Stamma

noun STAM-ma ˈstama mild

Also spelled stammer, stammera

A stammer or a stutter — and, by extension, a person who stammers. The Patois pronunciation of 'stammer', it names both the halting, repeated stumbling over words and the one afflicted with it, so a 'stamma' is a stutterer. As a verb, to 'stamma' is to trip and falter over one's speech. Sometimes said teasingly, sometimes with sympathy, it belongs to the everyday, frank Jamaican vocabulary of the body and its ways, naming the broken, hesitant flow of speech in the plain, worn-down form the word takes.

  • Him stamma wen him get nervous.

    He stammers when he gets nervous.

  • Nuh laugh afta di likkle stamma bwoy.

    Don't laugh at the little boy who stammers.

  • She stamma out di answer.

    She stammered out the answer.

The Patois pronunciation of 'stammer'; a stutter or one who stutters.

A stammer/stutter or a stammerer; teasing or sympathetic by tone.