LL-L "Language varietie" 2004.08.13 (08) [E]

Fri Aug 13 23:53:10 UTC 2004

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From: John Duckworth <jcduckworth2003 at yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: Language Varieties

Greetings Lowlanders, one and all!

Bill Wigham said:

"  I can only guess what "Thisen" means.  Has it possibly got something to
do with "Thy son" instead of "thy self"."

_Thisen_ quite simply means 'thyself / yourself'.

John Duckworth
Preston, Lancashire

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From: Steven Hanson <hanayatori at sbcglobal.net>
Subject: Language Varieties

"LOW(LANDS) SAXON (of "Lower Saxon")
denotes only the truly *Saxon*-based varieties of the European continent
(and their more recent transplants elsewhere), excluding all Low(lands)
Franconian varieties (see above) of the "Low German" branch, "Low(lands)"
being added to distinguish them from the "(Upper) Saxon" varieties of
today's German state of Saxony, which usurped the name and whose language
varieties are not Saxon-derived but are mostly Thuringian-derived

I hope I clarified it.

Best regards,
Reinhard/Ron"

Thanks, this is exactly what I was looking for.  I suspected that "Lowlands"
was added to distinguish it from something, but I couldn't quite figure out
what that something was.

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From: Bill Wigham <redbilly2 at earthlink.net>
Subject: LL-L "Language varieties" 2004.08.11 (10) [E]

Maybe someone can tell me where to send away for a First Grade grammar for
the Geordie dialect.  Dave Singleton sent me a line in that noble tongue
which stopped me cold.  In fact, I must go to Barnes & Noble and get what
ever is available on the Dutch language to please the ghosts of my Dutch
ancestors who settled in New Jersey.  This List is getting expensive!  Any
suggestions on good books?   Does the list have a copilation of suggested
titles that might help us new people prepare for the things we see in this
forum?  One makes an investment when going to school, why not here?

Cheers,
Bill Wigham

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From: Bill Wigham <redbilly2 at earthlink.net>
Subject: LL-L "Language varieties" 2004.08.11 (07) [E]

Mr. Hahn.
Gullah is a language/dialect from Somalia.  The slavers used to prefer to
buy these folks from their chieftains
because they were docile and did not rock the boat.  This tribe had,
according to my Southern associates, hereditary blue spots on their gums and
tongue.  Because of this they were called "blue gum Gullahs", which got
changed, in time, to just plain "Bluggums".   Many of those entry level
agricultural folks took, as a last name, that of their masters...which was
often Keltic.  This is the only connection with Gaelic that I can see.
Gullahs were not necessarily paired with their own kind  by their masters,
so a recognizable Gullah-English, per se, does not seem probable.

Hope this helps,
Bill Wigham

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Language varieties

Bill:

> Gullah is a language/dialect from Somalia

Thanks.  This is a new one for me.  I know of Gula, Gula Iro, Gule and Gulay
in Chad, the Sudan and the Central African Republic, and I am also aware of
some claims that East Africans were among slaves sold to the Americas, but I
know of no Gul(l)a(h) in Somalia, nor have I ever heard of the theory (?)
that American Gullah is derived from those areas ... which, of course, does
not mean that it could not be so.

As far as I am aware, the origin of Gullah is still somewhat unknown and
probably highly complex, a conglomeration of a number of languages.  It has
been said though, that there is a striking resemblance between Gullah and
Sierra Leone Krio, such as the use of words like _bigyai_ 'greedy', _yeys_
'ear' and _chitu_ 'both', as well as first names such as Fatimata, Hawa and
Kadiatu.  I am further aware of the ancestors of the Gullah, mostly slaves
working in rice plantations, passing down the story that they hailed from
Angola, and that "Gullah" is a derivation of "Angola."  (I don't know if
this is today's Angola, a general area or just folksy for "Africa.")  This
story also circulates in my wife's family in which some ancestors are
supposed to have come from "Angola" and worked with rice in the southeast
before moving to Alabama and intermarrying with Creek and Choctaw (possibly
at one time having been slaves of Choctaw owners as well).  Apparently, many
Gullah intermarried with Seminoles as well, creating the "Black Seminole."

By the way, Gullah are featured in the 1991 (visually stunning) movie
"Daughters of the Dust" (http://dickinsg.intrasun.tcnj.edu/dust/).

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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