# Jamaican Patwa: an tun eena one a Uncle But sweet saaf yellow heart breadfruit



## yuleda

could someone please help me with this sentence!
It's taken from Jean Breeze's Riddym Ravings 
"a tear up newspaper fi talk to
sometime dem roll up
an tun eena one a Uncle But sweet saaf
yellow heart breadfruit"


thanks in advance.
y.


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## L'irlandais

Hello yuleda,
All Jamaican dialects can be taken to be related to English.





> Breeze’s work tends to concentrate on the psychological and subjective dimensions of black women’s experience, and she is rightly recognised for her refreshing experimentation with the dramatic monologue. This particular focus is exemplified in what is arguably Breeze’s most famous poem to date ‘Riddym Ravings (the mad woman’s poem)’, a narrative that moves between the concrete (Bellevue) and the abstract as it evokes the ‘madness’ of a homeless black woman who can hear a radio playing in her head. Source


I agree with other member's comments over on the English only forum ;  in so far as, this poetry has to be heard to be properly understood, as so much of it's music/rythm is oral.
That said here is my attempt at expressing that line in standard English :  "_*and tune into one of Uncle But's sweet soft yellow hearted breadfruits.*_"
Perhaps Uncle But is the Disc Jockey she hears inside her head.  The soft juicy fruit may symbolise unBritishness in the poem.


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## M07yth

Just so you know, Jamaican Creole is a CREOLE LANGUAGE, not a dialect of English. It even has a NEW standard writing system developed by the University of the West Indies.

To translate without the rest of the poem it would be...

"... tearing up newspapers to talk to,
sometimes they roll-up and turn into one of uncle But's sweet, soft, yellow heart breadfruits."


Mi glad se mi de ya fi shou unu ou fi chat an rait ina Patwa . 
_I'm glad that I'm here to show you all how to really write and speak Jamaican Creole._


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## L'irlandais

M07yth said:


> ...Mi glad se mi de ya fi shou unu ou fi chat an rait ina Patwa .
> _I'm glad that I'm here to show you all how to really write and speak Jamaican Creole._


Hello M07yth,
Welcome to the forums.
You're right it's great to have somebody who speaks Jamaican Creole here on the forums.
I'm glad I bumped into you.


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## M07yth

Thanks!

If this poem was written in the new standard writing system for Jamaican Creole, this citation would be:

"a tier op nuuzpiepa fi taak tu
somtaim dem ruol op 
an ton iina wan a Ongkl But swiit saaf 
yelo aat bredfruut."


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