All 10 entries tagged Languages

Carib

Carib (3.XXXI.iii).

Member of an Indian tribe, formally dominant in the lesser Antilles, now found more in the West Indies, parts of Central America and the North-East of South America. In this context, ‘cracking like Caribs’ might refer to the tonality and sounds of their language.

Amanda Hopkins : 05 Jun 2008 13:51 |  Tags: Carib Glossary Languages Peoples |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

chanterelle

chanterelle (7.LXIII.ii).

An edible woodland mushroom which has a yellow funnel shaped cap and a faint smell of apricots (Bib:COD). Walcott puns in the term 'the song of the chanterelle'. The word is made up of French chanter, 'to sing', and the feminising elle, 'she' and thus suggests a female singer. The OED also notes another, obsolete, meaning of chanterelle: 'A decoy bird. (In quot. A female partridge used as a decoy.)' (Bib:OED).

Amanda Hopkins : 09 Jul 2007 16:04 |  Tags: Chanterelle Glossary Languages Plants |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

songez

"songez?" (7.LXIII.ii).

Second person plural, present tense of French songer meaning 'to dream'. Songer à means 'to consider' and songer que 'to remember'; here the interrogation mark, and the use of colloquial language reflecting the St Lucians' everyday speech, suggests that this is an abbreviated question (songez-vous?), implying the interpretation '(do you) remember?'

Amanda Hopkins : 09 Jul 2007 16:03 |  Tags: Glossary Languages |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

mother sea

Mer was both mother and sea (6.XLV.iii).

In French mer denotes 'sea' and is phonologically similar to mère denoting 'mother'. Here Walcott is linguistically associating natural imagery with the impact of colonialisation as he personifies the French tongue as standing for 'both mother and sea'. Thus the island has been bound by the tongue of the possessors. This pairing of sea and mother also parallels Thetis in the Iliad, who is both a sea-nymph and Achilleus' mother.

Amanda Hopkins : 06 Jul 2007 15:57 |  Tags: Colonialism Epic Tradition Languages Mother Sea Poetics Water Women |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Yankee–cool–Creole

Yankee-cool-Creole (2.XXII.i).

This displays Americanisation of the language as a metaphor for the westernising and changing of the island.

Amanda Hopkins : 28 Jun 2007 15:47 |  Tags: Colonialism Context Languages Tourism Yankee-Cool-Creole |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Afolabe

Afolabe (2.XIV.iii).

Creole spelling of Afolabi, an African name of the Yoruba tribe name meaning 'One born of high status'.

Amanda Hopkins : 28 Jun 2007 13:30 |  Tags: Afolabe Africa Characters Context Identity & Naming Languages Peoples Yoruba |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Ogun

Ogun (1.IX.iii).

Name of Yoruba god of iron and war; sometimes referred to as a blacksmith, and a close equivalent of Greek Hephaistos/Roman Vulcan. The Yoruba are a tribe/kingdom which originated in south west of Nigeria, but with pockets of offshoot tribespeople in Togo and the Republic of Benin. The language of the Yoruba people is also called Yoruba.

Amanda Hopkins : 28 Jun 2007 13:04 |  Tags: Africa Context Glossary Languages Ogun Peoples Religion |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Languages

Amanda Hopkins : 23 Jun 2007 11:50 |  Tags: Context Languages |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

phony pukka

the phony pukka/tones of ex-patriates (1.V.i).

'Pukka' derives from the Hindi word 'pakka', meaning 'cooked, ripe or substantial', and in English means 'proper or genuine', of or appropriate to high or respectable society' (Bib:COD). Walcott's 'phony pukka' is an oxymoron, and the use of 'pukka' ironic: using this term to describe the genuine quality of expatriates from Britain is itself an echo of colonialism and its assimilation and destruction of other cultures. An expatriate is someone who, whether by choice, necessity or compulsion, lives away from his homeland, and so might be said, in keeping with Walcott's thematic structure, to be dispossessed of his 'genuine' place.

Amanda Hopkins : 22 Jun 2007 11:41 |  Tags: Asia Colonialism Dispossession Glossary Languages Phony Pukka Poetics |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

memento mori

Memento mori (1.V.iii).

A Latin tag, translatable as 'Remember that you will die!', used from ancient times, thus a warning or reminder of the inevitability of death.

Amanda Hopkins : 22 Jun 2007 11:24 |  Tags: Context Glossary Languages Memento Mori |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem