Liberia

Music

The music of Liberia involves several di erent genres. Its musical heritage includes several important genres of pop derived from neighbors like Ghana and Nigeria. Because of the in uence of the United States, R&B and Hip-hop are also performed in Liberia. The country also boasts a variety of indigenous folk music, Christian music and in uences from its Americo-Liberian minority.

Culture/Lang.

Cuisine

Liberian cuisine re ects the rich heritage of Liberians. Certain American traditions are also re ected in Liberian recipes. Liberian recipes contain an interesting combination of ingredients. Very common ingredients in Liberian recipes are cassava, peppers, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, ginger, palm oil and many tasteful vegetables. The traditional meals include the wide range of breads, like the Liberian rice bread and the Liberian pineapple nut bread. Rice is one of the principle foods in Liberia. Dumboy (boiled and then pounded cassava) and Fufu (derivative of cassava) are also essential Liberian side dishes. The famous local dessert is the coconut pie, based on coconut, which is served at dinner or late in the evening. The recipe includes regular dough with milk and a sweet coconut mixture.

Liberian celebrations

Liberia has several celebrations in common with or to honor the U.S. For example: the Independence Day in July, Thanksgiving Day in November, and Pioneer's day (that honors the American pioneers). Other celebrations are: President Tubman`s Birthday (also called Goodwill Day), Uni cation and Integration Day, Marilda Newport Day in December, Africa Day, Flag Day and Literacy Day (that promotes adult education). Besides these, there are religious celebrations, with various culinary traditions, like Fast and Prayer Day in April, Christmas and All Saints` Day in November. On all these occasions, the Liberian people enjoy parties with family members and drink a lot of ginger beer, the traditional Liberian beverage.

Language

The o cial language of Liberia is English, but there are also more than 30 indigenous languages. Among the most widely studied Liberian languages in schools and universities are Kpelle and Bassa languages and to a lesser extent, Vai. Loma and Mende also have their own unique alphabets but are studied less. Both languages are noted for their unique alphabets and phonetics that are not based on the Latin alphabet, or any European language but emerged from visions of each language's inventor. Bassa alphabet was popularized by Dr. Thomas Narvin Lewis in the early 20th century, after attending studies in the U.S at Syracuse University. He modeled it after he came into contact with former slaves of Bassa origin in Brazil and the West Indies who were still using the alphabet. Vai is another well known ancient script from Liberia, but distinct from the Bassa alphabet. Among the listed alphabets, Bassa Vah is compared to include Armenian, Coptic (used by Egyptian Coptic and Coptic Church), Avestan used in Ancient Persia to write sacred hymns of Zoroastrianism, Georgian language in Republic of Georgia, Mongolian, Meroitic alphabet of ancient Sudan and parts of Nile Valley, and many other ancient scripts, Greek-based and Cyrillic alphabets. Some Vah letters resemble certain letters from the Ge'ez alphabet of Ethiopia and Eritrea, N'ko alphabet in Guinea, and Armenian alphabet. The syllabary of Vai also been compared to Hiragana and Katakana scripts also syllabary for Japanese language. However many linguists hold that Bassa and Vai alphabets are unique in their own right for being African languages with alphabets alongside Ge'ez, N'ko, and Ti nagh (used to write Berber languages) that are neither in uenced by Latin or Western writing system.

Daweit G. Gebru 9/4/2013 Design V Prof. Grant Presentation #1-Culture and Language of Liberia