This are the most important languages of Jamaica

English

French

Spanish

South African

Patois (dialect of English)

Jamaica was first a Spanish and later an English colony in the Caribbean. The Spanish came with Christopher Columbus and founded a colony named Santiago. In 1655, England conquered the island and named it Jamaica. This is the reason why the official language of Jamaica is still English.

French pirates also came to the Caribbean in the 15th century. They pillaged in the area and founded a base in Port Royal. In this town the population spoke French. From the 17th century on, a lot of Slaves from West and Central Africa were brought by the English to Jamaica to work on their sugar plantations. The English language and the African languages got mixed. The French gave a name to the local dialect of English that developed in Jamaica during the 17th century: Patois. In the Old French, Patios means “rough, clumsy or uncultivated speech”.

In Jamaican English a lot of English words are being used however the pronunciation and vocabulary are different from British English. After the end of the colonial rule, Patios remained a spoken language in Jamaica.

Nowadays, Patois is still a spoken language in Jamaica, while British English is being used for formal affairs such as official documents. During the last hundred years Patois gained ground in Jamaica and is developing  into Jamaica’s literary language.