Thank you for sharing your living history!!! The ancestors must be so proud and glad to see you continuing on, and your babies are lovely and so smart.
Hello! I had always heard that Gullah is almost like a preservation of the original English creole the slaves likely spoke. This is probably a much better summary from someone who is an insider to it all.
Salute Dr Berry. Another amazing piece. . The bilingual nature of who your are as a people is sometging that Caribbean folks have struggled with over the years in terms of their post colonial existence. The recognition of our creole/ dialect as a language is so profound and would validate its useage in school etc....there is still a mindset that frowns on those persons who are more comfortable speaking the dialect and not standard English. And in the class conscious societies that existed/ exists post colonialism, the ones who could speak standard English were perceived as more educated and having a higher station in life than those who could not. Through the 70s and the Black Power Movement which impacted persons in the Diaspora specifically the Caribbean as well, there was an awakening to recognize facets of our culture that was ours, language and food being majors parts thereof. Interestingly, as well religious groups such as Rastafarians (out of Jamaica) saw the proliferation throughout the sub-region during this time (70s)with unique aspects of language injected into their beliefs as well. Some of it has had a carry over effect into the dominant dialect of the island. These are the stories that groups such as ADOS need to be more aware of.
You know, it’s so funny. I understand how you speak just fine, but I think, as a Jamaican, it would be difficult to actually execute speaking Gullah because in a way, it sounds too much like Jamaican Creole AND too much like english at the same time. I know that sounds weird. What I mean is that a whole lot of the words and phrases I hear are the same as what we have in JC. The accent, however, is not at all like JC. It’s more close mouthed. More relaxed sounding. Like your short a words are flat just like in english. And you turn t’s into d’s a lot just like folks do in english. JC is not relaxed at all. It has no flat a sound. Only rounded a sounds. T’s are always pronounced TOUGH. They’re never turned into d’s. And we have what I refer to as a TEARING of certain vowels that I don’t hear as much with Gullah. So, when it comes to executing speaking the way you do, it would be difficult because the words themselves would be too tempting to say the way I’m used to saying them. That was difficult enough to do with just english, mostly with the vowel sounds. I remember in truck driving school, the instructors said something to put those of us, who had never driven stick shift before, at ease. They said it was actually easier for us to learn the stick shift method in the trucks than it is for a lot of their students who had stick shift cars. They said because with them, they had to unlearn operating the stick the way they were used to in order to get it right with the truck’s stick shift. That’s probably the best way to explain this. When I was in the truck driving school for about three weeks, I had a roommate in the hotel all of us stayed in. He was fresh from the Virgin Islands so his dialect and accent was strong. Now, the Virgin Islands accent is another one that doesn’t sound close to the Jamaican accent at all AND I’ve been here a lot longer than him, so I’m just speaking english. By week two, I had begun speaking in JC. Just being around people speaking in such a similar way, PULLS IT OUT OF YOU. It beckons it, you know? And that’s why it would be hard to execute speaking it like you. I’d be tripping over myself saying some of the words the way you do and some of them in JC fashion. 😂 You would know that’s a Jamaican trying to speak Gullah! 😂
Thank you for sharing your living history!!! The ancestors must be so proud and glad to see you continuing on, and your babies are lovely and so smart.
Thanks for your kind words and thanks for watching.
What are the parallels between Gullah Geeche language and AAV vernacular? I think these types of cultural differences are really interesting!
Great questions!! There are certainly many overlapping features.
I’ll add this to my list to answer in an upcoming video. Thanks for watching.
How do I find out if I’m gullah geechie
Hello! I had always heard that Gullah is almost like a preservation of the original English creole the slaves likely spoke. This is probably a much better summary from someone who is an insider to it all.
You’re on the right track for sure!! Thanks for watching.
Salute Dr Berry. Another amazing piece. . The bilingual nature of who your are as a people is sometging that Caribbean folks have struggled with over the years in terms of their post colonial existence. The recognition of our creole/ dialect as a language is so profound and would validate its useage in school etc....there is still a mindset that frowns on those persons who are more comfortable speaking the dialect and not standard English. And in the class conscious societies that existed/ exists post colonialism, the ones who could speak standard English were perceived as more educated and having a higher station in life than those who could not. Through the 70s and the Black Power Movement which impacted persons in the Diaspora specifically the Caribbean as well, there was an awakening to recognize facets of our culture that was ours, language and food being majors parts thereof. Interestingly, as well religious groups such as Rastafarians (out of Jamaica) saw the proliferation throughout the sub-region during this time (70s)with unique aspects of language injected into their beliefs as well. Some of it has had a carry over effect into the dominant dialect of the island. These are the stories that groups such as ADOS need to be more aware of.
Celebrating Black History, 365 days plus 1 mo for them leap year, cuz we ben ya!!! #ChuckTownGal #EdistoIsland
👍🏿 👍🏿
😅😎👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
You know, it’s so funny. I understand how you speak just fine, but I think, as a Jamaican, it would be difficult to actually execute speaking Gullah because in a way, it sounds too much like Jamaican Creole AND too much like english at the same time. I know that sounds weird. What I mean is that a whole lot of the words and phrases I hear are the same as what we have in JC. The accent, however, is not at all like JC. It’s more close mouthed. More relaxed sounding. Like your short a words are flat just like in english. And you turn t’s into d’s a lot just like folks do in english. JC is not relaxed at all. It has no flat a sound. Only rounded a sounds. T’s are always pronounced TOUGH. They’re never turned into d’s. And we have what I refer to as a TEARING of certain vowels that I don’t hear as much with Gullah. So, when it comes to executing speaking the way you do, it would be difficult because the words themselves would be too tempting to say the way I’m used to saying them. That was difficult enough to do with just english, mostly with the vowel sounds.
I remember in truck driving school, the instructors said something to put those of us, who had never driven stick shift before, at ease. They said it was actually easier for us to learn the stick shift method in the trucks than it is for a lot of their students who had stick shift cars. They said because with them, they had to unlearn operating the stick the way they were used to in order to get it right with the truck’s stick shift. That’s probably the best way to explain this. When I was in the truck driving school for about three weeks, I had a roommate in the hotel all of us stayed in. He was fresh from the Virgin Islands so his dialect and accent was strong. Now, the Virgin Islands accent is another one that doesn’t sound close to the Jamaican accent at all AND I’ve been here a lot longer than him, so I’m just speaking english. By week two, I had begun speaking in JC. Just being around people speaking in such a similar way, PULLS IT OUT OF YOU. It beckons it, you know? And that’s why it would be hard to execute speaking it like you. I’d be tripping over myself saying some of the words the way you do and some of them in JC fashion. 😂 You would know that’s a Jamaican trying to speak Gullah! 😂