Gullah: Sea Island Creole
Nouns     Verbs      Pronouns     Tense     
Word Order     Gender     Glossary      Speaking Gullah
VERB
A. Number
Home

Content

Factsheet

Development of Gullah

Learning Gullah

Black English

Sea Island Culture

Photos

Reference
There is no distinction in form between the singular and plural of the Gullah verb. Both are uninflected: mi go, une go, i go, wi go, une go, dem go, 'I go', 'you go', 'he goes', 'we go', 'you go', 'they go'.

This phenomenon of the verb form remaining unchanged throughout the singular and plural is common in the African languages:

Ewe: yi 'to go' --> me yi 'I go'
                     --> e yi 'you go'
                     --> mie yi 'we go'
                     --> wo yi 'they go'
VERB
B. Verb Phrases
Frequently in Gullah two or more verbs are used to express one idea, one of which performs the same function as a preposition, adverb, conjunction, or participle in English. The Gullah speaker, like the West African, analyzes an action or event by considering its component parts and then using a special verb to describe each part. Hence in his sentences coordination is more common than subordination (i.e. parataxis is prefered to hypotaxis), and there are consequently few prepositions, adverbs, conjunctions and participles as compared with what one finds in cultivated English. Among these verbs which take the place of other parts of speech in English are de, go, se, tek 'take', fa (also meaning 'to take'), kam 'come', and pas 'surpass'.

In Gullah when da is used between two verbs, it means 'to', 'in order to', or  'and': yu go da grein am 'You go to grain them'.

The Gullah verb go also means 'to', 'in order to', or 'and' when connecting two verbs: ai e gein go pik nan de 'I am not going to pick any there'.

The verb to take in Gullah when used with another verb is often expressed in English by preposition. It serves to introduce the means necessary for the completion of the action described by the main verb: i tik stik kil am 'He killed them with a stick.

Frequently in Gullah in two contiguous clauses, the predicate of the second describes the action expressed in the predicate of the first. The predicate of the second clause is expressed in English by an adjective or adverb: de be an yu an de fil kein a hewi 'They bear on you somewhat heavily',  literally, 'they bear on you and they feel somewhat heavy.'
NEXT PAGE
Hosted by www.Geocities.ws

1