[RickJ]

Fellow geeks, enjoy:

A recent article I read mentioned the Gullah (Creole blend of Elizabethan English and African) translation of the New Testament that was completed last year after 16 years of work... so I did some googling on it and found it fascinating...

... just thought I'd just pass it along...

Here is Matthew 5: 3-9.

3. Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
3. Dey bless fa true, dem people wa ain hab no hope een deysef, cause God da rule oba dem.

4. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
4. Dey bless fa true, dem wa saaful now, cause God gwine courage um.

5. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
5. Dey bless fa true, dem wa ain tink dey mo den wa dey da, cause all de whole wol gwine blongst ta um.

6. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
6. Dey bless fa true, dem wa hongry an tosty fa wa right, cause dey gwine git sattify.

7. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
7. Dey bless fa true, dem wa hab mussy pon oda people, cause God gwine hab mussy pon dem.

8. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
8. Dey bless fa true, dem that only wahn fa jes saab de Lawd, cause dey gwine see God.

9. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
9. Dey bless fa true, dem wa da wok haad fa hep people lib peaceable with one noda, cause God gwine call um e chullun.

I love that last one: children=chillun :p

[Morganite]

The expressive language struck me as Pidgin English, so I did a little research and found that:




Slaves on the American “rice coast” had belonged to various African ethnic groups and cultures such as the Ashanti, Fante, Fula, Ibo, Mandingo, Yoruba, and Bakongo. Because they did not speak the same languages, Africans used pidgin English to communicate with one another. Slaveholders required Africans to understand pidgin so they could follow orders in the fields. Over time, this pidgin eventually flourished into a new creole language known in the Carolinas as Gullah and as Geechee in Georgia and northern Florida.

In the early nineteenth century, many newly imported slaves in South Carolina were from Angola, commonly known as “N'Gulla.” “Gullah” could have originally referred to Angolans. But the Gullah people were not just Angolans; they were a mix of African groups.

After the Civil War, the Gullah/Geechee people continued to live in lowcountry settlements from Wilmington, North Carolina, to Jacksonville, Florida. This fertile swath of pinelands, sea islands, salt marshes, swamps, and creeks is known in historic-preservation circles as the Gullah/Geechee Coast.

Forged in hardship, Gullah/Geechee culture—food, religion, crafts, stories, songs, and language—is a fusion of European and African influences. Gullah is the only lasting English-based creole language in North America. Yet its grammar is African, as are numerous words. In the 1940s, the linguist Lorenzo Dow Turner found 251 African words used by Gullah speakers. The Gullah people, in fact, have retained more of their Africanisms than any other black group in the United States.

Gullah culture, however, is indigenous to [the USA], created under conditions particular to a narrow stretch of coastline in the American South.


M:)


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[valinors_sorrow]

Aw honey (Rick) bless yor pea-pickin' heart, we'ves done been calling all y'alls little ones chilluns for sum time dere. ;) The greater part of my neighborhood is still populated with real Florida crackers and one red neck who may be moving out LOL - there is a difference but don't ask me what, okay? The crackers done told me once and now it seems I forgot. Did you know the cracker title is partly from the cracked corn for grits and corn pone? I enjoy listening to them ramble away.

Oh how I love the sounds and smells (yum) of the real South

Thanks a bunch for the linguistics lesson too Morganite, you sure do turn up some of the gull dernest stuff.

Unofficially christens both of you in bisquits and gravy now as friends of the south! :p

[Morganite]

Aw honey (Rick) bless yor pea-pickin' heart, we'ves done been callin all y'alls lil ones chilluns fo sum time dere. ;) The greater part of my neighborhood is still populated with real Florida crackers and one red neck who may be moving out LOL - there is a difference but don't ask me what, okay? The crackers done told me once and now it seems I forgot. Did you know the cracker title is partly from the cracked corn for grits and corn pone? I enjoy listening to them ramble away.

Oh how I love the sounds and smells (yum) of the real South

Thanks a bunch for the linguistics lesson too Morganite, you sure do turn up some of the gull dernest stuff.

Unofficially christens both of you in bisquits and gravy now as friends of the south! :p

I was blessed to be a preacher man in the South for some time and was welcomely received by the good folks there. God bless them all. I never had biscuits and gravy and sausages until I had them in the South!


M:)

[ordinaryguy]

To a pretty large extent, this site seems to be populated by "dem wa da wok haad fa hep people lib peaceable wid one noda". There is no more important work, as far as I can tell. Carry on.

[Morganite]

To a pretty large extent, this site seems to be populated by "dem wa da wok haad fa hep people lib peaceable wid one noda". There is no more important work, as far as I can tell. Carry on.

Did we meet in Luxor?

[ordinaryguy]

Did we meet in Luxor?

Probably not, since I don't know where Luxor is.

[Morganite]

Probably not, since I don't know where Luxor is.

It must have been two other fellows!


M:)