It thrilled me to learn that Sunn m’Cheaux, an instructor of the African Language at Harvard University, is teaching the origin of his native tongue, Gullah. Since I was reared on Johns Island, South Carolina with the Gullah-speaking community, bringing this dying language back to life is truly a gift. I had the privilege of working with wonderful “Gullah speaking” folks who helped my father on our low country tomato farm. This poetic language is awesome, but it is the beautiful hearts of my “family” that pull me back like a high tide on a full moon.
According to Sunn m’Cheaux, in an interview with the Harvard Gazette, “The Gullah language is a creole, the result of taking multiple existing languages and mashing them all up into one.” “Mix in some other elements indigenous to the Sea Islands and surrounding areas,” he said, “and you have a whole new language. That in a nutshell is Gullah.”
I remember standing in Stuhr’s Funeral Home greeting friends when my father suddenly passed away. The shock of losing my daddy was numbing, but the outpouring of love shared by so many who worked beside my father practically made my knees buckle. Heartfelt stories were woven with both love and laughter as the memories flowed.
My favorite story was told by one of Daddy’s tractor drivers, Lewis. “Yo daddy made me so mad when workin’ on dah farm,” said Lewis in his Gullah brogue. “Das all right. I told Mr. Benjamin that when he shut his eye fo the las time, I gwinne get dah people to bury him unda eight feet deep! Dat way when Gabriel blow his horn, yo daddy be the last one up. But, Je-an, yo Daddy sho was a good man and Gawd gwinne let him be up furst.”
To this day when I go back home, those folks are my family. Just sitting in Anna’s store and seeing so many of the old crowd warms my heart as we reminisce about the heyday of Johns Island agriculture. There is no language like it and no finer community than the men and women who made an indelible mark on me and my family.
Jane Jenkins Herlong is a Southern humorist, Sirius XM comedian, member of the Speaker Hall of Fame, and the best-selling author of four books.
Jane travels the country sharing her sweet tea wisdom and Southern fried humor.
For information on how to contact Jane for speaking engagements or to purchase her books, CD’s or MP3’s, visit www.janeherlong.com.
