It has been established that word sound is integral to the development and execution of Rastafari‟ Dread Talk. In this speech community the use of the lexicon is enhanced by the posture and attitudes of the speakers who generously utilizes the sounds and implications of the meanings in their speech events. Consequently, the creativity used in the re-organization of Standard Jamaican English words makes for a more descriptive, articulate manner of expressing ideas. This linguistic innovation illustrates the depth of the Rastafari spiritual side, their
connection with nature, and most of all their resistance to having the mores of the established systems in Jamaican society imposed upon the.
On a lexical level the “I”/ |ai| sound in Dread Talk is a morpheme that is always exaggerated in the lexical items constructed from it. This diphthong, which combines two vowels sounds to make one sound, |a| and |i|, makes the most significant sound in the lexicon of Dread Talk and is a symbol of identification to Rastafari. Similarly, “ai” is a diagraph in many of these items because it is a combination of two graphemes that represent a single sound in the
written discourse. Dread Talk shows significant structural components that make this language a bona fide variety as further discussion of the reggae lyrics will substantiate.
The most important word to the Rastafarian is the personal pronoun “I.” In most reggae songs there is a reference to “I,” not because the artists are self-centered, but because the meaning constitutes a reference to the masses of people sometimes. In very many of Bob Marley‟s lyrics there are several references to „I-n-I” (See Table 4.3): there are countless references connected to the meaning of this phrase, and thus its significance is amplified.
LINGUISTIC INNOVATION 3
Substitution of “I” of the Initial Syllable in DT Words--|ai|, “I,” and Y words for the beginnings of English Words Modified for the Formation of Descriptive “Upfull” Word Sounds and Meanings
Standard Jamaican English
Dread Talk
I
Personal pronoun used to refer to oneself. The ego or self.
“I n I” or “I an I”
Represents positivity. I, me, us, him , she, God in Me. Oneness between two or more persons or between Rastafari and God Creation
The world and all the things in it. All creatures
I-ration Creation
Alright Irie/ I-re/Irey
Feeling good; everything is alright; powerful and pleasing. A salutation.
Meditate To reflect on;
contemplate. To train, calm or empty the mind.
I-ditate/ I-ditation
Prayerful, introspective state of mind sought by Rastafarians when they are at a
“grounation” or “nyabinghi” Brethren
A plural of brother.
I-dren
Children of Jah; my friend or Rastafari brother or sister, not related by blood. Table 4.3 Re-organization of Standard Jamaican English Words
The lyrics from the song “Crazy Baldheads” on the album Rastaman Vibration, (Marley 1976), is just one example of the use of “I-n-I” making an allusion to the plurality of this construction:
“I-n-I” build the cabin Line 6
“I-n-I” plant the corn Line 7
Didn‟t my people before me Line 8
Slave for this country? Line 9
Then with reference to one person, Marley belts out in „I Shot the Sheriff” (1973),
I-I-I-I shot the sheriff Line 46
Lord, I didn‟t shoot the deputy. Yeah! Line 47
in a militant posture yet a vehement disavowal of having committed a crime. This song has garnered much criticism over the decades for inspiring other artists in writing lyrics that professed a deadly dislike for police authority.
This first reference to the profound meaning of “I-n-I” in Rex Nettleford‟s Dread signals a definitive connotation of the phrase; he says that “At the heart of his [Rastafari] religious system are the notion of his own divinity and the first person image of self. As if for emphasis, the terms “I-n-I” and “I-man,” are used as a constant reminder of the transformation of a non- person into a person” (qtd. in Philip). In another reference “I” represents the Roman numeral I, which is an appendage to the name of the revered Emperor Haile Selassie I (Chevannes 167). Rastafarians do not use personal pronouns such as “me” or “mine” from the Standard nor “mi” from Jamaican Creole; it is always “I.” The phrase “I n I” is used to remind speaker and listener alike that Rastafari is a community and one that acknowledges the presence of Jah, their name for the Almighty God (Pulis 1993). This religious meaning extends the notion that Rastafari is a part of God and “if God is a visible living man, it must mean that the Rastafari is another
Selassie, another “I‟ (167). Ennis B. Edmonds in his writings “Dread “I” In-a-Babylon:
Ideological Resistance and Cultural Revitalization,” explains that “Since „I‟ in Rastafari thought signifies the divine principle that is in all humanity, „I-an-I‟ is an expression of the oneness between two (or more) persons and between the speaker and God (whether Selassie or the god
principle that rules in all creation” (Edmonds 33). Pollard submits that the use of “I” attaches a code for the ego, “I” that “most important self, and “eye,” that window to the soul, represents the most important of the senses: sight (Makoni et al 62). This phonological representation of |ai| is often responsible for the difficulty non-Rastafarians have in understanding this speech. “I” represents the most positive word to Rastafari, as each word using that personal pronoun in its construction emphasizes an affirmation of a separate identity and the power of diversity and difference is further solidified.
E. Linguistic Innovation IV: Completely New Words Created for Dread Talk’s