The Souls of Black Folk — Page 1

Vocabulary

Seelen

Souls; spiritual essence of living beings

schwarzen

Black (adjective, inflected form)

Volkes

Of the people; a nation or ethnic group

Hierin

Herein; in this, contained within this work

Geschrieben

Written; past participle of schreiben

Vorwort

Foreword; introductory remarks before main text

geistigen

Intellectual, spiritual (adjective, inflected)

Streben

Striving, aspiration toward a goal or ideal

Morgendämmerung

Dawn; the breaking of light at daybreak

Freiheit

Freedom, liberty; absence of constraint or oppression

Herrn

Mister, Lord (dative/accusative form of Herr)

Bedeutung

Meaning, significance, importance of something

Fortschritts

Of progress; advancement or development (genitive)

Flügeln

Wings; limbs enabling flight (dative plural)

Erziehung

Education, upbringing, raising of children

Männer

Men; adult male human beings (plural)

Gürtel

Belt, girdle; strip worn around the waist

Suche

Search, quest; looking for something important

Goldenen

Golden (adjective, inflected); made of or like gold

Vlies

Fleece; soft woolly coat, as in Golden Fleece

Söhnen

Sons (dative plural); male offspring of a family

Knechtes

Of the servant/slave; bonded male laborer (genitive)

Glauben

Faith, belief; trust in religion or a principle

Väter

Fathers (plural); male parents or forefathers

Tod

Death; end of life

Erstgeborenen

Of the firstborn; first child born to parents

Ankunft

Arrival; the act of reaching a destination

Klageliedern

From laments/dirges; mournful songs of grief (dative plural)

Nachgedanke

Afterthought; reflection added after main content

Verlorenen

The lost ones; those who have been lost (inflected)

Gefundenen

The found ones; those who have been found

liegen

To lie, be located; to rest in a place

viele

Many; a large number of things or people

Dinge

Things; objects, matters, or affairs (plural)

verborgen

Hidden, concealed; kept out of plain sight

wenn

When, if; introduces conditional or temporal clause

Geduld

Patience; calm endurance of difficulty or delay

gelesen

Read (past participle of lesen); having been read

werden

To become; auxiliary verb for passive and future

seltsame

Strange, peculiar (adjective, inflected form)

zeigen

To show, reveal, demonstrate something to someone

können

Can, to be able to; modal verb of ability

hier

Here; in this place or context

Beginn

Beginning, start; outset of a period or event

zwanzigsten

Twentieth (ordinal adjective, inflected form)

Jahrhunderts

Of the century; a period of one hundred years

schwarz

Black; the darkest color, absence of light

sein

To be; fundamental linking or auxiliary verb

ohne

Without; lacking or in the absence of something

Interesse

Interest; curiosity or concern about a topic

Sie

You (formal); polite second-person pronoun

geneigter

Kindly disposed, favorable (inflected adjective)

Leser

Reader; a person who reads a text

denn

For, because; causal conjunction or flavoring particle

problem

Problem; a difficult issue requiring a solution

Farblinie

Color line; racial boundary dividing society

bitte

Please; polite request word in German

daher

Therefore, hence; indicating a logical conclusion

kleines

Small, little (adjective, inflected neuter form)

Buch

Book; a written or printed literary work

aller

Of all; genitive plural of all (adjective)

Güte

Goodness, kindness; benevolent quality or generosity

aufzunehmen

To receive, accept, take in (infinitive with zu)

Worte

Words; units of language expressing meaning

gemeinsam

Together, jointly; shared between multiple parties

studieren

To study; to examine or learn something carefully

Fehler

Errors, mistakes; inaccuracies or faults

Schwächen

Weaknesses; shortcomings or areas lacking strength

Glaubens

Of faith/belief; genitive of Glaube

Leidenschaft

Passion; intense emotion or enthusiasm for something

willen

For the sake of; used in um...willen construction

vergeben

Forgiven; past participle of vergeben, to forgive

Körnchen

Grain, small particle; diminutive of Korn

Wahrheit

Truth; the quality of being true or accurate

suchen

To seek, look for; to search for something

darin

Therein, in it; within this thing or context

versucht

Tried, attempted; past participle of versuchen

vagen

Vague (adjective, inflected); unclear or indistinct

ungewissen

Uncertain, unclear (adjective, inflected form)

Umrissen

Outlines, contours; broad sketched shapes (dative plural)

geistige

Intellectual, spiritual (adjective, inflected form)

Welt

World; the earth or a particular realm of existence

skizzieren

To sketch, outline; to draw or describe briefly

zehn

Ten; the cardinal number 10

Millionen

Millions; very large numbers of people or things

Amerikaner

Americans; citizens or residents of the United States

leben

To live; to exist or reside in a place

streben

To strive, aspire; to work toward a goal

Zunächst

First of all, initially; at the start of something

zwei

Two; the cardinal number 2

Kapiteln

Chapters (dative plural); main divisions of a book

Emanzipation

Emancipation; liberation from bondage or oppression

bedeutete

Meant, signified; past tense of bedeuten

welche

Which; relative or interrogative pronoun/adjective

Folgen

Consequences, results; outcomes following an event

hatte

Had; third-person singular past tense of haben