Afrihili

Constructed language

• Plan language International plan language

Afh

Afh

Afrihili is a constructed language that was designed by KA Kumi Attobrah as an early lingua franca for the whole of Africa in 1970.

The name of the language is a combination of Africa and Swahili. The author, a native Akrokerri from Ghana, in 1967 the idea on a sea voyage from Dover to Calais. His intention was that "it would promote among the different peoples of the continent unity and understanding, to reduce costs in the print through translations and trade promoted " was. The language should be easy for Africans to learn.

Afrihili draws 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 it does not seem strange ," although no specific etymologies are given by the author.

The language uses the Latin alphabet with the addition of two vowel symbols, ɛ and ɔ, which are also present in Africa alphabet and the sounds the same call, as in the International phonetic alphabet, namely open- mid back and vowels, as in several West African languages ​​such as Ewe and Yoruba.

The grammar seems very complex for most users Indo- European languages, eg the distinctions and the use of infixes. These peculiarities can be found but in different African languages ​​, especially in Swahili. The inventor of the Afrihili wanted to make it " African".

A special feature is that all nouns in Afrihili begin with a vowel and end, and thus the nouns can be easily distinguished from other word classes. The plural is formed by replacing the first and the last vowel.

Emphasis or accent does not change the meaning of a word. The emphasis is, however, usually set on the second syllable.

Vocabulary

Zuri lu ... Good day

Zuri zinga ... Good morning

Zuri masa ... good afternoon

Zuri dani ... Good evening

Zuri bali ... Good night

Jo koni ... Go at once

! Afuraho ... Cheers!

Sama papa obeka dude al ... Find a good place to eat

Credentials

• K. A. Kumi Attobrah: Ni Afrihili Oluga. The African Continental Language ( First Edition, 1970; Second Edition, 1973)

• Plan language
• Culture (Africa)