Afrihili

constructed language, zonal auxiliary language
Year dem found am	1970
Native label	Ɛl-Afrihili
Author name string	K.A. Kumi Attobrah
Writing system	Latin script

Afrihili (Ni Afrihili Oluga 'de Afrihili language') be a constructed language dem design insyd 1970 by Ghanaian historian K. A. Kumi Attobrah (Kumi Atɔbra) to be used as a lingua franca insyd all of Africa. De name of de language be a combination of Africa den Swahili. De author, a native of Akrokerri (Akrokɛri) insyd Ghana, na dem originally conceive of de idea insyd 1967 while on a sea voyage from Dover to Calais. Na ein intention be say "e go promote unity den understanding among de different peoples of de continent, reduce costs in printing secof translations den promote trade". Na e be is meant to be easy for Africans to learn.

Source languages

Afrihili dey draw ein phonology, morphology den syntax from various African languages, particularly Swahili den Akan (Attobrah ein native language). De lexicon dey cover various African languages, as well as words from chaw oda sources "so Africanized wey dem no dey appear foreign", although no specific etymologies be indicated by de author. However, de semantics be quite English, plus chaw calques of English expressions, perhaps secof de strong English influence on written Swahili den Akan. For example, mu be 'in', to be 'to', den muto be 'into'; similarly, kupitia be 'thru' (as insyd 'thru dis remedy'), paasa be 'out' (as insyd to go outsyd), den kupitia-paasa be 'thru out'—at least insyd de original, 1970 version of de language.

Script den pronunciation

De language dey use de Latin alphabet plus de addition of two vowel letters, ⟨Ɛ ɛ⟩ den ⟨Ɔ ɔ⟩, wich get dema values insyd Ghanaian languages den de IPA, [ɛ] den [ɔ]. Dem dey spell out foreign names phonetically rada dan insyd de original orthography, so for example 'Hastings' be spelled Hestins. Der be two digraphs, ⟨ch⟩ den ⟨sh⟩, wich get dema English den Swahili values, [tʃ] den [ʃ]. J den y sanso get dema English den Swahili values, [d͡ʒ] den [j]. Ng no be a digraph, buh dem pronounce as insyd English finger, [ŋɡ].

Vowels be a ɛ e i ɔ o u. Doubled vowel letters dey appear to be sequences, no be long vowels. Consonants be p t ch k, b d j g, m n ny, f s sh h, v z, l r y w.

Der be no tone. Stress be on de second-last vowel. Exclamation marks dey cam at de beginning of a clause, wich dey end insyd a comma anaa period as normal; question marks dey cam at de end.

Grammar

De grammar be similar to Swahili, buh in addition der be de 'vowel triangle', wich be central to Afrihili inflection:

             a
           /   \
          u     e           ɛ
         /       \          
        ɔ __ o __ i

Chaw grammatical processes be accomplished by exchanging a vowel plus ein directional opposite on de triangle: a give o, u give i, e give ɔ, den vice versa. For example, dem fi make a verb into an adjective by changing ein final vowel insyd dis manner: from pinu 'to determine' dey cam de adjective pini 'determinate'. Ɛ no dey participate insyd dese swaps, buh e be used insyd oda situations (below).

Sample phrases

Zuri lu – Good day (alu 'a 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 al dude – Find a good place chop

Kama mingipewa l'arafi gaba milijo paasa, mingijira lε. – If na I receive ein letter before I go out, I go wedge am.

Kwaku na Akua mai atapiro atajirin wɛna liwa yide fu kusa. Ni atapiro atajirin mai imulezi ibarin wɛna yɛ f'amotsoala. Ni amotsoala yɛ arenobo kika Kwaku na Akua baitu fu duka yɛ ukuetu upapam tare.

Ku atapiro mai afu okisiwa so nehi nesa bɛ, na ni imao no inta tabonadi you. Fumai arafi f'amotsoala tɔ okisiwa.

Text

De following text, from a 1971 newsletter, na dem clip on ein left margin. Missing words dey insyd 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

References

K. A. Kumi Attobrah (1970, 1973) Ni Afrihili Oluga. The African Continental Language
William S. Annis (2014) "Afrihili: An African Interlanguage", Fiat Lingua, April 2014

External links

An Afrihili newsletter (1971 version) on Roger Blench's website. (archived)
A summary of additional details of the verbal and derivational system, Afrihili Notes. (archived)