Meaning
A pad twisted into a ring from cloth, dried banana leaf, or grass, and set on the head to cushion and steady a load carried on top — a basket, a pan of water, a hamper of produce. The cotta spreads the weight and keeps the load level, and it was essential to the old way of head-carrying goods to market and water from the standpipe. The word and skill come down from West Africa.
Examples
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She put di cotta pon har head fi carry di basket.
She put the cotta on her head to carry the basket.
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Twist up a cotta from di cloth.
Twist up a head-pad from the cloth.
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Widout di cotta, di pan cut yuh head.
Without the head-pad, the pan hurts your head.
Origin
From a West African source; a twisted head-pad for carrying loads. See [[bankra]], [[hamper]].
How it’s used
A twisted cloth/leaf head-pad cushioning a load carried on the head. See [[bankra]], [[market-day]].