Dem
/dɛm/noun
A Jamaican Creole and Caribbean English form meaning “them,” also used as a plural marker after a noun.
Did you know?In Jamaican Creole, “dem” may follow a noun to mark plurality, as in “di bwoy dem,” literally “the boy them,” meaning “the boys.”
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*to-
“A demonstrative root meaning “that” or “the one over there.””
Proto-Germanic
Germanic
*þaim
“A dative plural demonstrative meaning “to or for those.””
Old English
Old English
þām / þǣm
“A form meaning “to them” or “for them.””
Middle English
Middle English
hem / them
“Pronoun forms meaning “them,” with initial th- becoming increasingly common.”
17th–19th Century
English Creoles
dem
“A reduced or reshaped form of English “them” in Caribbean varieties.”
Modern English
Jamaican Creole
dem
““Them,” and also a plural marker placed after nouns.”