English dictionaries in the age of the internet (I)
Dictionaries are the unofficial guardians written languages. My late father made me aware of this fact early in my educational career, and bought me m
Politics of Grammar
Politics of Grammar
How Americans preserved British English
I have argued in previous columns that the notion that American English is bastardized British is both ignorant and ahistorical. The English Americans
African words in America’s Gullah English dialect (II)
Last week, I highlighted many African-derived words in the Gullah dialect that Dr. Lorenzo Turner identified in his book. Several of my Nigerian reade
African words in America’s Gullah English dialect (I)
Last week I identified some notable African onomastic (onomastics is the science of personal names) influences among the Gullah people. This week I&rs
Kafiri, Saitan, Ogbomosho: Strange personal names among America’s Gullah people
In last week’s column, I promised to share with the reader some of the noticeable African influences in the Gullah language. These influences ar