| 释义 |
‖ patois, n. (a.)|patwa|
[F.; ‘origin unknown’ (Hatz.-Darm.), see conjectures in Diez and Littré.]
a. Properly, a dialect (esp. in France or French Switzerland) spoken by the common people in a particular district, and differing materially from the literary language. In England, sometimes used loosely as a contemptuous designation for a provincial dialect or form of speech.
French scholars distinguish dialects as the particular forms presented by a language in different regions, so long as there does not exist a common written language. When a common language has become established as the medium of general literature, the dialects lose their literary standing and become patois.
1643Sir T. Browne Relig. Med. ii. §8 The Jargon and Patois of severall Provinces. 1789Mrs. Piozzi Journ. France, etc. I. 314 At Venice, the sweetness of the patois is irresistible. 1832tr. Sismondi's Ital. Rep. iii. 65 The Italian language, spoken at his court, first rose above the patois in common use throughout Italy. 1851Mayne Reid Scalp Hunt. xx. 142 Their language was a Spanish patois. 1893F. C. Selous Trav. S.E. Africa 7 The Dutch patois spoken in South Africa.
b. transf.
1790Burke Fr. Rev. Wks. V. 197 Their language is in the patois of fraud. 1880Standard 10 Dec., A fashion..of introducing children in novels who talk an impossible gibberish utterly unlike real baby patois.
c. The folk or Creole speech of the English-speaking Caribbean (esp. Jamaica).
1934J. Rhys Voy. in Dark i. vi. 83 She said something in patois and went on washing up. 1953Caribbean Q. III. i. 24 The hybrid dialects of French origin which in philology come under the heading Creole. In Trinidad the word used to denote these dialects is Patois. 1970Caribbean Stud. July 108 Patois, used by many Jamaicans in reference to Jamaican Creole. 1971Caribbean Q. XVII. ii. 13 Same name, different referent..patois.
d. attrib. or as adj. Of, pertaining to, or of the nature of a patois or illiterate dialect.
1789C. Smith Ethelinde (1814) III. 138 ‘Alas’ cried she, in a patois dialect, between French and Spanish. 1799H. More Fem. Educ. (ed. 4) I. 103 To ascertain that she has nothing patois in her dialect. 1809–12M. Edgeworth Mme. de Fleury x, She..remembered his patois accent. a1894M. Dyan All in a Man's K. (1899) 90 His powers of conversation in patois Pushtoo.
Add:[1.] [b.] For ‘transf.’ read:transf. Esp. jargon, cant; social dialect. (Later examples.)
1960I. Wallach Absence of Cello 139 Then, lapsing into the patois of Madison Avenue he murmured, ‘We have made great strides deathwise.’ 1977Rolling Stone 24 Mar., Why couldn't the ideal interviewer also be a man, so as to avoid more rigorously the pitfalls of current feminist patois. |