The English Language During The British Colonization Of Africa

The English language has expanded and developed crossing borders between countries; therefore, the lexicon has progressed in different ways, to the extent that English has acquired characteristics that were not originally intrinsic in its nature. While, Africa, certainly had its impact on English, during the British colonization of Africa, American English has a large historically significant connection to the content as well. During the peak Transatlantic slave trade years from 1741-1810, a large portion of slaves imported came from Bantu speaking nations, particularly Angola. (Franke, 2017) Bantu referrers to a denoting branch of Niger-Congo languages, most popularly spoken in central and southern Africa consisting of Swahili, Xhosa, and

As noted previously slavery and western colonialism has interviewed the culture, and languages of Africa into the lexicon of modern English. Majority of the slaves brought to the United States originated from West Africa and spoken languages from this area. Unlike Bantu Languages, the dialects of this region are more diverse and share fewer roots. Therefore, these languages are less traceable, for example the OED traces the word Jumbo back to West Africa, N- A big clumsy person, animal, or thing; popularized, esp., as the individual name of an elephant, famous for its size, in the London Zoological Gardens, subsequently sold in Feb. 1882 to Barnum; whence applied to an individual that is big of its kind or to a person of great skill or success. Jumbo is a popular southern word, which became culturally prominent during and after the infiltration of African culture during the slave trade. It is believed to have come from mumbo-jumbo n., a name applied (in English since the 18th cent.) to a West African divinity or bogy. (OED Jumbo) A word commonly associated with Southern culture, is Voodoo, n- from of religion practiced among black people in the West Indies, especially Haiti, and the southern United States, and ultimately of African origin. It originates from the African kingdom Dahomey, which reigned from 1600-1894. The original spelling was Vodu, and was eventually replaced with Voodoo. First noted in 1884 in Lisbon (Dakota Territory) Star 20 Sep. “The Voudoos of Louisiana..were recently viewed at the funeral of a negress, one of the Queens of Voudoo.” This word was associated with African culture in the south during the 17th century, It underwent phonetic changes transitioning from ou sound to the elongated oo.(Voodoo OED)Lastly,