Languages of ME and Africa

[war&peace]

@Desert Fox @PAKISTANFOREVER

Calling for reinforcement

 

[El Sidd]

Calling for reinforcement

Nope.

Just hoping that they share their experiences here

 

[Saif al-Arab]

6 continents (minus Antarctica) but 4 slots...how to balance... ??

2 full-blooded ones and 2 mixtures each having ancestral ties to the 4 remaining continents.

Well they are 2 different languages but they use the same script. We do have an additional letter though in the Tigrinya script and some letters, even though written the same as Amharic are not pronounced the same as Amharic has lost some sounds over history. They are also not mutually intelligible.
And it is very hard to communicate, but Amharic is used as the federal working language of the country and most urban areas have a good understanding of it. And nope, no similarity with Somali apart from a few words here and there.

Tigrinya is a bit closer to Arabic, mainly phonology but still very different. There are many many similar words however. And yes they are a bit closer but still very different to the South Arabian ones.

Thanks for the detailed reply Wedi. Always a pleasure talking with you.

So Amharic is the lingua franca of Ethiopia while Tingriya is the lingua franca of Eritrea? I know that Arabic (Rashaida) and English are the official languages in Eritrea along with Tigrinya (main language).

So you must be from Northern Ethiopia (next to the Eritrean border) since you are a Tigrinya?

How do you feel about Eritrea splitting from Ethiopia? Do Ethiopians and Eritreans hate each other nowadays or has this stopped somewhat? I know that there is a crazy regime in power in Eritrea currently but what about people's real views (non-state propaganda)?

Also can you tell me about the Rashaida a bit or are you unfamiliar with them?

Lastly, as I told you a few months ago, I have tried Ethiopian cuisine a few times (I was pleasantly surprised each time) but are there other dishes that you can recommend other than injera and wat?

BTW to date the only people that can make coffee as good as us Arabians/Arabs, are the Ethiopians. You really have a very strong coffee culture just like us and it seems that you have a few ceremonies related to coffee making too. I remember eating in a cosy Ethiopian restaurant and drinking coffee in a traditional manner that was served by a beautiful Habesha girl that I talked with for some time.

EDIT: You should make a thread about Ethiopia on PDF. It would be interesting. I once made a thread but it ended up with trolling. Horn of Africa is a relatively peaceful region of the world (excluding Somalia) and it is a good region to invest in, in particular Ethiopia.

 

[wedi]

Thanks for the detailed reply Wedi. Always a pleasure talking with you.

So Amharic is the lingua franca of Ethiopia while Tingriya is the lingua franca of Eritrea? I know that Arabic (Rashaida) and English are the official languages in Eritrea along with Tigrinya (main language).

So you must be from Northern Ethiopia (next to the Eritrean border) since you are a Tigrinya?

How do you feel about Eritrea splitting from Ethiopia? Do Ethiopians and Eritreans hate each other nowadays or has this stopped somewhat? I know that there is a crazy regime in power in Eritrea currently but what about people's real views (non-state propaganda)?

Also can you tell me about the Rashaida a bit or are you unfamiliar with them?

Lastly, as I told you a few months ago, I have tried Ethiopian cuisine a few times (I was pleasantly surprised) but are there other dishes that you can recommend other than injera and wat?

Yeah pretty much and yes I am.
I don't really have a viewpoint on it but it doesn't bother me. The politics-obsessed do hate each other, a lot but I don't think the younger generation really hate each other, and definitely not the diaspora.
And I am unfamiliar with them, an Eritrean would know more about them. To be honest I don't think many Ethiopians (in Ethiopia) would have even heard about them as they are a very isolated group.

Have you tried all the stews.Our other dishes I don't really think you'd find outside of the country as they are either for breakfast or just something we'd have with coffee or gatherings. Ga'at/genfo for example, looks a bit like the Yemeni aseed dish, just not fish.
---
Although I don't think it's been classified as South Arabian https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himyaritic_language from the example sentence on wiki,
raʾay-ku bi-n-ḥulm ka-walad-ku ibn-an min ṭīb "I saw in a dream that I gave birth to a son of gold."
In Tigrinya would be, bihilmey si wedi werqi inawaladku hadire.
What is it in Arabic?
ra'ayku also means 'I saw' in Tigrinya but just wouldn't be right in this sentence.

 

[Desert Fox]

Nope.

Just hoping that they share their experiences here

Lol bro.

If you want my take on it then this is what I have to say: Africa is a beautiful place with a diverse population of beautiful peoples. And honestly I wish them all the best.

However, for me as a Pakistani my own people are more precious to me. My own Pakistani culture is more precious to me because my soul is connected to it. I can relate to my own. Doesn't mean I have hatred for others.

Just as I'm sure for any parent their own child is more precious to them but that doesn't mean they hate other children.

@Psychic @The Sandman @Sher Shah Awan @PAKISTANFOREVER @Nilgiri @PakSword

 

[Saif al-Arab]

Yeah pretty much and yes I am.
I don't really have a viewpoint on it but it doesn't bother me. The politics-obsessed do hate each other, a lot but I don't think the younger generation really hate each other, and definitely not the diaspora.
And I am unfamiliar with them, an Eritrean would know more about them. To be honest I don't think many Ethiopians (in Ethiopia) would have even heard about them as they are a very isolated group.

Have you tried all the stews.Our other dishes I don't really think you'd find outside of the country as they are either for breakfast or just something we'd have with coffee or gatherings. Ga'at/genfo for example, looks a bit like the Yemeni aseed dish, just not fish.
---
Although I don't think it's been classified as South Arabian https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himyaritic_language from the example sentence on wiki,
raʾay-ku bi-n-ḥulm ka-walad-ku ibn-an min ṭīb "I saw in a dream that I gave birth to a son of gold."
In Tigrinya would be, bihilmey si wedi werqi inawaladku hadire.
What is it in Arabic?
ra'ayku also means 'I saw' in Tigrinya but just wouldn't be right in this sentence.

That's interesting. I just wanted to know how the average Ethiopian, more precisely an Tigrinya would feel about Eritrea leaving Ethiopia. After all Tigrinya of all people (due to the close ethnic ties to the Eritrean Tigrinya community), I would assume, would feel most strongly about this.

No, just the basic ones. I don't recall their names. They contained lamb, beef and chicken meat (no pork in sight of course - I don't think that pork is eaten by any community in the Horn of Africa regardless of religion but I might be wrong as it is just my own theory) and vegetables and cheeses.

Interesting. I will give it a try. I imagine that you guys each much less fish/seafood in general than Yemenis and Arabians for obvious reasons being an mountain people.


حلمت بولادة طفل من ذهب

Halemt beweladat tefel min zahab in fus7a (Modern Standard Arabic).

But if you want it in a lateral translation verbatim, then it could be worded like this:

Ra'aytu fe holomen anni waledtu ibnan men thahab / this with adding the correct MSA vowels, but one can do without them;

Ra'ayt fe holom anni waledt ibn men thahab

Although if you wanted to communicate this sentence to an Arab it would be better worded like this below:

Shoft felmanam enni khalaft walad men thahab.

Anyway Himyaritic (3000 + years old) was most likely similar to Old South Arabian languages and ancient Arabic dialects of Southern Arabia.

BTW not sure if you watched the video that I posted but apparently the most widely accepted theory of how Semitic languages ended up in Horn of Africa (mainly the highlands of Ethiopia and Eritrea) was due to ancient Southern Arabian migrations from the North and intermarriages with local Cushitic speakers. This is largely confirmed by DNA and the fact that Amharic for instance seems to have quite a few Cushitic loanwords that are found in no other Semitic language.

Watch from 1.24 minute onwards in this video below (I posted it a page earlier in this thread):

 

[The Sandman]

However, for me as a Pakistani my own people are more precious to me. My own Pakistani culture is more precious to me because my soul is connected to it. I can relate to my own. Doesn't mean I have hatred for others.

You said everything!

 

[Desert Fox]

You said everything!

You already know it brother!

 

[wedi]

That's interesting. I just wanted to know how the average Ethiopian, more precisely an Tigrinya would feel about Eritrea leaving Ethiopia. After all Tigrinya of all people (due to the close ethnic ties to the Eritrean Tigrinya community), I would assume, would feel most strongly about this.

No, just the basic ones. I don't recall their names. They contained lamb, beef and chicken meat (no pork in sight of course - I don't think that pork is eaten by any community in the Horn of Africa regardless of religion but I might be wrong as it is just my own theory) and vegetables and cheeses.

Interesting. I will give it a try. I imagine that you guys each much less fish/seafood in general than Yemenis and Arabians for obvious reasons being an mountain people.


حلمت بولادة طفل من ذهب

Halemt beweladat tefel min zahab in fus7a (Modern Standard Arabic).

But if you want it in a lateral translation verbatim, then it could be worded like this:

Ra'aytu fe holomen anni waledtu ibnan men thahab / this with adding the correct MSA vowels, but one can do without them;

Ra'ayt fe holom anni waledt ibn men thahab

Although if you wanted to communicate this sentence to an Arab it would be better worded like this below:

Shoft felmanam enni khalaft walad men thahab.

Anyway Himyaritic (3000 + years old) was most likely similar to Old South Arabian languages and ancient Arabic dialects of Southern Arabia.

BTW not sure if you watched the video that I posted but apparently the most widely accepted theory of how Semitic languages ended up in Horn of Africa (mainly the highlands of Ethiopia and Eritrea) was due to ancient Southern Arabian migrations from the North and intermarriages with local Cushitic speakers. This is largely confirmed by DNA and the fact that Amharic for instance seems to have quite a few Cushitic loanwords that are found in no other Semitic language.

Watch from 1.24 minute onwards in this video below (I posted it a page earlier in this thread):

Oh right, yes those are the basic ones, and no we don't consume pork anywhere. There are also many vegan ones too fit for our fasting.

And hmmm, some words are similar but I wouldn't be able to figure that sentence out on it's own. Some words also sound the same but mean different things, tsähafi means writer for us, but I think sahafi means journalist in Arabic

Yeah that is the most accepted theory I think about the origin of the languages.

 

[Saif al-Arab]

Oh right, yes those are the basic ones, and no we don't consume pork anywhere. There are also many vegan ones too fit for our fasting.

And hmmm, some words are similar but I wouldn't be able to figure that sentence out on it's own. Some words also sound the same but mean different things, tsähafi means writer for us, but I think sahafi means journalist in Arabic

Yeah that is the most accepted theory I think about the origin of the languages.

That's what I thought and this was my impression as well. In fact I do not believe that pigs even exist in Horn of Africa like they do in much of Europe for instance.

It's funny when apparently (according to Wiki at least) one of the earliest signs of domestication of pigs occurred in the Near East. Something must have caused people to not eat or domesticate this animal (basically killing it off). I assume that it must have occurred even before the Abrahamic religions. Would not surprise me if it was related to diseases.

Yes, this was expected. I and most Arabic speakers in general would say the same about Tigrinya expect for maybe the few (in comparison with the 500 million or so Arabic speakers worldwide) native speakers of Modern South Arabian languages. I suspect that they are closer to South Semitic languages spoken in the Horn of Africa. However even such languages are much closer to Arabic and its local South Arabian and non-South Arabian dialects.

Yes that is correct. صحفي is how journalist is spelled in fus7a.

Pronounced as suhufiyy (if a male), suhufiyyun) (if addressing more than 1 journalist - plural in other words) and suhufiyya (female).

Yes, that is the case. Is that also the theory that South Semitic speakers from Ethiopia and Eritrea believe in? I mean do you feel any ancestral affinity (I know that those migrations happened ages ago but still) to people from Arabia and the Arab world? Or do most people not care about genetics and history at all and only highlight the bad stories whenever something unfortunate happens with a worker in the GCC (always a tiny minority of instances)? Just curious.

 

[PakSword]

Lol bro.

If you want my take on it then this is what I have to say: Africa is a beautiful place with a diverse population of beautiful peoples. And honestly I wish them all the best.

However, for me as a Pakistani my own people are more precious to me. My own Pakistani culture is more precious to me because my soul is connected to it. I can relate to my own. Doesn't mean I have hatred for others.

Just as I'm sure for any parent their own child is more precious to them but that doesn't mean they hate other children.

@Psychic @The Sandman @Sher Shah Awan @PAKISTANFOREVER @Nilgiri @PakSword

Aaj tou bari achi achi baatain kar raha hai mera bhai!

 

[Mugwop]

Maybe that's how they roll lol

The dilemma simply is that they compete for the same resource thus creating a cute brotherly rivalry but mostly religion plays the important role and some cultural stuff.

Quite fascinating

I don't think it's religion at all maybe territorial disputes.

 

[Desert Fox]

Aaj tou bari achi achi baatain kar raha hai mera bhai!

Lol bro that was always my stance.

Loving your own doesn't mean hating others.

 

[wedi]

That's what I thought and this was my impression as well. In fact I do not believe that pigs even exist in Horn of Africa like they do in much of Europe for instance.

It's funny when apparently (according to Wiki at least) one of the earliest signs of domestication of pigs occurred in the Near East. Something must have caused people to not eat or domesticate this animal (basically killing it off). I assume that it must have occurred even before the Abrahamic religions. Would not surprise me if it was related to diseases.

Yes, this was expected. I and most Arabic speakers in general would say the same about Tigrinya expect for maybe the few (in comparison with the 500 million or so Arabic speakers worldwide) native speakers of Modern South Arabian languages. I suspect that they are closer to South Semitic languages spoken in the Horn of Africa. However even such languages are much closer to Arabic and its local South Arabian and non-South Arabian dialects.

Yes that is correct. صحفي is how journalist is spelled in fus7a.

Pronounced as suhufiyy (if a male), suhufiyyun) (if addressing more than 1 journalist - plural in other words) and suhufiyya (female).

Yes, that is the case. Is that also the theory that South Semitic speakers from Ethiopia and Eritrea believe in? I mean do you feel any ancestral affinity (I know that those migrations happened ages ago but still) to people from Arabia and the Arab world? Or do most people not care about genetics and history at all and only highlight the bad stories whenever something unfortunate happens with a worker in the GCC (always a tiny minority of instances)? Just curious.

Does the root ص ح ف mean anything similar to 'write/books' too then? As that's what the letters in our alphabet correspond to in the word for write/writer/book etc.

And I wouldn't say they believe in that but that's partly because we rarely talk about origin of language, rather origin of our people instead.

 

[KediKesenFare3]

English,urdu,french little mandarin and German.