We’re Ghana Talk English Transcript

Carrie Gillon: Hi and welcome to the Vocal Fries podcast, the podcast about linguistic discrimination.

Megan Figueroa: I’m Megan Figueroa.

Carrie Gillon: And I’m Carrie Gillon. Just a few housekeeping things before we begin. Just a reminder that we have a Patreon now and at different levels you get different rewards. So at the one dollar level you just get our thanks at the three dollar level you get mentioned on this podcast and also you get one of our stickers.

Megan Figueroa: Which are adorable.

Carrie Gillon: They’re very adorable which you can put on your office door your car you know wherever.

Megan Figueroa: The water bottle.

Carrie Gillon: Phone. Well they’re a little big for phones unless you’ve a really big phone.

Megan Figueroa: Yeah. Take us hiking with you.

Carrie Gillon: Get hungry every time you look at our logo and yeah. And then at the five dollar level you get access to bonus episode and we just uploaded our first bonus episode and it’s about the word of the year at the American Dialect Society, which is a sister society to the Linguistic Society of America. And so that’s what we talk about. You also get the sticker and you also get mentioned on the show. And then also reminder that our name our e-mail our I.D. at all the locations you can think of is @vocalfriespod. So gmail Instagram Facebook.

Megan Figueroa: Twitter.

Carrie Gillon: And Tumblr.

Megan Figueroa: Yes. So e-mail us. Yes.

Yeah. We like e-mails and we’ll answer your questions if we can.

Megan Figueroa: Yeah I see that we’re getting out and questions at us on Twitter. That’s cool.

Carrie Gillon: Yeah that’s true. I wonder. Maybe one time we should address those questions. Maybe  as a bonus or something at some point.

Megan Figueroa: Yeah well it’s a good idea.

Carrie Gillon: I’ll have to go back and find them.

Megan Figueroa: Yes. All right. So we have a guest today, which is very exciting. Before you get into it I saw something. On the web. That was someone being an asshole. Well lots of people being assholes.

Carrie Gillon: Yeah that’s kind of the norm now.

Megan Figueroa: Yeah I know. That was very vague. Which one are you talking about.

Carrie Gillon: OK. So last night I saw people tweeting about Chamillionaire and how he had posted basically saying he supports Mexican Americans and Mexicans and how just because he’s a black person that doesn’t mean he’s not allowed to do that. And he also stood up for women and immigrants and just everybody. And I was like Chamillionaire!

Megan Figueroa: Well he was getting a bunch of shit for helping to support a family whose dad was just deported back to Mexico after living in the States for 30 years. And he like emailed the person that broke the story. He was like “Can I get can you help me get in contact with this family?” And apparently he was getting a bunch of heat from assholes saying like you know you can’t be black and help Mexicans. And so he was just like “I’m from Texas.” And basically you don’t get anywhere without like you know if you’re from Texas I’m sure that his music career was helped by Mexican fans for sure.

Carrie Gillon: Of course. And he’s just being a good person.

Megan Figueroa: Yeah. I mean we should all be cool to each other. Was that from Parks and Rec Grizzle they’re like “can’t we all just be chill.” Or what was it?

Carrie Gillon: I can’t remember now.

Megan Figueroa: Yeah. So let’s all just be chill and not be assholes.

Carrie Gillon: Yeah. And I don’t understand this idea that you can only help your own kind. I think that is very dangerous.

Megan Figueroa: Yeah very tribal. That’s how we get all this nationalistic crap too. Yeah. It’s all tied to the same impetus us versus them.

Carrie Gillon: Yeah. So thank you Chamillionaire for not being like that.

Megan Figueroa: Yes. And for Riding Dirty.

Carrie Gillon: Thank you also for your music. We’re sorry you’re not making it anymore.

Megan Figueroa: Yes. OK. All right. So should we get to the end.

Carrie Gillon: Sounds good. And today we have another guest Selikem Gota. And he’s going to talk to us about language in general in Ghana.

Megan Figueroa: I’m very excited. Hi Selikem.

Carrie Gillon: Hello.

Selikem Gotah: Hi.

Megan Figueroa: Thanks for joining us today.

Selikem Gotah: Thanks for having me.

Carrie Gillon: So I don’t even know where to begin there are so many things that we can talk about so maybe can you just tell us a little bit about your life in Ghana. And the English that you acquired.

Selikem Gotah: Yes. So I was born in Ghana in the Volta region where Ewe is spoken largely. And from kindergarten through to university I was exposed to English in the kindergarten. I was taught in English and Ewe at the same time and in my basic education I went to a private school. That is a school that government has less influence on. And so I was taught in English purely and English was taught as a subject. I also was taught French and then I moved to high school where I studied French, Ewe music, mathematics, social studies, science, and then I moved to the University of Ghana where I studied linguistics, Russian, and Information Studies. So after that I taught Russian in the Department of modern languages at the University of Ghana actually helped a professor teach the language and then I moved to the US. So basically Ghanaian students/children have been exposed to several languages depending on where they grew up in Ghana.

Carrie Gillon: Right. So you speak a lot of different languages then.

Selikem Gotah: Yes I speak about four of them. I’m not very proficient in all of them.

Carrie Gillon: Right. Wow. That’s still great.

Megan Figueroa: Yeah.

Carrie Gillon: I’m jealous.

Megan Figueroa: I know you’re one of those linguists who actually speaks a lot of languages.

Carrie Gillon: And where are you now.

Selikem Gotah: I’m currently in Carbondale Illinois.

Carrie Gillon: And you’re at the university there right?

Selikem Gotah: Yes I’m in SEIU where I study linguistics. So this is my second master’s degree that I’m pursuing in linguistics. The first one was at the Ohio University in Athens Ohio where I studied for a Master’s in Applied Linguistics. So I’m currently in a theoretical linguistics program.

Carrie Gillon: Oh that’s interesting. So why did you decide to switch to theoretical linguistics?

Selikem Gotah: My interest has been in theoretical linguistics but I wanted to have an experience when it comes to language teaching and language learning issues. So I decided to study for a Master’s in Applied Linguistics to have what goes  teaching and learning before I continue with a PhD theoretical linguistics. But my plan did not work. I couldn’t get to a good program there actually I needed to receive extra training before I could apply for one.

Carrie Gillon: interesting. Ok. So maybe you can talk a little bit about how language policy in Ghana works.

Selikem Gotah: Yes. So Ghana was a colony of the British back in the 16th century. And so we were exposed to English at that time. When the British came they had to be able to communicate with the indigenous of the land. So they trained Ghanaians they could interpret you know between English and the local language. So that our colonial masters could have conversations with us. So that’s when we were exposed to English. And so people who are trained in English. Schools were opened where English was taught. And that’s how we started studying English or speaking English. Now today English is our official language. That is to say that English is the language of governments. English is the language of education especially higher education and tertiary education. The language of trade internationally and even within the country. English as the lingua franca of Ghana to a large extent. Now there is another language called Akan. And Akan a wider distribution compared to many of the indigenous languages of Ghana. So Akan  serves as the lingua franca of Ghana after English. So what happens is that in cross ethnic communication you are likely to hear people speak English it comes to the number of languages we have in Ghana have from about 45 to 50. There are still debates as to how have you know what is a dialect it was a language you know. You know these things are common in linguistics. So we have about 45 to 50 in the literature. That is what we have generally. But also those numbers, we have nine that are recognized by government for education and their use in state media so we we have the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, which is the state owned media and they are able to broadcast in these nine languages in addition to English. So briefly that is the policy with regard to language in Ghana.

Megan Figueroa: And so  did you feel growing up about English. Did you feel like it was imposed upon you?

Selikem Gotah: No I didn’t. I did not feel like it was imposed on me. I mean I did not even have any opinion growing up as to why I was I just just was sent to school and I’m supposed to learn English. And it seemed as though education is tied to English so that if you are unable to speak English you’re not educated. I felt a need to to work hard on English.

Carrie Gillon: Is Ewe of the languages that it’s that the broadcasting corporation can use.

Selikem Gotah: Yes it’s one of them.

Carrie Gillon: And which language family is that under?

Selikem Gotah: It’s under the Kwa under Niger-Congo So we have Then you have the Kwa family Let me just add this that we have three main language families in Ghana. We have the Kwa have the Mande and then we have the Gur So Ewe to the Kwa family.

Carrie Gillon: Thank you.  are there any interesting Gunny. Oh my goodness. How would I say this Ghanaianisms?

Selikem Gotah: Yeah. So Ghanaianism is actually a term coined by one Charles Marfo, teaches English at the University Ghana. And as I said, my English is based on the British English and now this English is spoken in Ghana, so obviously there will be differences between the way we speak and then the way the British speak. So we have cultural colorations of the language and we have experiences and objects that are not in British culture. So we need to name those things you know in our English. So that is a birth of Ghanaianisms and some of these are seen as deviations  from the standard. You know what is spoken in Britain. But we have kind of mystified some of this and so well this is way that we speak. So we have words that have two meanings to us you know one meaning is what a British man will say and then the other is what we will say in our country to try to define a concept or to name an object in our context. So one example is the word “chop bar”. So you’ve heard the word “chop” like to chop onions and then “bar” you know like where you go to eat or drink. So “chop” to us means to eat. So a “chop bar” is where you go and eat.

Megan Figueroa: Oh.

Selikem Gotah: That’s a chop bar. Then know the same word in that compound “chop” is used again in another context. In high schools in our country we usually go to a boarding house. You don’t stay at home and go to school. So you go to a boarding house and live there you know for some weeks and then go on break by bus go home. Then you come back again. So in the boarding houses when we were going to school we pick what we call a “chop box” so the box that contains your your food the food that you pick from home like your milk your cereals. So we keep them in that box so we call it a chop box. And then you keep-

Carrie Gillon: Cool.

Selikem Gotah: Keep your clothing in your trunk. It’s not a trunk of a car but it’s a metallic box that you keep your clothing in. Yeah. So we have some of these expressions that are just unique to our context so that when when you mention it to someone who is not familiar with our vocabulary, the person will not understand. Another word is “enstoolment” and the root word there is “stool” like a chair. So the whole background of this is that we have chiefs or traditional rulers in parts of the country. Now these chiefs are kind of inaugurated or coronated you know and this coronation is what you call the enstoolment. What it means is that the seat of the chief is a stool, so you are being put on a stool. So that is an enstoolment ceremony.

Carrie Gillon: I love that.

Megan Figueroa: Yeah. That’s great.

Selikem Gotah: Now if you do not follow the principles of your profession as a chief, you might be impeached. If you are to be impeached then you are being destooled.

Carrie Gillon: I love it.

Selikem Gotah: And that happens in the south of Ghana. Now in the north, the seat of the chief is an animal’s skin. So the hide from the animal is the seat of the chief. So the chief is enskinned. If the chief is to be impeached then the chief is deskinned.

Megan Figueroa: Wow.

Selikem Gotah: Yeah. So this is your link for context.

Carrie Gillon: Yeah I love those. I think they’re great.

Selikem Gotah: Yeah. So yeah that’s an example of a Ghanaianism. Now let’s talk about ourselves as linguists. OK yeah. In Ghana. These chiefs have spokespersons. Now many will think that you know a linguist someone who speaks many languages etc.

Megan Figueroa: Right.

Selikem Gotah: So the meaning of linguist has been extended to mean the spokesperson of a chief. So we have the chief’s linguist.

Carrie Gillon: Huh.

Selikem Gotah: So if you tell someone that you are you becoming a linguist, “for what chief” might be the next question.

Carrie Gillon: Wow.

Selikem Gotah: Yeah. Teaching in linguistics or you know doing linguistic research but you going to be the spokesperson of a chief. So yeah we have that.

Megan Figueroa: What would you call yourself then? Would you use another word for your for what you’re doing?

Selikem Gotah: I’m a linguist I’m a linguist. What I do is that it gives you you ask me whether I was going to be the spokesperson of a chief or say no. No, it’s different. I’m not going to work in a chief’s palace.

Carrie Gillon: That’s interesting because it here most people think a linguist is a polyglot, which you actually are. You speak multiple languages so that they would be correct in that assessment for you. But in Ghana they would be incorrect with the assumption there.

Selikem Gotah: Right. And then we have what we call outdooring. Oh if a baby is born, a day is set for the baby to be outdoored. So the baby is kept in a room, he’s not send out at all until I think about seven days. I’m not very sure about that, but after some days, the baby is talking out. It’s an entire ceremony and that is when the baby’s named. So yeah you’re not named at birth. They name you later. Maybe that some five to six or seven days. So we call that outdooring ceremony.

Carrie Gillon: I love it.

Megan Figueroa: So you were outdoored then. So everyone is.

Selikem Gotah: Yes. Yes.

Megan Figueroa: OK. Yeah. Wow.

Selikem Gotah: But as US as the world is changing now some people might not want to do outdooring ceremonies. Oh yeah. So that has been the norm. And then we have a word like “gate fee”. So that’ll be tickets in America for instance. So the tickets you need to enter maybe a bar or for a show. We call it gate fee because you usually pay the fee at the gate at the entrance of the place so we call it gate fee. Yeah. So we have a glossary of all these Ghanaianisms are put together by Kari Dako.

Megan Figueroa: Oh. Should we link to that or is that available to the public?

Selikem Gotah: Yes it’s in a book. I don’t have the book here with me but I can get it imported. I can get it sent to me here. And if I can get you a copy if you want.

Carrie Gillon: I would love that.

Megan Figueroa: Yeah. That would be fantastic.

Carrie Gillon: And we we should we should really put something on our Tumblr about that.

Megan Figueroa: Yeah.

Selikem Gotah: Yes. And then we have expressions that are translated from our local languages. So if I want to say “I’ll be with you in a moment” I can see “I’m coming” or “I’m going to come” as though there is  a place called “come”. So I’m going to come and that is a literal translation from our local languages and another thing is the verb “write” “to write”. So a local language we say literally “write exams”. Okay whether the exam is multiple choice or fill in the space or essay we say “write”. Instead of saying “take an exam” you say “OK I’m going to write an exam” and that is a translation from our local languages.

Megan Figueroa: Are there some things that you realized when you came to the US or did you know that they would be different that you said them differently.

Selikem Gotah: So when I studied linguistics in the University of Ghana I had a habit of memorizing pronunciations even from a dictionary. You know I didn’t want to learn English from the public, because I felt that there were deviations in pronunciation for instance in the use of words. So I was learning stuff from the dictionary so I got into that. OK. Exam collocates with take and seat not write. So that’s when I realized OK. No. So at the University of Ghana. I started noticing some of this differences and I wanted to stick to what is in the book. So I sat and learned textbook English so to speak and not acquiring what is in the environment but I am in doctorates use of things that go on in the environment in my English.

Carrie Gillon: So this leads nicely into a discussion of locally acquired foreign accent, which I had never heard of before.

Megan Figueroa: Yeah me neither.

Megan Figueroa: So can you explain that for us.

Selikem Gotah: Yes. So we would expect that for someone to acquire an accent or a language that person should be sort of immersed in the environment where the language is used actively. But in our case there are people who grew up in Ghana who have never travelled outside Ghana who just watch you know maybe American movies or British movies listen to our R&B rap music and all of a sudden they start speaking as the way in America and have interacted with Americans like in their country. So you hear people who are r-full people who do tapping. So like the /t/ in water you know they wouldn’t say water. They would say it in an American way. And sometimes there are hypercorrections, where you have phonological environments where there is no /r/ but you know people instead R’s just to. I said that’s all ok I’ve been to the US I know how to speak and people feel about you know well who speak that way you you belong to the elite class. Your English is different yeah. So people acquire these accents not in America but at home. That is why it is termed a locally acquired foreign accent. And this started in the mid nineties when the airwaves were open for private radio stations to operate in the country. So those those who worked on the stations wanted to speak differently from the norm. You know what is done on the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation. They you had to get ólafur on on that radio station or TV but with advent of this private stations people tend to use Lafite. Of course that people who have travelled to the US and haved there for so long a time that be able to speak like Americans. But again there are people who have been here like a former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan I don’t know about him. He was here for several years but when he speaks he speaks like a Ghanaian. I mean our first president Dr. I mean come on for instance studied here in the US and still speaks like a Ghanaian. There are a lot of people who studied here study for some time and returned home. I speak Ghanaian. So people do not understand why you should just visit Us and stay here for two days or three days or a week and come back with like accents all over. So yeah that is how our lives but the attitudes of people towards this as is kind of ambivalent, because some people think that well it’s nice it’s cool to speak that way. Some people find it annoying. I read a blog post on this ten weeks ago and this blog post was tweeting in pidgin English. We’ll talk about that in a bit. And the person was just lamenting why people are forcefully acquiring accents when they are unable to even put you know correct sentences together in English. So why the need to be forceful with acquiring an accent that is not present in their country.

Carrie Gillon: Mm hmm. That’s interesting.

Megan Figueroa: And why do you think that is? Why is it that American English accent is the one that people are trying to acquire.

Selikem Gotah: Yes so there are many American movies that people watch in Ghana. Yeah. So movies and and rap music.

Megan Figueroa: Ok. So that’s a – is it because it’s you in school you learn the British English. This is a way of being different? Or is it just like how much people enjoy the movies and the media from America?

Selikem Gotah: They just want to sound different like that. Unlike the ordinary Ghanaian so to speak. You know they don’t speak like a Ghanaian. I mean  great to travel around the world and see stuff so you want to help to create that impression that “oh I’ve traveled before I have extra experiences that you’ve not had” you know. So just to paint a picture that they’ve traveled before.

Carrie Gillon: So are there any Ghanaian rap groups that we should listen to?

Megan Figueroa: Yeah.

Selikem Gotah: Yeah. We have Sarkodi. I might have to type that for you. But we have Sarkodi, we have M.anifest. We have a Stonebwoy. We have a couple of them. We have one called Ebony. That’s a lady who sings. It’s an area that is dominated by men and not women.

Carrie Gillon: See that’s true here too. Well there’s more women now than there have been in the past but it’s mostly men.

Megan Figueroa: Right. Well that’s exciting. Good question Carrie.

Carrie Gillon: I meant to ask it earlier but I got distracted.

Megan Figueroa: Yeah.

Carrie Gillon: OK so now let’s talk about Ghanaian Pidgin English because I didn’t even know that existed. But of course it does.

Megan Figueroa: Right?

Selikem Gotah: It does exist and that is what I speak at home most of the time here because my roommates are Ghanaians all right. They speak Akan and English and my Akan is not very good. And we don’t want to speak English at home like you know all the time as though we  we are still in school. So we speak pidgin here. So pidgin can also be used for cross ethnic communication. Now how did it start. As I mentioned earlier, the English came to Ghana in the 16th century. Even before that, we had other Europeans coming to the shores of Ghana for trade. So in such situations you would expect that it would develop. So in the beginning, the feeling was based on Portuguese, since the Portuguese were the first to come to our coast and later on the English came. So the English overshadowed the Portuguese in the pidgin. even though we have yeah we have some snippets of Portuguese words in our pidgin. So that’s basically the origin of the pidgin you know the trade between being the indigenous and the Europeans that came to the to our coast. You know Ghana used to be called the Gold Coast. So they came therefore for trade in gold and other minerals. So that was the origin of pidgin and today pidgin is used widely. Such that we even have types. We have two types. One is the acrolectal pidgin and one is the basilectal pidgin. So the acrolectal pidgin is what is used by mostly male students in high schools and tertiary institutions. And even if they complete the schools they still use Pidgin and then the basilectal is used by the less educated. So you’ll find many indigenous language words in basilectal done in the acrolectal. So I speak the acrolectal. I learned my pigeon in high school. Yeah in high school. I thought I didn’t know how to speak till I go to high school when I go there, I heard my senior students speaking pidgin and I was like “wow this is this is nice” then I learned to speak it. Yeah. And so I learned to speak it.

Carrie Gillon: I was gonna say, could you stay a little bit in the Pidgin English for us.

Selikem Gotah: Yeah “I di come” it means “I’m coming” I di come. I di go. Yeah. So it has English words. “Mi dem some professors di talk right this.” So “I’m talking with some professors right now.”

Carrie Gillon: Very cool.

Selikem Gotah: Yeah.

Megan Figueroa: I was just gonna say I you can tell you’re a linguist when you get chills when you hear a new like language or pidgin for the first time. That’s very exciting. That’s cool.

Selikem Gotah: Yes. So that’s Ghanaian Pidgin English. I would like add that, in the literature, what has been found is that ladies do not really speak pidgin you know, because they find it to be unladylike to speak pidgin. Some people see ladies who speak pidgin as uncultured that’s also in the literature. But in my recent study, from one of my classes last semester, you know I sent out a survey to Ghana and I realized that per the responses from my participants, ladies are speaking pidgin. But I’ve spoken pidgin with some ladies before, but it’s not as widespread us you know guys speaking pidgin.

Carrie Gillon: That’s really interesting. I would never have predicted that. Yeah.

Megan Figueroa: And do you think it isn’t as widespread because of this idea that maybe it isn’t as ladylike to speak it so kind of stopped the spread of it for a while or do you see that?

Selikem Gotah: Yeah I think I think that’s – first of all, society sees pidgin to be a killer so to speak of the so-called standard English. So some people do not want even their children to speak pidgin because they feel that you know pidgin will make them not be able to speak English well.

Megan Figueroa: Yes.

Selikem Gotah: But yeah that’s what people think. But again in some contexts, you don’t want to speak English. I had an experience at a marketplace where I I couldn’t speak Akan and I had to bargain for a shirt I bought. But of course I spoke English the the seller cheated me. Yeah. He felt that “oh this guy’s rich” you know he doesn’t speak Akan. He’s a university guy and you know he has money. So I was cheated. When I go when I go to my room and I told my friends I bought this shirt it’s a nice shirt. Then they ask “how many did you buy it?” I mentioned a price. And he said “you were cheated. Did you speak English?” And I said “Yes I spoke English.” He said “no, when you go to certain places use a local language or pidgin.” So if I had used pidgin maybe I would have paid less then. Yeah. So I mean pidgin can have very very helpful uses in certain contexts. You might meet someone who is unable to speak English but it’s simple to speak pidgin so how do you communicate with that person. Yeah. So people frown upon the use of pidgin that is why they find it. You know maybe like for people for ladies to use pidgin.

Carrie Gillon: Interesting.

Megan Figueroa: Yeah I’m seeing a lot of parallels in the US too. I mean of course right there are. And then if you go to Mexico as well that happens where if you speak English you know you could possibly try to get more money out of someone. Good for them. Get the money from us.

Carrie Gillon: Are there any other issues that you wanted to talk about?

Megan Figueroa: I do have one question actually.

Carrie Gillon: OK.

Megan Figueroa: Do you see. Do you see any parallels now that you’ve been in the US with US language policy and what you grew up with in Ghana.

Selikem Gotah: So when I was in Ohio I was teaching an introductory linguistics course and while preparing to go and teach and I saw that the US does not have an official language and English is not. I was surprised either because why it is so. One thing that was surprising to me that the U.S. in general does not have an official language. Yeah. But for us I mean we have that. So there’s not actually a parallel. We have English as an official language. Yeah, but the surprising thing about us too is that we don’t have a national language we don’t have a language that is indigenous to us that that belongs to the country per se, because of the multiple ethnic groups that are in the country. It’s difficult to choose one language to be a national language.

Carrie Gillon: Right.

Selikem Gotah: But we have official language that the US does not have and that is surprising to me.

Carrie Gillon: Yeah it is interesting that the US doesn’t have it because it’s very English centric in every other way in. And as a Canadian I’m used to having well two official languages but there are official languages there. So anyway I found it odd too, considering how everything is done in English here and yet there is no official language.

Megan Figueroa: Yeah I’m glad that there isn’t but I I am also surprised that that we don’t have an official language. It might happen. I don’t know.

Carrie Gillon: I don’t know it seems really it would be difficult to enact I think.

Megan Figueroa: It seems to nationalistic at this point. I mean.

Carrie Gillon: Yeah.

Megan Figueroa: Yeah it would. It would be too hostile to any other speakers of to speakers of any other languages. There would be a lot of pushback. I mean we’re supposed to be this country of immigrants right. And so I think the idea of not having an official language was like probably a good one but it doesn’t make sense given our history that we would have that we would have such a good idea. But yeah yeah. I guess what Carrie said: is there any other issues that we were missing?

Selikem Gotah: Basically there’s none but I if we are ending then I would like to leave you with some Ghanaianisms.

Megan Figueroa: Yeah.

Carrie Gillon: Yes please.

Megan Figueroa: Please.

Selikem Gotah: So we have “I’m not cutting” and that means that I’m not interrupting you. “I’m not cutting you.” Yeah. And then we have “let me land.” It means allow me to make my point.

Megan Figueroa: I love that.

Carrie Gillon: Me too.

Selikem Gotah: It’s as though you’re flying while speaking and you need to land to let someone else to speak. And then we have this. My brother: my brother is not really a biological brother. First of all yeah your bother is your brother. But in conversation, you can call someone “Hey my brother” as though you know you belong to the same family. You do not know that individual from anywhere. But you say “my brother” you know we have things happening especially in political discourse. You know when you’ll be on TV having a conversation about an issue. So “my brother, listen! This is not what is happening in my constituency” for instance. So we have some of these things. Yeah. So I can get you the the glossary of Ghanaianisms later in the year.

Megan Figueroa: Yeah. If we could just have the title we’ll we’ll put it out so that our listeners can hear it. Yeah. For sure. Cause I’m sure they’ll be interested after they hear this. Yeah and I really want the spelling of the of the rappers.

Selikem Gotah: Yeah I will send all of that.

Megan Figueroa: Perfect. Awesome. This was great.

Carrie Gillon: This was really great.

Megan Figueroa: Yeah. I literally knew nothing. So I got I got chills learning some things so thank you so much. That was very that was very educational for me.

Carrie Gillon: Yes. For me as well.

Selikem Gotah: And thanks to my my professor. Dr. Punske for making this happen.

Carrie Gillon: Yes. Thank you Jeff.

Megan Figueroa: Thanks Jeff.

Selikem Gotah: Thanks for having me.

Carrie Gillon: Yeah. Thank you for coming on.

Megan Figueroa: Yes. Thanks for taking the time so.

Selikem Gotah: You’re welcome.

Carrie Gillon: So don’t be an asshole.

Megan Figueroa: Don’t be an asshole.

Carrie Gillon: The Vocal Fries podcast is produced by Chris Ayers for Half Audio. Theme music by Nick Granam. You can find us on Tumblr Twitter Facebook and Instagram @vocalfries. You can e-mail us at vocalfriespod@gmail.com.