In the 1940s, a new type of language started to emerge from the Rasta culture known as dreadtalk. Rastas found both English and the Jamaican language known as patwa unable to express the complex feelings and attitudes of Rastafari, and they created a new vocabulary that was a creole of both languages (via Ennis Barrington Edmonds in "Rastafari"). One common trait in dreadtalk is the prominence of "I" words, like inity, irator, or iration, which are derived from English words like unity, creator, and creation, but are scrubbed of the Babylonian (Western) influence. They also have other words that emphasize the letter I, like InI (you and I), irie (positive vibrations), and imam (I, me, or my).
There is also an intrinsic connection between how language sounds and what it means for Rastas. Words like "oppression" are changed to "downpression," because the first syllable in oppression is too positive-sounding for a word emphasizing a loss of freedom. Similarly, the word "dedicate" is pronounced "livicate" by Rastas to remove the connotation of death.
At its core, Rastas see English as a language of abuse and bondage. For them, dreadtalk is "an ideological attack on the integrity of the English language" (per Edmonds). By refusing to use standard English or Jamaican patwa and infusing their own Rasta culture into the new creole, dreadtalk is another form of rebellion against Babylon for the Rastas -– just like dreadlocks.
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