Afrihili

**Afrihili** (*Ni Afrihili Oluga* 'de Afrihili language') be a constructed language dem design insyd 1970 by Ghanaian historian K. A. Kumi Attobrah (Kumi Atɔbra) to be used as a lingua franca insyd all of Africa. De name of de language be a combination of *Africa* den *Swahili*. De author, a native of Akrokerri (Akrokɛri) insyd Ghana, na dem originally conceive of de idea insyd 1967 while on a sea voyage from Dover to Calais. Na ein intention be say "e go promote unity den understanding among de different peoples of de continent, reduce costs in printing secof translations den promote trade".  Na e be is meant to be easy for Africans to learn.

## Source languages
Afrihili dey draw ein phonology, morphology den syntax from various African languages, particularly Swahili den Akan (Attobrah ein native language). De lexicon dey cover various African languages, as well as words from chaw oda sources "so Africanized wey dem no dey appear foreign", although no specific etymologies be indicated by de author. However, de semantics be quite English, plus chaw calques of English expressions, perhaps secof de strong English influence on written Swahili den Akan. For example, *mu* be 'in', *to* be 'to', den *muto* be 'into'; similarly, *kupitia* be 'thru' (as insyd 'thru dis remedy'), *paasa* be 'out' (as insyd to go outsyd), den *kupitia-paasa* be 'thru out'—at least insyd de original, 1970 version of de language.

## Script den pronunciation
De language dey use de Latin alphabet plus de addition of two vowel letters, ⟨Ɛ ɛ⟩ den ⟨Ɔ ɔ⟩, wich get dema values insyd Ghanaian languages den de IPA, [ɛ] den [ɔ]. Dem dey spell out foreign names phonetically rada dan insyd de original orthography, so for example 'Hastings' be spelled *Hestins*. Der be two digraphs, ⟨ch⟩ den ⟨sh⟩, wich get dema English den Swahili values, [tʃ] den [ʃ]. *J* den *y* sanso get dema English den Swahili values, [d͡ʒ] den [j]. *Ng* no be a digraph, buh dem pronounce as insyd English *finger*, [ŋɡ].

Vowels be *a ɛ e i ɔ o u*. Doubled vowel letters dey appear to be sequences, no be long vowels. Consonants be *p t ch k, b d j g, m n ny, f s sh h, v z, l r y w*.

Der be no tone. Stress be on de second-last vowel. Exclamation marks dey cam at de beginning of a clause, wich dey end insyd a comma anaa period as normal; question marks dey cam at de end.

## Grammar
De grammar be similar to Swahili, buh in addition der be de 'vowel triangle', wich be central to Afrihili inflection:
              a
            /   \
           u     e           ɛ
          /       \          
         ɔ __ o __ i
Chaw grammatical processes be accomplished by exchanging a vowel plus ein directional opposite on de triangle: *a* give *o*, *u* give *i*, *e* give *ɔ*, den vice versa. For example, dem fi make a verb into an adjective by changing ein final vowel insyd dis manner: from *pinu* 'to determine' dey cam de adjective *pini* 'determinate'. *Ɛ* no dey participate insyd dese swaps, buh e be used insyd oda situations (below).

## Sample phrases

: *Zuri lu* – Good day (*alu* 'a day')
: *Zuri zinga* – Good morning
: *Zuri masa* – Good afternoon
: *Zuri dani* – Good evening
: *Zuri bali* – Good night
: *Jo koni* – Go at once
: *! Afuraho* – Cheers!
: Sama papa obeka al dude – Find a good place chop
: *Kama mingipewa l'arafi gaba milijo paasa, mingijira lε.* – If na I receive ein letter before I go out, I go wedge am.

: *Kwaku na Akua mai atapiro atajirin wɛna liwa yide fu kusa. Ni atapiro atajirin mai imulezi ibarin wɛna yɛ f'amotsoala. Ni amotsoala yɛ arenobo kika Kwaku na Akua baitu fu duka yɛ ukuetu upapam tare.*

: *Ku atapiro mai afu okisiwa so nehi nesa bɛ, na ni imao no inta tabonadi you. Fumai arafi f'amotsoala tɔ okisiwa.*

## Text
De following text, from a 1971 newsletter, na dem clip on ein left margin. Missing words dey insyd brackets.

## References

* K. A. Kumi Attobrah (1970, 1973) *Ni Afrihili Oluga. The African Continental Language*
* William S. Annis (2014) "Afrihili: An African Interlanguage", *Fiat Lingua*, April 2014

## External links

*An Afrihili newsletter (1971 version) on Roger Blench's website.https://web.archive.org/web/20250716002534/http://www.rogerblench.info/Language/Africa/General/Afrihili%20brochure.pdf (archived)
* A summary of additional details of the verbal and derivational system, Afrihili Notes. (archived)