Duppy is a word of African origin commonly used in various Caribbean Islands, including The Bahamas, Barbados and Jamaica, meaning ghost or spirit.[ Jamaican Folklore | Duppy ] The word is sometimes spelled duffy.
It is both singular and plural. Much of Caribbean folklore revolves around duppy. Duppy are generally regarded as malevolent spirits who bring misfortune and woe on those they set upon.[ Jamaica Folklore | Rollin Calf ] "Three footed horse", and Soucouyant
In many of the islands of the Lesser Antilles, duppy are known as Jumbee. Barbados also uses the word duppy and it holds the same meaning as it does in Jamaica. It is also used in Multicultural London English, meaning to "kill" someone/something.
Origins
The word duppy originates from the
Ga language as most of the African folklore and culture in Jamaica comes from the
Ashanti people (a similar
Kwa languages speaking people also from Ghana). In the Ga language of
Ghana,
Adope literally means dwarf, but in Ghanaian folklore spirits are dwarves. It could also originate from the special Akan day Dapaa, which occurs 9 days after the first Monday of the Akan month Fwodwo. However, in Jamaica, they celebrate this 9-day tradition after someone dies. It is called "9 nights" during which they believe it takes 9 days(a day in Akan culture starts at dusk) for the spirit to return to the ancestral land. On Dapaa, it is believed that the ancestral spirits return to their homeland, a shared belief with Jamaica. The word Dapaa may have undergone vowel changes to become the present day
Duppy, to mean ancestral spirit.
In
Obeah, a person is believed to possess two souls—a good soul and an earthly soul. In death, the good soul goes to heaven to be judged by God, while the earthly spirit remains for three days in the coffin with the body, where it may escape if proper precautions are not taken and appear as a duppy.
See also
Further reading
External links
