Linguistic Characterisations of the Gullah Language (or Where Culture Ends and Language begins)

Linguistic Characterisations of the Gullah Language 

(or Where Culture Ends and Language begins)

Don’t be misled by the title of this section – Gullah language requires to be looked upon with the glasses of culture and history. However, in this section we’ll try to focus on the ‘objective’ linguistic aspects of the Gullah language with further cultural and historical references to said language, so that you may explore beyond the features we’re providing you in this introductory course on Gullah.

So, Gullah (people in Georgia refer to it as ‘Geechee’, mind!). Technically speaking, it has been considered by many as an English-based creole language (it achieved creole status during the mid 1700s). Research shows that there might be a strong connection between the Gullah language and the Krio language spoken in Sierra Leone – this native language is the language of the Krios, the descendants of freed slaves. However it is also their national language, the most commonly spoken language in Sierra Leone today.

Contrary to the belief still held by some, Gullah is not poor, or broken English. It is not a dialect of any other language, neither is it Black English. Gullah possesses every element necessary for it to qualify as a language on its own right. It has its own grammar, phonological systems, idiomatic expressions, and an extensive vocabulary. Since this language was never intended to be written, there are no hard and fast rules governing its orthography. To describe the language, Gullah is spoken softly, with a rolling rhythm. Since this language is an English-based, or English-derived creole, it sounds like English, but there is a certain flavour of the West African coast in its intonation and stress. On hearing it for the first time you are apt to think you are listening to the Krio spoken in Sierra Leone, or the Jamaican or Barbadian creoles spoken in the West Indies. The vocabulary of Gullah is mostly English with only a few words from African languages reminiscent of its pidgin stage. One of the most interesting feaures of Gullah is the frequent use of idiomatic expressions. Read the examples below and a have taste of Gullah! (a great research is by Abdou, see below).

"Tek'e foot een 'e han"= to run, or to leave quickly.

"Dry 'long so " = without a reason or explanation.

"Two -time-one-gun"= a double barreled gun.

"Tas'e 'e mout'"= something appetizing to eat.

"Lawfully lady"= lawfully wedded wife.

"Haa'dly'kin"= barely able. 
(these come from CCPL)

Now, here you have further examples of idioms you may find in Gullah - note that these ones are more likely to appear as morals in folk tales: (as presented in Wilbur Cross (2009))

Gullah: “E tru mout”
English: “He true mouth”
Means: The speaker is referring to someone who doesn’t lie.

Gullah: “Milk ain’t dry off e mout yet.”
English: “Milk in his mouth isn’t even dry yet.”
Means: Describing someone who is young.

Gullah: “Mah head leab me”
English: “My head left me”
Means: I forgot or I am forgetful.

Gullah: “Evry frog praise e ownt pond.”
English: “Every frog praises (favors) his own pond.”
Means: Everyone favors his own house.

Gullah: “Mus tek cyear a de root fa heal de tree.”
English: “Take care of the roots in order to heal the tree.”
Means: What is hidden can be very important.

(It's not that difficult when you get used to it, is it?)

Why don't we dwell a little into the main features? We'll gonna do a very brief summary here, but you can find much more technical information in Abdou (2014). 

The verbal and adjectival systems are the most characteristic of Gullah. 

• Verbs are hardly inflected and they normally, rather, use pre-verbal markers: they are particles that are introduced before the verb to indicate some trait, such as tense or aspect. These preverbal markers are, among others, ben, don, de, gwine. Ben is used to refer to the past (Uh ben he'p dem –– I helped them); done creates a sense of completion (Uh done he'p dem -- I have helped them, [and finished doing so]); de is a progressive marker (Uh de he'p dem -- I'm helping them); and gwine, for future (Uh gwine he'p dem -- I'm going to help them). 

• Verb reduplication is common (however, this very much relies on intonation). 

• The pronominal system has no inflection for gender and, rather, uses e for all feminine and masculine. It uses im and um for plurals. 

• For instance, the sentences "He blinked his eye" and "She blinked her eye" would be translated as E blink e eye. This is a inherited trait from African languages such as Igbo or Yoruba. 

• Also, the promonial lacks "it" pronoun, as well as object pronouns: e hurt e foot. 

• Furthermore, Gullah lacks copula, so the verb "to be" is not present when joining adjectives and nouns: Robert very tall. 

• Negations are performed through a series of particles, but a common one would be ain: ain nobody ga worry wid you (There is no nobody who will worry with you).

• Phonology is complex, but one of the traits most related to African languages is the non-aspiration of /p/, /t/, and /k/ in initial position. 

• The /θ/ and /ð/ are subtituted by /t/-/d/. However, note that the best approach to Gullah phonology is listening to many of the videos we have uploaded here. 

As with many minority languages over the world, television, education and increased social contact have all undermined Gullah to a large extent. Gullah speakers now use various Black American English dialects in dealings with non-Islanders, though Gullah is the language of home, family and community. Whatever its fate as a living vernacular, Gullah will live on with the general public as the language of Uncle Remus in Joel Chandler Harris's Bre'r Rabbit tales and of the fiction of South Carolina's Ambrose E. Gonzales. 

And now we get into a funny bit: the trickster tales. The Gullah people possess a very rich tradition in storytelling (i.e. orature, as it is called in postmodernist terms), people and even God play roles in sweet stories that have been passed down through generations. If you’re acquainted with African-American history, this kind of tales may ring a bell: they follow the same pattern as those African trickster tales, and so, Gullah fables often focus on animals taking on human personalities and finding themselves in predicaments sometimes outlandish, and always humorous. Watch out though, you may learn something!

Listen to this folktale as an amusing exercise  and compare it with other conventional tales you may know: Do they convey the same morals? 

As a final point to this section, you may have altogether assumed that Gullah language is necessarily intertwined with its ever-flourishing culture; and you've assumed rightly so. Gullah language has been carefully constructed throughout tales, songs and many more things that you can further explore here.