Friday, September 25, 2009

The longest greeting ever

We asked our guide Ibrahim to teach us the famously long Dogon salutation, which is repeated in its entirety every time two Dogon people pass each other (usually needs to start when two people are still far apart and doesn’t finish until they’re yelling back over each other’s shoulders), regardless whether they know each other. Here’s the translation:

A: “Good morning/afternoon/evening”
B: Acknowledgement

A: “How are you?”
B: “Fine”

A: “How is your mother?”
B: “Fine”

A: “How is your father?”
B: “Fine”

A: “How is your family?”
B: “Fine”

A: “How is your…[wife, children, animals]?” (this can carry on indefinitely particularly if two people actually know each other)
B: “Fine, fine, fine…"

A: "Good"
B: "Good"

B: "How are you?”
A: “Fine”

B: “How is your mother?”
A: “Fine”

B: “How is your father?”
A: “Fine”

B: “How is your family?”
A: “Fine”

B: “How is your…?”
A: “Fine…”

No comments:

Post a Comment