Jamaican Maroon language, Maroon Spirit language, Kromanti, Jamaican Maroon Creole or Deep patwa is a

ritual language A sacred language, holy language or liturgical language is any language that is cultivated and used primarily in church service or for other religious reasons by people who speak another, primary language in their daily lives. Concept A sacre ...

and formerly mother tongue of Jamaican Maroons. It is an English-based creole with a strong Akan component, specifically from the Fante dialect of the Central Region of

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

. It is distinct from usual Jamaican Creole, being similar to the creoles of Sierra Leone ( Krio) and

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such as

Sranan Sranan Tongo (also Sranantongo "Surinamese tongue," Sranan, Surinaams, Surinamese, Surinamese Creole) is an English-based creole language that is spoken as a ''lingua franca'' by approximately 550,000 people in Suriname. Developed originally am ...

and Ndyuka. It is also more purely Akan than regular

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, with little to no contribution from other African languages. Today, the Maroon Spirit language is used by Jamaican Maroons (largely Coromantees). Another distinct ritual language (also called Kromanti) consisting mostly of words and phrases from Akan languages, is also used by Jamaican Maroons in certain rituals including some involving

possession Possession may refer to: Law * Dependent territory, an area of land over which another country exercises sovereignty, but which does not have the full right of participation in that country's governance * Drug possession, a crime * Ownership * ...

by ancestral spirits during Kromanti ceremonies or when addressing those who are possessed and sometimes used as a kind of code. The term "Kromanti" is used by participants in such ceremonies to refer to an African language spoken by ancestors in the distant past, prior to the creolization of Jamaican Maroon Creole. This term is used to refer to a language which is "clearly not a form of Jamaican Creole and displays very little English content" (Bilby 1983: 38). While Kromanti is not a functioning language, those possessed by ancestral spirits are attributed the ability to speak it. More remote ancestors are compared with more recent ancestors on a gradient, such that increasing strength and ability in the use of the non-creolized Kromanti are attributed to increasingly remote ancestors (as opposed to the Jamaican Maroon Creole used to address these ancestors). The language was brought along by the maroon population to

Cudjoe's Town (Trelawny Town) Cudjoe's Town was located in the mountains in the southern extremities of the parish of St James, close to the border of Westmoreland, Jamaica. In 1690, a large number of Akan freedom fighters from Sutton's Estate in south-western Jamaica, and th ...

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in 1796, where they were sent in exile. They eventually traveled to

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

in 1800. Their creole language highly influenced the local creole language that evolved into present day Krio.

Some phonological characteristics of Jamaican Maroon Creole

Bilby discusses several phonological distinctions between Jamaican Creole and Jamaican Maroon Creole. Vowel epithesis: Some words in the Maroon Creole have a vowel in the final syllable, compared to Jamaican Creole. Some examples are: * "to fight" * "forest" * "mouth" Liquids: Many words that have a lateral liquid /l/ in Jamaican Creole have a trill /r/ in Maroon Creole. Some examples are: * "pleased" * "black" * "belly" /ai/ to /e/: There are several instances where the "deep creole" uses /e/ while the "normal creole" uses /ai/.

References

* English-based pidgins and creoles Jamaican Maroons Languages of Jamaica Ritual languages Extinct languages of North America Languages of the African diaspora Spirit possession {{pidgincreole-lang-stub

Some phonological characteristics of Jamaican Maroon Creole

See also

References