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Free Gullah Language: Unique Features and Development Essay Sample
“Gullah Gullah Islands” is an article by Tracey Weldon which shows how there are many dialects still evident in the American continent. Gullah is basically an English language which has emerged with unique features obtained from the African languages that led to its development. Languages that arise among people who do not have a common language are called creoles and therefore, Gullah makes a good example of one of them. It originated from the interaction of Africans from varied dialects and Englishmen, gaining significant development during the time of slavery in the Atlantic region. This article will focus on the recitation of the Gullah language and its development.
Gullah Language has various outstanding grammatical features. For instance, one of these features is the way in which tense in verbs is marked differently. An extract in the article shows how reference to time of the past is not manifest in the tense. Also, the pronominal system of the language displays some striking features. For instance, pronoun e is used for his in one of the extracts from the Gullah language. In addition, there are other grammatical features in Gullah language such as use of the word ‘say’ to initiate a question.
A number of theories have been developed that help to explain the formation and development of Gullah language. Some scholars argued that Gullah origin was not linguistic but instead based on race. However, dialectologists have disapproved these myths by ascertaining that the dialect was systematically developed from English language.
Since the time of Atlantic slave trade, the uniqueness of Gullah language has been retained, mainly due to limited movement of people from the island to the mainland. Gullah language is not only regarded as a symbol of the present successor of the early slave trade Creole, but also a significant aspect in the development of African-American English. Currently, there are infrastructural advancements which help to close the gap that initially existed and secluded people in the island from those in the mainland. Increased mobility has also led to mixture of Gullah language with other dialects. This might pose a threat of elimination of the language and therefore, there is need to preserve it for future generations.
