Afrihili
| Afrihili | ||
|---|---|---|
| Project author | KA Kumi Attobrah | |
| Year of publication | 1970 | |
| speaker | only sporadically in all of Africa | |
| Linguistic classification |
||
| particularities | compound language, related to several African languages , most notably Swahili | |
| Language codes | ||
| ISO 639 -2 |
afh |
|
| ISO 639-3 |
afh |
|
Afrihili is a constructed language designed by KA Kumi Attobrah in 1970 as an early lingua franca for all of Africa.
The name of the language is a combination of Africa and Swahili . The author, a native Akrokerri from Ghana , had the idea in 1967 on a sea voyage from Dover to Calais . Its intention was that "it would promote unity and understanding among the different peoples of the continent, reduce the cost of printing through translation and promote trade". The language should be easy to learn for Africans.
Afrihili derives its phonology , morphology and syntax from various African languages. The vocabulary includes as many African languages as possible, as well as words from many other sources "but Africanized so that they do not appear foreign", although no specific etymologies are given by the author.
The language uses the Latin alphabet with the addition of two vowel symbols, Ɛ / ɛ and Ɔ / ɔ , which are also included in the Africa alphabet and denote the same sounds as in the International Phonetic Alphabet and as in several West African languages such as Ewe and Yoruba .
The grammar seems very complex to most Indo-European language users , e.g. B. the distinctions and the use of infixes . However, these peculiarities can be found in various African languages, especially in Swahili. The inventor of the Afrihili wanted to make it so "African".
A special feature is that in Afrihili all nouns begin and end with a vowel, and thus the nouns can be easily distinguished from other word classes. The plural is formed by exchanging the first and last vowel.
Stress or accent does not change the meaning of a word. However, the emphasis is usually placed on the second syllable.
vocabulary
Zuri lu ... Good afternoon
Zuri zinga ... good morning
Zuri masa ... Good afternoon
Zuri dani ... Good evening
Zuri bali ... good night
Jo koni ... go all at once
! Afuraho ... Cheers!
Sama papa obeka al dude ... Find a good place to eat
credentials
- KA Kumi Attobrah: Ni Afrihili Oluga. The African Continental Language (First Edition, 1970; Second Edition, 1973)