Africanisms
Diaspora's linguistic heritage
Africanisms are linguistic features, cultural practices, or expressions that originated in African languages or cultures and persist in other contexts—particularly in the speech and traditions of African diaspora communities.
The term appears most often in discussions of how African influences shaped languages like African American Vernacular English, Caribbean creoles, and Brazilian Portuguese: Scholars have identified numerous Africanisms in Gullah speech.
The word also extends to African-derived elements in music, religion, and folklore that survived the Atlantic slave trade.
Adopted foreign vocabulary
- borrowingsMoney taken on credit
- vocabularyOne's word collection
- expressionsOutward manifestations of feeling
- idiomsFixed figurative expressions
syntax · phonology · grammar · Bantu · Swahili · Yoruba · creole · pidgin
Sea Islands creole language
- CaribbeanTropical Atlantic region
- patoisRegional informal speech
- creolizationPidgin maturing into mother tongue
- Middle PassageTransatlantic slave trade crossing
retention · survival · heritage · roots · ancestry · Afro-Brazilian · Afro-Cuban · maroon
Long-established customs passed down
- customsTraditional practices or import taxes
- ritualsCeremonial repeated practices
- spiritualityConnection to the sacred
- ancestorsThose from whom one descends
community · ubuntu · extended family · oral history · drumming · polyrhythm · call-and-response · griot
loan words
Adopted foreign vocabulary
- borrowingsMoney taken on credit
- vocabularyOne's word collection
- expressionsOutward manifestations of feeling
idioms · syntax · phonology · grammar · Bantu · Swahili · Yoruba · creole · pidgin · vernacular
Gullah
Sea Islands creole language
- CaribbeanTropical Atlantic region
- patoisRegional informal speech
- creolizationPidgin maturing into mother tongue
Middle Passage · retention · survival · heritage · roots · ancestry · Afro-Brazilian · Afro-Cuban · maroon · plantation
traditions
Long-established customs passed down
- customsTraditional practices or import taxes
- ritualsCeremonial repeated practices
- spiritualityConnection to the sacred
ancestors · community · ubuntu · extended family · oral history · drumming · polyrhythm · call-and-response · griot · masquerade
Afrobeat
West African funk-jazz fusion
- highlifeLuxurious wealthy existence
- kenteGhanaian ceremonial woven cloth
- mudclothMalian fabric dyed with earth
sculpture · mask · beadwork · braiding · cornrows · motifs · patterns · symbolism · woodcarving · bronze casting