No woman, don't cry
A reggae song by Bob Marley in which he is comforting a woman that is going through hard times. Because of the song’s tittle, the meaning of the song is often misunderstood by persons not familiar with Jamaican Patois. Persons unfamiliar with patois may think that the song’s title means that if you don’t have a woman, you won’t cry but that is the total opposite of what the title means.
In Jamaican Patois, the word “no” (or nuh) when used in a specific context means “don’t”; hence the English translation of “No woman no cry” would be “No woman, don’t cry ”. In the song, Bob Marley is telling the woman not to cry because everything is going to be alright. The section of the lyrics below from the song “No woman no cry” below further illustrates this fact;
“So woman no cry, no, no woman no cry
Oh, my little sister
Don't she'd no tears “
Patois: “No woman nuh cry” a one a mi favorite song dem
English: “No woman no cry” is one of my favorite songs
All fruits ripe , Babylon , Bad like yaz , Bashy ,
One of the key elements of the Rastafari language is the use of what is called "Iyaric," a form of Jamaican Patois that is considered to be the "holy language" of Rastafarians. Iyaric, also known as Dread Talk, is the Rastafari language created in defiance of English as an imposed colonial language that facilitated the loss of African languages among enslaved Afro-Caribbeans.
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