Meaning
Marks location and existence — roughly 'there', 'is at', or 'to be somewhere'. Jamaican has no separate verb 'to be' before a place, so 'deh' fills that role.
Senses
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particle 'To be' at a location — the locative copula Jamaican uses instead of a form of 'is/are' before a place.
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Weh yuh deh?
Where are you?
'deh' carries 'to be' + location together.
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Di key deh pon di table.
The key is on the table.
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adverb 'There' — pointing to a place, often paired with 'ova' (over) or 'dah' (that).
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Him live ova deh.
He lives over there.
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Put it dah side deh.
Put it on that side there.
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Origin
From English 'there', broadened to serve as the locative copula — the word that says something exists at a place.
How it’s used
Appears in the very common greeting-and-reply 'mi deh yah' (I'm here / I'm getting by).
Gloss informed by A Learner's Glossary of Jamaican, Open Grammar Project, licensed under CC BY 4.0. View the source work · CC BY 4.0