Jamaica 12

Listen to Jamaica 12, a 23-year-old woman from Saint Catherine Parish, Jamaica. Click or tap the triangle-shaped play button to hear the subject.

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BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

AGE: 23

DATE OF BIRTH (DD/MM/YYYY): 27/10/1992

PLACE OF BIRTH: Connors, Saint Catherine Parish

GENDER: female

ETHNICITY: African-Jamaican

OCCUPATION: student

EDUCATION: tertiary

AREAS OF RESIDENCE OUTSIDE REPRESENTATIVE REGION FOR LONGER THAN SIX MONTHS:

Subject also lived in Mandeville (Manchester), Saint Ann.

OTHER INFLUENCES ON SPEECH: N/A

The text used in our recordings of scripted speech can be found by clicking here.

RECORDED BY: Elizabeth Montoya-Stemann

DATE OF RECORDING (DD/MM/YYYY): 04/02/2016

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF SCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

ORTHOGRAPHIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH:

I grew up in the parish of Saint Catherine, which people call it here the rural area. Our accent there is not Standard English at all, so it’s deep Patwa. So, I moved from Saint Catherine to Mandeville, which is another rural are, but in Mandeville it is more, hmm, it’s more — it’s, you(s), you get to hear a lot of people speaking more Standard English, but when I try to speak Sstandard English straight, I tend to stutter, just like now [giggle]. But, um, I believe that growing up in the rural area, you get to understand your peers more ’cause when you are around your peers, you tend to speak just raw Patwa, but when you’re in a corporate area like where I’m in now, in Kingston studying at school, I try to speak a bit more Standard English.

TRANSCRIBED BY: Elizabeth Montoya-Stemann

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): 15/02/2016

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

SCHOLARLY COMMENTARY: N/A

COMMENTARY BY: N/A

DATE OF COMMENTARY (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

The archive provides:

• Recordings of accent/dialect speakers from the region you select.

• Text of the speakers’ biographical details.

• Scholarly commentary and analysis in some cases.

• In most cases, an orthographic transcription of the speakers’ unscripted speech.  In a small number of cases, you will also find a narrow phonetic transcription of the sample (see Phonetic Transcriptions for a complete list).  The recordings average four minutes in length and feature both the reading of one of two standard passages, and some unscripted speech. The two passages are Comma Gets a Cure (currently our standard passage) and The Rainbow Passage (used in our earliest recordings).

For instructional materials or coaching in the accents and dialects represented here, please go to Other Dialect Services.