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Concept
Patois
Summary
Patois (ˈpætwɑː, pl. same or ˈpætwɑːz) is speech or language that is considered nonstandard, although the term is not formally defined in linguistics. As such, patois can refer to pidgins, creoles, dialects or vernaculars, but not commonly to jargon or slang, which are vocabulary-based forms of cant.
In colloquial usage of the term, especially in France, class distinctions are implied by the very meaning of the term, since in French, patois refers to any sociolect associated with uneducated rural classes, in contrast with the dominant prestige language (Standard French) spoken by the middle and high classes of cities or as used in literature and formal settings (the "acrolect").
The term patois comes from Old French patois, 'local or regional dialect' (originally meaning 'rough, clumsy or uncultivated speech'), possibly from the verb patoier, 'to treat roughly', from patte, 'paw', from Old Low Franconian *patta, 'paw, sole of the foot', plus the suffix -ois.
In France and other Francophone countries, patois has been used to describe non-standard French and regional languages such as Picard, Occitan and Franco-Provençal, since 1643 and Catalan after 1700, when the king Louis XIV banned its use. The word assumes the view of such languages being backward, countrified and unlettered, thus patois being potentially considered offensive when used by outsiders. Jean Jaurès said "one names patois the language of a defeated nation". In France and Switzerland, however, the term patois no longer holds any offensive connotation, and has indeed become a celebrated and distinguished variant of the numerous local tongues.
The vernacular form of English spoken in Jamaica is also referred to as Patois or Patwa. It is noted especially in reference to Jamaican Patois from 1934. Jamaican Patois language comprises words of the native languages of the many ethnic and cultural groups within the Caribbean including Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Amerindian and English along with several African languages.
Official source
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