Gullah

American  

[guhl-uh] / ˈgʌl ə /

noun

1. a member of a population of Black Americans inhabiting the Sea Islands and the coastal regions of South Carolina, Georgia, and northeastern Florida.

2. a creolized form of English spoken by the Gullahs, containing many words and grammatical features derived from African languages.

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Gullah British  

/ ˈɡʌlə /

noun

1. a member of a Negroid people living on the Sea Islands or in the coastal regions of South Carolina, Georgia, and NE Florida

2. the creolized English spoken by these people

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Etymology

Origin of Gullah

1730–40; of uncertain origin; variously identified with Angola or the Gola, a Liberian ethnic group

Example Sentences

The Gullah Geechee people are descendants of Africans who were enslaved on plantations along the south-eastern US coast, including in South Carolina.

From BBC • Oct. 12, 2025

Smalls, who is gregarious and deeply knowledgeable about global foodways, approaches his craft with a reverence for both African and Gullah Geechee cuisine.

From Salon • Feb. 20, 2025

Descendants of enslaved island populations in the South became known as Gullah, or Geechee in Georgia.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 20, 2024

The writer traveled to seven praise houses in South Carolina and Georgia, along the Gullah Geechee Corridor.

From New York Times • Nov. 23, 2023

When Gullah people die, babies in the family get passed over the coffin so the dead person won’t come back from the beyond to take them away.

From "Root Magic" by Eden Royce