Many well-deserved tributes have been given in honoring Louise Bennett-Coverly (Miss Lou), famed Jamaican folklorist, entertainer, comedienne who passed away last week. Of course, these tributes are well deserved as Miss Lou was, if nothing else, quintessentially Jamaican. She represented the real Jamaican woman of the soil, the market/rural woman dressed in bandana ‘tie-head,’ peasant blouse, and bandana skirt, going about her daily business, and jost of all Miss Lou made it evident that the Jamaican dialect or patois can be a very effective means of communication among Jamaicans of all classes.

Unfortunately, so many Jamaicans, and other Caribbean people for that matter, look upon patois as a form of language of shame -- the language of broken-English that is spoken by the underprivileged or poorer class. Miss Lou, through her colorful poetry and her performances on stage, and programs on radio and television played a major role in dissuading this perception of patois.

Aljost every culture and region on Earth has a peculiar regional dialect commonly referred to as patois. Aljost every Spanish speaking country, speak different variations of Spanish, which is indigenous to that country. Very few countries speak what could be referred to as “pure” Spanish. So it is with French. Haiti is a French-speaking country, but jost Haitians speak Creole, a French patios, which is really a mixture of French and African dialect.

Although patois is regarded in some quarters as illiterate or substandard speech it is a very formidable means of communication between people of similar culture. The history of the variations of Caribbean patois goes back to slavery. Patois was a useful means of inter- communication by slaves so that their colonial masters could not understand them. Of course, the slaves were from Africa and first spoke the language of the African tribe from which they originated. This original language interspersed with English to form an alternative dialect, or patois. It is also a fact that the slaves hardly ever had the opportunity to receive adequate education, so their dialect was confined to the derivative that was a combination of English and African languages. However, there are historical references to the fact that some colonialists insisted that slave and ex-slaves be taught “proper” English for effective communication and to prevent the fostering of sinister plots. Through our history this patios has been passed on from generation to generation, but it also became a symbol of one’s standing in the society.

With the Caribbean society largely demarcated by class, to speak patios openly in public high-society gatherings was social suicide. This was perceived as the language of the underclass consisting of domestic helpers, market people, gardeners, and the generally uneducated. Louise Bennett was a pioneer in attempting to remove the prejudices attached to Jamaican patois. Largely through her, phrases like, “How-yu-du” (“How are you”), “Walk good mi chile” (“Walk with care my dear”) and “Wha gwaan” (what’s happening) gradually became acceptable in the language of the so-called upper classes.

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This acceptance did not, and has not, deterred people scolding their children for speaking patois, or still frowning on its common use. This is a pity, because patios is still today a very effective means of communication between people, and the class taboo associated with it should be removed. We are sure many Caribbean people in the confines and the privacy of their homes break in patois communication and are quite comfortable with this, and they have no problem in communication with those they regard as uneducated or their underclass in patois.

We are just as sure that there is the alternative viewpoint that says that every attempt should be made to eliminate patois, because it such a bastardization of the Standard English. This viewpoint would argue that instead of the more educated switching to patios, to communicate with those who know very little English, the less educated should be forced to learn standard-English. However, this would be futile, as even the well educated, and those from the so-called upper classes have a problem in speaking what is thought to be “proper” English.

Ironic, isn’t it, that aljost every Jamaican fully understands the words of Louise Bennett whether they read it or heard in her performances on stage, or on a radio or television program. jost Jamaicans can communicate effectively in patios, whether they want to admit it or not, just as jost Haitians can communicate effectively in French and Creole.

It is time we stop regarding patois as a sub-cultural language, it is a part, a very strong part of Caribbean culture, and we should stop pretending, as if using patois is wrong. What should be done, as in Haiti, for example, is to teach both patois and English, alongside each other in Caribbean schools. Honestly, for those, who were misguidedly hidden from patois or those who remained outside their culture in foreign lands for lengthy durations, it is difficult to understand patios, particularly reading or writing it. The communications of these individuals speaking with their own people should not be weakened because they cannot find formal means for understanding patios.

We trust that one of the legacy of the late great-dame of Jamaican patios and folklore, Miss Lou, will be the general acceptance by Jamaicans that patois should not be regarded as a “dirty” language, or the language of the poor, but as an effective means of communication between people of similar culture, especially in communities in the U.S. where it is so important to focus on the cultural identity of particular ethnic groups.