LGM v1.0
Script Base
- Written in the Latin alphabet.
- Two main orthographies:
- Cassidy–Le Page (phonemic, used in the Dictionary of Jamaican English).
- Jamaican Language Unit (JLU) standardized system, which is phonemic and reflects Jamaican pronunciation rather than English spelling.
- In our lattice, we use JLU phonemic orthography to avoid English bias.
Vowels (12 monophthongs + diphthongs)
| Glyph | Latin Chain | Phoneme (IPA) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| a | a | /a/ | as in cat but often more open |
| aa | a + a | /aː/ | long a |
| ai | a + i | /ai/ | as in time |
| air | a + i + r | /eə/ | as in care |
| ar | a + r | /aː/ | long open a, rhotic |
| e | e | /e/ | |
| ie | i + e | /ie/ | as in fear |
| i | i | /i/ | |
| ii | i + i | /iː/ | long i |
| o | o | /o/ | |
| ou | o + u | /ou/ | |
| u | u | /u/ | |
| uu | u + u | /uː/ | long u |
Consonants
| Glyph | Latin Chain | Phoneme (IPA) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| b | b | /b/ | |
| ch | c + h | /t͡ʃ/ | |
| d | d | /d/ | |
| f | f | /f/ | |
| g | g | /ɡ/ | |
| h | h | /h/ | often dropped in casual speech (house → ‘ouse) |
| j | j | /d͡ʒ/ | |
| k | k | /k/ | |
| l | l | /l/ | |
| m | m | /m/ | |
| n | n | /n/ | |
| ng | n + g | /ŋ/ | velar nasal |
| p | p | /p/ | |
| kw | k + w | /kw/ | |
| r | r | /ɹ/ | |
| s | s | /s/ | |
| sh | s + h | /ʃ/ | |
| t | t | /t/ | |
| v | v | /v/ | |
| w | w | /w/ | |
| y | y | /j/ | |
| z | z | /z/ |
Phonological Features in Orthography
- No silent letters — orthography is phonemic, not English-based.
- Final consonants are often dropped in speech and may be reflected in writing: cold → col.
- H-dropping and th-fronting common:
- /θ/ → /t/ (think → tink)
- /ð/ → /d/ (this → dis)
- Vowel length is phonemic and written with double vowels (aa, ii, uu).
- Diphthongs are spelled out (ai, ou, ie).
System Integration Notes
- In the lattice, Jamaican can be treated as English-derived lexicon with its own phoneme-to-grapheme mapping, independent of Standard English rules.
- Feature flags for:
- consonant cluster reduction,
- interdental shift (/θ/→/t/, /ð/→/d/),
- h-dropping.
- This ensures a system won’t “correct” Jamaican spellings into English spellings.