The Origine
des langues africaines: essai d'application de la méthode, by Jean-Claude
Mboli, is a new book that claims to provide an introduction to the Black
African-Egyptian language. The Black African-Egyptian languages was discovered
by Anta Diop and Th. Obenga who recognized that a genetic relationship existed
between Black African (mainly Niger-Congo languages) and the ancient Egyptian
language.
There is a new book on Proto-Black African Egyptian languages. Black African _egyptian or Negro-Egyptian is the name Afrocentric linguists have given to the the genetic linguistic relationship between languages spoken by Black Africans and the ancient Egyptian language. This new book is called: Origine des langues africaines: essai d'application de la méthode by Jean-Claude Mboli.
Diop's, Parente genetique de LEgyptien Pharaonique et des Langues Negro-Africaines, is the most exhuastive study of Negro-Egyptian, and no matter what you say it does prove Niger-Congo exist because it demonstrates connections between Egyptian and Niger-Congo languages.
I have not read Mboli’s entire book. But I have read summaries of his book
http://www.youscribe.com/catalogue/livres/ressources-professionnelles/efficacite-professionnelle/origine-des-langues-africaines-174246
I have also checked out the book at Google books. Google books gives numerous segments of the Mboli book:
http://books.google.com/books?id=UaEFugi-awAC&pg=PA2&lpg=PA2&dq=mboli+origine&source=bl&ots=JHHDToFj7p&sig=xr_gE6rLCnu7DVvypOrClHcm1hA&hl=en&sa=X&ei=BEQ2U7zzHcuysQS_1YCIAw&ved=0CCs Q6AEwAzgK#v=onepage&q=mboli%20origine&f=false
There is a new book on Proto-Black African Egyptian languages. Black African _egyptian or Negro-Egyptian is the name Afrocentric linguists have given to the the genetic linguistic relationship between languages spoken by Black Africans and the ancient Egyptian language. This new book is called: Origine des langues africaines: essai d'application de la méthode by Jean-Claude Mboli.
Diop's, Parente genetique de LEgyptien Pharaonique et des Langues Negro-Africaines, is the most exhuastive study of Negro-Egyptian, and no matter what you say it does prove Niger-Congo exist because it demonstrates connections between Egyptian and Niger-Congo languages.
I have not read Mboli’s entire book. But I have read summaries of his book
http://www.youscribe.com/catalogue/livres/ressources-professionnelles/efficacite-professionnelle/origine-des-langues-africaines-174246
I have also checked out the book at Google books. Google books gives numerous segments of the Mboli book:
http://books.google.com/books?id=UaEFugi-awAC&pg=PA2&lpg=PA2&dq=mboli+origine&source=bl&ots=JHHDToFj7p&sig=xr_gE6rLCnu7DVvypOrClHcm1hA&hl=en&sa=X&ei=BEQ2U7zzHcuysQS_1YCIAw&ved=0CCs Q6AEwAzgK#v=onepage&q=mboli%20origine&f=false
Mboli has divided Black African-Egyptian languages into four
stages.Mboli’s view that there is
quote:
VI.14 Évolution grammaticale du négro-égyptien…………………… 361
VI.14.1 Grammaire du négro-égyptien archaïque ………………….. 362
VI.14.2 Grammaire du négro-égyptien pré-classique………………. 365
VI.14.3 Grammaire du négro-égyptien classique…………………… 367
VI.14.4 Grammaire du négro-égyptien post-classique........................ 370
You can not detect the various forms of Egyptian claimed by Mboli,
without written text dating back to the proposed stages of a language. We only
have contemporary linguistic evidence for the Black African languages to
compare to the acient Egyptian language.the
This is due to the idea of F. de Saussure, who in Cours de linguistique générale, Paris 1916: discussed the idea synchronique and diachronique linguistics in relation to historical linguistics. Diachronic linguistic looks at the state of language in the past, while synchronic linguistics look at a language as it exist today. To determine a diachronic view of a language you have to have written text. As a result, we only have written evidence of Egyptian in two stages: Old and Middle Egyptian .
The phases imagined for Negro-Egyptian does not agree with the law of “linguistic continuity” for African languages.
The rate at which languages change is variable. It appears that linguistic change is culture specific. Consequently, the social organization and political culture of a particular speech community can influence the speed at which languages change.
Based on the history of language change in Europe most linguists believe that the rate of change for all languages is both rapid and constant.(Diagne, 1981,p.238) The idea that all languages change rapidly is not valid for all the World's languages. Mboli has accepted this reality of I-E languages as existing in African languages. Thus he has created a series of stages for Negro-Egyptian.
African languages change much slower than European languages. (Armstrong, 1962) As a result, you can not use a European model of language change to describe events in African linguistics. For example, African vocabulary items collected by Arab explorers over a thousand years ago are analogous to contemporary lexical items.(Diagne,1981, p.239)
Although, Mboli, according to Asar does not recognize Coptic as an aspect of Egyptian there are striking resemblances between the ancient Egyptian language and Coptic, and Pharonic Egyptian and African languages which indicate continuity between and among the speakers of Negro-Egyptian.(Diagne, 1981; Diop, 1977; Obenga, 1993)
The political stability of African political institutions has caused languages to change very slowly in Africa. Pawley and Ross (1993) argue that a sedentary life style may account for the conservative nature of a language.
African oral traditions and the eye witness accounts of travelers toAfrica , make it clear that
African empires although made up of diverse nationalities illustrated
continuity. To accomodate the plural nature of African empires Africans
developed a Federal system of government. (Niane , 1984) In fact we can not
really describe ancient African state systems as empires, since this implies
absolute rule or authority in a single individual. This political state of
affairs rarely existed in ancient Africa , because in each
African speech community local leadership was elected by the people within the
community. (Diop, 1987) For example the Egyptians often appointed
administrators over the conquered territories from among the conquered people.
(Diop ,1991)
The continuity of many African languages may result from the steady state nature of African political systems, and long standing cultural stability since neolithic times. (Diop, 1991 ; Winters 1985) This cultural stability has affected the speed at which African languages change.
InAfrica due to the relative stability of
socio-political structures and settled life, there has not been enough pressure
exerted on African societies as a whole and African speech communities in
particular, to cause radical internal linguistic changes within most African
languages. Permanent settlements led to a clearly defined system of inheritance
and royal succession. These traits led to stability on both the social and
political levels.
This leads to the hypothesis that linguistic continuity exist inAfrica due to the stability
of African socio-political structures and cultural systems. This relative
cultural stability has led African languages to change more slowly then
European and Asian languages. Diop (1974) observed that:
First the evolution of languages, instead of moving everywhere at the same rate of speed seems linked to other factors; such as , the stability of social organizations or the opposite, social upheavals. Understandably in relatively stable societies man's language has changed less with the passage of time.(pp.153-154)
There is considerable evidence which supports the African continuity concept. Dr. Armstrong (1962) noted the linguistic continuity of African languages when he used glottochronology to test the rate of change in Yoruba. Comparing modern Yoruba words with a list of identical terms collected 130 years ago by Koelle , Dr. Armstrong found little if any internal or external changes in the terms. He concluded that:
I would have said that on this evidence African languages are changing with glacial slowness, but it seems to me that in a century a glacier would have changed a lot more than that. Perhaps it would be more in order to say that these languages are changing with geological slowness. (Armstrong, 1962, p.285).
You can not detect the various forms of Egyptian claimed by Mboli, without written text. This is due to the idea of F. de Saussure, who in Cours de linguistique générale,Paris
This is due to the idea of F. de Saussure, who in Cours de linguistique générale, Paris 1916: discussed the idea synchronique and diachronique linguistics in relation to historical linguistics. Diachronic linguistic looks at the state of language in the past, while synchronic linguistics look at a language as it exist today. To determine a diachronic view of a language you have to have written text. As a result, we only have written evidence of Egyptian in two stages: Old and Middle Egyptian .
The phases imagined for Negro-Egyptian does not agree with the law of “linguistic continuity” for African languages.
The rate at which languages change is variable. It appears that linguistic change is culture specific. Consequently, the social organization and political culture of a particular speech community can influence the speed at which languages change.
Based on the history of language change in Europe most linguists believe that the rate of change for all languages is both rapid and constant.(Diagne, 1981,p.238) The idea that all languages change rapidly is not valid for all the World's languages. Mboli has accepted this reality of I-E languages as existing in African languages. Thus he has created a series of stages for Negro-Egyptian.
African languages change much slower than European languages. (Armstrong, 1962) As a result, you can not use a European model of language change to describe events in African linguistics. For example, African vocabulary items collected by Arab explorers over a thousand years ago are analogous to contemporary lexical items.(Diagne,1981, p.239)
Although, Mboli, according to Asar does not recognize Coptic as an aspect of Egyptian there are striking resemblances between the ancient Egyptian language and Coptic, and Pharonic Egyptian and African languages which indicate continuity between and among the speakers of Negro-Egyptian.(Diagne, 1981; Diop, 1977; Obenga, 1993)
The political stability of African political institutions has caused languages to change very slowly in Africa. Pawley and Ross (1993) argue that a sedentary life style may account for the conservative nature of a language.
African oral traditions and the eye witness accounts of travelers to
The continuity of many African languages may result from the steady state nature of African political systems, and long standing cultural stability since neolithic times. (Diop, 1991 ; Winters 1985) This cultural stability has affected the speed at which African languages change.
In
This leads to the hypothesis that linguistic continuity exist in
First the evolution of languages, instead of moving everywhere at the same rate of speed seems linked to other factors; such as , the stability of social organizations or the opposite, social upheavals. Understandably in relatively stable societies man's language has changed less with the passage of time.(pp.153-154)
There is considerable evidence which supports the African continuity concept. Dr. Armstrong (1962) noted the linguistic continuity of African languages when he used glottochronology to test the rate of change in Yoruba. Comparing modern Yoruba words with a list of identical terms collected 130 years ago by Koelle , Dr. Armstrong found little if any internal or external changes in the terms. He concluded that:
I would have said that on this evidence African languages are changing with glacial slowness, but it seems to me that in a century a glacier would have changed a lot more than that. Perhaps it would be more in order to say that these languages are changing with geological slowness. (Armstrong, 1962, p.285).
You can not detect the various forms of Egyptian claimed by Mboli, without written text. This is due to the idea of F. de Saussure, who in Cours de linguistique générale,
Scholars group the Egyptian language into six major chronological divisions:[10]
Archaic Egyptian language (before 2600 BC, the language of the Early Dynastic Period)
Old Egyptian language (2686 BC – 2181 BC, the language of the Old Kingdom)
Middle Egyptian language (2055 BC – 1650 BC), characterizing Middle Kingdom (2055 BC – 1650 BC, but enduring through the early 18th Dynasty until the Amarna Period (1353 BC), and continuing on as a literary language into the 4th century AD).
Late Egyptian language (1069 BC – 700 BC, characterizing the Third Intermediate Period (1069 BC – 700 BC), but starting earlier with the Amarna Period (1353 BC)).
Demotic (7th century BC – 5th century AD, Late Period through Roman times)
Coptic (1st century AD – 17th century AD, early Roman times to early modern times)
Mboli’s view that there is
quote:
VI.14 Évolution grammaticale du négro-égyptien…………………… 361
VI.14.1 Grammaire du négro-égyptien archaïque ………………….. 362
VI.14.2 Grammaire du négro-égyptien pré-classique………………. 365
VI.14.3 Grammaire du négro-égyptien classique…………………… 367
VI.14.4 Grammaire du négro-égyptien post-classique........................ 370
This is untenable, because we don’t have written records of Black
African languages extending this far back in time relating to the periods
proposed by Mboli. So there is no way to compare the grammars of Black African
languages and Egyptian. Moreover, if Mboli is of the opinion that Coptic is not
an Egyptian language (eventhough it is the language we used to read ancient
Egyptian) we don’t even have a model of “post-classic” Egyptian.
We do have a diachronic view of Egyptian, but our data on African languages is all contemporary. We may recognize changes in the structure of Egyptian VC vs. CV, but overall the grammars for Egyptian do not show radical changes.
There is no way Mboli can claim he has reconstructed the various grammatical stages of Negro-Egyptien, because we don't have written text for the various proposed stages of the languages classified in Negro-Egyptien.
Mboli’s view is that there is
We do have a diachronic view of Egyptian, but our data on African languages is all contemporary. We may recognize changes in the structure of Egyptian VC vs. CV, but overall the grammars for Egyptian do not show radical changes.
There is no way Mboli can claim he has reconstructed the various grammatical stages of Negro-Egyptien, because we don't have written text for the various proposed stages of the languages classified in Negro-Egyptien.
Mboli’s view is that there is
VI.14 Évolution grammaticale du négro-égyptien…………………… 361
VI.14.1 Grammaire du négro-égyptien archaïque ………………….. 362
VI.14.2 Grammaire du négro-égyptien pré-classique………………. 365
VI.14.3 Grammaire du négro-égyptien classique…………………… 367
VI.14.4 Grammaire du négro-égyptien post-classique........................ 370
Mboli can not claim to present the stages of Negro-Egyptian (NE)
because he fails to have diachronic view of Negro-Egyptian due to a lack of
written text for the languages making up the subgroups of NE. To be able to
discover the various grammatical stages/styles discussed by Mboli we need to
see successive synchronic grammars of African languages as represented in written
text.
The true Historical linguist looks at the changes that have occured in a language through the comparison of successive synchronic grammars as indicated by text written in the various grammars. The absence of ancient text in the sub-languages of NE, except for Egyptian and Mande makes any discussion of archaic NE, post-classic NE and etc., a mute point.
.
In summary, Mboli has to support his claims for various periods of Egyptian and Black African languages with written or textual evidence, which would evidence the grammar of a language at a particular time in history. Textual evidence for Egyptian-Black African languages for the periods in Black African-Egyptian languages does not exist.
Mboli wants the PNE to agree with Proto-Indo-European (PIE) terms. As a result in Mboli’s reconstructions of proto-terms he usually adds /h, w /to his reconstructions, just like they are found in PIE.
In African languages aspiration or non-aspiration of plosives usually gives a word a variety of meanings. Westerman and Ward, in Practical Phonetics for Students of African Languages, recommends that they be written as digraphs, ph,th,kh. In African languages aspiration is used to give words different meanings
Swahili
Unaspirated…………………………………………………………………………………………………..Aspirated
Tembo ‘palm wine’ ………………………………………………………………………………thembo ‘elephant’
Paa ‘roof of a house’…………………………………………………………………………………..phaa ‘gazelle’
Kaa ‘coal’………………………………………………………………………………………………………khaa ‘crab’
The reconstructions of Mboli for cattle, lamb, ram and horse are below.
In these reconstructions Mboli introduces the fricative or aspirated element represented by /ph/ to his reconstruction of PNE to indicate articulation of the consonant.
The addition of /h, w/ was unnecessary because the African forms of the words cattle, horse and etc., do not need aspitation. Let’s look at the term for cattle, cow.
Much of the evidence relating to this pastoral way of life comes from the discovery of cattle bones at excavated sites in the Sahara dated between 7000-2000 BC, and the rock drawings of cattle (McIntosh &McIntosh 1981). In the western Sahara, sites such as Erg In-Sakane region, and the Taoudenni basin of northern Mali, attest to cattle husbandry between 6000 and 5000 BP. The ovicaprid husbandry on the other hand began in this area between 5000 to 3000 BP. Cattle pastoral people began to settle Dar Tichitt and Karkarichinkat between 5000 to 3500 BP.
The term for cattle,cow in the various African languages show much correspondence. Below we will compare the term for cow from various African languages:
The oldest written evidence from Africa comes from the Egyptian language. The Egyptian terms for cattle/ cow were ng and nag . In other African languages we find either the consonant n-, before the consonant g/k , e.g., n/v______(v)g/k ;or the nasal consonant n- , before the vowels -i,-y , and -a , e.g., n+i+a = nia , or n+y+a = nya .
This evidence of cognition in African terms for cattle/cow shows considerable correspondence in consonants and vowels within roots.
Table 1.
Correspondence within Roots
The linguistic evidence supports the view that the Paleo-African term for cattle/cow was *n'n , *n'g /n'k , and *nia . This data also makes it clear that /g/ and /k/ were interchangeable consonants long before the separation of the speakers of Negro-Egyptian into distinct African cultural and linguistic groups.
This review of the linguistic evidence for cow/cattle in African languages does not support Mboli’s proto-term for cattle:
•
• *h.hm cattle (Egyptian)
• *ƞwkeƞwe, cattle (Bantu ngome)
These words are from Mboli page 591.
The linguistic evidence for African terms for cattle make it clear the Proto-NE term would not be aspirated.
It appears that Mboli constructed this term with aspiration to make it analogous to PIE terms for cattle. It appears to me that Mboli’s reconstructions of Proto-NE terms were made to agree with PIE and therefore do not reflect reliable reconstructions of PNE.
.
The true Historical linguist looks at the changes that have occured in a language through the comparison of successive synchronic grammars as indicated by text written in the various grammars. The absence of ancient text in the sub-languages of NE, except for Egyptian and Mande makes any discussion of archaic NE, post-classic NE and etc., a mute point.
.
In summary, Mboli has to support his claims for various periods of Egyptian and Black African languages with written or textual evidence, which would evidence the grammar of a language at a particular time in history. Textual evidence for Egyptian-Black African languages for the periods in Black African-Egyptian languages does not exist.
Mboli wants the PNE to agree with Proto-Indo-European (PIE) terms. As a result in Mboli’s reconstructions of proto-terms he usually adds /h, w /to his reconstructions, just like they are found in PIE.
In African languages aspiration or non-aspiration of plosives usually gives a word a variety of meanings. Westerman and Ward, in Practical Phonetics for Students of African Languages, recommends that they be written as digraphs, ph,th,kh. In African languages aspiration is used to give words different meanings
Swahili
Unaspirated…………………………………………………………………………………………………..Aspirated
Tembo ‘palm wine’ ………………………………………………………………………………thembo ‘elephant’
Paa ‘roof of a house’…………………………………………………………………………………..phaa ‘gazelle’
Kaa ‘coal’………………………………………………………………………………………………………khaa ‘crab’
The reconstructions of Mboli for cattle, lamb, ram and horse are below.
In these reconstructions Mboli introduces the fricative or aspirated element represented by /ph/ to his reconstruction of PNE to indicate articulation of the consonant.
The addition of /h, w/ was unnecessary because the African forms of the words cattle, horse and etc., do not need aspitation. Let’s look at the term for cattle, cow.
Much of the evidence relating to this pastoral way of life comes from the discovery of cattle bones at excavated sites in the Sahara dated between 7000-2000 BC, and the rock drawings of cattle (McIntosh &McIntosh 1981). In the western Sahara, sites such as Erg In-Sakane region, and the Taoudenni basin of northern Mali, attest to cattle husbandry between 6000 and 5000 BP. The ovicaprid husbandry on the other hand began in this area between 5000 to 3000 BP. Cattle pastoral people began to settle Dar Tichitt and Karkarichinkat between 5000 to 3500 BP.
The term for cattle,cow in the various African languages show much correspondence. Below we will compare the term for cow from various African languages:
- CATTLE/ COW
Egyptian ng, nag
Wolof nag
Peul/Fulfulde nag
Angas ning
Ankwe ning
Susu ninge
Nuer yang
Baguirmi m-ang, mang
Gbea m-angu, mangu
Sar(a) m-ang, mang
Serere nak
Mande nika
Burma nak
Jarawa i-nak
Kagoro nyak
Kaje nyak
Burak nyek
Kagoma nyak
Bobo nyanga
Kono-Vai nige
So.W. Mande ninke
Sembla nigi
Congo-Benue *i-nak
Duala nyaka
Mpongwe nyare
Fang nyar
Kwa nare
Azer(Azayr) na
Soninke na
Gourmantche nua, nue
Senufo nu
Ewe nyi
Niellim nya
Boua (Bwa) nya
Tarok ina
Iregwe nya
Dadiya nee
Amo na
Baya nday
Bobofing nya-nga
Gera ndiya
Koro indak
Hausa nagge
Dravidian Languages
Tamil naku
Tulu naku
The oldest written evidence from Africa comes from the Egyptian language. The Egyptian terms for cattle/ cow were ng and nag . In other African languages we find either the consonant n-, before the consonant g/k , e.g., n/v______(v)g/k ;or the nasal consonant n- , before the vowels -i,-y , and -a , e.g., n+i+a = nia , or n+y+a = nya .
This evidence of cognition in African terms for cattle/cow shows considerable correspondence in consonants and vowels within roots.
Table 1.
Correspondence within Roots
- Niger-Congo Nilotic Mande Chadic
Egyptian
-g/-k g -g/-k -k -g
-s- -s- -z- s/z
-n- -n- -n- -m- n-
Table 2.
Correspondence within Vowels
Niger-Congo Nilotic Mande Chadic Egyptian
-i/-y -i/-y -i/-y -y
a/u a a/u a/u a
The linguistic evidence supports the view that the Paleo-African term for cattle/cow was *n'n , *n'g /n'k , and *nia . This data also makes it clear that /g/ and /k/ were interchangeable consonants long before the separation of the speakers of Negro-Egyptian into distinct African cultural and linguistic groups.
This review of the linguistic evidence for cow/cattle in African languages does not support Mboli’s proto-term for cattle:
•
• *h.hm cattle (Egyptian)
• *ƞwkeƞwe, cattle (Bantu ngome)
These words are from Mboli page 591.
The linguistic evidence for African terms for cattle make it clear the Proto-NE term would not be aspirated.
It appears that Mboli constructed this term with aspiration to make it analogous to PIE terms for cattle. It appears to me that Mboli’s reconstructions of Proto-NE terms were made to agree with PIE and therefore do not reflect reliable reconstructions of PNE.
.
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