1 An Overview of Gullah as a LanguageDavid Frank SIL International

2 Overview of Gullah as a LanguageIntroduction to Gullah as a language Structural distinctives of Gullah Gullah in use Where do we go from here?

3 Overview of Gullah as a LanguageIntroduction to Gullah as a language the name, identification as a language geographic and historical settings history of attention to Gullah social attitudes toward Gullah Gullah as a creole language lifespan of a creole language

4 Overview of Gullah as a LanguageIntroduction to Gullah as a language the name, identification as a language geographic and historical settings history of attention to Gullah social attitudes toward Gullah Gullah as a creole language lifespan of a creole language

5 Overview of Gullah as a LanguageIntroduction to Gullah as a language the name, identification as a language geographic and historical settings history of attention to Gullah social attitudes toward Gullah Gullah as a creole language lifespan of a creole language

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16 Overview of Gullah as a LanguageIntroduction to Gullah as a language the name, identification as a language geographic and historical settings history of attention to Gullah social attitudes toward Gullah Gullah as a creole language lifespan of a creole language

17 Overview of Gullah as a LanguageIntroduction to Gullah as a language the name, identification as a language geographic and historical settings history of attention to Gullah social attitudes toward Gullah Gullah as a creole language lifespan of a creole language

18

19

20 The 2015 edition of the Ethnologue lists the Gullah Geechee ethnic population as 250,000, but the number of speakers of the language as only 350 (!) as of the 2010 census. The Fifteenth edition of the Ethnologue (2005) said that as of the year 2000, there were 250,000 speakers of Gullah, 7-10,000 of whom were monolingual. They said this was also the estimated ethnic population.

21 approximate area where Gullah is spokenThe 2015 edition of the Ethnologue lists the Gullah Geechee ethnic population as 250,000, but the number of speakers of the language as only 350 (!) as of the 2010 census. The Fifteenth edition of the Ethnologue (2005) said that as of the year 2000, there were 250,000 speakers of Gullah, 7-10,000 of whom were monolingual. They said this was also the estimated ethnic population. next slide: Bahamian

22 Bahamian English CreoleAccording to the Ethnologue, there are 225,000 speakers of Bahamian English Creole. Total population about 383,000. next slide: Jamaican

23 Jamaican Creole The Ethnologue estimates that there are 2,670,000 speakers of Jamaican Creole in Jamaica, a total of 3,205,00 in the world. It says there is vigorous language use, and it is gaining in prestige. The basilectal variety isn’t intelligible with English. next slide: Belize Kriol

24 Belize Kriol 70,000 speakers in Belize, 110,000 total. next slide: Guyanese Creole

25 Guyananese Creole 700,000 speakers; total population in Guyana of 800,000. next slide: Sranan, Saramaccan, Aukan

26 Sranan, Saramaccan, AukanEstimated 120,000 speakers of Sranan as a first language, another 300,000 as a second language. 26,000 speakers of Saramaccan. 33,500 speakers of Aukan, of which 1,550 are monolingual. Next slide: Haitian

27 Haitian French Creole 7 million speakers in Haiti, closer to 8 million total, if you take into account those who live outside of Haiti. In 1961 Haitian Creole was granted legal and educational status, and together with French it is an official language. next slide: Lesser Antillean French Creole

28 Lesser Antillean French Creole359,500 speakers, the de facto language of national identity. next slide: Guyanais

29 Guyanais 50,000 speakers, the first language of over 50% of the population in the capital. (How many L2 speakers?) next slide: Louisian French Creole

30 Louisiana French CreoleEstimated 70,000 speakers, ethnic population of 4 million. Members of the ethnic population over 60 prefer Creole. Those under 30 prefer English. next slide: Papiamentu

31 Papiamentu 263,000 speakers on the three islands (Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao). The only creole language listed in the Ethnologue as being Iberian-based.

32 Overview of Gullah as a LanguageIntroduction to Gullah as a language the name, identification as a language geographic and historical settings history of attention to Gullah social attitudes toward Gullah Gullah as a creole language lifespan of a creole language

33 Overview of Gullah as a LanguageIntroduction to Gullah as a language Structural distinctives of Gullah phonological inventory syllable structure pronominal system structure of the noun phrase structure of the verb phrase the copula construction

34 Vowels i u ɪ ʊ e ə o ɛ ʌ ɔ a ɑ Diphthongs: ɑɪ, ɑʊ, ɔɪfront central back close i u near- close ɪ ʊ close- mid e ə o open- mid ɛ ʌ ɔ open a ɑ Diphthongs: ɑɪ, ɑʊ, ɔɪ Nasal vowels: ẽ, ə̃, õ, ɑ̃

35 Consonants p b t d k g m n ŋ f s z ʃ h ʧ ʤ l w r j bilabialbilabial labiodental alveolar postalveolar palatal velar glottal stop voiceless voiced p b t d k g nasal m n ŋ fricative f s z ʃ h affricate ʧ ʤ lateral l approximant w r j

36 Overview of Gullah as a LanguageIntroduction to Gullah as a language Structural distinctives of Gullah phonological inventory syllable structure pronominal system structure of the noun phrase structure of the verb phrase the copula construction /ks/ at the end of a syllable, but not /sk/ /skr/ at the beginning of a syllable, but not /str/

37 Overview of Gullah as a LanguageIntroduction to Gullah as a language Structural distinctives of Gullah phonological inventory syllable structure pronominal system structure of the noun phrase structure of the verb phrase the copula construction

38 Pronominal System A we me ya oona e dey um dem singular pluralSUBJECTIVE OBJECTIVE singular plural 1st person A we me 2nd person ya oona 3rd person e dey um dem

39 Overview of Gullah as a LanguageIntroduction to Gullah as a language Structural distinctives of Gullah phonological inventory syllable structure pronominal system structure of the noun phrase structure of the verb phrase the copula construction

40 Noun Phrase = specifier + number + adjective + noun + demthe specifier can be a definite or indefinite article, or a pronoun or a noun phrase to show possession a nyoung man seben leetle chullun de biggity preacha all me fren dem ya wife sista dem de shree black hoss dem NOTE: We are nearly half-way through we the slides. How are we doing on time?

41 Overview of Gullah as a LanguageIntroduction to Gullah as a language Structural distinctives of Gullah phonological inventory syllable structure pronominal system structure of the noun phrase structure of the verb phrase the copula construction

42 done + been + da + gwine + VERBVerb Phrase The following is the standard set of preverbal tense-mood-aspect markers in Gullah: All four of these TMA markers would rarely, if ever, co-occur in the same verb phrase, but the relative order is as follows: done + been + da + gwine + VERB The combination of been + da is common and takes the form beena. been anterior tense gwine prospective mood da imperfective aspect done completive aspect

43 stative vs. nonstative verbs“Not everything that we think of as referring to present time is expressed by a present or a continuative construction in many Niger-Congo languages. First, a number of languages distinguish two types of verbs, in general ‘stative’ and ‘active;’ stative verbs usually include equivalents for most of the ‘private’ verbs of English. For statives, a reference to present time may use the same construction that refers to past time if an active verb is used; or more accurately, the construction is timeless for stative verbs – a modifier may indicate that the reference is to past time. In Yoruba, the construction in question is the simplest construction in the language, consisting of only a pronoun and a verb root; this may be analyzed as having a zero construction marker, but Yoruba has no affixes with the verb base in any case. This construction is commonly known as ‘past’, but the reference is obviously not always to past time. A better label might be ‘factative’; the construction expresses the most obvious fact about the verb in question, which in the case of active verbs is that the action was observed or took place, but for stative verbs is that the situation obtains at present.” – Welmers, African Language Structures (1973) pp

44 Verb Phrase stative verbs:A hab a heapa money. ‘I have a lot of money.’ E hab a heapa money. ‘He/she has a lot of money.’ E been hab a heapa money. ‘He/she had a lot of money.’ E beena hab a heapa money. ‘He/she used to have a lot of money.’ E gwine hab a heapa money. ‘He/she will have a lot of money.’ E been gwine hab a heapa money. ‘He/she was going to/would have a lot of money.’ E done hab a heapa money. ‘He/she already has a lot of money.’ E done been hab a heapa money. ‘He/she already had a lot of money.’ some stative verbs: hab, wahn, lob, tink, know.

45 Verb Phrase nonstative verbs: A gii ya de money.‘I gave you the money.’ A da gii ya de money. ‘I give/am giving you the money.’ A been gii ya de money. ‘I had given you the money.’ A beena gii ya de money. ‘I was giving/used to give you the money.’ A gwine gii ya de money. ‘I will give you the money.’ A been gwine gii ya de money. ‘I was going to/would give you the money.’ A done gii ya de money. ‘I already gave/have already given you the money.’ A done been gii ya de money. ‘I had already given you the money.’

46 Verb Phrase some nonstative verbs: aks ‘to ask’ pit ‘to put’ bring‘to bring’ ron ‘to run’ ceebe ‘to deceive’ sabe ‘to save’ come ‘to come’ say ‘to say’ cyaa ‘to carry’ see ‘to see’ git ‘to get’ sleep ‘to sleep’ hep ‘to help’ speck ‘to expect’ laan ‘to learn/teach’ staat ‘to start’ leh ‘to allow’ tek ‘to take’ lib ‘to live’ tote mek ‘to make’ waak ‘to walk’ nyam ‘to eat’ wok ‘to work’ pick ‘to pick’ yeh ‘to hear’

47 Verb Phrase some nonstative verbs: Gullah Kwéyòl English We come.Nou vini. ‘We came.’ We da come. Nou ka vini. ‘We are coming.’ We been come. Nou té vini. ‘We had come.’ We beena come. Nou té ka vini. ‘We were coming/used to come.’ We gwine come. Nou kay vini. ‘We will come.’ We been gwine come. Nou té kay vini. ‘We were going to/would come.’

48 Overview of Gullah as a LanguageIntroduction to Gullah as a language Structural distinctives of Gullah phonological inventory syllable structure pronominal system structure of the noun phrase structure of the verb phrase the copula construction

49 Three types of copula construction1) equative clause, using da: The Gullah copula da is used as the verb in an equative clause, involving two noun phrases joined by the copula, and the second one is equated with the first. The following is a formula for the structure of an equative clause, followed by examples: Equative Clause = NP + da + NP Ya da David. ‘You are David.’ E da me fada. ‘He is my father.’ Dis man da de leada. ‘This man is the leader.’ Dis time yah da a ebil time. ‘This time here is an evil time.’ Da God wok. ‘[It] is God’s work.’ Who ya da? ‘Who are you?’

50 Three types of copula construction2) locative clause, using dey: There is a locative copula dey ([de]) in Gullah as well, which is close to but not identical in form with the copula da ([d]). The meaning of the locative copula is something like ‘is (located)’ and what comes after dey is an adverbial that describes a location. Locative Clause = NP + dey + NP E dey deh. ‘He/she/it is there.’ Dey dey deh. ‘They are there.’ We sista dem dey yah wid we. ‘Our sisters are here with us.’ De cat dey deh een de house. ‘The cat is there in the house.’ Note that dey is only used in present reference. Been is used for past reference, same as with da.

51 Three types of copula construction3) descriptive clause, with no verb: In some contexts, Gullah has a null copula. Whereas an equative clause involves the copula da followed by a noun phrase, a descriptive clause simply has the subject noun phrase followed by an adjective or a prepositional phrase, with no explicit copula verb. Descriptive Clause = NP + Adj/PP E nice. ‘He/she/it is nice.’ Dem skeeta bad. ‘Those mosquitos are bad.’ E mo olda den me. ‘He/she is older than I.’ Dat gyal purty down. ‘That girl is quite attractive.’ Ya ain good fa nottin. ‘You are not good for anything.’ E een a fambly way. ‘She is in a family way (i.e., pregnant).’

52 Overview of Gullah as a LanguageIntroduction to Gullah as a language Structural distinctives of Gullah Gullah in use Turner texts

53 Di Eartquake Rosina CohenAn di eartquake? You aks me if I know bout di eartquake? Lawd, how mussy! Wen di eartquake, my son, Calwary couldn hole di people. You yeddy di people hollarin all rong an holla so moanful: “O Lawd! O Lawd! Di wol gwine to end.” Say we da gwine sa. Tell—disya same man weh I da stay deh now—him granfada say, “Oona stan still”; say, “I see—I see eartquake fo tiday.” Dat was a night een August. I dohn know di date. I cyaan tell you I know di date, ke I ain know di date. I wohn lie, say I know di date, bot I know da August. An dey—it jes a go up come dong. An if you hab wata, you—if you hab wata een yo pail, ebry bit—ebry bit taan oba. An it mek a big—wen di eartquake sorta little cease an you go een di fiel, it gii you—it mek a big, wite—big, wite hole, like a grabe, like a grabe. An di sand wite! Now we fraid, ke dey say da gwine fall een on us. Dat deh is di eartquake now. Dat s di eartquake. An you neba—dem bukra had to mek we shut op dat hole. Dat is di eartquake—weh di eartquake big. You ondastan? Eartquake big deh, big deh. O, yes! Eartquake big deh, big deh. O, yes! Eartquake big deh. Oo! Eartquake! Big eartquake! Oo! My chillun all been big ones. O, yes! Dey all been big ones. Dey all had dey sense. Dey all jes a cry. Why, da all rong dis section could I yeh di hoopin an holla—all rong, an so moanful. An Calwary couldn hole di people. Di chuch inside jes as tick; outside ebryting da cry: “O, Lawd! O, Lawd! We done! We ain know why tis.” Edward Whaley say: “No!” say, “I see disya ain gone kill you, bot it is di eartquake.” Den it fus sorta little null a little bit—sorta little null, ke ebryting da now gone sink dong, you know. So it die so—di eartquake. Say da gwine dat a way. I tell you, all right.

54 Mekin Manure on Sent Helena Islan Samuel PoliteNow I come to di manure. I pit seben load a trash right een di bottom. Den I pit tree cod a maash straw. Den I pit a load a trash on um agin—so much trash on um agin. Den I pit bout eight load a san-mud cross um—broadcass um cross um—trash, maash, mud. An I keep on wid dat an keep on wid dat ontil—you see how mine stan deh now? I keep on wid dat, an wen dis rain done wid dat manure, I dis kin tuk um an broadcass um. I trow mine dis way: I trow one furra dat way an I trow one dis way. Den wen I gone plant di conn, I drop di conn right een yah. I drop di conn like dis—watch me good now: See? I go on. Den wen I done dat row, I ton di critta right een dat row wid di cultiweta now. Tuk up di back feet an let di two front feet go dis way, an dem two front feet kowa up dat conn completely. Den wen I done kowa dat conn, I load up di caat an haul di manure. Den I git my fok an I broadcass my manure right on deh. Den I let dat conn come up troo dat manure. You see? An is long is dat conn comin up, is long is dat manure will be on di conn root, di conn root cyaan come out ower um; an dat manure will stay on dat conn root, sa, an you will see crop. Wen dat conn come out deh, wen dat conn com up, it got to come troo dat manure, ainty? An dat manure will steady lay on dat conn root; an di mo di conn grow, di blacka it git. But guano—I wouldn gii you ten cent fa all di bag you kin bring to me. If you wahn to see dat manure—you will be comin een di fall—you come dong an tell me.

55 Overview of Gullah as a LanguageIntroduction to Gullah as a language Structural distinctives of Gullah Gullah in use Turner texts more recent texts Gullah New Testament

56 Di Root Ooman Leo GastonLeh me tell ya a story. Is paat ob it een Gullah an paat ob it not. Dis happen een Coosawhatchee. It haffa do wid witchcraft as well. Okay? Mista Jim—I’m not gonna say lass name, okay?—had a faam nex to Miss Rachel house. Di hog git out. So, Mista Jim raisin cain, tellin dem chirren dey betta come git dey hog. So Miss Rachel sen dem boys oba deh ta git di hog. Mista Jim raise cain an kick one a di boys. So Miss Rachel went an ask um, “Jim, I know di hog hab git out, an, uh, I wahn know, I sen dem chirren oba dey fa git um, an you kick my boy.” Say, “Mista Jim, weh ya foot ya kick dat boy wid?” “Dis foot right yah.” Say, “Fo sundown dis ebenin ya fa tek ax fa cut um off.” Sho nough, Jim cut his foot off wid de ax. Now dis was di root ooman. You dohn fool wid di root ooman.

57 Overview of Gullah as a LanguageIntroduction to Gullah as a language Structural distinctives of Gullah Gullah in use Turner texts more recent texts Gullah New Testament

58

59

60

61

62 Overview of Gullah as a LanguageIntroduction to Gullah as a language Structural distinctives of Gullah Gullah in use Where do we go from here? need for more documentation oral histories dictionary

63 Overview of Gullah as a LanguageIntroduction to Gullah as a language Structural distinctives of Gullah Gullah in use Where do we go from here? need for more documentation oral histories dictionary

64 Overview of Gullah as a LanguageIntroduction to Gullah as a language Structural distinctives of Gullah Gullah in use Where do we go from here? need for more documentation oral histories dictionary

65 from Gullah Folktales of the Georgia Coast, by Charles Colcock Jones Jr. (1888)

66

67 from Gullah fuh Oona: A Guide to the Gullah Language, by Virginia Mixon Geraty (1997)

68

69

70

71

72 Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Public Comments: Question 4: What are the three features of the Gullah/Geechee culture that you think must be protected, preserved, or continued? What must remain for future generations? Waterways, vegetation, language The three things I think that we should protect and preserve are language, crafts and land retention. The language, values and sense of place. 1) Language, 2) culture, 3) the impact of Gullah/Geechee on the region. 1) the language patterns; 2) The contributions to Low Country and the general American popular culture; 3) The actual sites where they lived. It’s language, history and attachment to the land. Language, heritage arts, landscapes. Language/culture—encourage historians to study and publish. Preservation of historic sites/features/resources. Preservation of unique language. 1) Contributions to the economic and cultural life of the area. 2) The speech itself. 3) The impact on the Europeans who interacted with the Gullah people.

73 Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Public Comments: Question 4: What are the three features of the Gullah/Geechee culture that you think must be protected, preserved, or continued? What must remain for future generations? 1) Craftsmanship; 2) Language; and 3) Religion. 1) Gullah/Geechee language; 2) Gullah/Geechee people’s role in creating what are now historic/important parts of the “look” of coastal South Carolina; 3) Reality of slavery and segregation. 1) Language; 2) skills; 3) roots. 1) People on the land, in their communities, not all moved away; 2) Language; 3) Crafts. Arts, crafts, language. Clearly, the patois, the language. The creative artifacts unique to the culture. Continue with our sweetgrass basked making, to have story-telling, and try to find out our original language. Historic sites must be preserved. The idioms of the Gullah/Geechee need to be taught. Historic sites, language and culture, and unique features of this society. Land, various customs, and language.

74 Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Public Comments: Question 4: What are the three features of the Gullah/Geechee culture that you think must be protected, preserved, or continued? What must remain for future generations? Language! Stories/folklore/folk medicine. History of communities in each area. Language, ancestry, history. Language, as well as the local historical perspective on local heroes. Language, ethics, education. Language, folklore including healing, history. Language, food, ideals, clothing. Language, preservation of the Sea Islands, writing about life. Songs and stories must remain. Language/folkways, cultural sites, landscapes. Oral traditions, cultural arts, etc. Focus should be on contributions and NOT conflicts. The determination, skills, language, and land. The language, storytelling, cultural artifacts (sweetgrass baskets, shrimp nets, etc.). The language; folklore and legends, and landscape (tidal coast/marsh). To foster the culture by having people actively practicing the arts/language and practical customs to keep it alive. Traditions/arts/crafts/language.

75

76

77

78

79

80

81

82

83