“Fo God mek de wol …”

GOOD BOOK: It has taken more than 25 years, but part of the Bible is now readable in Gullah, the creole language spoken by the descendants of slaves on islands off America’s southeastern coast. “Da Nyew Testament” went on sale [last] month. “Gullah is an oral language, so the translation was painstaking,” an AP report explains. But even King James might recognize the result. Take the English verse John 1:1: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” The Gullah version is: “Fo God mek de wol, de Wod been dey. De Wod been dey wid God, an de Wod been God.” Sounds like “good nyews” in any language.

— For more on the Gullah & Geechee, go H E R E.