English (Jamaican)

Standard Jamaican English (locale en-JM; project code en_jam) is Jamaica’s local standard form of English, the country’s official language and the main variety used in government, formal education, law, and national news media. It coexists with Jamaican Creole, or Patwa, a distinct English-lexifier Creole language; Jamaican speech has often been described as a continuum between the two, but they should not be treated as identical. Pronunciation reflects this contact and varies with setting and speaker: common tendencies include variable rhoticity, relatively little reduction of unstressed vowels, a raised or rounded STRUT vowel, and distinctive rhythm and intonation. Formal grammar and spelling remain close to other standard Englishes and largely follow British conventions, while vocabulary and everyday usage include established Jamaican forms. Most Jamaicans command more than one part of the repertoire and shift styles according to context.