African Words in English Usage
Books Review by Anis Haffar
He also admits that some Africanisms are not yet so widespread as to be recorded in standard English diction- aries, but are nonetheless reasonably common among English speakers in Africa, and thus may one day become part of the general vocabulary. That someday is here, by the author's work. Most of the words in the dictionary have become fully mainstreamed, and enriched the English language since colonial times.
The 3,000 words in Dalgish's dictionary were traced to various African origins. Some have appeared within the English language context in numerous books, magazines, and dailies such as the New York Times, Tanzania Daily News, The Wall Street Journal, Britannica Encyclopedia, National Geographic, Manchester Guardian, and more.
The words, mainly nouns, are arranged alphabetically in lexical order. Pronunciations are transcribed in symbols of the international phonetic association, and a key provided for convenience. The entries cover diverse subjects as foods, geography, commerce, medicine, music, politics, religion, appendix.
The book is culturally and historically informative; at times, funny and sad. About 800 of the words are accompanied by publication citations and quotations which add vividness through their applications. For example, akpeteshie is described as a potent alcoholic drink of Ghana, distilled from palm juice.' the illustration that follows goes like this: Bishop Amissah's thesis at St. Peter's College in Rome was about a comparison between Catholic canon law and native customs on marriage; he is currently investigating the native custom of pouring libations in important occasions (English gin, schnapps or potent akpeteshie). Time, 2/23/57, p44.
Dash is 'a bribe, tip or gratuity.' The story is as follows: Tubman rules Liberia... by the judicious use of jobs and 'dash' ... to keep the important 20,000 Americo-Liberians happy. Time, 1/17/64, p27.
The Atlantic magazine provided another source with dash: And as for 'dash' we are now told that some tens of millions of dollars were poured into ministerial pockets in Nkrumah's Ghana. Atlantic, 10/66, p83.
Rasta, short for Rastafarian, means 'a member of a religion popular especially in the Caribbean that defies the former ruler of Ethiopia, Haile Salassie.' Now the story: When the Brazil plane landed and he saw all those thousands of weirdo, half-naked, half- stoned Rastas waiting to greet him, Salassie was terrified. Maclean's, 12/13/76, p52.
Used in Southern and Eastern Africa, mafuta means 'a fat person; hence, among some peoples, a wealthy person.' Illustration is as follows: The economy began to get in serious trouble when Amin introduced his Mafuta Mingi (Wealth for Everyone) program. This implication was that there would be enough for all ordinary Ugandans once the Asian merchants who then dominated the economy were thrown out of the country. Time, 4/30/79, p46.
The dictionary also includes Zulu words depicting atrocities by the apartheid regime. Amandla is 'a rallying cry or slogan in South Africa, used especially by black nationalists, meaning power.' Here's the saga: As in the open stadium, the crowd rose to chant the black anthem 'Nkosi Sikele Afrika' (God Bless Africa). Then their clenched fists rose into the air with a massive shout of amandla. The Times, 9/26/77, p6
More words and phrases have further been propagated by African descendants in North America, the Caribbean and South America: Kwanza signifies 'a holiday celebrated (by Afro-Americans) on the six days preceding New Year's Day.' From Swahili, Kwaaza literally expresses 'the beginning.' Here's the follow up: Kwanza, it has been growing in popularity in black communities here since the early 60s, when it was developed by Los Angeles black leader Maulana Ron Karenga founder of the organization US. New York Post, 12/31/73, p7.
Nguzo Saba implies 'the seven principles of blackness. . . unity, self determination, collective works and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith.' The phrase is from Swahili nguzo (fundamental principles), and saba (seven).
From Brazil, macumba infers a 'fetish cult of African origin, combining elements of voodoo and Christianity.' The source is Bantu or West African. Now the application: In that other African-dominated culture, most Roman Catholics practise macumba, and one can see affluent white businessmen laying out food, wine and candles on the pavement to propotiate the African 'spirit of the crossing.' Manchester Guardian, 1/30/71, p18.
Limbo is described as 'the popular dance in which performers must pass under a wooden stick or bar held horizontally a few inches from the ground without using the hands.' From Swahili mlimbolimbo infers 'a type of euphorbia.' Illustration goes like this: If the youngsters think it will impress the adults they'll do the twist and the limbo, and then tell anything they think they want to hear. Maclean's, 7/6/63, p18.
A good number of the Africanisms relate to music. From Benin, Fernando Po, Liverpool, Jamaica, New Orleans and other slave ports, African slaves sang and played their music. At times, a great mass of white Americans were dancing a West African (Ashanti) ancestor dance they called 'Charleston.' As late as the 19th century, pure African songs could be heard and pure African dances seen in the south of the U.S. The immediate predecessors of blues (and the accompanied instruments) were the Afro American work songs which had their origins in West Africa. Sancho, for instance, is 'a type of simple guitar of West African origin, with fibre strings and body consisting of a wood box covered with animal skin.' The word is derived from the Akan, sanku. Boogie woogie, the popular blues music with repeated bass patterns, comes from the Hausa (West Africa) and it implies literally, 'to beat drums.'
The entries in Dalgish's dictionary come from four major African language families: Niger-Congo, Nilo Saharan, Afro-Asiatic, and Khosian. Some originated in a non-African language but joined the English language through an African source. For example, kaffir with Arabic roots means 'an offensive derogatory term for a black person.' On the brighter side, kaffir (beer) is made in South Africa from corn and sorghum, and has medicinal properties.
There's a host of African words that have found their way into the English language: juke (music played in roadside brothels and inns) hence, juke-box; mojo (magical power) hence, the popular music by American organist Jimmy Smith, 'I got my mojo working, baby.' We find names of interesting foods too: beer (not the cherished alcoholic beverage, but) a Somali meal of cooked liver; papa (not dad either, but) an East African dish of shark meat, cooked with chili and coconut milk.
Dalgish's dictionary is, of course - nouveau, and should be subject to more scrutiny. He translates doka as 'a West African tree of the Savanna region' and possibly of Fulani origin. Doka derived from the Akan (Ghana) is an alchoholic beverage obtained from the palm tree. The author stated the Akan origin of abibiman but missed the meaning which is 'a nation of black people', not 'African man.' Structurally too, the contents are typewritten; the special symbols and accents are by freehand. Visually, the book loses its importance and effectiveness. These pointers may be cleared systematically with time.
New words are entering the English language dynamically. From electronic coin-operated machines to jazz music. Sub-Saharan Africa has made a contribution. For his part, Dalgish has initiated a brilliant and monumental documentation. The dictionary should be of interest to the English speaking world as a whole.
