Welcome

Dennis Jones is a Jamaican-born international economist, who has lived most of the time in the UK and USA, and latterly in Guinea, west Africa. He moved back to the Caribbean in 2007. This blog contains his observations on life on this small eastern Caribbean island, as well as views on life and issues on a broader landscape, especially the Caribbean and Africa.

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Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I have spoken or tried to speak (or sign) all of the languages below at some time in my life! (If you did not realize it, Breton, Cornish and Welsh are related.) Thanks to my African friends who introduced me to some of their tongues. Thanks to my Norwegian "cousins" for visiting the Caribbean and also allowing me to meet up again centuries later. Thanks for an absence of fear in trying to say at least "Hello" and "Thank you" whereever I travel. Thanks to my parents for never letting me think that the colour of my skin had anything to do with anything except the colour of my skin. Thanks to all those people I have met who had never met a black man before and now know that we are a lot like them.

The world is really small and languages are one of its barriers. Let's try to get over them little by little with seasonal greetings (see a much longer list of Christmas greetings that will help).

American Sign Language



Arawak - Aba satho niw jari da'wisida bon

Breton - Nedeleg laouen na bloav ezh mat

Cantonese - Seng Dan Fai Lok, Sang Nian Fai Lok

Carib - Sirito kypoton ra'a

Cornish - Nadelik looan na looan blethen noweth

Creole/Seychelles - Bonn e Erez Ane

Dutch - Vrolijk Kerstfeest en een Gelukkig Nieuwjaar!

Estonian - Rõõmsaid Jõulupühi ja Head uut aastat

French - Joyeux Noël et Bonne Année!

German - Fröhliche Weihnachten und ein glückliches Neues Jahr!

Greek - Kala Christougenna Ki'eftihismenos O Kenourios Chronos

Hausa - Barka da Kirsimatikuma Barka da Sabuwar Shekara!

Igbo - Ekelere m gi maka Keresimesi na ubochi izizi afo ozo

Irish - Nollaig Shona Dhuit

Italian - Buon Natale e Felice Anno Nuovo

Japanese - Shinnen omedeto. Kurisumasu Omedeto

Latin - Pax hominibus bonae voluntatis

Latvian - Prieci'gus Ziemsve'tkus un Laimi'gu Jauno Gadu!

Malagasy - Arahaba tratry ny Krismasy

Norweigan/Nynorsk - eg ynskjer hermed dykk alle ein god jul og godt nyttår

Norweigan/Bokmål - God Jul og Godt Nyttår

Polish - Wesolych Swiat i Szczesliwego Nowego Roku.

Russian - Pozdrevlyayu s prazdnikom Rozhdestva i s Novim Godom

Spanish - Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo

Swahili - ºKrismas Njema Na Heri Za Mwaka Mpyaº

Turkish - Noeliniz Ve Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun

Welsh - Nadolig LLawen a Blwyddyn Newydd Dda

Yoruba - E ku odun, e ku iye' dun!



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