Alis Advencha ina Wandalan: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in Jamaican Creole (Gullah Edition)

Book Synopsis: Luwis Karal a wahn nik-niem: Chaalz Lutwij Dadsn a did di riil niem a di man wa rait di buk, an im did a wahn lekchara ina Mats a di Krais Chorch a Aksfod. Dadsn staat di tuori pan Julai 4, 1862, wen im did go pan wahn jorni ina wahn kanu pan di riva Tiemz ina Aksfod wid Revren Rabinsn Dokwort, an Alis Lidel (ten ier uol) di Diin fi Krais Chorch daata, an wid ar tuu sista dem, Lorina (tortiin ier uol), an Iidit (iet ier uol). Laik ou di payem a di staat a di buk shuo klier klier, di chrii gyal dem aks Dadsn fi tel dem wahn tuori an duo at fos im neehn riili waahn fi dwiit, im staat fi tel dem di fos vorjhan a di tuori. Duo no so klier, di faiv a dem get menshan woliip a taim ina di uol buk, wa aftaraal did get poblish ina 1865. It gud se Karal tap-a-tap buk de ina wahn neda langwij, bot ina dis ya kies ya, it beta fi di langwij. Jamiekan Kriyuol, wa piipl uu lov it kaal Jamiekan Patwa, a di langwij ina Jamieka alangsaid Ingglish, di langwij wa muos a di Patwa wod dem kom fram, bot fi ierz ya nou piipl maak it out fi bi wahn bad wie fi chat Ingglish. A onggl roun 40 ier abak piipl wa stodi langwij rekagnaiz se Jamiekan Patwa a wahn ful langwij ina itself. Jamiekan Patwa, wa spred woliip chuu wi myuuzik, de aal uova di worl an a wahn langwij wa wi lov woliip, wa shou uu wi bi an dat wi proud a we wi kom fram. Duo it de bout fi ova 300 ier ya nou, an bout 2.8 miliyan piipl a yaad chat it, an uova 1.8 miliyan muor abraad, stil muos a di taim a jos chat piipl yuuz it fa. Rait ya nou dem a du woliip a sitn fi tiich piipl uu chat Jamiekan Patwa fi riid an rait it tu. Frejrik Kyasidi did kom op wid wahn wie fi rait it fraa ina di 1960z an no tuu lang ago di Jamiekan Langwij Yuunit did chienj it op likl bit, an a it wi yuuz fi du dis ya buk ya nou. Wi put iin wahn likl sitn fi elp piipl uu waahn fi riid di buk bot uu no nuo ou fi riid di prapa wie ou it rait.

--- Lewis Carroll is a pen-name: Charles Lutwidge Dodgson was the author's real name and he was lecturer in Mathematics in Christ Church, Oxford. Dodgson began the story on 4 July 1862, when he took a journey in a rowing boat on the river Thames in Oxford together with the Reverend Robinson Duckworth, with Alice Liddell (ten years of age) the daughter of the Dean of Christ Church, and with her two sisters, Lorina (thirteen years of age), and Edith (eight years of age). As is clear from the poem at the beginning of the book, the three girls asked Dodgson for a story and reluctantly at first he began to tell the first version of the story to them. There are many half-hidden references made to the five of them throughout the text of the book itself, which was published finally in 1865. It is good that Carroll's work of art is in yet another language, but in this case, it is better for the language. Jamaican Creole, affectionately called Jamaican Patwa, operates in Jamaica alongside English, its lexifier language, but has over the years been stigmatized as "bad English". It is only around 40 years ago that linguists have recognized Jamaican Creole as a language in itself. Jamaican Creole, as primarily transmitted globally by our music, is known world-wide and is a well-loved symbol of our identity and national pride. Despite over 300 years of its existence, with approximately 2.8 million speakers at home and over 1.8 million in the diaspora, it however remains primarily an oral language. Initiatives are now being made to teach speakers how to read and write in Jamaican Creole. An orthography developed by Frederic Cassidy in the 1960s was recently modified by the Jamaican Language Unit, and has been used for the present work. A guide has been included to help readers who are not knowledgeable of the standard writing system.