Languages of ME and Africa

[Saif al-Arab]

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.

That root forms words related to writing on paper. ص ح ف is most likely a loan deriving from South Semitic.

ك -ت- ب is the root for "write".

A book is كِتاب and it is pronounced kitaab.

I was not speaking about how South Semitic languages ended up in Horn of Africa as we already know that (migrations from Arabia mainly and remaining parts of the Semitic-speaking Middle East) but I was rather referring to the origin of the peoples at least partially (the theory of Arabian migrants mainly settling in the highlands of Ethiopia, Eritrea etc. and intermarrying with the mainly Cushitic speaking locals to create a Habesha community etc.). I mean this has also been established more or less after the appearance of DNA testing and that also shows that Habesha people show a significant ancestral connection to Arabia/Middle East. As I said this is a controversial topic for pan-Africans I have noticed as many Sub-Saharan/Horner Africans seem to want to claim Horner history and they don't like the fact that they are vastly different (say an Nigerian or Kenyan) genetically to most Semitic speakers of the Horn of Africa. Probably also for the Habesha who are afraid of not appearing "African" enough. Tell me if I am completely wrong here but this is just what I have witnessed online.

BTW I was just curious you don't have to answer.

Anyway I have to ask this, do you guys also chew qat/khat like highlander Yemenis do? Somalis do it at least.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khat





Yemen should eradicate this practice one and for all. Eventually it will happen but damn is that a wasteful thing to engage in on all fronts. Easier said than done of course as drug addiction across the world is only on the raise. Luckily khat is rather harmless but not if you chew it 24/7 as some people seemingly do.

A Youtube comment below the video:


Datuk Rajo
"thanks my ancestor moved to Indonesia from Yemen in 17th Century . We Yemeni Indonesian never eat Qat anymore . its Haram you know like Alcohol"


mohammed khalaf
"I love qat and I can't live without qat "


Adam Aaron
"He is in sanaa yemen, I have been there, basically the whole of north yemen are full of ignorant people, Its better to go to Hodeidah or Aden in the south."



Adam Rm
"Adam Aaron lol u guys hate the north and love the South cuz it's like western societies you're women are whores and the men are drunk fucks while the north is about tribes and islam"

Youtube is a goldmine.

 

[sahaliyan]

Haile Selassie looked pretty semitic to me.He made many mistakes or even horrible crimes,but I still think he is a great man,what's Ethiopian people's view on him?

 

[wedi]

That root forms words related to writing on paper. ص ح ف is most likely a loan deriving from South Semitic.

ك -ت- ب is the root for "write".

A book is كِتاب and it is pronounced kitaab.

I was not speaking about how South Semitic languages ended up in Horn of Africa as we already know that (migrations from Arabia mainly and remaining parts of the Semitic-speaking Middle East) but I was rather referring to the origin of the peoples at least partially (the theory of Arabian migrants mainly settling in the highlands of Ethiopia, Eritrea etc. and intermarrying with the mainly Cushitic speaking locals to create a Habesha community etc.). I mean this has also been established more or less after the appearance of DNA testing and that also shows that Habesha people show a significant ancestral connection to Arabia/Middle East. As I said this is a controversial topic for pan-Africans I have noticed as many Sub-Saharan/Horner Africans seem to want to claim Horner history and they don't like the fact that they are vastly different (say an Nigerian or Kenyan) genetically to most Semitic speakers of the Horn of Africa. Probably also for the Habesha who are afraid of not appearing "African" enough. Tell me if I am completely wrong here but this is just what I have witnessed online.

BTW I was just curious you don't have to answer.

Anyway I have to ask this, do you guys also chew qat/khat like highlander Yemenis do? Somalis do it at least.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khat





Yemen should eradicate this practice one and for all. Eventually it will happen but damn is that a wasteful thing to engage in on all fronts. Easier said than done of course as drug addiction across the world is only on the raise. Luckily khat is rather harmless but not if you chew it 24/7 as some people seemingly do.

A Youtube comment below the video:


Datuk Rajo
"thanks my ancestor moved to Indonesia from Yemen in 17th Century . We Yemeni Indonesian never eat Qat anymore . its Haram you know like Alcohol"


mohammed khalaf
"I love qat and I can't live without qat "


Adam Aaron
"He is in sanaa yemen, I have been there, basically the whole of north yemen are full of ignorant people, Its better to go to Hodeidah or Aden in the south."



Adam Rm
"Adam Aaron lol u guys hate the north and love the South cuz it's like western societies you're women are whores and the men are drunk fucks while the north is about tribes and islam"

Youtube is a goldmine.

I see. The root k-t-b means 'to vaccinate' in our languages lol, and also to recruit.

I wouldn't really say most people in Ethiopia would be aware of that theory. As most of the country is rural we really go by tradition and religion. Even in urban areas that notion would not be that known, but more with the diaspora.

Some places in the country chew it more than other parts. The city of Harar is known for it in particular but you can find khat even in Tigray, although I think it's been banned to chew it and people only have it for business and trade lol.

Haile Selassie looked pretty semitic to me.He made many mistakes or even horrible crimes,but I still think he is a great man,what's Ethiopian people's view on him?

Viewpoints on him mainly depend on ethnic group, some don't like him some do....

 

[Mugwop]

I will admit my accent is pretty terrible in other languages

 

[Timur]

there is one language I will never be able to pronounce it its the african Khoisan-languages and chechen its impossible for someone who is not born into this langauges..

 

[Saif al-Arab]

Haile Selassie looked pretty semitic to me.He made many mistakes or even horrible crimes,but I still think he is a great man,what's Ethiopian people's view on him?

He was actually a mixture of Semitic and Cushitic speaking peoples of Ethiopia nevertheless his facial features looked Arabian/Semitic/Middle Eastern.

"Haile Selassie's royal line (through his father's mother) originated from the Amhara people,[24] He was born on 23 July 1892, in the village of Ejersa Goro, in the Harar province of Ethiopia. His mother was Woizero ("Lady") Yeshimebet Ali Abba Jifar, daughter of the renowned Oromo ruler of Wollo province Dejazmach Ali Abba Jifar.[25] His maternal grandmother was of Gurage heritage.[26] Tafari's father was Ras Makonnen Woldemikael Gudessa, the governor of Harar. Ras Makonnen served as a general in the First Italo–Ethiopian War, playing a key role at the Battle of Adwa;[25] he too was paternally Oromo but maternally Amhara.[26]"











@wedi

That's interesting. Maybe I should give Amharic or Tigrinya a try just for the laugh and maybe having a better chance whenever encountering Habesha women? Just kidding.

Harar is an important city in Islamic history. One of the most important. Looks very beautiful and reminds me of highland cities in Arabia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harar

A World UNESCO Heritage Site too.

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1189

What is this Rastafari thing about? Why do Jamaicans (!) of all people consider him a "holy" person or something alike? That's really a strange story.



Bob Marley comes to mind, lol.

BTW the old Imperial Ethiopian flag is cool.

there is one language I will never be able to pronounce it its the african Khoisan-languages and chechen its impossible for someone who is not born into this langauges..

Chechen and Caucasian languages sound cool but are very difficult indeed. I have distant Circassian/Caucasian ancestors (as quite a few Arabs have in Jordan, KSA, Palestine, Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt and Syria) and I have listened/read about the Adyghe language and its many dialects and it sounds different from anything else like most Caucasian languages.

What about Hungarian and Finnish? Those are also almost impossible languages to learn and pronounce fluently if you are not born into those languages. Mongolian too.

 

[KediKesenFare3]

I will admit my accent is pretty terrible in other languages

Doesn't change the fact that you're able to communicate with the whole world basically. This is immensely impressive.

 

[wedi]

@wedi

That's interesting. Maybe I should give Amharic or Tigrinya a try just for the laugh and maybe having a better chance whenever encountering Habesha women? Just kidding.

Harar is an important city in Islamic history. One of the most important. Looks very beautiful and reminds me of highland cities in Arabia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harar

A World UNESCO Heritage Site too.

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1189

What is this Rastafari thing about? Why do Jamaicans (!) of all people consider him a "holy" person or something alike? That's really a strange story.



Bob Marley comes to mind, lol.

BTW the old Imperial Ethiopian flag is cool.

Maybe you should, although resources for Tigrinya are lacking, you could learn basic phrases, numbers, alphabet, etc lol

And I heard because when he went to Jamaica the rain started again, something like that, I may be wrong though.

 

[Saif al-Arab]

Maybe you should, although resources for Tigrinya are lacking, you could learn basic phrases, numbers, alphabet, etc lol

And I heard because when he went to Jamaica the rain started again, something like that, I may be wrong though.

I speak/understand too many languages already. Not sure if I could cope with Tigrinya on top of it. If I decided on learning a new language spoken in Horn of Africa I would settle on Amharic, I believe.

 

[wedi]

I speak/understand too many languages already. Not sure if I could cope with Tigrinya on top of it. If I decided on learning a new language spoken in Horn of Africa I would settle on Amharic, I believe.

Why Amharic???

 

[Saho]

Why Amharic???

I think it's because most ethnic groups have been assimilated into Amharic language so it would be easier for him to communicate with them and not just the Amharans.

I don't see any benefits for the non-Horners to learn minor ethnic languages that's spoken only by their own ethnicity.. It's like saying when a British tourist/expat asking whether if he should learn Arabic, Kurdish, Mandaic, Shabaki, Armenian or Assyrian if he want to travel to the Middle East.

 

[wedi]

I think it's because most ethnic groups have been assimilated into Amharic language so it would be easier for him to communicate with them and not just the Amharans.

I don't see any benefits for the non-Horners to learn minor ethnic languages that's spoken only by their own ethnicity.. It's like saying when a British tourist/expat ask whether if he should learn Arabic, Kurdish, Mandaic, Shabaki, Armenian or Assyrian if he want to travel to the Middle East.

True!

There are some benefits of learning Tigrigna though like being able to communicate with some Eritreans as well as well as it being a good starter language if in the future someone decided to study Amharic, Ge'ez or Tigre etc.