Linguistic Relations

Linguistic Relations
Presented by: Mohamed Adaroub Mohamed
Translated by: Zainab Tahir Hamad Galeeb- Khartoum
Proofed By: Jeantte Swackhamer- Khartoum

Language is the means of communication between humans; humans express their needs and feelings by speaking. Each group of people has its own language, and each language has its distinctive features that distinguish it as far as its sounds, lexicon and sentence construction are concerned.

It remains a reality that languages are not barren from aspects of similarities, that is irrespective of geographical distance or propinquity, and irrespective of whether that similarity is a result of influence or interaction or merely due to succession of thoughts; or whether that is due to what comparable environments might impose on the groups inhabiting them, or whether that was as a result of unity of origin; the mater which imposes a prolonged research, and which is witnessed in the well known classification for languages in the world to Semitic, Hamitc, Germanic, or the so called Hindu-European languages.

It is necessary to clarify here that the present study does not assume an existence of similarity or presence of relations between the Bedawiate(1) language and any other language, unless to the extent which can be proved through research and probation.

The question of accepting or rejection of similarity must be accomplished on clear principles and to the extent to which a research in a specific language leads; bearing in mind that it is inappropriate to build such results on a similarity of a sound here with another there or a word with another. Presence or absence of similarity must be based on more deeper studies on more than one factor of a language: sounds, sentence construction, definite articles, the numeral system and nomenclature or structure of numbers …etc.

But how can that be accomplished, and what are the aspects when available, it can be stated that there is some similarity between one language and another?

Methods are many and diverse, and consequently it is necessary to clarify here that the methodology used in this research is the comparison of aspects of the Bedawiate’s relations on two basic pillars: Their language and their living cultural reality, in such a way that aspects that are rejected by their language or cultural reality, the methodology does not principally accept either; and the reverse, that is what they do not categorically rejected, the methodology accepts and discusses.

First:
Since the research is on "Linguistic Relations", it is important to cite a part of the research relevant to the old Egyptian language. Reinich in his lexicon (Bedawiate- German), called (Wörterbuch), 1895, induces about 50 entries, from a total of 2500, contained in his lexicon, which he considered having a common historic origin.
The table below contains some entries from Reinich's lexicon:

Word in Bedawiate ‎Meaning Word in old Egyptian‎ Meaning
‘ab- ‘aba(pl.) child goat ‘ab- ‘ab-a(pl.) small animal
akir to be strong ‘aqer strengthen
‘am mouthful ‘am same meaning
‘ar grow ‘ar same meaning
eerih- rih see areX, reX same meaning
ausha urine wsš- wšš same meaning
finik chew feng, Heng same meaning
agem ignore, ignorant Xem, áXem same meaning
balool flame berber same meaning
hasib count hsb think, count
hiyu young camel, husband hay husband
kunti Faidherbia albida ‘Ana tree’ kwente wild fig
Kit clear, tranquil x.ux,Hut filter, clear, silver
mah morning, sun rise meH morning
siyam hay, grass simu,siamu same meaning
shuk soul, self suuH Same meaning
tiwi deny, disclaim twi Same meaning
naw loose, miss nehau Same meaning
hanquili hair- cutt style Heknehu Same meaning
lat leaf red sprout
nawar bucket nfr Same meaning
Nib'a hot, to warm neheP ( ph) Same meaning
simsim sesame semsem-t Same meaning
shi hundred s’a´ Same meaning
shibib look, see šefy- Xefy Same meaning
tam eat, taste ta’ap Same meaning
waw cry wa’ Same meaning
hatai horse heter Same meaning

Nevertheless, and due to further research, it is clear that the issue is much wider than fifty linguistic entries.

In a similar way that Reinich compared lexical items of Bedawiate to the Old Egyptian language, Senegalese author Sheikh Anta Diop compared the Wolof, to old Egyptian language in his book (Nations Négres et Culture)(2).

Important here is the discussion of the author, Sheikh Anta Diob, to his concept: "The Old Egyptian Civilization has Negroid Origins", from the standpoint of linguistic comparison between the ancient Egyptian language(3) with his own language, "The Wolof language"; where he concludes that the old Egyptian civilization is of Negroid Origins, and he says: (examples related to Wolof, have been taken from my knowledge about it). He also stated that: (Comparison between African languages does not lead to obscure relations, but to congruency of grammar and phonology rules in addition to a common stock of vocabulary, in such a way that this cannot be considered as a result of mere chance).
And he adds: (linguistic comparison between old Egyptian and Wolof, concretely speaking, will be more convincing, because it is so clear that it will not lead to a conclusion of presence of two different languages(4)).

It' It is not the scope of this article to demonstrate all of Diop's arguments; but it is important to clarify that he brought long schedules in a range of 50 pages of data where he showed similarities between the Old Egyptian and Wolof in areas of construction of plural nouns from singulars, the relations between demonstrative and relative pronouns, conjugation of verbs and negative articles; to the extent that he concluded: (One might believe sometimes that he speaks the same language(5)).

The following table lists some examples, from Diop's data, showing similarities between both languages:

Word & its meaning in old Egyptian Word & its meaning in Wolof
1. kif: Hold firmly kif: hold firmly, pull
2.Mi: give/ gave Mi: give/ gave
3. Nofert: beautiful, pretty Nofer: beautiful, pretty
4. Di: gave, heard, did “a piece of work”. Di: affirm that an action would take place.
5. nifnif: strong desire. nifnif: strong desire causing trembling.
6. Kanu: a verb cannot occur without rhythmic words Kanu: cry, someone performs himself in a rhythm.
7. Neh: fever Neh: fever
8. eeti: used to coming (fem). eeti: used to coming(fem).


For the purpose of the research I brought the above. Now, how these words are cognates to Bedawiate as it is spoken today?.

1. Kif: in Bedawiate is an expression always followed by a verb showing an extreme end to that verb. (Kib): has the same neaning in old Egyptian: hold tightly; may be that is an exchange between the 'f' and the 'b' sounds.
2. Mi’: No direct form found today, but (miyao) means: to give or grant.
3. Nafir: sweet, pretty e.g. (nafir yam): sweet water. Feminine form: adding (t): (Nafirt) indicates female gender, meaning the sweet / pretty.
4. Dai: did piece of work, e.g.imparative: (Daia): 'do something', where (dai) means: do.
5. Nafnaf: strongly trembling.
6. Kanu: tune a string/ strings “musical instrument”.
7. Lah: get sick.
8. Aeeti: verb meaning: was coming, used to coming (past continuous).

Nafirtiti: (the pretty ‘fem’ that was used to coming) or the graceful:
The author induces what might be considered an analysis for the old Egyptian name "Nefertiti" the name of the famous Pharoh queen of the 18th Dynasty(6), from the standpoint of its construction:

♣- Analysis of the name Nafirtiti:
(a) Diop induced that (Nofirt) in the old Egyptian language meant ‘sweet or pretty’, and (Aeeti) meant: ‘was used to coming’; so the name, in the old Egyptian meant: "the pretty was used to coming"(7)
(b) He induces that (Nofirt) means ‘sweet or pretty’ in Wolof, and (Aeeti) means: ‘was used to coming’. But, in page (206) he showed that: ‘Nofir Aeebi’ means: "my good, sweet- heart" and that ‘Aeebi’ means: my heart, particularly: ‘inners’.
♣- Comparing the names (Aeeti) and (Aeebi) the following can be noticed:
(a) The ‘t’ at the end of the name in old Egyptian indicates feminine gender(8), the final 'b' indictes masculine.
Accordingly, the relation between Aeebi and Aeeti can be obvious, and we can conclude that the root "Aee" was used for both meanings: 'was used to coming' and 'inners'.
♣- Meanings of the expressions:
(a) Nafir means sweet, pretty, and its fm. form is (Nafrit): sweet, beautiful.(9).
(c) In Bedawiate the expression “Aeet” means: "neck" or “inner feelings” fem. As an example the expression: (sagiit aeeti taku), where "tak" means man and “sagiit” means far, and the final (i) for possession, Thus the meaning of the expression will be: a man with far goals, i.e. difficult to discover his intentions or his inner feelings. Same expression can be changed to an adjective:"sagiit aeeti" qualifying to ‘person with far goals’, and "dawit aiiti" indicates ‘a person of mean interest’, and "dawit" means near.
Also in Bedawiate, the expression "Aeeti" indicates a verb meaning: 'was used to coming", where 'Aee' means: come, the 't' is the feminine indicator and the 'i' indicates the tense 'past continous'.
But the second expression (Nofir aeebi), as the author stated, means (my good, sweet- heart), where nofir means good, sweet, 'Aee' means internals and the 'i' is the possessive. In Bedawiate 'Aee' also means 'internals', the 'b' indicates masculine and the 'i' is possisive and 'nafir' means good, sweet.
thus the expression (aeeti), from the name (nafirt aeeti), is more likely a noun meaning ‘heart’ in old Egyptian and means (heart) or (inner) in Wolf.
To conclude, the expression: (nafirt aeeti), means noble qualities, inners, which exactly corresponds to: gracious.

All the above might necessitate deeper and more knowledge of old Egyptian language, and those similarities had led Sir Willas Budge the Egyptologist, Orientalist, and Philologist to say: "Learning the language of Beja in Eastern Sudan is the best way to learning old Egyptian language(10).

Secondly:
Comparison of Bedawiate with other contemporary languages around, and by appliance of research as a tool, it can be estimated which of them is closer to Bedawiate built on its essential foundations. But it is necessary to clarify at the begining that the comparisons between Bedawiate and Arabic or English here is not self-intended, and that is because my knowledge is confined only to these two. That is to say if knowledge about other Languages is available, this study might have been more deeper, comprehensive and useful.

♣- Comparison of Sound System:
(1) Bedawiate and Arabic
(a) Arabic sounds not found in Bedawiate are 12 sounds:
tha, ha, kha, zal, zeen, sad, dad, ta', za, ein, qein, (and J/ G as a newly borrowed sound in Bedawiate)
(b) Bedawiate sounds not found in Arabic:
The retroflex, similar to ‘t’, as in: (taba’a) meaning: repeat hitting.
The retroflex, similar to ‘d’, as in: Bedaweet.
The sound "kw" pronounced in one batch as in "Kwiireeb" meaning ostrich).
The sound "Gw" in one batch as in "Gwab" meaning plane land, landscape.
The rare sound similar to ‘ch’ (Beaweit area: ‘gumadtchawa = gumadtyawa’; ‘micha= mitya’ to describe.
(2) Bedawiate and English
(a) Latin sounds not found in Bedawiate: are (P,V,Z,X, and J as a borrowed one)
(b) Bedawiate sounds not found in English:
These are the retroflex sounds (similar to d and t) and other sounds shown in (1- b) above; although it is clear that some sounds such as (Kw, Gw, Ch) are easier, and the difficulty will appear in the retroflex sounds.
♣- Inclination sounds:
All inclination sounds in Bedawiate are not present in Arabic. But it is clear that the vowels in Latin are easier to perform than their counterparts in Arabic.
♣- Nouns and verbs that begin with a sukuun sound in Bedawiate:
There are some sounds in Bedawiate such as: ‘b’aneeb’: eagle, ‘mhail’: medicine, ‘faiib’: abdomen.. etc. which are many in Bedawiate, and it is clear that their performance is much easier in Latin than Arabic because it contains such a construction. The example in this respect: ‘brave’, where the mouth prepares to spell the ‘b’ but the ‘r’ appears. Likewise "b’aneeb" where the mouth prepares to spell the ‘b’ but the ‘a’ appears.
♣- Construction of Sentences:
One of the linguists’ classifications of languages is the way sentences are constructed. They classify languages to types according to succession of subject, verb, object and compliments in sentences. The way in which a sentence is built is a distinguishable aspect of a certain language. For more clarification of the above, the corresponding abbreviation for subject, verb, and object are: (S), (V), (O).
Then it can be noticed that the three languages, the English, Arabic and Bedawiate construct sentences in the following pattern:
The Bedawiate: SOV as in [auu tak aoo gub aidir], begins with the subject followed by verb and then the object.
English: SVO: [The man killed the rat] –subject, verb, object.
Arabic: the sequence is as: [killed the man the rat}- VSO “verb, subject, object”.
The question becomes more apparent in sentences constructed by intransitive verbs, or sentences where the object is not mentioned: where we say:
[ou tak diwya] SV.
In English: The man slept – SV.
In Arabic: the sequence is as: slept the man- VS.
As if the construction of a sentence is governed by, in each set, a logic of successive answer to questions in mind that determine priorities of that construction, and those questions are:
{What is the verb -who did it- what is the object} or {who did – what - to whom}.
In English the sequence is: {who did –what- to whom.}
In Bedawiate: {who- to whom –did what}.
In Arabic: {what is the action- who did it- to whom.}
The result is that the logic of such sequence will be by beginning with the verb in Arabic and the subject in Bedawiate and English.
♣- Absence of duality in Bedawiate:
This is one of the aspects in which the Bedawiate of differ to Arabic and similar to English. We say: {malu ar rihan} meaning I saw two kids; but we actually say: {two kids I saw} and this is what is exactly expressed when someone speaks in Arabic, wherein the number (malu) comes first, then the noun “the object” in plural: (ar) followed by the verb ‘rihan’ where ‘rih’ is the verb and the subject is included in the pronoun: ‘an’ from the verb ‘rihan’: I saw.
English presents the noun first: (I) then the verb (saw) then the number (two); and the noun “the object” in the plural (kids); that is to say the Bedawiate does not know such duality.

♣- The numerical system:
Linguists believe that each group of people has its own ways in inventing names of numerals and construction of numbers known as: the counting system. These scholars state that no nation waits for another to teach it how to calculate on fingers: one, two, three – irrespective of language– or how the individual counts his family members. These scholars believe that, the counting system itself constitutes a feature distinguishing a nation from another (11).
(I) Constructions of Numbers:
Searching Construction of numbers, compliance can be found between some of their constructional forms in Bedawiate and Arabic and English on the other side. Regarding naming of numbers, the Bedawiate is unique in this respect compared to other languages. Bedawiate numbers are :( gal, maloob, mhaib, fadig, 'aib). It can be noticed that:
One: (gal) denotes one, the first.
Two: (maloob) Masc. for Fm: (maloot), Originally (malu)
Three: (mhaib) where ‘b’ for Masc, and the Fm form is (mhait), Originally (mahi);
Four: (fadig): fm form (fadigt).
Five: (aib): fm form: "ait". Origin: (ai)
The Bedawiate count after Five by saying:
(Asagwir), (asarama), (asumhai), (ashadig).
It can be noticed that most numbers begin with (asa). Thus the construction of numbers after five, (from 6 to 9), are just mere addition of one of the numbers from the first set (1-4) (gal), (malu), (mahi), (fideg) to numbers in the set (6 to 9):
(Asagwir),(asarama), (asumhai), (ashadig), using the article (asa), that means: add, to the originally known number “five”.
(Asagwir)= (asa- gwir), where (gwir) is equivalent to (gal), because twenty-one is (taggwa gwir) and not: (taggwa gal) and eleven is: (tamna- gwir) and not: (tamna gal), but thirty-one is: (mhai tamun wa gal), and one hundred and one is: (sheeb wa gal).
(asarama)= (asa- rama), where (rama) means either “follow” indicating a “follow up” in addition after one adds ‘one’ (in asagwir) and add another one, that is ‘two’; or there is a Metathesis where the root is malu, changed to "lamu" then to "lama" then "rama". Professor Zaboroski in his article(12) mentions that "lama" means "two" in Cushitic languages (cf. Somali lama), and old "five" survives as (asa); that is to say the construction is: one/ five in "asagwir" and two/ five in "asarama" and three/ five in: "asumhai" wihout the consept of adding; I think it is more likely the construction embeds the idea of adding, built by using the article "asa" that means, as we had shown, add.
(asumhai)= (asa- mhai)
(ashadig) sounds odd, where one cannot easily recognize the article (asa) or the number four (fadig). But, analyzing an expression like: (assadig) which means: I made “someone” release, open “something”, will help in guiding to how the number (ashadig) is constructed.
The expression (assadig), as shown, means: I made “someone” release, open “something”; but open, release in bedawiate is; (fidig)- with a normal ‘d’, and (as) here is an article holding the meaning: I made or I will make.
Its obvious now that there is an assimilation in the expression where (assadig) is missing the ‘f’ of the verb (fidig), and there is this stress on the ‘sh’. That means that incase an ‘s’ and an ‘f’ meet within an expression, the ‘f’ is assimilated and a stress on the ‘sh’ appears instead.
That is to say that the expression should be (assfadig), the way that some bedawiate do.
Moreover, if somebody orders another to ‘confess’, he will say: (fidada)- with the retroflex ‘d’, where (fidad) means: to be steady or to confess- and the (a) in the end indicates the imperative. If the other refuses, and the one who ordered can force him to, he will say:
(ashididhok andi): I will make you confess. But the expression in fact is composed of (as, that meant: I made, I will make + fidid: confess + hok: that indicates ‘you’ in the expression).
It is obvious now that there is assimilation in the expression, where in (ashididhok) both the ‘s’ of “as” and the ‘f’ of “fidid’ do not appear. We can now conclude that incase an ‘s’ and an ‘f’ meet within an expression- followed by retroflex ‘d’- we omit both the ‘s’ and the ‘f’.
Now, back to our analysis for the number (ashadig) that we assumed is a combination of “asa”= and the number (fadig). It is clear that an ‘s’ and an ‘f’ meet in the expression, and the retroflex ‘d’ follows in the number (fadig) and here is the stress on the ‘sh’.
Therefore the expression will be (ashadig), omitting the ‘s’ and ‘f’, and our assumption that the number (ashadig) is mere addition of the number four to “the known five” using the article “asa” is not completely wrong.
Moreover, the number five in Bedawiate is ('ai), and the name of the hand is ('ayi), and ('ayi) means "the one with five".

Ten: (tamin), fm form: (tamint).
The name does not show a combinaion of words. Analyzing the number, one should stick to the concept prooved here regarding the numbers from six to nine that seems to be the case, eventhough the name mihgt be derived from another root.
In that, one notices that the word (tamaint) means: those who eat 'fem'. And (tamanatu) means: fond of eating, eats too much 'fem'. And (tamnatu) is an adjective meaning: the tenth fem. While (tamanabu) means: fond of eating, eats too much 'masc'. (tamnabu) is an adjective meaning: the tenth 'masc'. and (tamna) means: we ate, and it means: tenth.
Referring to the relation shown above, the name of this number refers to the tool by which eating is done, and that is the fingers that are five and five.
♣-Meanings of numbers' Names:
"Gal" or "gwir" means beginning or precedence.
“malu”: I think it is from the expression "malhu" that means middle. But the middle of what?
If we imagine somebody counting on his fingers, with thumb resting on 'Pointer' finger with a closed fist, beginning with the the 'pointer', the next one “two” will be the Index finger, and it is the middle finger as well.
“mhai”: I think it is from the expression “mhia” that means: remaining. For continuing counting in the mentioned way, that finger- the ring finger- is the remaining one before the one that completely opens the hand.
“fadig”: I think it is from the adjective: “fandiig” which means: 'that opens'. For, I can spot the neighboring ‘n’ and the normal ‘d’. Where wile uttering the ‘n’ and the normal ‘d’ the tongue changes places from the upper part of the mouth, then moves to utter the ‘d’ further back, and this causes the retroflex ‘d’.
If that is so, and back to the way they count, the last finger “four” completes opening the fist. “ai”: yielded “ayi” that means: something “with five”= hand.
It might be useful here, to have a look at the table below where names of numbers in an array of languages are shown(13):

Bedawiate old Egyptian Latin Greece Tigre Tiginya Amharic Hebrew Arabic
gaal- gwir wa'yw unos oino orot hade ande ehad- ashtay wahid
malu snw duo due kilot kilite holet senayim ithnan
mhai hamt tres trytos salas salaste sos salos thalath
fadig fdw quatuor tettares arba' arba'te arat Araba 'Arb'a
ai diw quinque pente hammes hammushte ames hames Khamsa
asagwir sissu six hex sis shadishte seddis ses sitta
asarama sfhw septem hebta sab shawat sabat seba sabaa
asumhai hmnu octo octo saman shamunte samment semoneh Thaman
ashadig psd(w) novum évvéel si tishate zeteng tesa tisaa
tamin mdw decem deka asir assarte assir eser- asar ashara

♣- Construction of Numbers & Functions:
From the standpoint of construction and to facilitate clarity of subject, and to show the mutual relations, numbers will be divided in sets:
θθ Numbers from 11-19: (tamna gwir 11)…(tamna ashadig 19)…where it is noticed this construction is similar neither to that in English nor to Arabic where numerals precede tens: “thirteen”, "thalathatasher".
θθ Numbers from21-29: (taggwa gwir)….(taggwa ashadig); where there is similarity to English (twenty one), tens precede numerals, but not similar to Arabic which does the reverse : (tisaa waishroon)= "nine and twenty" ).
θθ 30-99: (mhai tamoon)..(ashadig tamoon wa ashdig wa); which differs in construction from Arabic.
θθ Decades: (30)– (90): In Bedawiate, these are different where the number ten precedes, and we say: "mahei tamoon"…"ashadig tamoon".
θθ 100-199: (sheib )…..(sheib temon wa ashadig wa ).
θθ The rest of added decades to 100 have different combination compared to English where the hundred comes after, followed by tens, which is close to Arabic.
b). The stage to 119 is different from both Arabic and English; where it is said in the form of : " sheib wa tamna ashadig wa ".
c). stage to 199: " sheib wa ashadig tamoon wa ashadig wa", beginning with hundreds and then tens.
d). The number 200 (malu shi) close to English (two hundred) due to absence of duality of nouns in the two languages.
e. stage up to 999: (hundreds followed by number of hundreds, tens and then ones /numerals).(nine hundred ninety nine )
Up to thousands: here the number is composed in two ways e.g. (one thousand nine hundred) corresponds to (alif wa ashadig shee wa) and (tamna ashadig shi) which corresponds to nineteen hundred). The first suits Arabic and English but the second is similar to the English (nineteen hundred).
From all the above, it can be concluded that the Bedawiate numbering system is different from that in English and Arabic, wherein the numeric system in the two is in terms of tens, while in Bedawiate it is in terms of "Fives" i.e. penta-system.

♣-Conclusion:
The above are mere remarks and can be summarized as follows:
(1) The way sentences are constructed, in reality, is a way of thinking. So, in Arabic priority is for clarifying the "verb" of the sentence, in Bedawiate and English the priority is granted to the "subject" despite the fact that the Bedawiate differs from English regarding which come first: the object or the verb; the Bedawiate produce the object preceding the verb.
(2) The Bedawiate, till now, when they need to speak in Arabic, and according to the mentality, the subject comes first in their Arabic sentences and delay the object. They also, first, produce the number two in their discourse to dual forms, a matter which some people see as funny, and others meet with mockery; but reasons for that are unknown.




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(1) Translated to English, (Nations Négres et Culture) means:(Negroid origins of the old Egyptian Civilization).


(2) The name 'Bedawiate' is for their tribes and languge. They are historically known as 'Beja',


(3) The classical language used during the reign of the 23rd dynasty in the period 2400-450 BC.


(4) (Nations Négres et Culture) The Arabic translation, page 177.


(5) (Nations Négres et Culture) The Arabic translation, page 88.


(6) (HISTOIRE L'ÉGYPTE ANCIENNE) by the Egyptologist and Professor at The SORBONNE- Paris NICOLSA GRIMAL. The Arabic translation by: Mahir Joyjati, Dar al-fikr publisher, Cairo- Paris, second eddition 1993, pages 287- 288.


(7) (Nations Négres et Culture) The Arabic translation, page 200.


(8) (Nations Négres et Culture) The Arabic translation, page 219.


(9) Important here is to indicate that the author in page (232) induces the way in which the expression is written, for it is known that old Egyptians writing depends on writing and fixing ideas by images. Besides, the translation disclosed that the pronunciation of the expression is (nafir) indicating that the origin of the expression (nofirt) is (nafirt).


(10) The Internet: http://www.members.tripod.com/kekaitiare/beja.html)- Oct.19.2001.


(11) 'An introduction to Arabic language Philology'– Dr. Luwis Awad– Sinai Publisher, Cairo, Egypt- 1993 edition, pages (228- 244).


(12) Professor Andrzej Zaborski, 'Beja Language History and Prehistory', an article to the First International conference for Bedawiate, Cairo. Egypt 23-25 September 1999.


(13) The table, with some amendments, is from: 'An introduction to Arabic language Philology'– Dr. Luwis Awad– Sienna Publisher Egypt, 1993 edition page (228).