The African languages

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Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2008 11:01 pm

As the aspiring linguist that I am, I find it interesting on the ways people express them self in different languages. The African languages have caught my interest but I don't intend on learning them for reasons of not visiting their countries.
It would shock the lad to know that you are speaking a language of his country around him! Laughing

The most common one that is spoken or talked about I guess is Swahili.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_languages

I also found it interesting that the moré language (an official language of Burkina Faso) was on the Foreign Language institute website.

They are put into four language families:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afro-Asiatic_languages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nilo-Saharan_languages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niger-Congo_languages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khoisan_languages

Unclassified languages
A fair number of unclassified languages are reported in Africa; many remain unclassified simply for lack of data, but among the better-investigated ones may be listed:

possibly Afro-Asiatic: Ongota
possibly Nilo-Saharan: Shabo
possibly Niger-Congo: Bangi-me, Laal, and Jalaa.
possibly Khoe: Kwadi
Less well investigated ones include Bete, Bung, Kujarge, Lufu, Mpre, Oropom, and Weyto. Several of these are extinct, and adequate comparative data is thus unlikely to be forthcoming.

In addition, the placement of Kadu, Omotic, Kordofanian, Dogon, Hadza, and Sandawe - among others - is controversial.

Here's a more useful links:
http://www.africanlanguages.org/
http://www.muturzikin.com/carteafrique.htm

Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2008 11:21 pm

If I may offer some insight into the language groups stemming from both my interest in history and the many years that I lived in Africa.

The "Afro-Asiatic" languages (as they are referred to) are simply ones that have been heavily influenced by (or simply are) Arabic. The Islamic conquests of the 7th century were the root of this. These are not native to Africa in the same way that English is not native to North America.

The "Niger-Congo" languages, which I simply refer to as the Bantu languages, are the result - or rather, their similarity is a result - of the expansion of the Bantu people across Africa. This in the same way that the Germanic languages of Europe (pre-colonial) are a result of mass migrations of the Germanic-speaking people.

The "Khoisan" languages are largely extinct due to a combination of the Bantu expansion and colonization. The majority of speakers of this language today reside in places largely untouched by technology and still live their traditional lifestyle.

I hope I may have added something that you are unlikely to find in Wikipedia.

Posted: Wed Nov 05, 2008 12:35 am

NickTheCop wrote:

All that stuff above. Please don't quote whole posts, thanks. Smile

- Roy

Good to know. Yeah, wikipedia isn't really the most useful since everyone and anyone can edit it. Not to mention the edit wars that go on there as well but it was all I could come up with at the moment. The links from wikipedia are useful though.

Posted: Wed Nov 05, 2008 12:55 am

Wikipedia can be a fast and free source of information, no doubt. Even I'm guilty of using it on many occasions. I was just adding some tidbits of information that are less likely to be found there. I find experience is the best source of information.

Trophy Videos · Posted: Wed Nov 05, 2008 1:56 am

@Koko.Dk - You said:

Quote:

It would shock the lad to know that you are speaking a language of his country around him!

This indeed can be a good weapon to use. I have used a language of Benin sparingly to convince a lad that my character was real.
After all, our use of language is our strongest weapon against the lads. It leads to everything else - wasting their time and money, getting them to give up bank account info, getting trophies and safaris. Any knowledge you gain in African languages is bound to help you somewhere in baiting. Welcome to eater, and thanks for the links. I bookmarked them and put them in my tools folder. Very Happy

Posted: Wed Nov 05, 2008 1:57 am

There are so many African languages.

In South Africa there are 9 official African languages:

IsiNdebele
IsiXhosa
IsiZulu
Northern Sotho
Sesotho
Setswana
SiSwati
Tshivenda
Xitsonga

Then we have an unofficial language- Fanagalo which can be viewed as pidgin - a simplified version of Zulu, Xhosa, English, Dutch and Afrikaans (spoken on the mines)

Posted: Wed Nov 05, 2008 10:05 pm

~ SlapHappy,

How did the lad respond when you used the language?
You're welcome.

Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 1:40 am

From my own experience I found that lads themselves can sometimes be best language teachers. My romance baits seems to be best sources of that learning, as in "gee honey, how do you say xxxx in your language?"
This way I picked up a little Igbo and Yoruba, though nowhere enough to impress a random lad.

I had an opportunity to visit Igboland in the summer and much to my dismay I found that I must be tone deaf...at least as far as Igbo is concerned - it is a tonal language. Armed with a dictionary, I had three separate native speakers pronounce the word "akwa" to me from the dictionary. Depends how it is said, it can mean: cry, cloth, egg, or bed. I didn't hear much difference... So much for great bait ideas....I'll want to tell the lad I am ready to cry and he'll think that I am ready to bed him. Shocked

Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 2:02 am

^^ A bit off-topic, but did you get to visit the legendary Lagos?

Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 3:27 am

@Nick. Flew out of MM couple times recently and spent a few days in and around Lagos. Been to other places in the CFA zone too. PM if you want to chat about any place in particular.

Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 5:04 pm

Sleepless: Really? That's cool but albeit it only works in romance baits and not the typical bait I'm guessing. Confused

Oh and here's a good language website if anyone wants to check it out: http://www.omniglot.com

Trophy Videos · Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 6:22 pm

@Koko.Dk - When I said that my houngan character was in touch with his dead grandmother's spirit, I used the phrases, "BE NKA BI" (no one should bite the other) and "SESA WO SUBAN" (change your character) as the words she was telling the lad. It definitely helped convince him that my character was a real person, and he believed everything the houngan said was true after that, and never questioned a single thing the character said.

Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 9:57 pm

http://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/sesotho.php
http://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/afrikaans.php
http://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/swahili.php
http://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/xhosa.php
http://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/zulu.php

Here are some phrases that maybe useful for some baits.

Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 10:09 pm

^^ All of those languages save for Swahili are from South Africa. Also, Afrikaans is a branch-off language (forgive the term, I couldn't think of a proper one) of Dutch.

Although South Africa does have its fair share of 419ers, most of them speak English even at home.

I have yet to hear of scammers from Swahili-speaking countries. I'm not saying they don't exist, they're just rare, like Norwegian scammers.

The languages of West Africa would be more useful for baiting. Such as Wolof for Senegalese scammers, Igbo and Yoruba (primarily) for Nigerian scammers, and so forth.

Hope that helps.

Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 10:46 pm

Nick the Cop: Are southern African countries less likely to scam? Or is the government more stable down there? Or do you not know?

Yoruba/Igbo-Nigeria
Wolof- Senegal
Moré- Burina Faso

Now the question is getting them to speak them. I know most of Africa knows French, so I could try it but they might insist English though. I had a lad from Côte d'ivoire (Ivory Coast) tell me not to contact the lawyer in French.

Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 1:31 am

^^ Typically 419 scammers are from Western Africa as that is where the whole thing was developed. Nigerian university students in the 80s if I'm not mistaken.

Southern African countries like Namibia and Botswana have relatively stable governments. It is important that you take note of the word "relatively". South Africa, another country in Southern Africa, (be careful not to confuse the two) also has a relatively stable government but for some reason the 419 phenomenon has spread much faster there.

As for Eastern African countries - where Swahili is spoken - I have yet to come accross a 419-esque scam from there. Again, I'm not saying that they don't exist, just that they are very uncommon.

Finally, here's an easy reference to Francophonic Africa. (Don't mind Vietnam) EDIT: (...or India, for that matter)

Baiting Guru Joined: 08 Jul 2004 Posts: 11857 Location: UK

Damn, and I thought the best known language in Africa was the $ Laughing

Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 6:13 pm

Scam Patroller: Money Lolz? Laughing

Nick the cop: I know Afrikaans is a language derived from Dutch (The Flemish dialect- an immigrant from South Africa corrected me that it was Flemish and not Dutch, even though Flemish is a dialect of Dutch Rolling Eyes

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Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 6:39 pm

Although primarily derived from Dutch/Flemish, the version spoken today had many other influences.

Dutch
Khoikoi
Portugese
Malays
French Hugenots
Germans
Indonesians
West Africans

Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 6:41 pm

I have always been a little discouraged that I could not use my Kiswahili in a bait. I have never encountered a scammer from East Africa (although I am sure there are some). I have my nose in my books again since I will be back in Kenya on the 30th of January. One interesting thing that I have noticed about the east african countries is that West African people living there seem to cause a significant amount of the crime. Sort of like Jamaicans in Florida (and other types of profiling). I knw that the Kenyans loath Nigerians and enjoy laughing at their television programs since they always have a spiritual element (ghosts).

Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 6:54 pm

Hi Larry,
I caught the post in which you will be returning to Kenya on Jan. 30. I know it is a long shot, but would you have anything to do with the
David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust? We donate to it is why I'm asking.

Thanks,
Skinner

Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2009 5:08 am

Here's something on Moré:
http://fsi-language-courses.com/Mor%C3%A9.aspx

A forum on Yoruba:
http://www.abibitumikasa.com/forums/yoruba-language-resources/

Igbo phrases:
http://www.geocities.com/athens/acropolis/3629/phrases.html

http://www.wolofonline.com/