Gullah
Sea Islands tongue
Gullah refers to a creole language and the African American people and culture of the coastal Sea Islands and lowcountry regions of South Carolina and Georgia.
The language blends English with West African languages, developed among enslaved Africans and their descendants.
Gullah culture preserves distinctive traditions in food, crafts, music, and storytelling: Gullah sweetgrass baskets are prized by collectors.
The term Geechee is sometimes used interchangeably, particularly in Georgia.
Fragrant ceremonial sedge
- basketryArt of weaving containers
- tabbyPatterned domestic cat
- indigoPlant-derived blue dye
- rice cultivationGrowing grain in paddies
storytelling · folklore · spirituals · quilting · oral history · ancestry · community · rituals
At risk of extinction
- revitalizationRestoring vigor or vitality
- documentationWritten proof or instructions
- cultural tourismTravel for experiencing traditions
- language preservationMaintaining endangered native tongues
living history · museum · education · advocacy · elders · intergenerational · recording · archiving
Continent's western bulge
- Sierra LeoneWest African country, capital Freetown
- AngolaKwanza-using African state
- SenegalWest African republic
- GambiaWest African enclave state
Middle Passage · enslavement · ancestry · roots · diaspora · repatriation · transatlantic · emancipation
Nativized pidgin tongue
- pidginImprovised contact language
- patoisRegional informal speech
- vernacularEveryday regional speech
- tonalRelating to pitch
oral tradition · proverbs · folktales · Brer Rabbit · Anansi · endangered language · bilingualism · code-switching
sweetgrass
Fragrant ceremonial sedge
rice cultivation · storytelling · folklore · spirituals · quilting · oral history · ancestry · community · rituals · cuisine
endangered
At risk of extinction
- revitalizationRestoring vigor or vitality
- documentationWritten proof or instructions
- cultural tourismTravel for experiencing traditions
language preservation · living history · museum · education · advocacy · elders · intergenerational · recording · archiving
West Africa
Continent's western bulge
- Sierra LeoneWest African country, capital Freetown
- AngolaKwanza-using African state
- SenegalWest African republic
Gambia · Middle Passage · enslavement · ancestry · roots · diaspora · repatriation · transatlantic · emancipation · descendants
creole
Nativized pidgin tongue
- pidginImprovised contact language
- patoisRegional informal speech
- vernacularEveryday regional speech
tonal · oral tradition · proverbs · folktales · Brer Rabbit · Anansi · endangered language · bilingualism · code-switching · grammar
- American dialectsregional accents, Boston accent, New York accent, Midwest accent, Texas twang
- Carolina HistoryCharleston, Lowcountry, Piedmont, Backcountry, colonial era
- dialectsregional dialect, local dialect, patois, vernaculars, vernacular
- ethnic communitiesethnic enclave, immigrant community, indigenous community, tribal community, refugee community
- ethnic groupsJews, Arabs, Chinese, Irish, Greeks
- South CarolinaCharleston, Columbia, Greenville, Spartanburg, Myrtle Beach