English, patois is made up of multiple different languages.
True! The core of english is germanic, but it's highly influenced by roman languages, mostly latin, and french. Also greek and other languages influenced english.
The grammar is still germanic, so one could say, when english evolved, it stopped in the process of creolazation.
I watch the Nigerian movies and I have seen so many similarities between our Language and mannerisms.
Are you Jamaican? I am Nigerian, my greatest desire is to come to the Caribbeans,
True, our geneoloy has a lot of Nigerian DNA, Ghana, Congo, Cameroon, etc
Another word "bombo" is from the Mende region in west Africa. It is the word for the female genitalia hence the word "bombo cloth" or ""claart" as it would be pronounced in Jamaica
Thanks I didn't know Bombo was an African word
In Zulu. The most spoken language in South Africa - Doti is DIRT. Bafan(a) means BOYS thus the nickname of our national soccer team BAFANA BAFANA. ❤
I learned a lot just now. I remembered hearing and speaking these words myself growing up but didn't realize they were brought by our ancestors. We always called then country talk or chat bad. Sad how the colonizers brainwashed most of our people into this speaking proper BS, only to steer us away from the language of our ancestors. They tried but we still held on to them. Now some of us are really understanding where we really originated from. Most of us didn't even know that we were from Africa as a lineage. Those devils really did a job on us. Thanks to the most high we held on to our roots, today we are learning more and more about who we really are as a people, and where we came from.
You’re doing great! I’m from Ghana, Akan area, Ashanti to be specific. I love to learn Patwa so you got me❤️🙏🏽
Accompong is the said Acheampong here in Akan. Woow
Shan,you've definitely started something interesting.Much success in your journey👍🏾👍🏾
Woww you’re 💯💯 correct. I even observe that Africans-(Nigerian and Ghana people) say pickney for child and so do Jamaicans. I’ll tell you this, we’re all sisters and brothers , just separated once captured by the demons.
We say pikin in Nigerian pidgeon English which a version of English original brought back to Africa by returning British former slaves from the West Indies to act as clerks for the newly colonised Nigeria
It's Nigeria pidjin and not Ghana. It's pikin
@@konfidojah-son6906 comot for there, pikin is a name of a child, in Ghanaian pidgin. Nonsense!
@@kofisam4106 y'all.arguing over a derogatory word pikin, pikni comes from picaninee which british used to describe, exclusively, black children as if they were sub human.
I hate that word !
@@kofisam4106 see this ewu +ode, does Ghanaians speak pidjin? Everything you want to claim, Ghanaians trying to speak Nigeria pidjin for thousand years and they still can't. Do you know how the word pikin came about. Most of the pidjin you speak is naija pidjin. You guys think pidjin is just about breaking English down, there's so much secret to pidjin. If you're not Nigeria you don't know what pidjin is. Ghanaians try to copy but can't get it right because you people don't know what pidjin is and how we create the words. We Nigeria don't even have time for English anymore, we're promoting our pidjin to the world. Ghanaians trying to speak English and not pidjin. Liberia has their broken like pidjin also, but Sierra Leon and Cameroon created their broken from Nigeria pidjin which is cool, not like Ghanaians trying to copy everything Nigeria but yet can't get it right. Banko brains 🧠 🤣
I love African Jamaican people hoping one day I will visit you people, love you much ❤ 💗
Just a questions for you and viewers of African ancestry. How many of us ( including myself) would be willing to claim our African names?
I would be first in line even if I’d have to wait in line for 48 hours.👌👌👌👌
Your African names says a lot about you as a person,
I would be first in line!!
@Marcia Simpson James
I think he means would you be willing to give up the privilege of your european master's name to go back to the humble traditional African name your forefathers answered to.
@Marcia Simpson James
Yes exactly. He means that name.
Do you want it back ? Wouldn't you rather keep your master's name ?
Shan.. I was watching a Nigerian movie something like “usofia in London” and they called all the older men in the village “mazzy” as in “mazzy joe” as in how Jamaicans have called our elders in the country “maus” “maus joe”… just thought I would share
Osoffia is from the igbo tribe in Nigeria
The Ga language of Ghana is a derivative of the Yoruba language of Western Nigeria. That makes it one additional language from Nigeria. Since no part of West Africa was spared it will not be a surprise to see many words from the different parts of W. African region
This is so refreshing.
There is so much significant history confirming the connectivity of a people explaining a practice an yes, silencing misinformation.
Good stuff, Shan. Keep it coming.
Would have heard some of our words used in African movies and comedies so the Jamaican/African connection is real …..Nam Jamaica
Accompong Town in Jamaica was built by the kwadwoe's brother Accompong, Kwadwoe was the leader of the Jamaican Moroons who fought and always defeated the British, the Moroons were the first black Africans in Jamaica, they were taking there by the Spanish before the British took over Jamaica,there is a place called Abioquita in Jamaica said to have been built by Nigerian slaves .
Abioquita is derived from a town called Abeokuta in Ogun state Nigeria. They are Yoruba people
Great information!
Although the right term is "Enslaved (people from) Nigerians"...not Nigerian Slaves.
@@donjazzy5510 Who is Nago? We have a place called Naggoes Head in Jamaica. We were told that Yoruba's named it after Nago. However, I do not know who Nago is😂🤣
@@rqubedrqubed1634
Hey who is Nago??? 🤣
You are wanted in this CZcams comment section.🤣🤣🤣
Nago show yourself!!! 😂
I'm from Martinique and I've found this very interesting to know.
Mèsi sè mwen lol I've always lived creole
What you wrote ...mesi se....means What I am saying...in Akan language in Ghana
Thank you for taking the time to do the research and sharing. I also like...no! No fi se: "Tengk yu gyal! Yu gwaahn gud! An mi lov ou yu ombl an tel wi we yu get di infamieshan fram an no fried fi aks piipl fi shier an karek! Nof gig op!
Thats my problem with the language. There is no standard way of spelling . People spell the words anyway. As long as them get the sound..for example i want to say look here. I could write "koo ya " "ku yah"..or luk ya. Those kinda things. Fact is patwa/ patois harder fi rite dan fi talk. I also think its the most expressive language like for example .. fenkeh fenkeh. Poto poto,and mauga. Certainly one of the best language that is not recogonised i think. Wanda y di hatarities nah deal wid it . See i might need some corrections in my spellings
Bless-up sista Weldone, again most of this words are used in Surinam too you know, with exactly the same meanings.; dotti, doppy. Djumbi, Kooya or luku ya, Obeah, kongosa, acampong, potopoto = tokotoko, backra for the european, juk for poking or stabbing, Nyam for eating or food, okro, pinda, Anansi and anansi stories, yh all a we a African pikni from the same tribes no doubt. Thanks and blessings
most of the words u mentioned are also used in mandinga but different meanings and also nyam is used in fulla language mean eat
I am from the Southern Caribbean and must do firm that we to use a lot of these words plus some others
Poto poto is also used by Wolof in Senegal and The Gambia 🇬🇲 which means muddy
Potoo or poto-poto is also used in Ghana. In Akan languages, it means dirt...or dity
In the Ga language there's a dish called Kpoto kpoto. Using coco yam and palm oil when prepared it resembles the texture of muddy ground.
We say poto poto in Nigeria too, where it means mud.
Also in sierra leone in krio our local dialect poto poto or dorti means mud
Potopoto is also a Nigerian word .it means muddy
I’ve got my DNA and know that I’m from Togo/Benin ancestry and would love ❤️ to hear more of the language that still is spoken in Jamaican patois from there…
"Doti" or "Idoti" also means 'dirty' or 'dirt' in Yoruba
Are you Yoruba? If so can you explain who is Nago? We have Abeokuta in Jamaica as well as Yoruba Klan dances that have survived but Yorubas also name a place in Jamaica after Nago. What or who is Nago?
@@rqubedrqubed1634 Nago or Anago means Yorubas, Just like saying someone from Britain is British
@@opemalik7181 Wow! Thanks! So they named places after where they came from and who they were? Abeokuta is near a rock settlement and river in Jamaica and Nago is in Portmore Jamaica. Thanks for the heads up.
The Yorubas are called Anago or Nago in Brazil, Benin Republic, Haiti, Togo, Ghana, Ivory Coast, e.t.c. The word Lucumi and Anago were used earlier to qualify the Yorubas before the Christian missionaries made the name Yoruba popular in their writings.@@rqubedrqubed1634
Give thanks, Jah know.
Patuo - owl in Akan
Nyam - means grind in Akan
Dukunu is dokono in Akan ( popular term is kenkey)
I know Dukunu my grandmother used to make it in Jamaica, rap it in Banana leaf and boiled it.
Great information ❤
Susu is from the Igbo word, isusu which is a co-operative still used in Igboland to raise money for a trade or a project. Keep up the good work.!
This is interesting. The Akans use the same word "susu" for joint effort to save money or one person making efforts to save money.
@@baffourboaten9402 Really? I had no idea.
No surprises though. I found out that some tribes in Ghana have links to the Igbo tribe. I'm especially keen to investigate the Ga-Adamgbe, because we have an ancestral Ga male. And another, a female ancestress named, Adamgbo. It will be an interesting study for me. What do you call chicken? We call it okuko or okuku. Waiting for your response because I found out that it is central in sacrifices in a few African tribes. Take care!
@@olisa633 Fascinating! I am an Akan and "chicken" is called "Akukor". We seem to have so much in common.
@@baffourboaten9402
I think the Baganda have a similar name for chicken. What it tells me is that more research needs to be done into our immediate past as Africans. Some of what we've been brainwashed to regard as myths, are anything but. In the meantime, what we've been sold as authentic world history is not. There is a deliberate attempt to conceal our history, because some people have trouble dealing with the reality of our contributions to civilization.
Many Caribbeans participate in Susu to this day.
Great work. I like what you started seeing all us of African desent trying to put our lineage back together which was destroyed by Europeans.
By the does anyone know the word "bunky" it was used in the the community in Jamaica where I grew up by elders when greeting young men
Wow as an igbo man I'm surprised my language is in Jamaica 🇯🇲
Seeing that someone claimed that the Igbo tribes were dispatched to two parishes in He Jamaica,(St .Ann and St.James) The two top tourist places ,maybe you need to visit .Additionally Bob Marley and our National Hero Marcus Garvey are from St Ann,you definitely should visit.😁😁
@Anniobi Anyanwu Igbo influence is huge in Jamaica. Where Bob Marley was born back in the day retained a lot of igbo musical instruments and his family used to play the igbo flutes, drums and banjo. To this day Jonkunu retains the same musical beats and instrumental sounds and costumes as Igbo celebrations. In fact Jamaican-Canadian author Malcolm Gladwell is Igbo on his Jamaican side.
I am from Sierra Leone and Support the words "Chinch"/Bed Bug "Potor-Potor" "Dorty" "kungkus(a)" "mumu" "okro"
Thank you very much
Thank you so much my girl 💖🇯🇲
African Queen ur video is wonderful, just joined ur fam sister💟
The maroons didn’t mix a lot but I heard they had mixed with the Spaniards before the British took over Xyamaca and called the island JAMAICA … our patois is a mixture of all the different continents ..a lot of course from Africa but a lot from the old English and a bit from the Spanish.
Not mixed with Spanish but the word Maroon comes from Spanish Cimarrones. They more likely mixed with indigenous people or at least adopted some of their culture and craft..jerk is said to be a fusion between African and Taino/Arawak methods
Introduced by thr Maroons
Thé first wave of ´maroons ‘ were enslaved people left from the Spaniards, they just left them on the island. Spaniards got Atleast some of their captured from Slavic region. This is where the original word ‘slave’ comes from, the Slavic. Those people mixed with the aboriginal/ Taino who eventually mixed with the Africans who came along later.
There are also traces of Celtic words in Jamaican Patios. We tend to lump all the Europeans in together and forget that the Scottish and Irish are Celtic peoples with a seperate language from the the English. I believe the word "nae" pronounced "naa" i
As in, "mi nae go." The Scottish speech pattern is reminiscent of Jamaican Patios.
Thanks Shan ! Big up from Martinique !
' Me seh' is Akan for I say - 'me se'. Akans describe themselves as ' me se' speakers.
Me seh! Is I say in English nothing to do with Africa.
@@evedropps1801 The English say “ I say”, the Akan say “ me se”. You can choose your preference as to which phrase is more like Jamaican patois.
We Jamaicans also say, "Susu" meaning gossip and it is Igbo.
Thanks for your post. 'Unu' means 'you' plural in Wolof. The word "cunumunu" is used in Senegal, and may be of Wolof origin. It means 'biggest idiot' and is also used in Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago. Many of these African words are used throughout the Caribbean, and we have barely touched the surface as there are many villages with African names all over the Caribbean as well. Another important category is the names of our food dishes, plants and animals. You can take a man out of his environment, but you can't take his environment out of him. By the way "Igbo" is pronounced as "Ibo". The 'g' is silent.
No, it's actually "Igbo". The British were the ones who called it "Ibo" because there isn't the "gb" consonant sound in the English language hence struggled with the pronunciation. As a people, they are called "Ndi Igbo" meaning people of Igbo ancestry.
It's not silent. It's a consonant blend, /gb/, which doesn't occur in English. So, the colonisers used the nearest sound they know, /b/. Several Nigerian languages have the /gb/ sound though it may sound slightly different between them.
I learned a lot, what they call bad language is really a language 😀😀 my mother couldn’t stand the word nyam because we use to say that we are eating out food greedily or fast. Thanks 😊
The Asantes (Ashantis) are also Akans. All Akans speak Twi in its different forms.
Please not all akans speak twi. Mfantsefo(Fantes) dont speak twi
Thanks for sharing my sista very informative
More Patois/Patwa words that is from Ghana: plaka plaka (pleki pleki)/ muddy, woie woe/a place far away, susumba (susumuoa) green round bean. Please forgive my spellings.
I heard that the Haitians are afraid of Jamaicans as us Jamaicans eat susumba while they use it to work obeah.Can you add anything here?
@@snakeslayer831 Lol, Whatever u heard is a myth as both countries have some similarities in cuisines and share the same African heritage/food/culture.
On point
I learnt alot Ina yu video on patio words orign.
Twi is the biggest dialect of the Akan language and used for everyday transaction by over 80% of Ghanaians. Ashantis are part of the Twi Group of tribes in Ghana. The other major Akan groups are the Fante people from the Central and Western coastal areas of Ghana.
im Ghanaian. nyam is Akan, to mash or grind. like mashed yams, mashed potatoes. mashed pepper.
some other words i heard as part of the koromanteng language
abeng is akan for horn
obroni is also akan for foreigner
Nyam is eat in the Gambia by fulas and wollof.
Accompong is from the Akan word Akropong meaning first town or major town.
Exactly!
4:43 Afu is yam or plantain in Akan. While in Igbo Akpu is cassava. They’re usually eaten the same way accompanied with a soup.
Also the Akan language is spoken in the Eastern Region of Ghana ttoo. The Akwapims, Akwamus and Akyems. Ashanti is an Akan tribe. Language spoken is Akan Twi. We have dialects in Akan as follows: Ashanti Twi, Akwapim Twi, Akyem twi and Fante twi.
Fante or Mfantse is as it is, not Fante twi please. According to the Bureau of Ghana Languages Asante Twi, Akuapem Twi, Mfantse ... among others are languages. In Ghana Akans are from parts of Oti region, the Eastern, Ashanti, Brong Ahafo, Central and Western regions.
Please there is nothing like Fante twi. The language is Mfantse (Fante)
Im from Jamaica and many times, when words like these are said , due to ignorance ( thank God for your channel), persons are scolded ," stop speaking badly, yuh speak too bad, say albino, not dundus or not dutty ( doti) say dirty," only to find out they are our own African ancestors tongue or language ( shake my head). Definitely our African roots should be implemented in our schools so we know and understand the connection. We allow eurocentrism to soak too easily in our minds
Very informative but I'm from ghana 🇬🇭 and an Ashanti one thing I will like to point out is the name accompong. In ghana we say acheampong and it's a name given to the male thanks
No, Accompong is different from Acheampong. The name Accompong is usually found in Denkyira and Assin while the name Acheampong is very common in Ashanti. Anytime you see the word "pong", it means great or big. For instance, Oppong means the big or great one. Akropong means the big or great town. Manpong means the big or great state. So, Accompong from the word Ako ( war) means the great warrior while Acheampong from the word Okyeame or Akyeame (assistant ) means a great assistant. The true Akan spelling for Accompong and Acheampong are Akompong and Akyeampong. In Twi, KY is pronounced CH like Chinese and HY is pronounced SH like Shanghai or Shoe while the letter C as in the word Capital or Cape, is written as K.
@@oseitututawiah2109 ooh nice. Didn't know
@@oseitututawiah2109 Wow, thanks for the input! You really know your stuff!!
@@oseitututawiah2109 I wish I had someone like you to teach me Twi. Your last name is my ex-husband's middle name. He was born after twins!
@@oseitututawiah2109 Accompong a town in Jamaica is also a town in Ghana called Akropong
you exceeded my expectation, very good presentation!!!!
It's a myth we Jamaican tell each other that the majority of our ancestors are from Ghana. A typical DNA test of most Jamaicans show a larger percentage of Nigerian.
Was actually thinking about this. Majority of the DNA tests I've seen from Jamaicans here on CZcams shows more of Nigerian DNA.
Ghana is our base home, based on many cultural practices. Nigerian and other countries may be found as well. Overall, this is interesting.
I think because Ghana was more in the forefront of an united Africa with Kwame.
If majority of Jamaicans are Nigerians, how come the patios has a lot of Ashanti language then
Then it means that the few Ashanti taken as slaves were very powerful and influential then
@@Kingoftheimmigrants4646 Potois has lots of Igbo and Yoruba languages as well. When speaking a Jamaican sounds more Nigerian than Ghanaian, even in mannerism Jamaicans behave more like Nigerians than Ghanaian. You may be right by saying the Ghanaians taken over there might be more powerful and influential, but Kwame Nkrumah's Pan-Africanism helped spread the myth. Honestly I've watched lots of this DNA videos of Jamaican and I see a larger percentage of Nigerian in the DNA results than Ghanaian.
I love this! Thank you!! 🫶🏽🇺🇸🇻🇪