Words are translated into American in quotes, with phonetic pronunciations in italics.
Introductions and Polite Conversation
- How are you doing? - "How the day?" (howda deh) - also "How's your body?" (howde bodeh). A casual greeting appropriate for strangers or family any time of day. Good responses include "Fine" (Fii) meaning great, "Not bad" (Noh bah) meaning pretty good, "I'm trying" (Ah tra-eeh) for not-so-great, or simply "Yeah" (yahhh) meaning I don't really know you but thanks for saying hi. For intermediate students, these three replies should end in '-O', for example "noh bah-O!" or "ah tra-eeh-O!". Other answers for the advanced student include "I thank God" (tank goh), or "I tell God 'thank you' for life" (Ah te goh tankyoo fo lii).
- I'll be right back. (or, Wait just a second)- "I'm coming" (Ah comii). While it would seem to mean the opposite, this is a polite way to excuse oneself in leaving, or to ask for your listener's patience while you get to your point the long way 'round. For the intermediate and advanced speaker, you should end with the rhetorical "yeah?" (Ah comiiYEEA?). This common suffix will be picked up later on in many other phrases as well.
2 comments:
Maybe I'm crazy but my guess was that the YEEA was short for 'ya hear,' used for emphasis as well as clarification like 'are ya with me?' would. But it's hard to say because I can hear question marks in American English but not in Liberian English.
You're right on, Raquel. I shared your suspicion until it was confirmed just the other day, when a parent yelled some instruction and then, after no response, "YEEA?!" and the child grudgingly acknowledged...
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