The official language in Jamaica is English.
However, the English being used in Jamaica is somehow different from the Standard American English.
Since Jamaica has been a colony of Spain and later by British, its language has been primarily influenced by other races.
That's why the English language has been "Jamaicanised" - meaning it has been influenced by a variety of sources.
In fact, some of the words that Jamaicans used came from African language, some are from the English language, while some are invented by Jamaican themselves.
When Jamaicans string the words together to express their feelings they create a unique manner of speaking which is known as "patois" which is also regarded as a dialect in Jamaica.
Just like the English language, the patois is understood by all Jamaicans.
Some Jamaicans use patois almost all the time while there are some that uses it when having an informal conversation with their family and friends since the English language is usually used during formal conversations.
Following are some examples of English words that have been Jamaicanised.
Please note that there are no uniform spellings for these words, they are spelled on how Jamaicans pronounced them: ask (vb.
call for an answer) - is pronounced as "aks" alligator (n.
aquatic reptile) - pronounced as "alligetta" apocalypse (n.
a prophetic revelation) - pronounced as "attaclapse" boastful (adj.
tending to boast) - pronounced as "boasy" bottle (n.
a container with narrow neck) - pronounced as "bokkle" certificate (n.
document establishing truth) - pronounced as "cerfiticate" Patois is considered as Jamaican-English.
Its words can be recognized as English however there are rules in the grammar that have been modified and other additional patois words added.
Sometimes, a full-pledged patois may sound not English at all.