a1645: Vodou spelling (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Mihoko Tsunetomi <miho0087@tctv.ne.jp>

>To my ear there are two terms being used, one
(voodoo) by people like GHW Bush ("voodoo economics") and by Hollywood, and
the other (vodou) by practitioners of vodou and by non-practitioners who
want to show respect for the religion. (I'm also assuming that the spelling
difference reflects a pronunciation difference.) <

 As the one who wants to show respect to the religion, and needs
to help translation , I would like to ask the following points.
1.  Is Vodou in kreyol which is the language of the majority of
    the believers? I ask this as I often have the similar problems.
    I went to Kathy's excellent Vodou Page, and found the name
    Erzulie, but is this actually used among people? When I helped
   a publication on Vodou in Japanese, this was quite a big
   problem.  Am I correct to think that r sound is rarely used
   in kreyol, and people call the name somewhat like Ezili or
   more affectionately Zili? As we are planning to show Vodou as a
   part of Caribbean Festival this summer,  I want to clarify these
   points and show the highest respect to the religion and the
   people.
2. If one's language is not in alphabet, how can he/she claim
   to spell? Japan is English name. I am not sure, but the
   origin dates back to Marco Paulo who heard the name of
   a place called Jipang in Chinese. How many of you know
   our religion in Japanese? Why are we located in the Far
   East? We are in the center, and England is in the Far
   West. I can very well understand the bitter sense some of
   you have, but if we all claim China is not China, Mexico is
   not Mexico, are we not creating the Tower of Babel?
                                                     Mihoko