Gullah: Sea Island Creole
Historical Background      Sweetgrass Baskets      Folk Medicine      Religion      Ghost Stories      Marriage and Kinship    Poetry     Music      Others
Gullah derived from Yam, Buckra, and Okra. The verb system is a synthesis of African constructions, which are more complex than english. The Gullah language continues to change, lacking a signifigant written tradition.
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Here is a poem written in Gullah
T'engk' Gawd fuh Chaa' stun

'E, fus daa'k en' uh tek me pen een han' fuh write
Dese t'ing wuh uh t'ink 'bout Chaa'stun.

Uh yent hab onduhstan' fuh write lukkuh dem buckruh write
wuh lib tuh Brawd Skreet.

Bekase w'en de Lawd say mus' chuse de box wuh hol'
De t'ing fuh mek we libbin',

Me ole peepul chuse de hebby box wuh hol'
de mo'res En' de box hab ax en' shubble en' hoe.

De buckruh tek de leetle box wuh lef' en' 'e git
De pensul, de papuh en' de book en' t'ing.

Berrywellden, uh yent hab de wu'd fuh write 'bout Chaa'stun...
Me ole home, me 'Holy Lan'.

But de Lawd know me h'aa't stan' same lukkuh dem buckruh
Wuh hab 'e name 'puntop de book wuh 'e write.

De moon done rise en' de win' fetch de smell ob de maa'sh
F'um de haa'buh ob de lan' wuh uh lub'.

T'engk'Gawd fuh life en' he'lt' fuh sing 'E, praise.
T'engk'Gawd fuh uh bin bawn en' uh gwi' die een Chaa'stun.
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