Date:  Thu, 21 Dec 1995 09:07:45 -0600

From:  "Salikoko S. Mufwene" <s-mufwene[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]UCHICAGO.EDU>

Subject: Re: holiday greetings



Just did some field work with my wife and daughter as informants. The

formula with "Kwanzaa" is "Happy Kwanzaa." I did not know the tradition

until I came to the United States. Kwanzaa is not celebrated in my part of

Africa (western part of Zaire). If you have discussed African influence on

African-American language varieties, or followed the debate on this, you

should understand why I had to clarify where I am from--the continent is so

heterogeneous linguistically and culturally. I have no authority on

"Kwanzaa."

Best wishes,

Sali.

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Salikoko S. Mufwene        s-mufwene[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]uchicago.edu

University of Chicago       312-702-8531; FAX: 312-702-9861

Department of Linguistics

1010 East 59th Street

Chicago, IL 60637

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