The Languages of West Africa ...K. Paul, Trench, Trubner & Company, 1911 - Africa, West |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
Abure Adaka adjective Adyukru Agglutinative aorist Ashanti auxiliary bakh Bambara Bete Bole Bubi Bullom C'est Cape Coast consonant Dagomba Delafosse dialects Efik English enye enyo European Fanti form the plural Fula Gbari Gold Coast grammar Grunshi Guang Hausa họ homme Igara Igbira indef indicative inflection Kakanda Kanuri Keguem Kofi Konno Krepi LANGUAGES OF WEST Malinke Mandingo meaning Mekyibo Mende Mende language Musu nani negative negro Newole Niger noun ntama Nupe Nyin Nyonu onwa onye participle particle Plawi plural form plural suffix possessor prefix preposition pronoun pronoun and verb race sentence sika singular Songhay Soninke sound suffix Susu TABLES OF NUMERALS Temne tense tribes verb verb stem vowel West Africa West African languages Wolof word Yoruba
Popular passages
Page 48 - An approximation, however, to the sound is alone aimed at. A system which would attempt to represent the more delicate inflections of sound and accent would be so complicated as only to defeat itself.
Page 85 - On such occasions fathers and mothers, and all who can bear a burden, often set out for weeks at a time, and leave their children to the care of two or three infirm old people. The infant progeny, some of whom are beginning to lisp, while others can just master a whole sentence, and those still further advanced, romping and playing together, the children of nature, through the livelong day, become habituated to a language of their own. The more voluble condescend to the less precocious, and thus,...
Page 48 - One accent only is used, the acute, to denote the syllable on which stress is laid. This is very important, as the sounds of many names are entirely altered by the misplacement of this
Page 48 - ... is the sound of the two Italian vowels, but is frequently slurred over, when it is scarcely to be distinguished from ey in the English they, or ei in eight.
Page 47 - Neither will any change be made in the spelling of such names in languages which are not written in Roman character as have become by long usage familiar to English readers : thus Calcutta, Cutch, Celebes, Mecca, etc., will be retained in their present form.
Page 47 - The true sound of the word as locally pronounced will be taken as the basis of the spelling. 4. An approximation, however, to the sound is alone aimed at. A system which would attempt to represent the more delicate inflections of sound and accent would be so complicated as only to defeat itself.
Page 49 - As in English. has two separate sounds, the one hard as in the English word finger, the other as in singer. As these two sounds are rarely employed in the same locality, no attempt is made to distinguish between them. As in English. should never be employed ; qu is given as kw As in English.
Page 47 - Mecca, etc., will be retained in their present form. 3. The true sound of the word as locally pronounced will be taken as the basis of the spelling.
Page 48 - The following amplification of these rules explains their application :— LETTERS. PRONUNCIATION AND REMARKS. a ah, a as in father.. e eh, a as in fate i English e ; i as in ravine ; the sound of ee in beet. .. Thus, not Feejee, but...
Page 48 - The broad features of the system are, that vowels are pronounced as in Italian and consonants as in English. 6. One accent only is used — the acute — to denote the syllable on which stress is laid. 7. Every letter is pronounced. When two vowels come together each one is sounded, though the result, when spoken quickly, is sometimes scarcely to be distinguished from a single sound, as in ai, au, ei. 8. Indian names are accepted as spelt in Hunter's Gazetteer.