for those who want to know more

Nii Ayikwei Parkes — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 22:08:33 +0000

I made a conscious decision while writing Tail of the Blue Bird that I wasn’t going to make an extra effort to find equivalent English words for things I only knew in Ghanaian languages e.g. prekese, which is used for flavouring food. But I also chose to use native words where I felt they served the situation better – AND not to add a glossary because after all, when I was growing up in Ghana, no one placed a glossary at the end of any of the books I read to explain what finches (for example) were. Regardless, there were places where I could find out what these things were if I wanted to, and that’s what this post is. A minimal glossary of sorts. If you have read Tail of the Blue Bird and find yourself struggling to understand something that is not listed here, just put a comment on this post and I will try to respond.

Nii Ayikwei

Glossary

Abomu – Belt

Adowa – a traditional dance of the Akan

Agoo – a word shouted instead of knocking on someone’s door (most homes had no doors to knock)

Akwaaba – welcome (the response depends on who you’re addressing Yεn nua for a friend, Yεn Na for an older woman etc.)

Amεε – response to ‘Agoo’ meaning, ‘we’re here’ or ‘come in’

Anyεn – witch

Awurade – Lord

Bassa bassa – wild, disorderly

Been-to – someone who has returned from living/studying outside the country

Benada – Tuesday

Bidie – Charcoal

Bosomtwe – a natural crater lake, formed by meteor impact centuries ago

Chale – a term used to address friends, similar to ‘my friend,’ but warmer

Dwowda – Monday

Fida – Friday

Kama – perfect

Kεtε – a woven mat with many uses

Kwaku Ananse – mythical trickster who inhabits most Akan moral tales

Kwasia – fool, buffoon

Kwasida – Sunday

Menada – Saturday

Nawotwe – an Akan week (normally eight days)

Onyame – God

Opanyin – elder (used to address the older people in any community), a similar word is Egya.

Paa – word used for emphasis, equivalent of ‘very’ or ‘really’

Sanyaa – Enamel

Sεbi – an expression used when one speaks of things that make them uncomfortable, or things they usually wouldn’t speak of

Trotro – an adapted minivan bus

Wukuda – Wednesday

Yawda – Thursday

How did you get it?

Nii Ayikwei Parkes — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 07:46:52 +0000

This is Nii Ayikwei Parkes, author of Tail of the Blue Bird. And this blog is just a little experiment for me to find out how people got their hands on my book, since I’ve begun to hear horror tales about buyers being told the book is not available, or not being able to find the book on shelves even though the book store staff insist there are copies in store. It’s also a way for me to get a feel of how well (or badly) the book is doing independently – without having to rely on my publisher’s reports. Thanks for coming along to help!

I bought Tail of the Blue Bird

for those who want to know more

How did you get it?