Patois (/ˈpætwɑː/,pl. same or/ˈpætwɑːz/)[1] is speech or language that is considerednonstandard, although the term is not formally defined inlinguistics. As such,patois can refer topidgins,creoles,dialects orvernaculars, but not commonly tojargon orslang, which are vocabulary-based forms ofcant.
In colloquial usage of the term, especially inFrance, class distinctions are implied by the very meaning of the term, since in French,patois refers to anysociolect associated with uneducated rural classes, in contrast with the dominantprestige language (Standard French) spoken by the middle and high classes of cities or as used in literature and formal settings (the "acrolect").Sociolinguistics is the discipline that studies the relationship between these language varieties, how they relate to the dominant culture and, in the case of France, tonational language policy.
The termpatois comes fromOld Frenchpatois'local or regional dialect'[1] (originally meaning'rough, clumsy or uncultivated speech'), possibly from the verbpatoier'to treat roughly', frompatte'paw',[2] fromOld Low Franconian*patta'paw, sole of the foot', plus the suffix-ois.
InFrance and otherFrancophone countries,patois has been used to describe non-standardFrench andregional languages such asPicard,Occitan andFranco-Provençal since 1643, andCatalan after 1700 when the kingLouis XIV banned its use.[3] The word assumes the view of such languages being backward, countrified and unlettered; thus the termpatois is potentially considered offensive when used by outsiders. AsJean Jaurès once said, "One namespatois the language of a defeated nation."[4] In France and Switzerland, however, the termpatois no longer holds any offensive connotation, and has become a celebrated and distinguished variant of the numerous local tongues.[5]
Thevernacular form ofEnglish spoken inJamaica is also referred to aspatois orpatwa. It is noted especially in reference to Jamaican Patois from 1934.Jamaican Patois language consists of words from the native languages spoken by many Caribbean ethnic and cultural groups including Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Amerindian, English and several African languages. Additionally, some islands have Creole dialects influenced by French, Spanish, Arabic, Hebrew, German, Dutch, Italian, Chinese, Vietnamese and others. Jamaican Patois is also spoken inCosta Rica andFrench Creole is spoken in Caribbean countries such asTrinidad and Tobago andGuyana in South America.
Often, these patois are popularly considered "broken English" or slang, but cases such as Jamaican Patois are classified more correctly as aCreole language. Notably, in theFrancophone Caribbean, the analogous term for localbasilectal languages iscréole (see alsoJamaican English andJamaican Creole).Antillean Creole, in addition to French, is spoken inLesser Antilles and includes vocabulary and grammar of African andCarib origin. Its dialects often contain folk-etymological derivatives of French words. For example,lavier ("river, stream"), a syncopated variant of the standard French phrasela rivière ("the river"), has been associated byfolk etymology withlaver ("to wash"). Therefore,lavier is interpreted to mean "a place to wash" since such streams are often used for washing laundry.
Other examples ofpatois includeTrasianka,Sheng andTsotsitaal.
InUruguay,patois has been spoken by citizens in the south of Uruguay, many who hail from France andPiedmont region of Italy.[6]
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Dominican, Grenadian, St. Lucian, Trinidadian and Venezuelan speakers ofAntillean Creole call the languagepatois. It is also namedPatuá in theParia Peninsula ofVenezuela and spoken since the eighteenth century by self-colonization of French people (fromCorsica) and Caribbean people (fromMartinique,Trinidad,Guadeloupe, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic) who moved forcacao production.
Macanese Patois is also known asPatuá and was originally spoken by theMacanese community of the formerPortuguesecolony of Macau.
