Fwd: ALAYE

[Joan Houston Hall]

Anyone care to respond to him?  Please write him directly as well as
posting to the list. Thanks.

>Return-Path: georgeb2 at pgen.net
>From: "georgeb2" <georgeb2 at pgen.net>
>To: <jdhall at facstaff.wisc.edu>
>Subject: ALAYE
>Date: Thu, 21 Mar 2002 12:09:55 -0000
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>Yesterday I e-mailed your colleague but now I recognise this action may
>have been in error as today on re-visiting your site I discover she
>appears to be concerned with your webpage as opposed to the dictionary.
>ALAYE is the word in question.
>I have learned quite easily its Yoruba roots and present-day Nigerian
>usage, as well as a Levantine usage of closely related  meaning.  Whether
>the latter is coincidental or this word crossed the Sahara by the
>commercial camel routes one way or the other I know not.  This is not my
>primary concern.
>What I need to know to complete my research is when and how did the word
>ALAYE cross into the US.?
>The only US. usage of which I am aware is the title 'Men of Alaye' for a
>video and calendar(s) (V+C) published in 1998 et seq.  The sub-text for
>both was 'Men fit to be king' or 'Men who would be king' which lines up
>with the Yoruba usage, as 'owner of the universe' or 'king' or 'his
>majesty', more colloquially 'the in-people'.  There are further Yoruba
>references to place names including the word 'Alaye' and historical
>honoured personal names.  The V+C referred to above were touted as
>showcases for black achievers and included Shemar Moore, Rick Fox, Malcolm
>Jamal-Warner, Ginuwine and others.  Since these (only) men were
>photographed in various states of undress one might opine that a more
>pragmatic goal for the publishers was to achieve beefcake sales.  Be that
>as it may ...
>Did the producers of the V+C. import the word Alaye from Nigeria for their
>specific purpose, or did they pick up on this word by finding it already
>in the US.?  If the latter then  it ought to be possible to find examples
>of its use before 1998.  My advice from an eminent academic in UK. whose
>special field is African languages is that it was probably an import in
>the same vein as 'Kwansaa' (I need not explain its meaning to a US.
>lexicographer)  But was this importation by the V+C makers in 1998?  Or
>earlier?  If so, by whom?
>There is another possibility though, I venture, highly unlikely.  In the
>Caribbean islands many West African words are still in use, as you must
>know.  This persistence, I discover, is virtually unheard of in the US.
>where slaves were deliberately parted from those of like origin to avoid
>the build-up of ethnic cliques and any threat to (white) order which might
>so derive.  I understand that words even only suspected to be of African
>origin in the US. from slavery days can be numbered on the fingers of one
>hand.  Please correct me if I'm in error.
>I have a picture in my mind of someone, possibly a staffer for the V+C
>company, telephoning a linguist friend, even the US. originator of
>'Kwansaa', and saying 'Heh, we're getting these pix together and we want a
>distinctive name.  It's all about ..."  If that conjecture is putting the
>cart before the horse, then WHERE and HOW did WHO take the word ALAYE on
>board,  consequently to erect a panoply of beefcake in its honor?
>If these questions are too burdensome I will have to be satisfied with 'We
>can find no examples of this word in the US. before 1998', or 'see (given
>reference or references)'
>If this is not impertinent, may I please thank you for your help in
>anticipation.
>You may legitimately pose a question for me:  Why on earth should I
>indulge in such abstruse research?  Am I so commissioned by a
>dictionary?  No.  Truth is I'm angry!  There is a black US. website
>originated in year 2000 called Alaye Men of the obvious name-origin,
>within which I have contributed to several discussion groups concerning
>themselves with Racism.  Ever since visiting this site, being an obsessive
>etymologist, I have wondered at its name.  One of my fellow-contributors,
>not addressing me personally, wrote "... Alayemen (sic)  - a drawing card"
>which I rightly interpreted as 'something that attracts' so I responded by
>thanking him for his explanation, adding that I hoped I might receive
>further assistance, the name of the dictionary to consult, derivation and
>linguistic origin.  The repsonse to my request was not what I might have
>anticipated.  What I gained from the contributor who had told me 'A
>drawing card' was:
>"Your not being able to find the meaning or even the word Alaye should
>tell you something, that everything that is existing in our sulture (sic)
>cannot be researched, understood by all, thus rendering many hopelessly
>without comment, yet many still try..i.e.you guys"  I have retained all
>the details, including typo. and punctuation, from the contribution to the
>discussion.
>That has made me mad!  So I have determined to show up the writer for what
>he has written, obscurantist claptrap!  Why could he not have ignored my
>request?  Why try to erect a Tolkein mystery where there is none?  My
>research in Nigeria and the Levant has been easily completed through
>academic Nigerian friends but I am left with what may or may not be a
>black hole in the US.  And no, I require no lecture on oral cultures from
>the above contributor or anyone else!
>Please HELP!
>
>George BURRELL, LONDON
>SW2            <mailto:georgeb2 at pgen.net>georgeb2 at pgen.net
>
>