| Afrihili | |
|---|---|
| Ɛl-Afrihili | |
| Created by | K. A. Kumi Attobrah |
| Date | 1970 |
| Setting and usage | intended for use throughoutAfrica |
| Purpose | |
| Sources | a posteriori language, derived primarily fromSwahili andAkan |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-2 | afh |
| ISO 639-3 | afh |
afh | |
| Glottolog | afri1275 |
| This article containsIPA phonetic symbols. Without properrendering support, you may seequestion marks, boxes, or other symbols instead ofUnicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA. | |
Afrihili (Ni Afrihili Oluga 'the Afrihili language') is aconstructed language designed in 1970 by Ghanaian historian K. A. Kumi Attobrah (Kumi Atɔbra) to be used as alingua franca in all ofAfrica. The name of the language is a combination ofAfrica andSwahili. The author, a native ofAkrokerri (Akrokɛri) inGhana, originally conceived of the idea in 1967 while on a sea voyage fromDover toCalais. His intention was that "it would promote unity and understanding among the different peoples of the continent, reduce costs in printing due to translations and promote trade". It is meant to be easy for Africans to learn.
Afrihili draws itsphonology,morphology andsyntax from variousAfrican languages, particularlySwahili andAkan (Attobrah's native language). Thelexicon covers various African languages, as well as words from many other sources "so Africanized that they do not appear foreign", although no specific etymologies are indicated by the author. However, thesemantics is quite English, with manycalques of English expressions, perhaps due to the strong English influence on written Swahili and Akan. For example,mu is 'in',to is 'to', andmuto is 'into'; similarly,kupitia is 'through' (as in 'through this remedy'),paasa is 'out' (as in to go outside), andkupitia-paasa is 'throughout'—at least in the original, 1970 version of the language.
The language uses theLatin alphabet with the addition of two vowel letters,⟨Ɛ ɛ⟩ and⟨Ɔ ɔ⟩, which have their values in Ghanaian languages and theIPA,[ɛ] and[ɔ]. Foreign names are spelled out phonetically rather than in the original orthography, so for example 'Hastings' is spelledHestins. There are twodigraphs,⟨ch⟩ and⟨sh⟩, which have their English and Swahili values,[tʃ] and[ʃ].J andy also have their English and Swahili values,[d͡ʒ] and[j].Ng is not a digraph, but pronounced as in Englishfinger,[ŋɡ].
Vowels area ɛ e i ɔ o u. Doubled vowel letters appear to be sequences, not long vowels. Consonants arep t ch k, b d j g, m n ny, f s sh h, v z, l r y w.
There is notone. Stress is on the second-last vowel. Exclamation marks come at the beginning of a clause, which ends in a comma or period as normal; question marks come at the end.
Thegrammar is similar to Swahili, but in addition there is the 'vowel triangle', which is central to Afrihili inflection:
a / \ u e ɛ / \ ɔ __ o __ i
Many grammatical processes are accomplished by exchanging a vowel with its directional opposite on the triangle:a foro,u fori,e forɔ, and vice versa. For example, a verb can be made into an adjective by changing its final vowel in this manner: frompinu 'to determine' comes the adjectivepini 'determinate'.Ɛ does not participate in these swaps, but is used in other situations (below).
All nouns, and only nouns and adjectives modifying nouns, begin with a vowel. In the singular this will be different from the final vowel of the word; the plural is formed by making it the same as the final vowel. For example,omulenzi 'boy' becomesimulenzi 'boys'; similarly,oluga is 'language' andaluga 'languages'.
Nouns are derived from verbs or adjectives by prefixing the opposite of the final vowel, according to the triangle above. So, frompinu 'to determine' comes the nounipinu 'determination'. If all the vowels in the verb or adjective are the same, as inmono 'to disgrace' andkana 'one', then the neutral vowelɛ- is used:ɛmono 'a disgrace',ɛkana 'unity'.
Verbal nouns (gerunds) are formed from theinfinitive in-de,[1] and so always begin withɔ- :soma 'reads',somade 'to read',ɔsomade yɛ papa 'reading is good'. (Compareɔkaratide 'harvesting' andukarati 'a harvest', fromkarati 'to harvest'.)
In the opposite direction, nouns drop their initial vowels to form verbs, and with the appropriate change in final vowel, adjectives. So, frometogo 'a house' comestogo (ortogode) 'to house', and fromumeme 'electricity' comesmemɔ 'electric'.
Participles are formed withmɛ-, further derived as nouns or adjectives (gerunds):mɛpini 'determinative',ɛmɛwako 'driver' (wako to drive).
Verb phrases are formed withtense prefixes, with the subject pronouns written together with the verb. (Subject pronouns are not used if there is a noun subject.) Objects, however, are written separately after the verb: Fromjira 'to wait for',mingijiralε 'I (mi-) would have waited for him (lɛ)'.
Pronouns includemi 'I',nɛ 'me and you',nɛu'us and you',nu'we' (not you),wu 'you (thou)'ku 'you (ye)',lɛ 'he',ta 'she',yo 'it',fu 'they'.
For possession, pronouns are prefixed on a noun, dropping their vowel:l'arafi 'his letter',w'agoji 'your money'.
Tense prefixes includeli- (past),ta- (future),lii- (habitual past),taa- (habitual future),yɛɛ- (habitual present),re- (present continuous -ing),ri- (past continuous -ing),ngi- (conditional, would),nge- (subjunctive, may), and a perfect inlo-. Simple present is not marked.U- formsrelative clauses (who, which).
So, fromdu 'eat',lɛdu 'he eats',nɛtadu 'you & I will eat',fulidu 'they ate',miyɛɛdu ɛn zinga 'I eat in the morning (as a matter of habit)',miliidu ɛn zinga 'I would eat / used to eat in the morning',miredu 'I am eating',nuridu 'we were eating (when)',kama kungiwa, kungidu 'if y'all would come, you'd eat',ni omuntu lodu 'the man has eaten'.
'This' and 'that' areki andka, which are pluralized with the suffix-nga, givingkinga 'these' andkanga 'those'. They may occur before a noun, or afterward by copying the final syllable:
Some suffixes are full syllables, as-wiinchoative (to get or become):sana 'drink',sanawi 'get drunk';furaha 'happy',furahawi 'be happy'. However, most have anecho vowel, identical to the final vowel of the root, as in-bw- (passive):bona 'see',bonabwa 'be seen'; or-t- '-able':bonata 'visible',dutu 'edible'.
'Of' (partitive?) is either a suffix-n or a particlepe, with opposite word order.Nun kisi orkisi pe nu 'some of us',imulenzin kisi orkisi pen imulenzi 'some of the boys' (the definite articleni is here reduced and suffixed tope, givingpen).
When an adjective or numeral follows a noun, it takes the initial vowel of the noun asgrammatical agreement, as well as the suffix-n:
The following text, from a 1971 newsletter, was clipped on its left margin. Missing words are in brackets.
| Afrihili | English | glosses | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dɛna wungida? | What would you have done? | da – to do | |
| Koda ni amɛgenda ɛn arabiyado, kɛna rigenda to Afrilikrom, rifunda kɛna lɛriwako harakalo ma, ni ɛmɛwako lidinga wakode harakalo. | Although the passengers in a lorry, which was travelling to Afrilikrom, were complaining that he was driving too fast, the driver continued to drive fast. | ni – the;genda – to travel;ɛn – in;arabiyado – a lorry/truck;kɛna – that, which;to – to;funda – to complain;wako – to drive;haraka – fast;ma – very? too;dinga – to continue | |
| [?]rɛ lɛlundi ni ɛndɛmo mu, pɛna ni [arab]iyado luduri muto umuti ni uzo te. | He had almost arrived in the town, when the lorry ran into a tree beside the road. | lundi ? – arrive;ɛndɛmo – a town;mu – in;umuti – a tree;uzo – a road;te – beside | |
| [?]amɛganda (earlier amɛgenda) bi lipewa apira na bi lifua. [Ni ɛ]mɛwako lipirabwa ko. | Some of the passengers received wounds and some died. The driver was not hurt. | bi – some, some or other;pira – to hurt/wound;fua – to die;ko – not | |
| [?]uma rendeke tɛ adoncho tɛ ɛtaya, lɛliwa [na ?] eri ni arabiyado te na likukua,! W'agoji [kam]a wufuaseko.! W'agoji kama wufuaseko. | Instead of ringing for an ambulance for help, he came and stood beside the lorry and shouted, "Your money, if you are not dead! Your money if you are not dead!" | tɛ – for;adoncho – an ambulance;taya – to help;wa – to come;kukua – to shout;agoji – money;kama – if;-se (unidentified) | |
| [Ka]na pe fu, ɛn reti yo lijika l'oliso na[?]nya lɛlifuase. | One of the passengers, on hearing this, closed his eyes and pretended he was dead. | kana – one;ti – to hear;yo – it;jika – to close;oliso – eyes; | |
| Dɛna wungida wuriyɛ ka omuntu[?] | What would you have done if you were that man? | yɛ – to be;omuntu – a human |
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