6 ms·

Hmm, I was under the impression Africa had no native written languages (besides ancient Egyptian). Please tell me I'm wrong.

crux 17y ago
Writing may not have been developed indigenously in non-Egyptian Africa, but that doesn't mean it couldn't have been imported—and early on, too. Like anywhere else, you have a spectrum running from languages written in an imported script (Arabic) to languages written in a script modified from an imported script (Ajami) to languages written in totally new scripts (nevertheless originally derived from imported scripts—Ge'ez)
mahmud 17y ago
Are you kidding me? Ethiopia alone has multiple scripts. Amazighi family of languages has a written form that's older than anything in use today.
- tfh 17y ago
  Well known are Amharic : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amharic http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amharic and Tifinagh (now taught in Morocco and Algeria) : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tifinagh http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tifinagh
- ricosroughnecks 17y ago
  Unfortunately, I'm not. Growing up in the inner-city (Detroit), the ONLY thing we learned about our ancestors' history was slavery. No desire to thread-jack, but being influenced by such an education system does wonders for one's self-esteem (especially at such a young age)... Seems I have a research topic for the day!
- plinkplonk 17y ago
  ">I was under the impression Africa had no native written languages Are you kidding me? Ethiopia alone has multiple scripts." Ah well, when I was living in the United States people used to ask me if we all used elephants for transport in India. I used to answer "Sure, we had this big stable of elephants and I went to school on one, as did all the kids in the neighbourhood. Actually I went to the airport for my trip here on the house elephant .. " (Fwiw, my great grandfather did own an elephant in the early 1900s but it used to haul lumber and take part in temple processions, not so much provide transport from point A to B ... )
ig1 17y ago
Tifinagh and Ge'ez are two prime examples, Sabaean might count as well depending on how you define native.
joeyo 17y ago
http://www.omniglot.com/writing/tifinagh.htm http://www.omniglot.com/writing/tifinagh.htm http://www.omniglot.com/writing/ethiopic.htm http://www.omniglot.com/writing/ethiopic.htm
eshi 17y ago
Someone already pointed out examples from East Africa. In west Africa, there is the native pictographs of Adinkra of Ghana. There is also the native Bagam writing system of Cameroon (extinct). In Nigeria, there was a script known as Nsibidi. Unfortunately, it's a common misconception that Africa had no writing systems or math.
GeoJawDguJin 17y ago
That's kind of a bogus question to begin with. Africa is not exactly culturally homogenous, and in fact Egypt (and a lot of nearby civilizations) would be more appropriately regarded as part of the ancient Middle East, owing to the fact that it was easier to cross the Red Sea than the Sahara.
- ricosroughnecks 17y ago
  I'm not sure what you mean by "bogus question." How would you classify these: Does Asia have any native writing systems? Or Europe? I consider them quite straight-forward. I am well aware of the cultural make-up of Africa. In regard to your statements about ancient Egypt, isn't that up for debate. You speak with a certainty that even most Egyptologist lack.

crux 17y ago

Writing may not have been developed indigenously in non-Egyptian Africa, but that doesn't mean it couldn't have been imported—and early on, too. Like anywhere else, you have a spectrum running from languages written in an imported script (Arabic) to languages written in a script modified from an imported script (Ajami) to languages written in totally new scripts (nevertheless originally derived from imported scripts—Ge'ez)

mahmud 17y ago

Are you kidding me? Ethiopia alone has multiple scripts. Amazighi family of languages has a written form that's older than anything in use today.

tfh 17y ago
Well known are Amharic : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amharic http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amharic and Tifinagh (now taught in Morocco and Algeria) : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tifinagh http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tifinagh
ricosroughnecks 17y ago
Unfortunately, I'm not. Growing up in the inner-city (Detroit), the ONLY thing we learned about our ancestors' history was slavery. No desire to thread-jack, but being influenced by such an education system does wonders for one's self-esteem (especially at such a young age)... Seems I have a research topic for the day!
plinkplonk 17y ago
">I was under the impression Africa had no native written languages Are you kidding me? Ethiopia alone has multiple scripts." Ah well, when I was living in the United States people used to ask me if we all used elephants for transport in India. I used to answer "Sure, we had this big stable of elephants and I went to school on one, as did all the kids in the neighbourhood. Actually I went to the airport for my trip here on the house elephant .. " (Fwiw, my great grandfather did own an elephant in the early 1900s but it used to haul lumber and take part in temple processions, not so much provide transport from point A to B ... )

ig1 17y ago

Tifinagh and Ge'ez are two prime examples, Sabaean might count as well depending on how you define native.

joeyo 17y ago

http://www.omniglot.com/writing/tifinagh.htm http://www.omniglot.com/writing/tifinagh.htm http://www.omniglot.com/writing/ethiopic.htm http://www.omniglot.com/writing/ethiopic.htm

eshi 17y ago

Someone already pointed out examples from East Africa. In west Africa, there is the native pictographs of Adinkra of Ghana. There is also the native Bagam writing system of Cameroon (extinct). In Nigeria, there was a script known as Nsibidi. Unfortunately, it's a common misconception that Africa had no writing systems or math.

GeoJawDguJin 17y ago

That's kind of a bogus question to begin with. Africa is not exactly culturally homogenous, and in fact Egypt (and a lot of nearby civilizations) would be more appropriately regarded as part of the ancient Middle East, owing to the fact that it was easier to cross the Red Sea than the Sahara.

ricosroughnecks 17y ago
I'm not sure what you mean by "bogus question." How would you classify these: Does Asia have any native writing systems? Or Europe? I consider them quite straight-forward. I am well aware of the cultural make-up of Africa. In regard to your statements about ancient Egypt, isn't that up for debate. You speak with a certainty that even most Egyptologist lack.