The word “Gullah” is short for the “Gola” people of Angola, and “Geechie” refers to the “Gidzi” people of Sierra Leone. The Gullah/Geechees ' are comprised of many ethnic groups, in Africa that included those from the Rice Coast - the Wolof, Mandinka, Fula, Kissi, Baga, Mende, and Limba; and those from the Gold Coast - Angola, Calabar, and Congo. The influx of these specific tribal groups on the southeastern seaboard and Sea Island plantations and their linkage to the same tribes in West Africa, allowed Gullah/Geechees’ to retain their homeland identities. To be referred to as …show more content…
Many early scholars once regarded the Gullah/Geechee oral language as "broken English." However, the Gullah/Geechee language is a Creole blend language with grammar and sentence structure that represent a diversity of African languages including Gola, Gidzi, Kissee, Ewe, Mende, Yoruba, Igbo, Twi, Efik, Fanti and Kongo languages; blended with Elizabethan English and a hint of French. The Gullah/Geechee language, born on Africa’s slave coast, served as a universal language that various African tribes used to communicate while in captivity in slave