Patwa
Jamaican Patois
New Rochelle (NY)Community Profile: The broad term Caribbean English refers to a whole range of Englishes — from highly distinctive creoles to "acrolectal" varieties close to other forms of English — spoken across much of the Caribbean. Beyond the varieties spoken by Jamaicans, Trinidadians, and Guyanese, which are the large Anglophone Caribbean communities in New York, there are also significant populations from Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Bahamas, Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, and the Virgin Islands who have brought their own specific Caribbean cultures to the city. A Caribbean presence in the city goes back centuries, but larger waves started coming in the early 20th century and especially beginning in the 1950s. Today there are individuals from 17 English-speaking nations and territories, with the largest numbers in Brooklyn from Flatbush into Canarsie, but also in southeast Queens and the northeast Bronx. The Labor Day Carnival in Brooklyn is a major annual event that unites all these communities in a common celebration.
A
lthough the largest Jamaican community in New York state (and in the US more generally) is in Brooklyn, followed by communities in Queens and the Bronx, an increasing number of Patwa speakers are living and working in the suburbs, especially Westchester County (Mt. Vernon, New Rochelle) and Nassau (from South Floral Park to Hempstead and Uniondale).
Note that the language above may be used throughout the New York area — this is just one significant site.