English Language History

Gullah: an English-African Patois Dating Back to the Days of Slavery

By Richard Barker · · 1 min read

Gullah: an English-African Patois Dating Back to the Days of Slavery

Gullah: an English-African Patois Dating Back to the Days of Slavery in both Audio and text versions.

I’m getting ready to patch up this net. I’m going to the creek today.
Fetch me back some big old oysters.
Oysters?
Yeah.
I’m going for some fish.
I want some of them single oysters.
I don’t know.
Well, if you catch any old rusty (crab), they one with that big rusty on the back, you know?
Rusty and the wife?
Rusty and the wife, yeah.
They fat too.
Yeah, they fat man. They real fat.
You fetch me back some of them, man.
Yeah, if I catch them, I bring ’em back.
I’d like some hominy and oysters. You know, some shrimp might be good too.
Yeah, be good.
Others say shrimp’s a worm, but I love him.
Good worm, then.
He’s a good worm. Sure is.

Gullah is a patois dating back to the days of slavery (17 sec) (from The Story of English PBS series (Ep. 5)).

Richard Barker

Written by Richard Barker

Richard is an English teacher with over 25 years of experience. He has dedicated his life and career to his passion for English, literature, and pedagogy, guiding multiple generations of students on their journey to discovery.