Talk:Afrihili

Inconsistency in the article

The article states that "One of Afrihili's special features is that all nouns begin with and end in a vowel, by which the nouns can be distinguished from other word classes." (italics mine) However, several of the examples give nouns which begin with consonants and end with vowels. Examples:

Zuri lu... Good day

Zuri zinga... Good morning

Zuri masa... Good afternoon

Zuri dani... Good evening

Zuri bali... Good night

Even assumin gthat only the first and last vowels would be switched to create a plural, for at least one of these - masa, meaning afternoon, the plural would be exactly the same as the singular.

Perhaps someone with a solid knowledge of Afrihili can clarify this. - LeeNapier 16:24, 18 May 2007 (UTC)

Been some time, but: Times of the day are simply not regarded nouns in Afrihili. 90.136.28.175 (talk) 12:08, 2 January 2010 (UTC)

"A day" is alu, for example, pl. presumably ulu. So, yeah, maybe they're considered adverbs in these expressions. — kwami (talk) 17:15, 29 May 2011 (UTC)

vocab

This isn't wiktionary, but I want to keep track of the roots I've been able to determine, so they're going here. Much is from the 1971 newsletter, however, and I don't know how much was revised in the 1973 edition of the book. (Thus the question marks: the left margin is clipped on p. 2.) — kwami (talk) 17:42, 29 May 2011 (UTC)

Afrihili vocab gleaned from wherever available
!Afrika te.	long live africa!
#-na	#-th, -rd, -nd
? yo'ɛ	so it is
?ta	has visited
?ai	there is
?ma	become
?nga	a doctor	Sw. m-ganga
[K]ongo-la	the Congoʼs (war)
[?]eri	to stand
[?]nya	to pretend	Sw. ji-fanya
[?]rɛ	almost
[?]uma	instead of
adoncho	ambulance
Afrika	Africa
afu	?
agoji	money
ahadisini	vocab
a-hila	manouvres (root?)	Sw./Ar. hila stratagem, trick
a-ka	branches [root?]
akando	a union
akili	mind (intelligence)	Sw./Ar. akili
Akraa	Accra
a-kwa	poems [root?]
al dude	(in order) to eat
alsarufi	a grammar	Ar. al-sarufi
alu	a day
alu bi	in the future [= 'some day']
a-motsoala [pl]	?
a-nsenia	scales [root?]
arabiyado	lorry
arafi	letter (correspondance)
arenobo	?
asiko	time
atapiro	?
awusinu	continent
a-zegaba	forecasts [gaba before]
baba	great
baitu	?
bali	at night
bari	two
bela	intends
bɛ	?
bi	some
binda	to write
bona	to see
buza	to ask a question
chache	less	Sw. chache few
d-	with, -y
da	to do
da	as
dani	in the evening
dɛna	what?
dinga	to continue
du	to eat
du	(PN) all
duka	all
dunasu	October [< 'ten'?]
echi	water
e-fre	news
ekati	centre
ekori	circumference
el-	? (el-Afrihili)
ena	war?
e-nse	people
epengi	sun
etogo	a house
ewiasi	world
ɛn	in
ɛndɛmo	a town
ɛranda	a taxi
ɛtukana	breakfast
faulu	acheive	Sw./Ar. faulu
fua	to die
fua-se	dead
funda	to complain
furaha	happy	Sw./Ar. furaha
furaha-wi-se	is happy
gaba	before
Gana	Ghana
genda	travel
geni	ɛmɛgeni: foreigner	Sw. -geni
haraka [verify]	quick	Sw./Ar. haraka
haraka-lo	quickly
ni Hili	(short for Afrihili)
huru	to establish
imao	?
i-nji	numbers [root?]
inta	?
jika	to close
jira	to wait for
jo	to go
k-	without, -less
kabe	to advize
kama	if	Sw. kama
kana	one
karati	to harvest
kari	such [a]
kaza	fixes (make fast)	Sw. kaza
ke bongo	it may be so
kena	to dance
keno	to bring
kɛna	which, that
kika	?
kimya	still	Sw. kimya
kisi	some (of)
ko	not
koda	although
kokari	to try
kola	to work
koni	at once
kre	it being
kukua	to shout
kupitia	through	(Sw. kupitia to pass by)
kupitia-paasa	through-out
kusa	near
kutu	around, about [quantity]
kwa	by (car, train)	Sw. kwa
kware	there being
l-	-y, -ish, -al (like, as, pertaining to)
lawunte	"new international" [cf. awusinu]
lazima	must	Sw./Ar. lazima,
lɛda	create
lɛmani akwati	P.O. box
lɛ-milki-shi	imperialist	Sw./Ar. milki king
lɛ-raha	easy [cf. rahisi]	Sw./Ar. rest, repose
lɛraha-noho-lo	more easily
? limbi	and balance (vb)
liwa	?
lowa	[it] has come
-lɔ	-ify (electrify), cause, render
lu	at/by day, < alu
luduri	to run (root?)
lundi	to arrive
ma	too (or maybe just 'very')
mai	to have
masa	in the afternoon
memezela	to publish
mono	to disgrace
mora	to use
mu	in	Sw. -mo
na	and	Sw. na
-nd-	aluga-nda dialects
ndeke	to call [rendeke]
nehi	?
nesa	?
ngi	to sleep
ni	the
no	?
obeka	a place
ofeka	a country
o-fre-kukuo	newspapers
oketeke	a train
okisiwa	?
okokota	lotto
o-liso	eyes [root?]
oluga	language	Sw./Ar. lugha
omukama	a king
omukazi	a girl
omulenzi	a boy
omuntu	man, person
onse	people
ora	fat (n)
ore	south: Afrika Ore - South Africa
ɔndu	the point [extent]
paasa	out(side)
pale	there	Sw. pa-le
papa	good
pe	of
pewa	recieve	Sw. pe-wa
pɛna	when
pinu	to determine
pira	to wound, injure
pokea	to adopt (s.t.)	Sw. po-kea accept
rahisi	simple	Sw./Ar. rahisi
re-bi	following
rendeke	call [root = ndeke?]
reti	hear (root = ti?)
ro	fat (adj - < ora)
sa	to buy
sabo	new
sadiki	to believe	Sw./Ar. sadiki
sama	to find
sana	to drink
sene	to increase
-sh-	-ism
shi	down (ta shi - sit down)
shube	to thank
si	to work
so	?
soma	to read	Sw. soma
sua	to study, to learn
suku	to serve
ta [shi]	sit [down]
tabonadi	?
taga	to help [= taya?]
tajiri	rich?	Sw./Ar. tajiri
taka	want	Sw. taka
tare	?
taya	to help [= taga?]
te	beside, next to, with
telunasu	September [< 'nine'?]
tɛ	for
ti	to hear [or reti]
tin	under
to	to, against
tɔ	?
tu	from
tuhu	to lose
tumaini	hope	Sw./Ar. tumaini
tumi-lɔ	impossible
u-fre-fi	newsletter
u-kin?u	things [presumably –kintu]
u-kuetu	?
umeme	electricity	Sw. umeme
umuti	tree
uzo	road
vova	speak
wa	to come
wa-te	come back
wako	to drive
wɛna	?
yɛ	is
yi	to live (be alive)
yiyai	ɛ-yiya-i - understanding
yoki	to understand
you	?
zata	think
zima	whole	Sw. -zima
zinga	in the morning
zuri	pleasant?	Sw. -zuri

A quick look through an Ewe vocabulary list seems to indicate that's a source language, too. — WmAnnis (talk) 12:45, 24 July 2012 (UTC)

Notability

Enough to be assigned an ISO code and for Blench to cover it. That's a much as we get for many obscure languages. Also notable for being one of very few African conlangs, which tend to be a Western thing these days. — kwami (talk) 21:45, 4 March 2013 (UTC)

Use

Did it see some use beyond its author? --Error (talk) 21:10, 29 November 2015 (UTC)

I'd also like to know about critical or political response to this language. Likeanechointheforest (talk) 18:01, 15 March 2021 (UTC)