Latest update April 19th, 2024 12:59 AM
Jan 24, 2016 News
Bascom enlightens new generation about Guyanese rich oral tradition
By Michael Jordan
‘Do you remember words like, ‘goady’, and ‘jombie-umbrella’—words like ‘poezee’, and‘ coonamoonoo’? You do? Then you’re Guyanese to the bone, and this book is for you.’
So reads the blurb on a new and aptly named book called ‘101 WORDS THAT TELL YOU’RE GUYANESE,’ by novelist, artist, and four-time winner of the Guyana Prize for Literature Harold Bascom.
Spiced with anecdotes and illustrations, Bascom uses his story-telling skills and his talent as an illustrator to explain the meaning behind words like ‘fat fowl’ and ‘coona-moonoo’.
This creative touch helps to make the collection more than a mere dictionary of Guyanese words. It’s a collection that is likely to find older Guyanese reminiscing fondly on words they, or their elders, had once used. It’s also a nice way of preserving Guyana’s rich oral culture for a new generation.
Bascom explained that he got the idea when he began to post Guyanese words on Facebook.” I called my posts, ‘The Guyanese-word-of-today’. Guyanese started attaching themselves to it—liking it—commenting. They were having fun. WE were having fun. After a while, it dawned on me that a compilation of Guyanese words stood to be an exciting project.
“For me, this book was a sweet journey. And the fact that I actually dedicated ‘101 WORDS THAT TELL YOU’RE GUYANESE’ to, ‘My Facebook friends and associates, without whom this book would not have been the joy it was to write’, says a lot.
I used to go to Facebook and clarify the meanings of Guyanese words. It was a process I enjoyed and I learned a lot from the sharing of meaning of Guyanese words with individuals on Facebook, People were also submitting words—asking if I had this one or that one. I was enjoying the interactions with so many Guyanese that finishing the book was easy.”
And in its own way, the collection is a work of fiction.
“The beautiful thing about, ‘101 Words’, is that I used fiction—little stories—— to explain the usage of most of the words. I feel that the stories are what make the little book to be such a hit.
“And then there are the illustrations. As one man from Georgetown wrote to me: ‘Some words had me; but the stories used as examples really helped — and then the laughing started. I even read to my wife over the phone about ‘JINGEE-DRAWZE. I called her number. When she picked up, I said, “Hello, Babes…careful as you get out of the car that breeze don’t blow up your dress and expose your ‘Jingee-drawze’—and she responded, “Jingee—what?’”
“For me it was something different—something to challenge myself with.”
A stickler for deadlines, Bascom had given himself up to December 2016 to complete his work. That meant that he had to shelve plans to attend the Guyana Prize ceremony in November.
“I realized that if I had traveled to Guyana for the Guyana Prize Awards Ceremony last November, I’d be breaking my promise to get the collection finished, published, and available in early December 2015.
“I rarely break promises, and since I had announced on Facebook that the book on Guyanese words will be ready early in December, I knew I had to finish it. So as the time for me to come to Guyana for the Awards Ceremony was getting nearer and nearer, I was still illustrating the book. So I decided to skip the ceremony, and finish the book. I was really sorry I didn’t get to come to Guyana; but I had promised to deliver the words book to my Facebook fans, and I kept it.”
“The response has been extremely pleasing. The first batch that I printed sold out just before Christmas 2015. Guyanese supported me well. Before I printed the book, I had warned, jocularly, that I knew my people—knew that as much as
they were saying they couldn’t wait to buy a copy, it would have been a different story when the book was finally out. I said, ‘Hear laugh when the book come out and nuff ya’all start running away and sehin ya’all ‘broks’. Hear! We’s all Guyanese and we all know ‘bout mouthar and Guitar.’
“But after the book was released in early December (in time for it to be purchased as Christmas gifts), the sale was excellent. What pleased me most was that the majority of Guyanese who bought it were total strangers to me. That meant a lot to me; and in the process, I made a ton of great new, Guyanese friends.”
He’s even made some non-Guyanese fans.
“One woman from the US. Virgin Islands bought a copy for herself, and another copy for a good Guyanese friend. I also was complimented by a Brazilian anthropologist who said that he spent some time in Guyana, and that he has been following my work.
“Guyanese fifty years and older have responded the most. My oldest customer is 93, and in a retirement home in Florida. In all honesty, I set out to target Guyanese who have been too many years in the Diaspora, and missing what will always be home to them: Guyana, and its rich oral culture.”
And what does he think is responsible for this positive response?
“Most Guyanese, after so many years out of Guyana, still see themselves as individuals proud to be Guyanese. And this goes for Guyanese also at home in Guyana and seeing how fast the authentic Guyanese culture is being traded for other peoples’ culture. I guess that most Guyanese on the eve of celebrating Guyana attaining fifty years as an independent nation, just want to claim their culture back. I believe this 150-page book fits into that need.”
Currently, ‘101 WORDS THAT TELL YOU’RE GUYANESE’, is available as a hard copy book that can be bought from Bascom’s Company website: WWW.LAUGHINGPALETTE.COM. The price is two-tiered: $22 USD for residents in the USA; and $25 USD for residents OUT of the USA. All books sold through the above website, come autographed.
‘101 WORDS’ is also available as an eBook for those with Amazon Kindle Readers, or with the Kindle app on whatever electronic device—phone, tablet, iPad, one owns. The price of the Amazon eBook, is $9.99 USD. All one has to do is to log onto Amazon, and type in the name, Harold Bascom in books, choose the ‘101 WORDS’, eBook title, and purchase.
****
A LOOK INSIDE ‘101 WORDS THAT TELL YOU’RE GUYANESE’
The following excerpt is from Part 4: ‘More Guyanese words/names in alphabetical order’, Page 110:
FAT-FOWL!
In Guyanese vernacular, to ‘fat-fowl’ is to seduce a woman with gifts.
Example:
“Budday… ah see yo fat-fowling dat binney bad-bad!—But ah gon warn yo’! Dah gyal got plenty brains! —She forehead ent big soh foh nothing! She would tek all yo’ money and ent give yo’ nothing!”
“BANNA, YOU ENT KNOW ME!”
“I was just like you, Budday. I thought I did know me! But as de saying goes: Experience teaches wisdom. Careful! Dah gyal mek plenty man buss cry! De closest I know any man ever get to that girl after fat-fowling she good, was Thomo!—Yo remember Thomo with de curly hair from de Big yard? Eh?—well dat same Thomo fat-fowl dat girl good—she nearly mek he empty he bank account! And the night she tell ‘e he could come round by she, he go…
“End up in she bedroom. You see de moment he tek off he pants and he shorts? Eh?—a big, ignorant-lookin’ strong man with muscles all over he face walk in the room—”
“An’ wha’ happen?”
“AN’ WHA’ HAPPEN?—THOMO HAD TO JUMP THROUGH A WINDOW SHUT-TAIL!”
Please share this to every Guyanese including your house cats.
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