Roots Archives Forum

Greetings,

I was wondering about the meaning of the "I" found in so much of the Rasta vocabulary: I&I, Iration, Ital etc. Why "I"? Has it got african roots? Is it the resemblance between I and 1 that signifies oneness? Is it to show that everything is a part of yourself and you are a part of everything?

If anybody has any knowledge in this question I would be delighted!

Thank you,
Linus

it surely have a few meanings
one meaning is high, a ras is a high soul - not low, devil is low, god is up in higher heights so the ras is, ras is a copy of god (genesis) devil is also a copy of god but something went wrong and god put him in low places mental & physical.
Mutabaruka have a daily show on radio called Irie fm and the shows called something with "edge", he is talking about such stuff daily, maybe you should get an access its only a few dollars/month. or try look up the web for recorded shows

I would also be very interested to know about the origin of this. Is there an african equivelent or is it a rasta invention etc

there is nothing like "I" in amharic so I would guess its a babylonian word / word created in babylon

"Ras" could be used same as I and "El" I think

but there s no straight linking

bless

In Word, Sound & Power, the documentary about the Soul Syndicate, Dallas Rogers gives a good explanation of the "I".

**["Rastafarian Vocabulary"](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rastafarian_vocabulary)**

...and yes, the the "I" is a so called rasta creation and has no direct relations to african languages. its all about the meaning of objects and subjects and the differences.

I've always thought it derives from "Selassie I" (selassie-aye). Although that doesn't make sense, cause it should be: Selassie the First.

I=You
I=Us
I=I
I=Jah
I=Iniverse

I knew about this just now.