Mampruli Greetings

Here in Ghana greetings are very important.  Before any business can occur the proper greetings must be performed.  You also should greet anyone you pass on the street or come in contact with.  I find the greeting here complex and tiring.  There is no word for “hello” in Mampruli, instead the greetings used are good morning or good afternoon, etc.  The proper greeting can go on for several minutes as you greet everyone that is present before you can get down to the business at hand.  What I find frustrating is that if there is an emergency at the hospital greeting still must take place.  In English a typical greeting would go like this:

                “Good Morning Doctor”

                “Good Morning”

                “How was your last night’s sleep?”

                “My sleep was there.”

                “How is your health?”

                “My health is there.”

                “How is your house people?” (family)

                “Their health is there.”

                “Please Doctor, I need you to see the patient in bed two, he has stopped breathing.”

                Me wanting to bang my head against the wall, but calmly saying “Ok, please take me to him.”

I have listed the greetings below.  You use a certain greeting depending on the time or day or location / situation you find yourself in.  No matter where you are it always appropriate to use the time of day as the greeting so I tend to use those because I forget the others.  The universal response to the greetings is to say “Naa,” which is pronounced with a decrescendo intonation and is drawn out.  I have learned if you say a short quick “Naa” that means that you are angry with the person greeting you or that your relationship is not on good terms.  The greetings below are written phonetically, the capitalized syllable being the one to emphasis.

                Good Morning                                  DAH-su-bah

                Good Midday (noon-4pm)              NEE-wun-TAHNG-ah

                Good Evening                                    NEE-zah-NO-ree

                Good Night                                         ah-nee-WOO-la

                Welcome                                             ee-JAAAH-ree

                At work                                                nee tu-MAH

                Carrying water from the river         nee ee KU-liga

                Having a conversation                      nee eeSWAriga

                At Market (to one person)              nee ee DAH

                At Market (>1 person)                   nee yah-DAH

The greetings above are followed by questions about your health and families health.  How many questions asked depends on the person you are talking to, but most often in the morning they will ask about my sleep, my health, my mother’s health, and father’s health.  Since Megan’s visit, I am also often also asked her.  The response to the questions is simply “health is there” or “ah-LAH-fee-ya.”  If one is sick, the response is “kah ah-LAH-fee-ya.”  If you were sick, but are now better, the response is “DISHWA.”

                How was your last night sleep?                  EE-sa-don-WU-la

                How is your health?                                      ah-LAH-fee-ya BEH-nee

                How are your house people?                      ee-yeer dee-ma

                How is your father?                                       ee bah beh WU-la

                How is your mother?                                     ee mah beh WU-la

                How is your husband?                                   ee-seerah beh WU-la

                How is your wife?                                           ee-pwa beh WU-la

                How is your child?                                           ee bee-YAH beh WU-la

                How are your children?                                 ee bee-SEE beh WU-la