EGYPT IN ITS AFRICAN CONTEXT NOTE 3: TOWARDS

A METHOD FOR VOCALIZING MDW NTR SYMBOLS

By Asar Imhotep (Sun of the Soil) (November 27, 2012) [updated Dec. 2, 2012]

The MOCHA-Versity Institute of Philosophy and Research

luntu/lumtu/muntu

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LINGUISTIC ABBREVIATIONS
PB PWS PWN PNC PCS PAA PPAB Bantu BANTU Bantu A-A ES CS CN NS Proto-Bantu Proto-Western Sudanic Proto-Western Nigritic (Westermann) (Mukarvosky)

Informal. No systematic reconstruction available Proto-Central Sudanic (Bender) Proto-Afro-Asiatic (Ehret, Diakonoff) Proto-Potou-Akanic-Bantu (Stewart) Proto-Bantu (Meeussen, Meinhof) Common Bantu (Guthrie) Bantu & Semi-Bantu (Johnston) Afro-Asiatic (Diakonoff, Ehret, Greenberg) Eastern-Sudanic (Greenberg) Central-Sudanic (Greenberg) Chari-Nile (Greenberg) Nilo-Saharan (Greenberg)

[I have used Greenbergs abbreviations (numbers & letters in brackets) to identify languages]. N-C Mande Niger-Congo B Banbara, D Dioula, M Malinke (Delafosse,Westermann) Togo Remnant (Heine) Koelles Polyglotta Africana

TogoR Polyglotta

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In this essay I attempt to lay the necessary ground work for a proper vocalization of ancient Egyptian phonographic symbols. There has been some recent interest within the African-Centered community to revitalize the ancient Egyptian language as evidenced in its hieroglyphic writing script. Researchers have always speculated as to the vocalization schema of the ancient Egyptian language ever since the decipherment efforts of Champollion in the early 1800s. The problem of proper vocalization becomes apparent when one realizes that the ancient Egyptians didnt write out their vowel sounds, only their consonants. To facilitate pronunciation of Egyptian terms, Egyptologists insert the vowel /e/ for ease of speaking among specialists: e.g., Egyptian Htp rest, > Hetep.1 The task of vocalizing the Egyptian language is not a new task among African researchers. Cheikh Anta Diop, in his book Nations Negres et Culture (1955), devised a methodology for revitalizing the ancient Egyptian language. Since then, this has been an ongoing project of the likes of the Kemetic Institute, formally headed by Dr. Jacob Carruthers, and one of its founders, linguist and Egyptologist Dr. Rkhty (Wimby) Amen. This also used to be one of the objectives of ASCAC2 as well. There are several issues that must be kept in mind when attempting such an endeavor. One of the major issues is dialects in the language. The question becomes, then, What dialect and in what time period are we choosing to revitalize? And more so, how can we tell dialectical differences in the early, non-Coptic periods? As Rkhty Amen notes concerning the nature of the writing script:
There were many different dialects spoken in Kemet all along the Hapy itru (Nile River) from time immemorial. Mdw Ntr writing was used to communicate by people who spoke many different dialects. The picture words meant the same to everyone no matter what dialect they spoke. The vowels were not written in Medu Neter. The absence of vowels in the writing made it possible for everyone, no matter what dialect they spoke, to understand the writing, and still use their own unique pronunciation. There were also temporal dialects, these dialects are commonly referred to by scholars as Old, Middle, and Late Egyptian and Coptic, which is the final stage of the language. Coptic had several dialects of its own, namely, Sahidic, Bohairic, Fayyumic, and Achmimic. The grammar and vocabulary differed in these stages. Coptic is the only stage of the language wherein vowels were written, so it is by way of Coptic and other related African languages that we know something about original pronunciation of wordsCoptic is no longer spoken although it still survives as the liturgical language of the Coptic Church. (Amen, 2010: 3-4).

While I do not discount dialects in ancient Egypt, it is my contention that these were separate languages. When vocabulary and grammar are different, it is not a case of a dialect, but one of a different language. They can be all related (closely or more distantly), but different languages none-the-less. The major scripts that followed these political periods were just the language of the dominant ethnic group of the time. As Rkhty Amen noted earlier in her essay The Unity of African Languages in Karenga and Carruthers (1986: 156), in regards to the classifications or stages of the Egyptian language, that:
These designations, however, reflect not so much stages in the development of Egyptian language per se as, rather stages in the evolving political history of the various dynasties. What Gardiner called Late Egyptian was the dialect of Upper Kemet, traces of which were already noticed in the Old Kingdom in Upper Kemetic sites. 3 In Dynasties VI-XI, the vernacular called Middle
1

However, in this example the vocalization is not too far off. For in the Kalenjiin (Nilo-Saharan) language, a descendant of Egyptian, to sit (rest) is vocalized ketepi. 2 The Association for the Study of Classical African Civilizations (ASCAC) 3 Late Egyptian inscriptions in the Old Kingdom: Pierre Montent, Les Tombeaux dits de Kasr -el-Sayad, Kemi (1936, pp. 9197, 177); Aylward M Blackman. The Rock Tombs of Meir, Parts I, III, V, Archeological Survey of Egypt, Memoirs, 22, 24, 28, (London, 1914, 1915, 1953). First intermediate period inscriptions with late Egyptian forms: Blackman, ibid, vols. XI, XII (Dsir-el-Gebrawl). Middle Egyptian Inscriptions with late Egyptian forms: N. Davies and Gardiner, The Tomb of Antefoker and His Wife Senet, Theban Tomb Series, No. 2. London, 1930.

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Egyptian, was predominant in Kemet. During the First intermediate Period this dialect spread northward. By the late XIth and early XIIth Dynasties so-called Late Egyptian forms occur on all types of monumental inscriptions. When the Nubian regime regained power in the XVIIIth Dynasty, the vernacular of Upper Kemet spread with the establishment of the New Kingdom. Amen Hotep II (1450) composed a letter to his viceroy in Nubia and in it he used what has come to be called Late Egyptian: in other words, his language was that of Nubia or Upper Egypt.

Again, this would be an example of a different language, not Egyptian. The Nubians are Kushites and the New Kingdom language would be a Kushite language (not to be confused with Cushitic, which is a modern linguistic designation). It would be nave to think, that during the formulative and subsequent development of Egyptian society, that they spoke a single language (given the size of Egypt and how African societies in general are composed), especially when the archeological evidence and testimony on the Narmer Palate state otherwise (see the next section). Helmut Satzinger, in his book The Egyptian Connection: Egyptian and the Semitic Languages (2003: 231-232), although trying to make the case for a strong Semitic and Egyptian connection, provides these comments that reaffirm much of what were saying here:
Egyptian has much in common with Semitic, as compared with most Cushitic (including Omotic; cf. Lamberti 1999) and Chadic languages. But when evaluating similarities between individual branches of Afroasiatic it is crucial to take into account (1) the factor of time, (2) the historicocultural factor, and (3) possible areal effects. (The factor of time.) Egyptian and Akkadian are attested in the third millennium BC, other Semitic languages somewhat later. The other branches of Afroasiatic are attested only recently (with the exception of the rather meagre evidence of ancient Libyan), and often enough not to a satisfactory extent. This means that comparisons must allow for a further development of several thousand years on the side of the other branches. (The historico-cultural factor.) The Afroasiatic relationship dates back to Mesolithic times. Many important cultural achievements, such as agriculture and cattle-breeding, are later. The social structure and the forms of rule have changed drastically. This is of particular importance for lexical comparison. Many terms that appear basic to us cannot be expected to be part of the inherited common vocabulary. (Characteristic examples are terms like Hsb to reckon4 and xtm to seal: the meaning is the same, the transcription is identical for Egyptian and Arabic, there is obviously a close relationship, but it must be other than genetic.) (Areal effects.) The prehistory of the speakers of the individual branches of Afroasiatic is controversial, as is the question of the original Afroasiatic homeland, and consequently the reconstruction of the migrations from there to their present locations. It is usually very hard to say who in the course of time used to be the neighbours of the individual groups. Historical Egypt is
4

I do not agree with his assessment as it pertains to this word. The word Hsb reckon, calculate, accounting, count derives from a more basic root in Egyptian ip to reckon, count, take a census; Coptic wp (wp); ipw inventory. In Central Chadic this root is actually *l-p to reckon up; Daba nif < *lif; Kola nof. The root is possible, with semantic shift, ip < *lp to examine, investigate (Wb I, 66); W.Chadic: Angas-sura *lap to investigate, look for; Mupun yp to look for something that is missing, yp to check. These became loanwords in Caananite: p to measure (Capacity); Hebrew Af; Greek oipi measure of corn (< Egyptian ip, ipy.t, iyp.t; Coptic eiope/oeme). In ciLuba this term is -badika "count, enumerate, to do financial (statements)"; -bala "read, count, enumerate"; mbadilu "how to read, how to count" (meta-thesis). @sb is an expanded form of sbA "school, teach, wise, to tend, learning, to instruct, guide, direct, gate/portal." Education is learning how to read and measure (calculate). We have also in Egyptian sb measurment (for stone). The H- is a prefix. The l-(r-) is an affix mean to. In Egyptian r > i in many instances. Calculating, investigating, reading, thinking, etc., are very basic human activities and the lexemes has survived in practically all major language families in Africa.

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constituted of two populations: that of the Delta, and that of the Nile Valley. Most probably, these groups had different languages, and it is only one of them that is the ancestor of historical Egyptian. At present, many assume that Proto-Egyptian is the language of the Southerners (Naqda culture; cf. Helck 1984; Helck, 1990). We know nothing at all about the other language. The Valley population is not indigenous. It has immigrated either from the south or from the south-west. The implications of this question concern the languages with which Egyptian may have had contact before it entered the light of history. In the south, we may expect Cushitic (including Omotic) languages, and apart from Afroasiatic, various Eastern Sudanic languages (of the Nilo-Saharan macro-phylum), and Kordofanian languages (Niger-Kordofanian macrophylum). In the south-west, the presumable neighbours would probably have spoken either Chadic languages, or Saharan languages (again, Nilo-Saharan). But these assumptions are, of course, based on the present distribution.

To comment on the later part of this citation, Satzinger is noting the various pools of cultures from which derived pharaonic Egyptian culture. He is admitting to the fact that areal contacts shape language. He also attests to at least one other language in the Delta region. What was this language and how did the interaction of this language, as a result of the unifying of the two lands, effect the development of Egyptian? Did this language remain a separate language in ancient Egypt? What about the other cultures and languages that surrounded the Proto-Egyptian language speakers? Did they consciously stay in the Sudan area while the Proto-Egyptians moved down the Nile? If so, why would they stay? What compelled this one group of Proto-Egyptians to move down the river and dominate the indigenous people? How many languages were spoken indigenously along the Nile before the colonists from Ethiopia took over? These are the types of questions one must ask when discussing the development of ancient Egyptian in a contact situation. That Egypt was a multilingual and multiethnic (African) society is also the opinion of the linguist from Ghana, Dr. Nana Banchie Darkwah. In his book The Africans Who Wrote the Bible (2002: 149), as concerns the limitations of modern Egyptology on the Egyptian language question, he states:
Unfortunately, Champollion's decipherment of the hieroglyphics was based upon the wrong premise that Ancient Egypt was a monolingual nation just as most modern European nations are today. However, that premise is false. Ancient Egypt was a multilingual nation as we see on the African continent today. Ancient Egyptian writings were therefore not in one tribal language. As a result, deciphering one language could not give western scholars the orthographic clues to the numerous documents that were written in other tribal languages. This is the reason less than a tenth of the supposed recovered papyri from Ancient Egypt have been successfully deciphered up to date. The deciphering formula that Champollion left behind does not fit all the languages of all the papyri Egyptologists and archaeologists have recovered from Ancient Egypt. What is worse, most of these scholars do not even know that they are dealing with different African languages.

For these reasons, and more, I am of the opinion that the only way you can truly revitalize the Egyptian language is to reconstruct the proto-language that gave birth to all of the dialects, if one believes they were in fact dialects and not distinct languages. I am of the opinion that this would be a daunting task as proto-Egyptian cannot be reconstructed using the comparative method as it is a mixed language (discussed below). The initial language derived from a creolization process of Chadic, Nilo-Saharan (Kongo-Saharan), and Cushitic languages. Therefore, one cannot reconstruct a single parent to Egyptian. The nature of certain grammatical aspects of the language will be tackled in this essay which will help to demonstrate a Kongo-Saharan substratum. This essay, however, is focused on the writing script: the mdw nTr. I seek here to demonstrate that without engaging Kongo-Saharan languages, one will not be able to properly vocalize the Egyptian phonemes associated with certain glyphs. This is because the hieroglyphs are an expansion of old Niger-Congo signs Page 5 of 62

and symbols that initially had monosyllabic roots for terms that matched the objects being depicted. Many of these vocalizations survived in Egyptian. One can verify the old pronunciations by examining the Linear A script of the Minoans who borrowed the designs from the mdw nTr hieroglyphs. However, many of the Linear A signs have different vocalizations than what Egyptologists believe are the proper vocalizations for Egyptian hieroglyphs. However, as we will see later on, some of these glyphs are the correct pronunciation for the signs. I argue that many of the signs have gone through a renaming process and/or sound mutation in Egyptian which forced a different vocalization of the glyph. This will be supported by matching the lexemes for the glyphs in both Afro-Asiatic and Kongo-Saharan5 and where possible, checking against dialectical variances of the terms. In this essay we will only focus on the 24(or 26) primary monoliteral glyphs.6

HOW ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL FACTORS SHAPED EGYPTIAN CULTURE AND LANGUAGE
Before we can tackle the phonology of the primary glyphs, we have to situate Egypt in its proper historical and cultural context. I mentioned earlier that there was essentially a pool of cultures that came together and became the Egyptian culture. This was the result of two major historical events: the drying of North Africa and the unification of the two major kingdoms (the two lands) under king Menes. We will however only discuss the first point in detail here. Dr. S.O.Y. Keita (biological anthropologist), in his article Geography and Climate informs us of the details of this climatic event which forced the inhabitants of the green Sahara to flee in many directions.
Between 50,000 and 15,000 years ago the desert area west of the Nile was inhabited sparsely, if at all, due to the region's aridity. During this period a succession of cultures flourished on the banks of the Nile. As rains came in from equatorial Africa in the early Holocene, the desert became less arid, and people moved into the Sahara from all directions. Between 10,000 and 6,000 B.C. archaeological evidence has been interpreted to suggest that the number of people living along the Nile fell. At the same time, in the desert west of the river there is evidence of an increase in population and of pastoral societies that built large stone megaliths and sculptures, developed astronomical knowledge, made the earliest known pottery in Africa, and, likely, domesticated cattle. There are rock paintings of people and animals, sometimes using themes that also appear later in Egypt, along with other aspects of the culture. After the climate again grew more arid after 6000 B.C. there is evidence for migration back into the Nile Valley. 7

There are a few things that must be highlighted from this citation. The first is that the Nile Valley although one of the major corridors for early human migrations outside of Africa itself was sparsely populated. This is due to the fact that before agriculture was the primary subsistence strategy in the Nile Valley, most human groups were hunter-gatherers and/or pastoralists which meant that they were constantly on the move. The lower8 Nile Valley (Egypt/Sudan), during the time of the green period of North Africa, had no real advantages in terms of its living needs. What is now desert was once full of major lakes and rivers. So the Nile was just one of many rivers for which people could live. However,

These labels have been shown to be arbitrary designations but will be used here as to not confuse readers who are not familiar with the debate on the classification of African languages and their labels. 6 This essay assumes the reader has some knowledge of the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic language, so little to no space will be designated to discuss its history, development or the like. I recommend for the laymen Ankh Mi Ras work Let the Ancestors Speak: Removing the Veil of Mysticism from Medu Netcher (1995), JOM International Inc. 7 http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/geopedia/Ancient_Egypt 8 Which in our modern orientation would be upper. The Nile, however, flows up -down into the Mediterranean sea, so the upper Nile Valley would be in Uganda/Ethiopia.

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things changed as the aridity came back and forced the inhabitants of the Sahara regions to spread in all directions. This brings us to our second point. As a result of the forming of the desert, these Saharan groups begin to move south, east, west and north in search of ecological refuges such as desert oases and other fertile areas to live. Those who moved south and east found themselves finding refuge along the Nile river. Others going south settled near lake Chad. Others going west settled near the Niger river. Others moving further south penetrated the forests and didnt stop until they reached the Congo river. In other words, the people settled in areas where there was an abundance of water. This is when the Nile becomes really important. With this said, every group that migrated didnt speak the same language. Over time, along the Nile, many groups speaking different but related languages settled in various points along the Nile. Some of these Sahara migrants actually settled in Greece (Diop 1991, Campbell-Dunn 2006, 2008). This is important to note because, as Keita mentioned above, these groups brought along with them religious ideas, cultural motifs, and signs and symbols that later appeared in Pharaonic Egypt. As we will see below, these signs (writing scripts) are found in West and Central Africa as well as ancient Crete. Over time, forty-two major provinces appeared along the Nile River and the idea of a unified polity began to shape. King Menes is credited with unifying the nomes and creating a singular polity. In the forty-two provinces of Upper and Lower Egypt, a question of linguistic order arose concerning the choice of a language as the official means of communication or system of communication for federal purposes (Kaya, 2010). Each province had a language or dialect and totem (tama) of its own. The early scribes and linguists, who were multi-lingual, noted the similarities in many of the basic and major terms of these dialects and/or languages. This prompted, in the writing script, a conscious omission of the vowel-sounds as they noted that these were not consistent between the languages and/or dialects along the Nile. By not writing the vowel sounds in the words, the script became accessible to many groups and it allowed those in the future to more easily read the ancient scripts as they noted the more stable consonant roots (Kaya 2010, Rkhty 2010). People do not vocalize the same way in every place and in every time. Vowels change in any language, even from person to person and from place to place. On the orders of the Pharaoh, the scribes set consonants as the basic phonemes and pictograms as both the sign language and the symbols (Kaya 2010). Using early African languages as a frame of reference, the scribes elaborated a voiced consonant graphic system, which was to unify the whole Egyptian nation and which we have applied to several African languages. The hieroglyphs can be used to write different languages and/or be understood by different African languages that share the same or similar structure. As noted by Kaya:
It should be observed that a link of communication could be established between different African languages that have a common pre-dialectical source. This is made possible by using identical consonants and phonemes as a paradigm and introducing ideograms as in the rebus system for the exceptions, and the determinative clauses as in a lexicon or phonetically complement. For instance, a Senegalese person could write Walaf in the shape of hieroglyphics which could be read and understood by a Malian, a Tanzanian or a Zairian without speaking Mandingo, Lingala, Swahili or even Hausa. This is made possible when African languages and the Pharaonic graphic system are combined.

As a result of the many groups converging along the Nile, the language that arose and developed was a mixed language and this is why we cannot reconstruct a proto-form of the Egyptian language and why it

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was once labeled as a language isolate.9 The study of mixed languages is beyond the scope of this paper. I recommend the books Language Contact, Creolization and Genetic Linguistics edited by Sarah G. Thomason and Terrence Kaufman (1988); Language Contact and Grammatical Change by Bernd Heine and Tania Kuteva (2005); The Dynamics of Language Contact by Michael Clyne (2003); The Ecology of Language Evolution by Salikoko Mufwene (2001). One can also examine peer-reviewed essays in the Journal of Language Contact: Evolution of Languages, Contact and Discourse (started in 2007). This is important to note because linguists are beginning to realize just how important contact is to the development and the shaping of human languages. Ideas regarding the rigidness of languages and their resistance to outside change are eroding under the weight of new data. For instance, it was believed that languages would not adopt whole grammar features from other languages, but this has been shown not to be the case, for example, with the Maa language of East Africa (Thomason and Kaufman, 1988). The Maa language cannot be classified by comparative methods because the vocabulary of the language is Cushitic, while its grammar system is Bantu. The purpose of the comparative method is the reconstruction of the proto-language. This linguistic tool is used to establish genetic relatedness of languages. These languages, shown to be related, relate on both a common grammar and basic vocabulary. If these two aspects of speech are not shared in significant ways (among two or more languages), it cannot be argued that that these languages are closely related and you cannot classify the languages into known families. This is the case with Maa. Because the major features in Maa come from two different language families, one cannot reconstruct the mother language that gave birth to Maa. Unlike in biological systems, linguists attribute the birth of languages to a single parent, not two like in living biological systems. In the case of Egyptian, there are multiple donors that help to create the language. Dr. Alain Anselin, linguist and Egyptologist (Universite des Antilles-Guyane), in his article Some Notes about an Early African Pool of Cultures from which Emerged the Egyptian Civilization (2011) suggests an integration of Chadic, Cushitic and Nilo-Saharan elements. I would also add Niger-Congo for reasons to be discussed below.

THE EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPHS AS NIGER-CONGO SYMBOLS

The hieroglyphic symbols are an outgrowth and expansion of old Kongo-Saharan writing symbols. These symbols can be seen among the Vai, Mende and even the ancient Cretans. A few examples can be seen below of shared iconographic symbols among the Egyptians and Kongo-Saharan speakers. The first few examples is taken from Cheikh Anta Diops book Precolonial Black Africa: A Comparative Study of the Political and Social Systems of Europe and Black Africa, from Antiquity to the Formation of Modern States (1987).

A language isolate, in the absolute sense, is a natural language with no demonstrable genealogical (or "genetic") relationship with other languages; that is, one that has not been demonstrated to descend from an ancestor common with any other language. They are in effect language families consisting of a single language. Commonly cited examples include Basque, Korean, Ainu and Burushaski, though in each case a minority of linguists claim to have demonstrated a relationship with other languages. Egyptian is now considered its own branch of Afro-Asiatic.

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For more info on the Mande script, visit: http://www.omniglot.com/writing/mende.htm

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Nsibidi and Egyptian comparisons

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Egyptian and Mande script comparisons

The following example actually comes from Linear A in Crete and the Vai script of West Africa. The Linear A borrowed many signs from the ancient Egyptian script, but didnt borrow the phonetics of the sign. Practically all of the signs in Linear A match Niger-Congo words for those symbols, which brings to question whether they were borrowed necessarily from Egypt or brought with them from Africa. The first example comes from Cambpell-Dunn (2006).

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Below are some of signs alleged to be borrowed from Egypt per Obenga.

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The comparisons below are a more extensive set of Egyptian and Linear A comparisons with their NigerCongo names, which I argue, informs us on alternate pronunciations of signs in Egyptian which are attested in the Egyptian language itself.

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As we can see, the names given to the Egyptian glyphs above are actually the name of those items in Kongo-Saharan languages. A good number of these glyphs in Linear A actually are just morphological variations of the ones in Egypt. For instance, Linear A do eye is a variant of Egyptian iri eye (l <> d); Linear A se arm is a palatalized form of Egyptian (k)a arm. We argue that the D36 glyph a "paw, claw, hand, arm" was actually pronounced ka (PWS *ka arm, hand, cut); e.g., Egyptian a region, province < PWS *ka place, home; PWS *g place, PWS *gi to be in a place; PWN KI (KYI, CI) village, settlement. Over time the k- was dropped which left us with /a/. The Kongo-Saharan languages can tell us a lot about the Egyptian writing script. Diop reaffirms why we should be looking at those languages from the south in regards to understanding the hieroglyphs.
Equally inadmissible are theories that take the same assumption (Capart) to explain the origin of Egyptian writing, whose essential symbols in reality represent the flora and fauna of the African interior, particularly Nubia, not Lower Egypt. (Diop, 1974: 125)

This is important to note because the character of the writing script is not Semitic, but Niger-Congo. The so-called determinatives of the Egyptian script are none other than Kongo-Saharan noun-classifiers and verbal suffixes (a few examples will be demonstrated throughout our discussion). In Kongo-Saharan languages, the classes, for example, determine the definition of the words, unlike in Semitic where the meaning is determined by vocalic alternations (the vowels are grammatical elements). These same characteristics can be found in Sumerian. As Mallowan (1965: 62), referenced in Campbell-Dunn (2009a: 10), noted about Sumerian, determinative signs were often added as prefixes and phonetic complements attached as suffixes to clarify the meaning of the word. I argue that Egyptian and Sumerian share these same features because they both derive from Niger-Congo languages where this approach to writing matches the inner logic of the language being spoken. The Nubian origin of the language and the writing script is intriguing when we juxtapose it to the thesis by Welmers for the possible Niger-Congo homeland in the Nile Valley. Wm. E. Welmers, in his 1971 article "Niger-Congo, Mande" [in T.A. Sebeok, et al. eds. Linguistics in sub-Saharan Africa (Current Trends in Linguistics, 7), pp. 113-140 The Hague: Mouton] suggests the following:
By way of conclusion to this general overview of the Mande languages, a bit of judicious speculation about Mande origins and migrations may not be out of order. It has already been stated that the Mande languages clearly represent the earliest offshoot from the parent Niger-Congo stocknot counting Kordofanian, which Greenberg considers parallel to all of the Niger-Congo, forming a Niger-Kordofanian macrofamily. An original Niger-Congo homeland in the general vicinity of the upper Nile valley is probably as good a hypothesis as any. From such a homeland, a westward Mande migration may have begun well over 5000 years ago. Perhaps the earliest division within this group resulted in the isolation of what is now represented only by Bobo-fing. Somewhat later perhaps 3500 to 4500 years ago, and possibly from a new homeland around northern Dahomey [now Benin] the ancestors of the present Northern-western Mande peoples began pushing farther west, ultimately reaching their present homeland in the grasslands and forests of West Africa. This was followed by a gradual spread of the Southern-Eastern division, culminating perhaps 2000 years ago in the separation of its to branches and the ultimate movement of Southern Mande peoples southeast and westward until Mano and Kpelle, long separated, became once more contiguous. (pp. 119-120) (emphasis mine)

We have to remember that the Greek historian informs us what the Egyptians told him directly concerning their origins and customs. We are told by Diodorus that:
They say also that the Egyptians are colonists sent out by the Ethiopians, Osiris having been the leader of the colonyAnd the larger part of the customs of the Egyptians are, they hold,

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Ethiopian, the colonists still preserving their ancient manners. For instance, the belief that their kings are gods, the very special attention which they pay to their burials, and many other matters of a similar nature are Ethiopian practices, while the shapes of their statues and the forms of their letters are Ethiopian; for of the two kinds of writing which the Egyptians have, that which is known as "popular" (demotic) is learned by everyone, while that which is called "sacred" is understood only by the priests of the Egyptians, who learn it from their fathers as one of the things which are not divulged, but among the Ethiopians everyone uses these forms of letters. Furthermore, the orders of the priests, they maintain, have much the same position among both peoples; for all are clean who are engaged in the service of the gods, keeping themselves shaven, like the Ethiopian priests, and having the same dress and form of staff, which is shaped like a plough and is carried by their kings, who wear high felt hats which end in a knob at the top and are circled by the serpents which they call asps; and this symbol appears to carry the thought that it will be the lot of those who shall dare to attack the king to encounter death-carrying stings. Many other things are also told by them concerning their own antiquity and the colony which they sent out that became the Egyptians, but about this there is no special need of our writing anything.10

In other words, the Egyptian culture is the Kushite culture (Ethiopian) of Chad/Sudan as acknowledged by the Egyptians themselves. Even Champollion, the decipherer of the hieroglyphs, understood this point.11 This would explain why the Kongo-Saharan symbols, along with the words to go with them, became the foundational symbols of the emerging Egyptian language. There are many theses concerning the origins of the Niger-Congo language family with many having them originate west of Lake Chad. I find many of these theories untenable for reasons beyond the scope of our current discourse. But even if we did accept that hypothesis, one couldnt deny the fact that Niger -Congo (and Proto-Bantu) speakers were in the Nile Valley as evidenced by the Sumerian data. The Sumerian language has been proven, by way of the comparative method, to be a Niger-Congo language. Four principle works help to establish this fact: W. Wanger, Comparative Lexical Study of Sumerian and Ntu (Bantu): The Sumerian Sanscrit of the African Ntu Languages (1935); Robin Walker, When We Ruled (2006); GJK Campbell-Dunn Sumerian Comparative Dictionary & Sumerian Comparative Grammar (2009); and Hermel Hermstein Black Sumer: The African Origins of Civilization (2012). Hermstein (2012: 85-98) posits an eastern migration of Niger-Congo (Proto-Bantu) speakers, originating from Lake Chad, passing through the Sudan, settling in Somalia, then working their way up to presentday Iraq. Campbell-Dunn (2009a: 43, 151), on the other hand, posits a Congo origin with the ProtoSumerians traveling through East Africa into Arabia and migrating further north. Lake Chad and the Congo are essentially the same area, only separated by forests. In both scenarios they had to travel east and cross over the Nile to get to Arabia/Mesopotamia. In traveling they settled in Sudan where the origins of Egyptian pharaonic culture ultimately lies (although I would add elements from the Western and Eastern African deserts as well). As noted by Diop (1974: 169), in regards to the beginning of the mdw nTr script:
As early as 4000 BC Egyptian documents indicate that the Merotic Sudan was a prosperous country which maintained commercial ties with Egypt. Gold was plentiful. About that time the Meroitic Sudan probably transmitted to Egypt the twelve hieroglyphs that were the first embryonic alphabet.

10

Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History, Books II.35 - IV.58, Translated by C.H. Oldfather, Harvard University Press, 2000 11 As noted by Champollion in his Grammaire Egyptienne (1836), Introduction: XIX.

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The idea that the hieroglyphs originated with Kongo-Saharan speakers is also one shared by CampbellDunn. His commentary on the subject is very informative, not only on the development of the script among the Egyptians, but also on how to approach the phonology of the symbols as well. He goes on to inform us that: Egyptian Hieroglyphics (attested from c 3250 BC) uses many (about 900) recognisable pictographs and combines ideographic and phonetic notation, but not in the same way as Sumerian. Determinatives and partial phonetic indications (old prefixes, suffixes ?) are added to clarify the core word. Hieroglyphics incorporates a consonantary, however, not a syllabary (standard interpretation). I suspect the consonantary arose through applying a syllabic script designed for a language with few vowels to a foreign tongue with a vowel system that did not match. The Egyptian method of writing 3 vowels by using consonantal symbols implies reduction of wu to u, yi to i etc. This kind of change is typical of Niger-Congo and Nilo-Saharan. The Egyptian practice of attaching a snake to the SUN sign shows that Hieroglyphics were once used to write a Niger-Congo language in which the snake and the sun were denoted by the same word, 12 such as ra, da. Egyptian vowels may once have been indeterminate however. The rebus principle is a prominent feature, which suggests Hieroglyphics once wrote a non-Egyptian language with numerous homophones, such as occur in Niger-Congo. The rebus principle is based on homophony, which is not a feature of Egyptian. The same Egyptian sign is freely used for words that are phonetically diverse. But this is true also of Sumerian. It is explained by a pictographic (ideographic) source. Pictographies of various kinds (ideographic, syllabic, alphabetic) occur in West Africa, where they provide elaborate pictorial catalogues of mans (and womans) worlds ( Dalby 1967). They appear to have originally been used in initiation ceremonies, and were also employed for purposes of magic. In Africa they have a meaningful cosmic context, and are embedded in the mythology. Africa therefore, not Egypt, is the probable source of all these pictographies. Unfortunately however documentation from Africa is relatively recent. But some of these scripts or their precedents must go back to antiquity. That is Diops opinion. (Campbell-Dunn, 2009a: 11-12) (emphasis mine) Besides the off-remark separating Egypt from Africa, Campbell-Dunn brings up many salient points that gives context to this discourse. As I noted in my 2011 work Passion of the Christ or Passion of Osiris: The Kongo Origins of the Jesus Myth, the Egyptians communicated through the rebus principle. This principle is discussed by wiki as follows:
In linguistics, the rebus principle means using existing symbols, such as pictograms, purely for their sounds regardless of their meaning, to represent new words. Many ancient writing systems used the rebus principle to represent abstract words, which otherwise would be hard to be represented by pictograms. An example that illustrates the Rebus principle is the representation of the sentence I can see you by using the pictographs of eyecanseaewe. Some linguists believe that the Chinese developed their writing system according to the rebus principle, [5] and Egyptian hieroglyphs sometimes used a similar system. A famous rebus statue of Ramses II uses three hieroglyphs to compose his name: Horus (as Ra), for Ra; the child, mes; and the sedge plant (stalk held in left hand), su; the name Ra-mes-su is then formed

12

One can see another example of this in Egyptian: itn.t "solar goddess, female sun disk" (itn "sun/sun disk); itnt "a snake."

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To see this type of communication in action, we can examine a practice among the Yoruba people of Nigeria in regards to setting up a date (if you will) and how they communicate this non-verbally.
To name one custom, the Yoruba of Africa have always used pebbles as indexical symbols; these could even assume homophonic value (an important component of some phonetic writing), whereby one word sounds identical to another with a different meaning. To arrange a tryst 13, for example, A Yoruba man would leave six pebbles for a woman to find Yoruba efa, or six, also means attracted. If the woman was willing, she left eight pebbles as an answer: Yoruba eyo, or eight, also means agreed. History of Writing by Steven Roger Fischer, Reaktion Books 2001 p2114

As noted in Imhotep (2011), the rebus principle can be seen in the image below of the God Ra of ancient Egypt. Each element of the image can be expressed in the Egyptian language using the term ra and thus the iconsbesides being used to denote spiritual conceptsare used here to reinforce the pronunciation of the deity: they are a kind of phonetic complement so-to-speak.

What we are seeing above is the name ra written four times: Egyptian rrw snake r snake rA snake ra sun, day ra hawk15 (wn) ra high priest in Letopolis16

13 14

A tryst is a rendezvous or a meeting. Cited in Hermstein, Hermel (2012-10-06). Black Sumer: The African Origins of Civilisation (Kindle Locations 3043-3050). Pomegranate Publishers. Kindle Edition. 15 Mangbetu ri animal or bird; Songhai kr bird 16 In Niger-Congo la means old (refers to elders, those in high rank and gods: e.g., Yorb Ol elevated status, fame, honourable estate).

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Each aspect of the image above is rendered as ra. I argue that the hawk, too, can be rendered ra. This is because in the family of related languages, the word for bird, bird of prey is ra or some variation as we can see below:
Proto-Afro-Asiatic: *raHaw/y- bird; Semitic: *rahw- or *ra- 'crane' or 'red kite'; Western Chadic: *ray(aw)- 'bird'; East Chadic: *ry- < *raHay- 'vulture'; Low East Cushitic: *raHaw'large bird' ; Hebrew r 'red kite'; Arabic rahw-; Proto-WChadic: *ray(aw)- 'bird'; Bolewa: rayo, yaro [Bn:22], met. yaro [CLR]; Karekare: ra yi [ShV]; Ngamo: ra yi [ShV]; Bele: raawi [ShB]; Proto-EChadic: *ray- vulture; Migama: raaya [JMig] {Notes: cf. Dangaleat riya 'heron' [Fd]}; Proto-Low East Cushitic: *raHaw- 'large bird'; Arbore: raw.

The word ra is just a general word for bird and bird of prey among the so-called Afro-Asiatic speakers.17 However, for the Kongo-Saharan speakers who lived in the Nile Valley, they pronounced each of these items differently and their terms have also survived in Egyptian. For the NC-speakers, each of these terms can be pronounced with an initial k- or g- sound with an optional post-posted -la suffix article or another agglutinated term. For instance:
Sumerian a-l harmful being a-

SNAKE ? LA, DA, RA snake, crawl

PWS la lie, sleep Sumerian alad protective spirit PWN DAD crawl PWS gu snake, Nupe e-wa snake, Bassa i-wa snake PWS gua hand, arm (snakes were thought of as arms) PWN GHWK, GHWYK snake Bantu jka snake Kongo nioka snake, Swahili nyoka snake, Lolo, Ngala, Poto, Ngombe, Kele njo snake Yoruba edjo snake Xhosa majola snake (Sambu, 2008: 223) Mande bida black snake Mangbetu tatala snake [Snakes were both harmful beings and protective spirits]. *GW = # *A = a

17

As it regards the pronunciation of the god Ra, as the falcon god, it is my contention that the ra-form in AfroAsiatic is the k-r form in reverse (Hr<>r(H)). A clue lies in the pronunciations in related languages (cited above) where the root for ra is either r-h, r-y or r-. Each of the sounds in the C2 position derive from /k/ (k>h, k>y, k>). See below for discussion on Hrw. Diop (1955: 117) unknowingly supports this suggestion in his commentary on African words that may have been borrowed into Greek > Latin. He suggests the following: "Ra, Re: Egyptian god, symbolized by the sun, title of the Pharaoh; Rog: celestial Serer god whose voice is thunder; Rex: king, in Latin; which, in the Romance languages, becomes re, rey, roi, whereas in the Anglo-Germanic we have only king or Knig." However, the word king may be a loan from Sumerian. The Serer rog and Latin rex would verify that on the one hand, the inherited term in Serer substantiates the r-k root. One should know that in African languages, the word for sky and sun are often the same (Campbell -Dunn 2009a, 2009b). The borrowing into Latin would have to be at a time where ra was pronounced raH where the H was later dropped in the other Romance languages. It should be noted that la in Kongo-Saharan can mean great, big and is seen in the Yorb word Ol elevated status, fame, honourable estate. It can be seen in such name s as Olsen fame is not unachievable, Oladnni high status is sweet to have, Olnrewj status is progressing forward, Olitn honour never gets used up. In Bantu this becomes kala, kulu, kale, etc.

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The word Dt cobra in Egyptian derived from an old Kongo-Saharan word *gua snake. Here g > D which is common in African languages and can be seen in Egyptian iqr snake (Xhosa-Bantu ma-jola snake). A similar sounding root is given for the word sun in Kongo-Saharan. A few examples can be seen below:
*GHW = Q SUN (G. N7) QE (Linear A) = *guia sun; I Tschi a-wia day, o-wia sun, Agni wa sun < wia, Guang owi, o-wu sun, Abure e-yue sun, IV Yula we sun, Tem we-re, we sun, Tshala we-ta sun. PWN GHWIN sun. Bantu uva sun, Bantu (Meeussen) guba sun. A. (B-C) Ogoni gbei, Ufi a rigwe sun, Ewe ghe,Fon hue sun. (V) Fula nange sun, Gola egwe sun. Language Gbe (Kru, Kwa, Benue-Congo, Cross River), Kwe (Benue-Congo). Probably Q = gb, as in II Ogoni. (Campbell-Dunn, 2006:1-2)

The word for bird also shares this root in Kongo-Saharan.

BIRD KU bird PNC *ku bird, Igbo o-ku parrot, kuku pigeon PWN KUKI fowl Bantu kumbi hawk, kucu parrot, kunda, kuti pigeon Holoholo kok hen Mangbetu kua parrot Proto-Mande *kuni bird Songhai kr bird *K = h *U = u *K = # *U = u Sumerian hu bird, ( u5 cock)

In Egyptian these words have varying morphologies: SNAKE Dt/ADyt/wADyt "cobra, cobra (as amulet) (< kt "uraeus snake, black necked cobra"); SUN xai "be shining (of kings)," xAy "shine (of sun), enlighten (of land)," Hrw "sun, day, daytime" (x > H) 18 ; HAWK Hrw/Hr Heru (hawk god) (Proto-Bantu *-kodifalcon, hawk, bird of prey), HAi "screech (of falcon) [(PNC *ku bird, bird cry)], dance (at funeral)19"; siAt "falcon amulet" (k>s ?). Even the body of the person in the image of Ra above can be said to have this -k- root, as a word for person, living being in Egyptian is anx (Linear A qa man; Khoi-san khoi man; Dinka koi man; Akan nkwa life; Kikongo nkwa life, man; I Tschi a-kwa a male, a male slave; Tschala okpa person. There is also the general word for body xt. It should be noted that in Linear A the anx Dsymbol is pronounced za life (PCS za flesh) which in Niger-Congo is also associated with blood (the life-source): e.g., Yoruba ede blood, Nupe eda blood, Lefana ubudza blood, Guang obuza blood, Ewe kadze blood, Ahlo obidza blood (Eg. Df drop of blood; < fD ?). Again, this derives from an original k-form: e.g., PWN *GHIA blood, Tchi boga blood, Nupe egia blood, Bantu (Meeussen) gida, gadi blood (Eg. Tr red liquid/blood; ti.t amulet, Isis blood), Gbe aga, agya
18

It should be noted that in Niger-Congo the g/k sound is often palatalized and the word *gua for sun can be seen in its NC variants: Yoruba o-do sun, Mbe a-dui sun. This would match closely to the Egyptian Dt cobra (Yoruba edjo). 19 It should be noted that many indigenous ceremonial dances imitate animal movements and this may be the case here: a kind of falcon dance. The author recalls seeing something like this among the Papua New Guineans who do a mating dance that is imitative of an exotic bird that lives in the area. One can see such a display here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/humanplanetexplorer/events_and_festivals/sing_sing.

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blood. The b- prefix on some of the roots may derive from m- (m>b), a Kongo-Saharan prefix for mass liquid nouns. As we see in Egyptian, two different pronunciations exist (ra, Hrw) in the same language for the exact same symbols, as the same symbols for the god Ra are the same symbols (exactly) used for the god @rw. I attribute this to at least two different language families living in Egypt at the time of these religious formulations who gave these signs pronunciations in their own language. It is very common for Africans to mix religious ideas from various groups into their own tradition. The Yoruba system of Ifa immediately comes to mind.

Section Summary
We have set out to set out the context by which the ancient Egyptian writing script developed. We noted that the Egyptian state is a pool of various African groups and the Egyptian language emerged out of a need to communicate all throughout the Nile River. Egyptian became a creolized lingua-franca (like Lingala in Congo) and emerged from Chadic, Kushitic and Kongo-Saharan languages in the area. We argue that the glyphs originally were Kongo-Saharan signs that were significantly expanded on by scribes of the Egyptian state. Clues to their earlier pronunciation lie in studying the Vai and Linear A writing scripts. Diodorus informs us that the major manners and customs of the Egyptians derive from the Ethiopians. These were the various groups, generically called Kushites, who resided in modern-day Sudan. If the Egyptians note that their customs and script derive from the South, then we cannot look to Semitic for the proper phonology of the Egyptian writing script: it is not a Semitic language. This is why our method here is to look into Kongo-Saharan as our starting point for clues to the pronunciation of words, word-formation, and of grammar hidden in the glyphs. This is the focus of our next section.

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THE PHONOLOGY OF THE WRITING SCRIPT

As noted previously, the focus of this paper is a preliminary look at the basic monoliteral signs that are the foundation of the Egyptian alphabet. Below are the glyphs and their pronunciations as they are understood today.

The objective is to verify that the phonemes assigned to each glyph are the correct ones given the historical development of the script. There are several reasons why we of the African school would want to revisit this research question. The main reason is to accurately compare ancient Egyptian lexemes with modern African lexes to evaluate the rate of change of paleo-African words. As Egyptian is our oldest known full script on the continent (and the world for that matter), it serves as a fertile ground for comparisons for all other related languages; especially in the areas of grammar and word formation. As noted earlier, the method so far has been to compare Egyptian with the Semitic languages. This stems from earlier notions in Egyptology which believed that the Egyptian language and culture stemmed from migrants coming from Western Asia. Since this area is dominated by Semitic languages, they assumed that Egyptian would thus be an offshoot of Semitic. This has proven not to be the case and it has been known that Egyptian and Semitic were not closely related since the time of E. Wallis Budge. But cultural bias ensued and we still have, to this date, a strong belief that Semitic will reveal a lot about the Egyptian language when it cannot. As noted by Diop (1974: 124):
To attempt to explain the Negro Egyptian world by the so-called Semitic world should be impossible on the basis of no more than a few grammatical similarities such as the suffixal conjugations, pronoun suffixes, and t for the feminine. The Semitic world, as we conceive of it today, is too recent to explain Egypt.

Another problem is researchers have stricktly looked to the Coptic language, which is believed to be the last stage of the Egyptian language, for the proper pronunciation of Egyptian words. This is problematic on several fronts. The first is that Coptic is approx 3000 years after the development of the Egyptian language. The language has gone through too many changes to accurately be able to pronounce old or Page 22 of 62

middle Egyptian (if one believes that these are stages and not dialects and/or different languages). Secondly, it is my personal opinion that the Copts were not, wholly, indigenous Africans, but Europeans. One can go to Egypt today and see the Copts are not the Africans depicted on ancient Egyptian reliefs. As noted previously, Champollion even mentioned this in his Grammaire Egyptiene:
The ancient Egyptiansbelonged to a race of humans who resembled in every way the Kenuz or Barabras, the current inhabitants of Nubia. The Copts found in Egypt today have none of the characteristic traits of the ancient Egyptian population. The Copts are the result of the anarchic metissage of all the different peoples that had successively dominated Egypt. It is wrong headed to try to find in these people the physical traits of the ancient race.20

I agree and I extend this notion even to the language. One question one has to ask is why would the indigenous Africans need to borrow Greek letters to write their native language? The Egyptians have created over 900 signs for their language and for 3000 years didnt feel the need for vowels. Why all of a sudden is there a need for vowels in this era? I can understand the need for better communication across languages in regards to a need to write out vowels, but one is confused on why the Egyptians even adopted the consonants from the Greeks as well. Again, the Egyptians were more than capable of utilizing the consonants they already had. My contention is that the Copts were Greeks and Coptic is the result of the interaction between Greek and Egyptian speakers. The Greek Copts needed a way to write the African terms but with sounds that more closely resembled the Greek language they were used to. Therefore, they employed the Greek script and adopted the Demotic signs for sounds not present in the Greek language. There would have been no reason for the Egyptians to adopt their own script they have been writing with for centuries. Coptic, as a script, developed in the 3rd century BCE after the Greek takeover of Egypt and the subsequent spread of Christianity.21 The existence of the script, and thus the pronunciation of words, are birthed in a Greek (foreign) environment and cannot be used to wholly understand Old and Middle Egyptian. The pidginization of terms must be considered. There is now even some controversy about the pronunciation of Coptic. The reason is Coptic died out as a primary spoken language in the 15th century. Most classical Coptic literature was written in the Sahidic dialect, and when that is taught today (e.g. Thomas O. Lambdin, Introduction to Sahidic Coptic, Mercer University Press, 1983, 1988), a sort of compromise "academic" pronunciation, partially based on the academic pronunciation of Greek, is used. This is the same with middle Egyptian in modern Egyptology. The Coptic spoken today is the result of a revitalization project just like with Hebrew.22 Therefore, we must understand Coptic in its Greek context. The issues of language contact, in an era where Egyptians are no longer sovereign, have to be considered. In other words, How did the Greek invasion and hegemony affect the development of the Egyptian language during Greek occupation? How did the previous occupation affect the known Egyptian dialects? How did Egyptian words change under foreign tongues? Who was writing during these periods: the indigenous or the new foreign ruling class? While Coptic is helpful in pronunciation of Egyptian, it cannot ultimately be the barometer by which we attempt to vocalize Old, Middle and New Kingdom Egyptian. Lastly, many who are involved in the revitalization of Egyptian have not even bothered to step outside of the modern Egyptian literature to verify that the modern scholars got the vocalization, and subsequently our modern transcriptions correct. The problem is method. There are those who will attempt to justify their associations by looking into modern dictionaries of Egyptian. The problem lies in the fact that one
20 21

Cited in Fluehr-Lobban and Rhodes (2004: 90), translated by Antenor Firmin (1885) from the French. See http://www.omniglot.com/writing/coptic.htm 22 Read more here: http://www.stshenouda.com/coptlang/copthist.htm

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cannot ask native Egyptians, who speak the ancient Egyptian language (and write with the ancestral signs), if one is saying the phonemes correctly. We have to rely on other methods to verify that the phonetic associations with glyphs in current dictionaries are accurate or not. Trying to verify the pronunciation of hieroglyphic sounds by way of a modern Egyptian dictionary is like trying to prove the Bible by referencing the Bible. We cannot rely solely on the word of researchers whose aim was to connect the Egyptian language to Semitic (thinking Semitic was Asian). In attempting to link ancient Egyptian with Semitic, researches have also attempted to attach Semitic phonology on the Egyptian glyphs. They did this without doing the comparative method23 to verify the sounds by reconstructing the proto-Egyptian sound system so that we may account for sound changes in later periods. The approach to solving this problem has to be radically different than the approaches used in previous decades. This is the objective of our discourse. Here are a few notes of mine before we get started tackling the phonetics of Egyptian: 1. The hieroglyphs represent consonants, not vowels. So any vowel-like associations given in the text would have to be the result of consonant degradation. 2. For phonetic monoliteral signs, the first consonant for the name of the object depicted is the phoneme that was chosen to represent the hieroglyph: e.g., nw = water; water sign = /n/ value. 3. Consonants morph over time and old signs get new sound values: e.g., H < k. 4. Egypt housed many language groups and dialects. As a result, some signs have totally different pronunciations as a result of multiple groups assigning value to a single sign: e.g., fx, Sfdw and arq. Also, when understanding dialects and change over time, one has to be familiar with the common morphology of phonemes. For this study I have adopted the Table of Equivalent Consonants created by Alexander Aberfeldy.24 As noted by the author:
Before we can understand the wordlist we need to understand something about consonants. The new approach has one tool, the Table of Equivalent Consonants or TEC, and the TEC has one application, the wordlist. The TEC was inspired by Soundex, a phonetic indexing system devised early in the twentieth century by Robert C. Russell and Margaret K. Odell. They called their invention the Soundex system and patented it in 1918 and 1922. It has been used, successfully, ever since to bring order to the spellings inflicted on immigrant surnames by English-speaking clerks and, often, by the owners of the names. In a similar way, the TEC has brought order to several million everyday words. The main feature of both systems is a reduction in the number of effective consonants from the dozens used in European languages to six effective consonants. Vowels are ignored. Both systems are effective because these variant spellings are not the result of sloppy speech, imperfect education, or laziness: they represent what actually happens to sounds when they are passed, many times, from mouth to ear and then written down, usually by a clerk who does not speak the same language. Every word in our dictionaries was transmitted orally for most of its existence and then transcribed in a similar way.

Here is the table below:

23

See this link for details of the comparative method, how it is done and what it is used for: http://people.du.ac.in/~pkdas/hls/cmd.pdf 24 http://lochearnhead.wikidot.com/

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Fig.1.1 The TEC 1 B Mb P F V W 2 M N Ng Gn F V 3 C G J K Q S X Y Ch Sh H 4 D T Th Z 5 L LL 6 R RR Fig.1.2 The 36 disyllabic roots 1 BB,BM ,BC ,BD ,BL, BR 2 MB,MM,MC,MD,ML,MR 3 CB,CM ,CC ,CD ,CL,CR 4 DB,DM ,DC ,DD ,DL,DR 5 LB,LM,LC,LD,LL,LR 6 RR,RB,RM,RC ,RD ,RL,RR

One can visit the material for more details on how it is organized. For now, the table above shows certain primary consonants and their known dialectical variations; the results of internal and external agents of morphological change over time. It helps us to anticipate the different spelling of words across space and time and can be applied to African languages. Since we are doing a lot of comparisons with the ciLubaBantu language, it should be noted the different sound interchanges in that language. It may be helpful in the Egyptian language. nm m b m mb np mp w b szj Sound interchanges in CiLuba-Bantu pfv rld p h rn nl nd d p b d t sh/ s z f v pf t/ t

To begin an exercise, a word for bird in Egyptian is written pr. History has shown us that the sounds /b/ and /f/ are often variants of /p/ (and vice versa). Also /l/ and /r/ interchange. With this knowledge I can anticipate another form in Egyptian, something like b-r and that is exactly what we find: bA bird [Wb I S 410] (A = l). We note that often b > m, so we should check for a m-r variation as well. We find it, but the phonemes are reversed. In Egyptian there is a phenomenon where the /A/ and /r/ sound are often switched to the C1 position in Egyptian if originally in C2. So instead of mr or mA we find Ama bird [Wb I S 10]. If we notice on row 1 of the TEC that the /b/ sound also morphs into /w/, then we can anticipate a form w-r in Egyptian given that /w/ in Egyptian derives from /b/ (b>w). In Egyptian we find wr young bird [Cerny: CED S 98]. This word has a slight semantic evolution. However, the /r/ consonant is also known to morph into /n/, so it is no surprise that we find in Egyptian wn bird [Wb I S 307]. As a check on the last pronunciation, we should note the word bn bird [Wb I S 457] > bnw Heron, Phoenix. Here the general word for bird was given a slightly different pronunciation to give association to a specific type of bird. But as we see here, all of these are variants of the same word: pr = bA = Ama = wr = wn = bn = bnw. We can check into Negro-African languages against our Egyptian data:
BIRD BU bird RU demonstrative/plural Ngombe mbulu bird Mande b, b bird of prey Sumerian buru5 bird

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Mangbetu pupu big bird Bantu (Johnston 1922: 255) bun bird (Kwango-Kasai Group), also buru, bulu, mburu, puru etc.as in Ruwenzori-Semliki languages (p. 256) [Malay has burung bird, prefixed to bird names as a classifier]. [Mangbetu bulu man, speech] <*B = b *U = u *R = r *U = u

Understanding common sound changes will help us detect dialectical variations of terms. When deciding a sound for a morpheme, one must be cognizant of the variations in the language for the same concept depicted by the glyph. On the following page is my table of the proposed sound values for the Egyptian basic monoliteral glyphs. I have also included the equivalent sounds, based on sound correspondences, in the ciLuba-Bantu language given by Mubabinge Bilolo. Before we go there, however, I just want to show the Merotic script from Meroe in the Sudan. It was the script used in the kingdom of Kush beginning in the second century BCE. I will refer to this set of glyphs later on to verify some pronunciations in old Egyptian.

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Table1: Basic Egyptian Signs and their Phonemes Gardiner Sign Coda G1 M17 Symbol Description
vulture Reed leaf Double reeds

Proposed Sound Value A e/i/j e/y a u/w b p f m n r h H x X s/z s S q k g t T d D

ciLuba25 a i y a, e(n) u b p f m n l h, k ng, nk, sh ng, sh sh, nk, h s, sh, z s, sh, z sh k, q k, g g, ng, nk t tsh, ci d, t, ci dj, nd

Other possible vocalizations r/l gi, bi, ci g>y ka, ba b, swa p, k b b b, p m, mb; ng, nk > ny

D36 G43, D58 Q3 I9 G17 N35, D21 O4 V28 Aa1 F32 O34 S29 N37 N29 V31 W11 X1 V13 D46 I10

Arm Quail chick/ rope Lower leg/foot seat26 Horned viper Owl/carpenters level Water/white crown mouth courtyard Twisted flax sieve Belly & udder Bolt/lock Folded shawl Pool of water Hill slope basket Jar stand or stool Bread loaf Tethering rope hand cobra

x t, j, k

t d t d, j, k

25 26

Bilolo (2011: 236) Some argue that this is a sign for a mat. See p "mat" (as covering for furniture), (statue) base, throne" .

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To justify the sounds associated with each glyph, the following table provides the names for the glyph where the first consonant was taken to represent that sound in the hieroglyphs. Keep in mind that this is a work in progress, so not all associatios are completed here.27 Table 2: Basic Egyptian Signs and their Equivalents in Negro-African Languages Symbol Description Negro-African
vulture Proto-Afro-Asiatic: *raHaw/y- bird; Semitic: *rahw- or *ra'crane' or 'red kite'; Western Chadic: *ray(aw)- 'bird'; East Chadic: *ry- < *raHay- 'vulture'; Low East Cushitic: *raHaw- 'large bird' ; Hebrew r 'red kite'; Arabic rahw-; Proto-Semitic: *rahw- or *ra-; Proto-WChadic: *ray(aw)- 'bird'; Bolewa: rayo, yaro [Bn:22], met. yaro [CLR]; Karekare: ra yi [ShV]; Ngamo: ra yi [ShV]; Bele: raawi [ShB]; Proto-EChadic: *ray- vulture ; Migama: raya [JMig] {Notes: cf. Dangaleat riya 'heron' [Fd]}; Proto-Low East Cushitic: *raHaw- 'large bird'; Arbore: raw. REED GI reed Sumerian gi reed PWS g, gl, (git) tree, PWS ti tree PWS gi root, vein PWN GHI, (GHIM) be alive, PWN T tree Bantu cimb plant (dig) Ngombe gbie plantation Mande yiri, B dyiri tree Mangbetu gi clothing (made from reeds) Mangbetu gi riverbank Mangbetu gilinda brushwood that wont burn Mangbetu kese grass Mangbetu ki wood for heating, aki to break PCS ki to break *G = g *I = i

Gardiner Sign G1

=A

M17 = i/j

Reed leaf

Egyptian qqi leaf PB *jn leaf, grass

Double reeds

=y

Mangbetu bi leaf PWN BI seed Mande bi grass ciLuba diBeji "leaf, paper"; ciBeji "large leaf"; lubeji "grass"; dyanyi "leaf"; lwanyi "high grass" Proto-Afro-Asiatic: *abVlMeaning: leaf, grass Borean etymology: Borean etymology Semitic: *Vbil- 'fall (of leafs)' Western Chadic: *bulCentral Chadic: *HVbul-

27

The entries for the Negro-African column are taken from Campbell-Dunn (2009b) (one can check his sources) for Kongo-Saharan; the online Nostratic database for Afro-Asiatic; the online ciLuba database for the Tshiluba language; and the BLR3 Bantu database.

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D36

=a

Arm

East Chadic: *bilLow East Cushitic: *baHal- 'leaf' ARM KA arm, strength Sumerian arm, strength PWS ka, bua (ba) arm [BU = ] Sumerian kalag strong C-loss [k > h or b > v] Sumerian a5, aka make PWN BUAK, GWAL, KA (KYA), KWN arm Sumerian -KAL strength Bantu gado arm, bko arm Sumerian h, ahi arm strength Holoholo bok arm, kal to cut Mande bolo, bolo-kala, kmba-kala arm, wa arm, strength ES Didinga kalkic armpit, kom be strong

G43 =w

Quail chick

Proto-Afro-Asiatic: *wac V- bird; Egyptian: wd_ 'grey crane' (OK); Proto-Semitic: *was- 'little bird'; Arabic: was-, was-; Proto-Afro-Asiatic: *waw/y/- k. of bird; Semitic: *waw-at'kind of bird'; Egyptian: wy.t (med) 'kind of bird'; High East Cushitic: *wayy- 'dove'; Proto-Semitic: *waw-at- kind of bird; Judaic Aramaic: wwt 'stork' [Ja. 376] (wt according to [Levy WTM III 505]); Gurage: Gog. Sod. Muh. Msq. wawat 'crow' [LGur. 673].; {Notes: Tentative as the semantic difference between the terms under comparison is substantial}; Proto-High East Cushitic: *wayy- dove; Burji (Bambala, Dashe): wayya; Kongo-Saharan: Bulom i-we (plural) birds, i-we bird (singular), Biafada a-tsua fowl, Kissi s fowl, Bulom e-sok fowl, Temne a-toko, a-tsogo fowl. Evidence that Minoan is Atlantic. Mande sise fowl. The Egyptian phonetic for quail chick is w (unexplained). Proto-Bantu *pnd "shin, leg, calf, bone" Proto-Bantu *bt "lie flat, be flat or leveled, walk flatfooted" Proto-Bantu *pd "foot" Amarigna bat calf of leg Proto-Afro-Asiatic: *Pail- ~ *laPMeaning: bone or muscle of the leg Semitic: *pil- 'muscle of the thigh' Western Chadic: *falal- 'middle bone of an animal's foreleg' Central Chadic: *fVl- 'foot' Bedauye (Beja): fil-ik 'top of the shin-bone' Saho-Afar: *laf- 'bone' (met.) Low East Cushitic: *lafi 'bone' (met.) Notes: Ch f- in Hs and Bud may reflect both *p- and *f-. Cf. Cush.-Om. *lap- 'bone' SIFKJa 167; Sasse PEC 21. ciLuba ciBsa "bench, table, board, slate, seat, stand" PB pn stool

D58 =b

Lower leg/foot28

Q3

=p

seat

28

Note that the /b/ sound also became /w/ in Afro-Asiatic, so we find in Egyptian iwa leg; iwaw "thigh" (of a man), "leg" (of beef).

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I9

=f

Horned viper

G17 =m

Owl

Egyptian bn seat Proto-Bantu *bmb "poisonous snake" Proto-Bantu *bma "snake, python" PAA *biVy- "snake" (Egyptian /by/ "holy serpent"; Central Chadic Kapsiki=Higi Kamale: m bya, Fali Gili: biya; Higi Ghye: biya; Higi Nkafa: bg'y; Higi Baza: wg'y "python"). Egyptian bTw "poisonous snake."29 pChadic *mun "a bird" pChadic *minin "kind of bird" Warji munwai "bird" Kariya munu "bird" ciLuba ciMini; ciMinyi "eagle, vulture, swallower" Egyptian imnt "vulture goddess, a vulture (as amulet) Egyptian mnwt "swallow, pigeon, ringed turtle dove" mwt (vulture glyph) mnwt "swallow, pigeon, ringed turtle dove" mAS "a duck" im "a bird" [M17 - G17 - D38] imw "goose, duck" imtr "a bird" mst "marsh bird, breeding fowl, geese" msyt "waterfowl"; poulty? msrt "a bird" Mande mb owl Bed. milike "owl" Afar milliko "bird of prey" ECh: WDng mukuku "chouette" Hausa my "owl" CCh: Daba mimbizimbizim "owl" CCh: mww "owl sp." (www "owl") NBrb: Zayan & Sgugu muka "chouette" pr [Vogel] Wb I S 531 (vogel = bird) bA [Vogel] Wb I S 410 abA "bird, turtle dove" (Yoruba abiye "bird") ab(A) [Vogel] (= {abw}?)] Meeks: AL 780686 abw [Vogel] (= {ab(A)}?)] Meeks: AL 780686 Abjjt [Vogel] Meeks: AL 780026 (j)Abt [Vogel] RdE 30 (1978) S 10 Abd [Vogel] RdE 30 (1978) S 10 Ama [Vogel] Wb I S 10 amaAt [Wurfholz zur Vogeljagd] Wb I S 186 (throwing stick for bird hunting) NU = *nu drink; I Anecho nu drink, Dahome nu drink, Ga nu drink, Guang nu drink, Edo nwo drink, III Lefana ni drink, Santrokofi ni drink, Kposso nua drink. Songhai numai to take a bath. PWN NGU to drink. Bantu nua mouth. Kongo, Bangi nua to drink, Soko noa to drink, Kele, Ngombe mwa to drink, Swahili nwa to drink.

N35

=n

Water

This term may be a variant of this word in Egyptian, mtw poison, malevolence, resentment; mtwt semen, seed, progeny, poison, ill will. [b>m]
29

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Niger-Congo ma liquid prefix. Bangi, Ngala, Poto mai water, Swahili maji water, Kele balia water, Kongo maza water Mande b, (b-n), bg.a muddy water, gyi su-ma fresh water Afro-Asiatic : Chad : Angas (1) am, Ngala (2) am, Sukur (3) yiam, Musgu yem water (Greenberg), WATER Sumerian a, e4 water GI, GIA water RA water, go (see previous) Niger-Congo ma liquid prefix. PWS gi, gia water, Kpelle ya water, Mampa yi water, Mende yia water > ye. PWS b, bt swamp, Efik m-bat swamp PWS pat swamp Bangi, Ngala, Poto mai water, Swahili maji water, Kele balia water, Kongo maza water Mande b, (b-n), bg.a muddy water, gyi su-ma fresh water Mangbetu kuma rain (suffix ?) Afro-Asiatic : Chad : Angas (1) am, Ngala (2) am, Sukur (3) yiam, Musgu yem water (Greenberg), presumably from *ya go, flow [In Sumerian y > #]

D21

=r

mouth

Kongo-Saharan Isekiri (Nigeria): ar Bozo: lo Kpele: la Sarakolle (Mali): la Busa: le Guro (Ivory Coast): le Ndemli (B.Congo): lu ciLuba: eela utterance, command, word Yoruba: or roar, noise; r word, speech, sound ; ro to tell, to give sound with mouth, to relate (as in to relate a story); aru (Isekeri Nigeria) mouth Proto-Afro-Asiatic: *rV-/*rVwOld Egyptian: r (pyr); rA, rw Meaning: 'mouth'? 'redende Person', 'sentence, speech, language' Fayumic: la 'mouth' Akhmimic: ro Bohairic: ro Sahidic: ro Proto-WChadic: *ruru- Meaning: 'shout' (n.) Hausa: ruri Sura: ruruu Karekare: ruru Proto-CChadic: *ray- Meaning: 'speak'

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Zime-Batna: re [Sa] Notes: Cp. CCh *ri- 'to laugh'

O4

=h

courtyard

SU = *k house; I Ewe o house, Dahome uo house, Kyama n-ku house, Edo i-ku room in a house, III Kebu ku hut, house, VI Vai ku house, Gbi ku house. (K) Hwida, Dahome ho, Mahi huo, ho house. Songhai has fu house. Bantu (Meeussen) daku house. Language Su (Benue-Congo) HOUSE Sumerian e2 , () house KA house, fire PWS k, kl to remain PWS ka charcoal PWN KA home Bantu ji home Poto mbuka home, Bangi, Ngala mboka home Mande M su-kala habitation Mangbetu kago fire Mangbetu eka to light fire ES Kenuzi, Dongola ka house, Nandi ka house NS Kunama ka house *K = # *A = e *A = a Proto-Mashariki *-ky "home village"; PRuvu *-kaya "home"; Tsonga kaya, ma- "home," kaya, adv. "home"; Zigua "a village, abode." Nurse and Hinnebusch, 626; Schoenbrun, The Historical Reconstruction of Great Lakes Bantu Cultural Vocabulary , 89, 91.

V28 =H

Twisted flax

PWS ta hand, Stewart has Proto-Akanic *-s tie up (< *ta). Ewe (Rongier) s tie a knot. The sign is simplified from cord, wick of flax. There may be a reference to tying bales.

Egyptian Styw/Stw "to tie, bind"; hi "secure a rope, tie up (boat); s rope. Aa1 F32 =x =X
Sieve/placenta? Belly & udder Proto-Bantu *kd filter, strain Proto-Bantu *gb placenta Proto-Afro-Asiatic: *VwVy- "stomach" Egyptian: -t 'belly' Central Chadic: *way- 'stomach' 1, 'belly' 2, 'intestines' 3 Proto-CChadic: *wayAfroasiatic etymology: Afroasiatic etymology Meaning: 'stomach' 1, 'belly' 2, 'intestines' 3 Chibak: y 3 [Kr:62] Margi: WM xay 3 [Kr: 72] Wamdiu: ay 1 Higi Futu: xwi 1 {Kr: 171] Higi Baza: xu 1 [Kr: 141] Higi Nkafa: xwi 1 [Kr: 131] Higi Ghye: xwi 1 [Kr: 161] Kapsiki=Higi Kamale: xwu 1 {Kr:151]

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Zime-Batna: y 2 [Sa] Masa: haya 2 [Mo] Notes: contraction in ZBt; cp. also Mnj hoho 'spleen' [TMnj] Sumerian ag4 belly Bantu (Johnston) sakasaka* belly (103), seke* belly (28), tsatsa* (175), aka* (189), sag belly (155)

O34

= s/z

Bolt/lock

ciLuba jiba close; jibala "be securely closed"; jibakana "be plugged, be closed tightly, be too tight"; jibika "close, obstruct"; njila "close" Egyptian Sri stop up, block up, fill in, obstruct 30 t>s PWS t to close, to open, to take off hat (actions of hand or arm).31

Proto-Bantu *db shut, shut eyes; *tb stop up, shut

Proto-Afro-Asiatic: *tabMeaning: plug, bolt Semitic: *tabb- 'plug' Berber: *tab- 'lock, bolt' Notes: Scarce data. Cf. Eg dbb (ME) 'stop up'. Cf. WCh *tVb- < *tVb- 'close, cover': Kry tb, Jmb duba

S29 =s

Folded shawl

N37

=S

Pool of water

PB *-kny- fold, bend, twist (k > s) Egyptian qah bend, fold (in cloth) Egyptian Ak bend Egyptian xAb bowed, bent (of arms in reverence), to bend, to bow Egyptian ksks "to bend" Egyptian gsA "to bend, to make crooked, to ruin" Bantu anza river, lake < sa, siwa, ziwa water, lake, pond, river PB *-jnj lake PB *-diba- / *-jiba- water, pool, pond, well, deep water ciLuba mu-kuna hill, mountain Yoruba eke hill Egyptian qAA hill
Proto-Afro-Asiatic: *kalVbMeaning: container Semitic: *kVlb- 'basket' Egyptian: t_rb 'vessel' (n), t_b (XVIII)33 Western Chadic: *kwalab- 'bottle'

N29

=q =k

Hill slope

V31

basket32

30 31

It should be noted that in ciLuba l and b interchange. This may be the case in ciKam as well. I argue that the s-form in Egyptian ultimately derives from a *ka form given in PWN as KA home (with door or gate), Bangi ekuki gate, Ngala engambi gate, but PWS ka open, close, also PWS gu gate (mouth) (Campbell-Dunn, 2009b: 16). The morphological order became k>t> s. A possible t-form of the word in Egyptian could be tA gate, door, screen. Alternate forms of the same root may be isn "bolt, lock (door)"; isnyt "wooden bar, lock"; xtm "lock, seal"; qArt/qAwt "door bolt"; qri "door bolt"; aD "spool, reel, weaving shuttle, (part of a door bolt?)." These would be an example of a doublet in the Egyptian language. 32 This is probably the origin of the word cup in English. 33 The Nostratic dictionary also informs us that the /k/ sound was palatalized and became /t/ in Egyptian.

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Central Chadic: *xwalub- 'pot' Low East Cushitic: *kolVb- 'horn-cup' FILL 34 Notes: Derived from *kol- 'gourd, calabash' Proto-Bantu *cp "calabash" Sumerian dugku-kur-du jar PWS kua calabash, bowl, PWS kua, kual bag PWS ()-gua, ()-guan- calabash, pot PWS ku belly PCS *kur, *kul gourd, pot A.Egyptian: qby "calabash/pitcher" Coptic: kaap "pitcher" Cushitic: cape (Bari) Cushitic: gabo (Saho) Cushitic: okra (Oromo) Cushitic: *gwib "gourd"; *gwabo "gourd" (C.Ehret 1995) Omotic: k'ibbo "spatula" Nilo-Saharan: kebewa "calabash" (Teda) Nilo-Saharan: sepe.t "calabash" (Nandi) Nilo-Saharan: kebe "calabash", e-kub "water jar", e-gub "bowl" (Nubian) Niger-Kordofanien: gamb bi "calabash gourd" (Wolof) Niger-Kordofanien: kombi.r "calabash spoon" (Dagara) Niger-Kordofanien: igba "calabash" (Yoruba) Niger-Kordofanien: ci-bungu "calabash" [metathesis] (ciLuba) Proto-Afro-Asiatic: *kakulMeaning: basket Semitic: *kukkul- (<*kulkul-) 'basket' Western Chadic: *kukul- 'cooking pot' Central Chadic: *kVkVl- 'basket' East Chadic: *kwakwal- 'cooking-pot' South Cushitic: *kakul- 'half-calabash' Notes: Derived from *kalay- 'vessel, pot' (769). Egyptian ksks basket

W11

=g

Jar stand or stool

STAND GU, KU stand BA place Sumerian gub to make stand PWS gu scaffolding, (gba) PWN GIM, (GIUM) stand Bantu gi-am stand PWS kua leg, foot, Igbo -kp foot, leg Bantu gudu foot Mande gyu foot (of tree or mountain) Mande so,to to stand

34

In other words, the word for basket in Egyptian, given the Afro -Asiatic roots, derives from a word that means gourd, calabash. We see then a variation of this term in Egyptian as aqrf basket; bqrw basket. We see here that b<>f interchange and are free affixes on the qr root. The word wHAt cauldron, basket may be a dialectical variant [b>w; q>H; r>A]. Another variation of aqrf would be gAb(w) basket.

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Mangbetu ku to come Khoisan : Hatsa //ka to stand PCS *co, *ko motion

X1

=t

Bread loaf

Proto-Afro-Asiatic: *ti- bread, flour Egyptian: t (pyr) 'bread' Western Chadic: *tuw- < *tiw- 'food made of flour, tuwo' East Chadic: *tiProto-Bantu *duba flour

V13 D46

=T =d

Tethering rope hand

ciLuba tenga- tie, bind ciLuba cyanza hand (PWS *ka hand > sa hand > n+sa > nza hand)
PWS ta hand= give Coptic adjo, edja "viper Yoruba ejo, edjo "snake" Igbo agwo "snake" PB *joka "snake" ciLuba nyoka "snake" PWS gu snake, Nupe e-wa snake, Bassa i-wa snake PWS gua hand, arm (snakes were thought of as arms) PWN GHWK, GHWYK snake Bantu jka snake Kongo nioka snake, Swahili nyoka snake, Lolo, Ngala, Poto, Ngombe, Kele njo snake, Xhosa majola snake Egyptian iqrw snake

I10 =D

cobra

A REEVALUATION FOR SOME OF THE EGYPTIAN SIGNS

Space will not allow me to go through each entry above as this is just a preliminary essay. This will be reserved for a larger volume. For now I will tackle a few of the signs that I feel have alternate vocalizations than what is given in the Esperanto Egyptological works.

PREFIXES OR SUFFIXES?
The conventional way of reading the mdw nTr script is threatened under the weight of new data coming from the African school of scholars who live African cultures and natively speak African languages. A pioneer in the approach to the study of Egyptian hieroglyphs is the renowned philosopher, linguist, theologian and Egyptologist Dr. Mubabinge Bilolo of Congo. He has written several publications over the past 40 years on various aspects of Egyptian thought. One text that informs our study here is his article titled Du nom Imn a Bi-Bweni: Exemple de la vitalite de ciKam et de Saintes doctrines philosophiques pharaoniques dans le Cyena-Ntu (The name Imn in Bi-Bweni: An example of the vitality of ciKam and the Pharaohs "Holy Philosophical Doctrines in the Cyena-Ntu (Bantu Family)).35

35

In the book edited by Kalamba Nsapo and Mubabinge Bilolo, Renaissance de la Theologie Negro-Africaine: Melanges en lhonneur du Prof. Binwenyi-Kweshi. (2010).

Page 35 of 62

It is thought that the -y ending of words in Egyptian is just an ending, or the so-called nsbe suffix on nouns to form adjectives. But there may be another function to them as compared to a similar feature in Bantu. In Table 1 above I mentioned that the glyph, with the sound value of /y/, derives from a /g/ sound: g>y. The singular form of this glyph is given the sound value of /i/ and I also suggested that it could be gi, bi, or ci. For the bV-form
Egyptian bai palm frond, rib of palm leaf (used as flooring) Proto-Afro-Asiatic: *bawV- grass Berber: *buH- 'grass' Western Chadic: *bway- < *bwai- 'kind of wild grass' Central Chadic: *ba- 'leaf, annual plant, weed' 1, kind of grass' 2 East Chadic: *bwa/yi- 'k of grass' 1, 'k of plant harmful to crops' 2 ciLuba bilu "grass: ciLuba lu-beji "bush, grass"; di-beji "leaf, paper" ciLuba bi-soosa "grass, legumes"; bi-seki "legumes"

The suggestion is that the double reed glyph can also act as a prefix on the noun and when it does it carries the bi-, ci-, or gi- prefix sounds. A case involving bi- will be made below in the following table as it pertains to root m-n in Egyptian: Table 3: Bi-Menyi in ciKam36 (<-mwena things (Bi-) designed (Mweni), the verb -mwena = -monena, monyina Business / problems, meetings, experiences visible monuments, visible souvenirs/memories, statues monument, remembrance, by which we continue to see a person, to remember her, mirror, manifestation property, possessions, property that we have seen (bi-Mwena) = one possesses those / who see it, look, beings who possess = who see

= Malu maMona = Bi-Mwe(ne)nu = ciMwenu

= Bi-Monu

= Bi-Moni

The corresponding forms in ciLuba informs us that the suffix -y is prefixed as bi-. It is noted by Mi-Ra (1995: 98) that the -y can be dropped. We discover however, that convention may still force the pronunciation. For example, a single pot determinative (with the sound value of nu) would force the prefix ci- as in ciNwinu drinking pot. Notice that the nu pot in Merotic has the kh- sound value. Ci- is just a palatalized variation of kh-. Also, the cup of water glyph in Linear A has the sound value of ki-. But since has three, thus plural, the prefix is bi- thus giving us bi-Nwinu. Therefore, the pots may serve as affixes on the root as well.

36

Nsapo and Bilolo (2010: 120).

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PAYING ATTENTION TO THE GLYPHS

The glyphs are going to tell you everything you need to know. However, one must be acculturated into an African mind-frame to discover how the glyphs are communicating with us. The following excerpt is from Ernst Cassirers book Language and Myth. In this work he describes a way of conceptual associations that would inform our interpretation of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs directly.
Here we may adduce a further striking example of this teleological construction of language, which I owe to a verbal communication form my colleague Professor Otto Dempwoldff. In the Kate language, which is current in New Guinea, there is a word bilin, which denotes a certain kind of grass with tough stems and roots that are wedged firmly in the soil; the latter are said to hold the earth together during earthquakes, so that it does not break apart. When nails were first introduced by Europeans, and when their use became popularly known, the natives applied this word to themas also to wire and to iron rods, in short, to everything that served the purpose of holding things together. Similarly, one may often observe in nursery language the creation of such teleological identities, which do not meet our class concepts at all, and seem to defy them. (Cassirer, 1946: 41n17)

This same philosophy is responsible for the meaning of the very mn glyph itself. When we look at the glyph, we notice a base with vertical bars sticking out of it. A Bantu perspective interprets this as a comb or kind of brush. It represents anything with objects that are spread out in a row whith vertical projectiles stemming from the base. Such as in ciLuba:
mana "Toes" menu "Teeth" minu / munu "Fingers" mwana / mwanya Gap between teeth (lu) mona = dart, sting (think of a stingray. Its sting is that which extends from its body, the tail) bwIminyi comb, comb hair

The idea of being fixed has been transferred to items which are fixed inside a base. The Egyptian writing script provides images for the projectors, but it doesnt appear to provide a name for them. This may be resolved by exploring some possible terms in ciLuba. Table 4
Imana, imanika, mwimane, dimanin munwe, nyomwe, umwa Erect (cimana = wall, partition). Remain standing in a fixed position. Stable || Obesity, swollen (derived from nana meaning stretch, extend). Mulala = palm branch, palm frond. Bend, bow, spring, bulging belly Grow, stand up, stay, dwell, place, to complete, be finished, to be fixed on a base. Support (of existence). Out of isolation, to be noticed, to stand out.

munana; dimonu; mulala, muladika

ala, alolola, shinda, shama ololoka, nema shalama, zalama/ jaalama : shindamana, shindika, shadika ; shikamina ; shikama, shikamina ; shika/zika/jiika, asa, dishikamina fufuma, andamuna, talamuna,

Every aspect of the symbol can be represented with an m-n root (from the base, the gap and the projectiles). By knowing the African languages, you can read the signs without going through the Egyptological dictionaries. The objects of the environment of the Nile Valley and Great Lakes Region still retain their ancient names to this day. For example: Page 37 of 62

Table 5:37
Glyphs ciKam Kap, kp xt, sDt; rkh; tA; psi; Abw; tkA; srf, psi< fS(i) Kapia; Kam(onyi) Ta, oTa, yoTo > iota; Hyoto; Ciota; Kota; Ket(a,e); ciPisha; mPisha, Tuka; nTooka; nKang; Lukang; Lukeka; Lukekesh; Lakuka; Kalanga (rkh >krh); Kangila (khr); Aba; ci-Aba; -abw>Baba, Boba, Buba (w>b) ciLuba

nsrsr, nSrSr Sntr; bA DA; wDA ta; xt Ax; AxAx bA

Nsonsol, noshel, nosheshel; Losheshel(a,e); Shila Ntole-Ntole, Ntola-ntola; Ntolesh; Ba, Bwa, Kam(onyi), Kam (onyia); Sundula, Sentedi Endu, Inda, Ndu > mw-Endu; mw-Inda;, Tumba; Banda (w>b); Undu >m Ta, Ota; Cioto; Kioto; Kota; Twa; Cianga Kank(a,u), Kanga; Kangala (dikangala); Kenke; Keka; ci-Minyi, ci-Munyi; ciKeka, diAnga (Ax.t) Buta, (lu-, ka-)Buta. Nyunyi wa Bwa-Bwa-Bwa; Ba (ka-Ba ka nyunyi; mu-Ba; bu-Ba); La-Ba; Bemba; Owa>Cyoa Ubala; ubanda; banda; anga; wang, wenga Lo(u,a,i)>Li-L(u,o)>DiLu, Di-Lo, Ri-Ro; u-Lilu; Li-Ba>Di-Ba; Kulu; Sese; Shosha; Tanya; Tanga

wbn, Axw, psD Ra; hrw; SSw; itn

Getting back to mn, in Egyptian we have the following root:

mn = be fixed, stick fast (in), be attached (to); remain (in), dwell (in), be vested (in); be firm, established, enduring (of king) mn = be permanent, be fixed, firm, deposited, stowed, recorded

The ti determinative in the second example above may not be a determinative at all, but a prefix. This can be represented in ciLuba as ci- or si-. In ciLuba this word is given as:
Simana, (Mana) stand, be standing, stand up, rise, come to a stand, stop, remain stationary, keep in a particular place, be erect, high, steep, be steadfast, be established, be steady, be immovable

To explore all the possibilities of this term and what it reveals would require a volume unto itself. Suffice it to say that by exploring those languages to the South of modern day Egypt helps us to fill in the gaps that modern Egyptology leaves as a result of their narrow world-view which leads to limiting research questions and answers to follow.

THE TWISTED FLAX AND ITS -S- VALUE

37

Nsapo and Bilolo (2010: 118-119).

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In Table 1 above I proposed that the glyph, with its current value of /H/, should actually have an /s/ value as well. This is based on compared data for ropes and to twist as well as the value given in the Linear A script.
PWS ta hand, Stewart has Proto-Akanic *-s tie up (< *ta). Ewe (Rongier) s tie a knot. The sign is simplified from cord, wick of flax. There may be a reference to tying bales. Egyptian Styw/Stw "to tie, bind"; hi "secure a rope, tie up (boat); s rope.

We note here the commentary by Campbell-Dunns in his article The Egyptian Connection (2011) which speaks on the Egyptian glyphs borrowed by the Minoans. It is interesting to note that:
Linear A has a sign, Packard 31 SA flax, which occurs in variants with a loop. This loop recurs in Gardiner V6 , phonetic s cord, rope. Boyd (1974:72, No.75) has Adamawa reflexes sl corde. Sumerian has sa corde, with various expansions of this syllable that refer to objects with cords. The Egyptian s may be reduplicated. Gardiner comments that there has been much confusion with V33 bag of linen, in the words linen, cloth. Gardiner V5 is sometimes given the phonetic sa (it is a looped rope). See Shaw & Nicholson (2008:278) sa, with sa amulet. In Budge (1922:89) it is listed as 21.28, sa amulet, protection. Gardiner V28 is a wick of twisted flax with phonetic h. But is this not evidence that Egyptian h = s ? Egyptian also has (Gardiner S29 ) s, () for folded cloth (unknown originating word), held by statues of the dead. We dont know the vowel. But Mande siri, M siti lier38. Sumerian has ita4 to tie, attach. But also Sumerian kiri2 corde. Does i = a? And if so is there a difference in meaning? NigerCongo k > s.39

The known directionality of certain sound changes is a valuable clue for reconstruction. By directionality we mean that some sound changes which recur in independent languages typically go in one direction (A > B) but usually are not (sometimes are never) found in the other direction (B > A). Many languages haved changed s > h, but change in the other direction is almost unknown: h > s. Given that the languages around Egyptian, and the Egyptian language itself has an -s- root for to tie, rope, we argue then that the /H/ sound for twisted flax derived from /s/ which ultimately came from /k/ (Proto-Afro-Asiatic *kanVw"plait, tie"). Its possible, however, that Egyptian /H/, in regards to rope derived from a kh sound.
Semitic *urr- 'navel, navel string'; Egyptian: wsr.t (20) 'rope, cord'; East Chadic: *siVr- 'rope, thread'; Bedauye (Beja): sar 'tendon'; Warazi (Dullay): *sur- 'rope'; Proto-Afro-Asiatic: *habal- (?) "rope, tie, plait"; Semitic: *habl- 'rope'; Akkadian: eblu (ablu) 'tie (with a rope)' Mari <WSem); Hebrew: hbl; Arabic: habl-; Geez (Ethiopian): habl; Western Chadic: *baHal- 'tie'; Hausa: ba/illa; Sura: bal [JgS]; Geji: balw [Kr N 422] Proto-Afro-Asiatic: *Vwit- "tie, sew"; Semitic: *Vwit- 'sew'; Western Chadic: *HwayVt- 'untie'; *Hadah- 'tie, untie; Saho-Afar: *hid- 'attach camels in Indian file'; Low East Cushitic: *hit- 'tie; High East Cushitic: *hit- 'tie'; [Notes: Cf. *hawid- 'tie, sew; thread']

The fact that the vast majority of the words for rope in Egyptian begin with an s-type sound, we argue that the V28
38 39

glyph may have had an /s/ sound as attested in related languages and in Linear A.

Lier is French for link I inserted the hieroglyph symbols. Dunn doesnt place them in the original article, just the Gardiner classification coda.

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Table 6: ciKam Hau person, body, flesh, frame (<ha I, myself). HTAt "bread" dough";
Sat bread, cake

ciKam Alternative s man, person; sA man sTt "bread, bread

Hwi beat, strike, press (grapes), go, go to [ verb ] HAt neck, brow, forehead (Vygus Database) XX neck, throat aHa neck (of meat) HAt beginning (of region), foremost, the best of, first

sw kill Sw be harmful, be dangerous w-srt neck SAt (neck area)

SAa beginning xAbyt / Swbyt shadow, shade

QUAIL BIRD
The G43 glyph is described as a quail chick and is given the sound value of /w/. Looking into related languages we can see general words for bird that begin with w-:
Proto-Afro-Asiatic: *wac V- bird; Semitic: *was- 'little bird'; Egyptian: wd_ 'grey crane' (OK); Proto-Semitic: *was- 'little bird'; Arabic: was-, was-; Proto-Afro-Asiatic: *waw/y/- k. of bird; Semitic: *waw-at- 'kind of bird'; Egyptian: wy.t (med) 'kind of bird'; High East Cushitic: *wayy- 'dove'; Proto-Semitic: *waw-at- kind of bird; Judaic Aramaic: wwt 'stork' [Ja. 376] (wt according to [Levy WTM III 505]).; Gurage: Gog. Sod. Muh. Msq. wawat 'crow' [LGur. 673].; {Notes: Tentative as the semantic difference between the terms under comparison is substantial}; Proto-High East Cushitic: *wayy- dove; Burji (Bambala, Dashe): wayya;

However, given that this sign is of a quail chick specifically, I looked for this specific bird and came up with a b-form that seems to fit the glyph more accurately.
Proto-Afro-Asiatic: *bar- quail; partridge; dove; Semitic: *bVr- 'kind of bird; pigeon'; Berber: *barr- 'quail, partridge'; Egyptian: b(a) 'kind of bird' (a); Western Chadic: *bVr- 'quail' 1, 'dove' 2, 'crested crane' 3 , 'pigeon' 4; Central Chadic: *bVr- 'k. of bird' 1, 'wild pigeon' 2; East Chadic: *bar-/*birbir- 'partridge, quail'; High East Cushitic: *bur- 'partridge'; Dahalo (Sanye): mbre 'egret'; {Notes: Cf. EDE II 431-2. Probably, a separate root *(m/a-)bar- 'crane, egret' must be

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reconstructed including Eg b(a) 'jabiru', W.Ch Jimbin abur- 'crested crane' and Dahalo mbre 'egret'}

Therefore we assert that the quail chick glyph has a b-r root and a slight variation is found in the ancient Egyptian language: par quail, par.t quail, pAa.t quail, w quail, wAr chick, young bird. Here b>p and b>w. This is just the Kongo-Saharan general word for bird (which is actually a global term for bird, fly).
BIRD Sumerian buru5 bird

BU bird RU demonstrative/plural Ngombe mbulu bird Mande b, b bird of prey Mangbetu pupu big bird Bantu (Johnston 1922: 255) bun bird (Kwango-Kasai Group), also buru, bulu, mburu, puru etc.as in Ruwenzori-Semliki languages (p. 256) [Malay has burung bird, prefixed to bird names as a classifier]. [Mangbetu bulu man, speech] <*B = b *U = u *R = r *U = u

There was a shift from b>w in some of the Afro-Asiatic languages. The /w/ rope-loop, used as a substitute at the ends of word for the quail chick sign, derived from a word meaning to bind in KongoSaharan.
BIND BA bind PWS bli to bind PWN BOP bind Bantu bop bind TogoR *ble bind Mande gyala bind ? Mangbetu oba be attached PCS *ba to tie *B = b *A = a *L = r Sumerian bar to bind -r

From this b-r root came these variations in Afro-Asiatic

Proto-Afro-Asiatic: *bar- 'thread, band'; Central Chadic: *mV-bar- 'thread'; Masa: mbaro [Mo] 'thread'; East Chadic: *br- 'thread'1, ' rope'Kwang: ba ru 1 [Jg] 'thread, rope'; Jegu: brre [Jg] 'thread, rope'; Saho-Afar: *br- < *bVHor- 'loin-cloth' , 'band'; Saho: bor 'kind of loin-cloth, band'; Afar (Danakil): booruu, boor'; Omotic: *br- 'belt'; Kafa (Kaficho): buuroo, buro 'belt'; Mocha: buro 'belt'

When b > w, then we got these variations in Afro-Asiatic Page 41 of 62

Proto-Afro-Asiatic: *waar- (?) plaited cord; Egyptian: wr.t (LM) 'cord, rope'; Western Chadic: *wVr- 'plait; Ankwe=Goemai: wr plait; Borean (approx.) : WVRV rope, thread; Eurasiatic : *wVrV ( ~ *HurV); Afroasiatic : *waar- (?); Sino-Caucasian : *rV HV; Austric : PAA *raj 'thread, tuft of hair'

The Egyptian term waf to curl up, to contract (of toes) may be of importance given the coiling nature of the rope glyph (see also faA "lock of hair"; wrr.t "the curl on front of Red Crown"). The chick and the rope glyph should carry both the /b/ and the /w/ sound depending on dialect: e.g., Middle Egyptian wr (used for baby chick); mA new; Coptic beri new, young, a young thing; ciLuba bwana children, young; mbedi, a-mbedi first, debut, early.

ARM / HAND SIGN

It is my contention that the D36 or *ba hand, arm.
ARM KA arm, strength PWS ka, bua (ba) arm [BU = ] Sumerian kalag strong C-loss [k > h or b > v] Sumerian a5, aka make PWN BUAK, GWAL, KA (KYA), KWN arm Sumerian -KAL strength Bantu gado arm, bko arm Sumerian h, ahi arm strength Holoholo bok arm, kal to cut Mande bolo, bolo-kala, kmba-kala arm, wa arm, strength ES Didinga kalkic armpit, kom be strong *K = # *A = a *B = # *A = a

arm/hand glyph, with sound value /a/ or /a/, derived from PWS *ka
Sumerian arm, strength

Checking against Linear A we notice that Packard sign # 77, Egyptian D36, has the vocalization of se. The k > s is a common sound shift and if borrowed from Egyptian, they borrowed this at a time when the consonant was still attached to the glyph. We know that there was a velar stop sound by cross checking with Semitic. Satzinger (2003: 234) notes that comparatists assert the regular sound correspondence between Semitic a (and ) and Egyptian a. We assert here that this is the case because a was initially a k/ sound. Prefixes and suffixes alike tend to be eroded and lost due to weak accentuation (Campbell-Dunn, 2009b: 8). This may have been the case with the D36 glyph, representing either ka or ba: Egyptian arq to complete, Kikongo kalunga complete; Egyptian arq tie, bind, Kikongo kalunga tie, bind (kanga to tie up); Egyptian arq corner, angle, edge, ciLuba diTengu corner, diTungi corner ; Egyptian aA great, leader, chief, master, commander, elder, ciLuba nkole(a) "Prominant or Powerful Man," Nkole(a) Nkwele(a) "God" (bankole(a) "spirits"), kalunga Great chief; Egyptian anx beetle, ciLuba cijngl cijngll beetle, scarab.; Egyptian aAy "to grow up, mature, senior, excess (over), difference (in mathematics)," ciLuba -kola "grow, increase, aging."

VULTURE BIRD
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The G1 glyph is that of a vulture and has the sound value of /A/. Modern Egyptian dictionaries claim this sound is a glottal stop. More recent investigations have uncovered that this glyph is actually an /l/ or an /r/ sound. Anselin (2011: 49) provides us with a brief demonstration of this fact.
b3 < *b-l, soul (Old Kingdom; Wb I, 411; on the identification of /3/ as /l/, see above and Anselin 2007a): West Chadic (Nigeria): Angas-sura: bl, reason, sense, to be wise, intelligence, understanding (Takcs 2004, 31); Central Chadic: Matakam (Cameroon): *bl, genius, spirit, mboko, belbele-hay, genius; Niger-Congo: Fulfulde (Cameroon): beelu (gu), principe vital de lhomme menac dtre dvor par les mangeurs dme (Noye 1989, 40; see also, Anselin 2007b, 92); Semitic: *bl, spirit, mind; Aramaic: bl, spirit, intelligence; Northern Syriac: bl, reason, attention; Arabic: bl, attention, consciousness, mind (Takcs 2001, 6). si3 <*s-r, to understand, know > god of the knowledge (Old Kingdom; Wb IV 30, 1-21), written with the hieroglyph of the cloth (Gardiner S32); si3.t, (Pyramid Texts; Coffin Texts variant, sr3.t, identifying /i/ as a reflex of /r/): Central Chadic: Mofu-gudur: sr, to know (Barreteau 1988, 198); Merey: sr, to know (Gravina et al. 2003); Udlam: -sr, to know (Kinnaird and Oumate 2003); Muyang: sr, to get to know (Smith 2003). m33 < *mVl, to see, look, examine (Old Kingdom; Wb II 7, 1-10, 7), phonetically written with the hieroglyph of the sickle (Gardiner U1), the phonetic complement of the vulture (Gardiner G1) or the determinative of the eye (Gardiner D4) (Kahl 2004, 166-7): Cushitic: Agaw: Bilin: miliy-, to look, examine; Kemant: mel-, to examine, observe; Eastern Cushitic: Oromo: mal-, to think; Sidamo: mal-, to perceive, advise; Somali: mala, thought; Burji: mala, plan (Anselin 2001). Omotic: Wolamo: mil, to believe; Kafa: mallet, to observe (Dolgopolsky 1973, 180).

We can verify that the G1 glyph has the value of /l/ or /r/ by examining the word for bird or vulture in the Afro-Asiatic languages.
Proto-Afro-Asiatic: *raHaw/y- bird; Semitic: *rahw- or *ra- 'crane' or 'red kite'; Western Chadic: *ray(aw)- 'bird'; East Chadic: *ry- < *raHay- 'vulture'; Low East Cushitic: *raHaw'large bird' ; Hebrew r 'red kite'; Arabic rahw-; Proto-Semitic: *rahw- or *ra-; ProtoWChadic: *ray(aw)- 'bird'; Bolewa: rayo, yaro [Bn:22], met. yaro [CLR]; Karekare: ra yi [ShV]; Ngamo: ra yi [ShV]; Bele: raawi [ShB]; Proto-EChadic: *ray- vulture; Migama: raaya [JMig] {Notes: cf. Dangaleat riya 'heron' [Fd]}; Proto-Low East Cushitic: *raHaw- 'large bird'; Arbore: raw.

As we can see, the G1 sign more than likely comes from East Chadic *ray vulture.

REED LEAF
I argue here that the M17 glyph, commonly rendered either /i/ or /j/, should be rendered (at least initially) as gi (ci, bi). In some dialects it may have been used to denote /n/ (/m/) as well. We know it was initially gi- based on compared forms.

REED

GI reed Sumerian gi reed

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PWS g, gl, (git) tree, PWS ti tree PWS gi root, vein PWN GHI, (GHIM) be alive, PWN T tree Bantu cimb plant (dig) Ngombe gbie plantation Mande yiri, B dyiri tree Mangbetu gi clothing (made from reeds) Mangbetu gi riverbank Mangbetu gilinda brushwood that wont burn Mangbetu kese grass Mangbetu ki wood for heating, aki to break PCS ki to break *G = g *I = i

Egyptian qqi leaf PB *jn leaf, grass Further proof of this association can be seen by examining this glyph: . It is the reed leaf on top of a pair of walking legs. These legs also carry the i(i) value. In Niger-Congo j and g interchange and in the Linear A script the walking leg glyph, allegedly borrowed from Egypt, carries the sound value je. The fact that the Egyptians used the reed and the legs together demonstrates that they have the same sound value and one is reinforcing the other. We know the feet had a /g/ or /k/ sound preceeding the /i/ vowel because one of the survivals in Coptic is pronounced hi come, arrive where k>h. This tells us that in related languages, the word for foot should sound similar to the word for reed. This is exactly the case

Linear A = go Egyptian = go
FOOT KI, GI foot, go

Pronunciation je

ii40

Sumerian giri3 foot -r

PWS gi, gia to go PWN GWA, KUA to go Bantu gi to go Bantu gere foot (2, 2b, 2c, 2d, 2f, 4, 6a, 9a, 25), kire (6), geri (9, 9c) foot (East Africa). This isogloss and its meaning support an East African origin for the Bantu languages. Mande se, M si foot Mande se-ger to go Mangbetu glgl need to go [The suffix ri refers to the fact that there are two feet ; or may be verbal to be].

40

Coptic i, i, y, i, y, ia, eya, hi to go, to arrive.

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*G = g

*I = i

*R = r

*I = i

This word for foot is embedded in the Egyptian word sqr "step out (of feet in dance) where s- is a causative prefix. We note in ciLuba di-ks "foot, leg, trace" [Kiluba diikasa "hand"]; mu-kl() "leg, pair of shoes". This is more than likely a paleo-world root and is probably the origin of the English word go:41
O.E. gan "to go, advance, depart; happen; conquer; observe," from W.Gmc. *gai-/*g- (cf. O.S., O.Fris. gan, M.Du. gaen, Du. gaan, O.H.G. gan, Ger. gehen), from PIE *ghe- "to release, let go" (cf. Skt. jihite "goes away," Gk. kikhano "I reach, meet with"), but there is not general agreement on cognates.

With this knowledge, we may have to reanalyze the name of the great Vizier of IIIrd Dynasty, Imhotep, as something more like kimHtp.

kimHtp or gimHtp The sitting male determinative, A1 , may actually be a grammatical feature, a prefix on the noun with the value of mu- or ka-(>sa) or both (muka > musa). Current dictionaries note that the A1 glyph carries the /i/ or /s/ value. The i- value could come from a number of sources: e.g., PWN GHI (GHIM) be alive; Compare NC (PWS) *di eat, *di be, PWN DI eat, be); Sumerian zi(g), (i) life; Ngombe di to live; PWS ni, nu, Wolof nit man, person; PWN NINTU, NITU man; Sumerian nitah, ni man; Bantu (Johnston 1922: 343) mui man. The same word for "life" is also the same word for "person": Cf. Egyptian anx "life," anx "person, human being." We also note = s man, someone, z man (in old kingdom). This is reflected in Negro-Africaines as Coptic sa man, husband; Gangero (Kushitic) a-sa man; Kapsiki za man; Koro -sa husband; Tunen (S. Cameroon) m-sa, pl. b-sa man; Mbochi (Congo) o-s, pl. a-s someone from; Sango zo man; Ngandi zo man; Mangbetu ma-si man, husband, male; Common Bantu +-si (mu-si, omu-si, osi, etc.) folk, lives at. One should also note zoe life in Greek and eshe life in Kiswahili. The full pronunciation would be musi and would explain the correspondences in Bantu. If so, the name Imhotep would be broken up something like, Gi+m+MuKatapa(u) (noting the rope determinative with sound value /w/). However, we can justify this feature in Egyptian by comparison with ciLuba. Where ever the A1 determinative is attached to a noun, and the noun regards a human being, then one can render the word with a mu- prefix. An example will demonstrate this in Egyptian with comparison to ciLuba. The following table will argue for a velar or nasal sound for the examples. This table is still a work in progress as well.
41

glyph, and then show mu- prefix on a few

www.etymonline.com

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Table 7:
Hieroglyph Meaning I, me, my ciLuba n-/n-, m-, m-, m bmme(a) me, I Negro-African
Sumerian a2-e I Sumerian me-en-d-en we Sumerian me we Sumerian mn me, myself PWS na I, this (also we), ni I PWN NI (INE) I, me Bantu mi me, Mende nya. I Holoholo in moi seule, neen moi (pronoun) Mande ne, ni me Mangbetu nga what ? (adj interr) Mangbetu m this individual (sg or pl) Mangbetu ima moi Mangbetu ma nous Mangbetu aa our, ours Mangbetu ana my, mine Mangbetu nae our Mangbetu nandra my ES Mahas, Fadidja na, nai who ?, Barea na, nan, Merarit na who ?, Nuer, Dinka, Anuak, Lango a who ? etc CN Kunama na who, which ? (Greenberg) (polyfunctional na ) Bantu (Johnston) BecuanaTransvaal ka I, Cameroons-Cross River ga I Also (Johnston (1922 : 448) gai, gaye, zewe I (with ye, we from PWS g i this, to be). [Niger-Congo did not originally distinguish singular from plural : I/we or thee/you].

=i

= i, iw

Whereas, when, was, as while so, says, say

eku whilst, as, while, at the same time as aakula "talk, speak, utter, say, express" zketa -jkeja talk amba say, state, declare, expose, slander, gossip, exalt, report, reveal, publish, pricing (open negotiations in market place)" WORD Sumerian inim word NI mouth [ R ] -m Sumerian enim word (e-ne-m) PWS ni drink (mouth) PWS n say PWS nu, (ni) mouth, Atjulo ni mouth PWS ni (+ nasal) name PWS ni, nu person

= i, in, inn

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PWN NUNA, (NA) mouth Bantu nua mouth Mande du-mu-ni k to eat, n.imi to eat Mangbetu ene as, ine he ? [ The original word has been prenasalised ]. [Perhaps compare Latin enim for]. SAY GI say [R] i- eSumerian e, (g, g, g) to say PWS gi, gia to speak PWS gu voice, speech, Ewe gb voice, Yoruba i-gbe loud cry, Gbari e-gwe, e-gbe mouth PWN GWAM to speak Bantu gamb to speak Bantu jued to speak Holoholo jw voice Mande ku-ma to speak Mande k gb speech Mande o ye to speak Mangbetu kw insult PCS *ve,* i vocal come, return = ii -ka-/ka- to, come ya go, to leave Sumerian in, gin, gen, i-na come PWS g i, g ia to go PWS kia (+ Nasal) to go, Mossi ke-e to go, Grussi tje to go, Kandjaga tjan to go PWN GWA go, Bantu gi to go, Bantu ji,j to come Bantu nin to ascend Mande gyru, dyru to come and go Mangbetu ki a visit Eastern Sudanic : Old Nubian ki to come, Nile Nubian & Old Nubian kire to come Central Sudanic : Moru kyi to come, Madi eki to come (Nilo-Saharan : Berti kai to come, Zaghawa koi to come) PWS na to come I, me, my =i Bantu mukwa person mukwa/mukw person belonging to, originating in, descended from,
Sumerian u10 my, mine PWS k companion, accompany, with, and may be relevant as may PWS k person, slave etc.

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outcome of mkal "youngest brother, young sister"; "newest member"

[The concept I may be expressed as this person, your humble servant etc]. PWS gu he, Tschi o he, Guang o he, Ewe w he etc Bantu (Johnston) gu he, she Bantu (Meinhof) yu, u he, she Bantu gu I, gu my Mande o, wo that man etc Mangbetu u there

Bangi, Ngala ngai I

[Crossover of different pronouns and demonstratives].

Egyptian Hau person, body, flesh, frame (<ha I, myself) O!, say, utterance mwak word, speech mwakulu "language" mwakudi "orator, speech"
Sumerian e, (g, g, g) to say PWS gi, gia to speak PWS gu voice, speech, Ewe gb voice, Yoruba i-gbe loud cry, Gbari e-gwe, e-gbe mouth PWN GWAM to speak Bantu gamb to speak Bantu jued to speak Holoholo jw voice Mande ku-ma to speak Mande k gb speech Mande o ye to speak Mangbetu kw insult PCS *ve,* i vocal Mangbetu gi kind of tree (protective) PWS gu cotton plant, Yoruba e-gu cotton tree PWS g, g l, (gt) tree PWN GHI, (GHIM) be alive Bantu gu,i arrow Mande yiri, B dyiri tree Mangbetu gi kind of tree (protection) Afro-Asiatic: Chad: Njei kadi tree: Egyptian xt tree Sumerian aka make PWS ka hand, open PWN KA hand, arm PWN KHANT cut (off) Bantu ka hand Bantu gado arm Bantu kat, kant cut Holoholo kal to cut, ha to give Gur *a make Mande k to make Mande tig, tik etc cut Mangbetu ogo cut

=i

A plant = iir

bisoos "grass, legumes" cisoosa "blade of grass" biseki "legumes" ciski "plant" (in general) muci "tree, plant" ciknyiibwa "plant" cisanj "entire plant including leaves, stems, roots and tubers, foot."

Do, make = iri

-enza- "to make, do, act, behave, have the appearance of, take the appearance of, take place, to suffer" cyenji "factor (math), component, agent" cyenza "person who manufactures" cyenzedi "act, mathematical operation" dyenza "action, treatment" bwenzelu "methodology" Enzeji- "causative" Enzeka "happen, occur"

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mwenji "he / she makes or acts , author of an action , agent"; "he / she who makes" k > z(j)

PCS *ga cut Sumerian ki do PWS kia to do PWN KIT to end Bantu gid make, kt to make Mande k to do PCS *ki to break Mangbetu ki to break, to cause, invent, to destroy etc Khoisan : Hatsa cikina make

I argue that the

glyph had a /k/ or /g/ value initially. When the A1 determinative is added to this glyph person, person belonging to, etc. In Bantu mu-

for the word I, my, me we get in Bantu MuKwa

/ma- are equivalent in regards to human beings or human activities. Therefore O, say, utterance is ciLuba makwu word, speech. The /g/ becomes palatalized in ciLuba in the next example. Egyptian do, make is ciLuba mwenji "he / she makes or acts, author of an action, agent"; "he / she who makes." In ciLuba j and z interchange. This example, and the one to follow, has the A2 determinative, but we treat them the same in terms of vocalization. We know the seated man determinative carries the m- value because of convention not known by many researchers in regards to African ontology. The word a plant in Egyptian can be rendered muci tree, plant. The root in this example is -ci- which comes from -ti- tree which itself derives from -gi- a kind of tree. In African societies trees are grouped in the human noun -class: in other words they are thought of as human beings.42 Therefore, the mu- prefix would be attached to the word for tree, plant. You have to wonder why the sitting man is there for a general word for plant. The seated man has his hand to its mouth and this lets us know that the plant is one that is edible.

iqr trust, trustworthy, skillful, excellent, pleasing, well to do, superior

iqr a trustworthy man, an epithet of Thoth, wiseacre43 This root in ciLuba is -kela "develop by repeated excercises, train, educate, educated"; kolesha "raise, educate, help them grow"; bukedi "education"; kolesha, "salute, desire to do well, increase, grow, strengthen, support the power of somebody, keep one's courage, encourage" lukl "training"; Mukela "educated man, educated, trained"; mukelelu "council." See also kaloolo(u) "goodness, generosity, care, cleanliness, eloquence" and -a muhongo skilful, cleaver, ingeneous. The Y1 glyph, as a determinative, is used to represent thoughts or (abstract) ideas. Its sound value is dmD or mDAt which are words used to render the idea of books. To render a word in Bantu that
42 43

See Imhotep (2011) for examples of this in African cultures. Wisacre A person with an affectation of wisdom or knowledge, regarded with scorn or irritation by others; a know-it-all.

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conveys the idea of speech and/or philosophy/thought, you would put a prefix on the root, something like ki- as in kiSwahili the WaSwahili language. The Y1 glyph may have served a similar purpose. It is used in Kikongo, for instance, as a term signifying the art of as in kiNdezi the art of babysitting; moyo life, kiMoyo vitalism (the art of regenerating energy, the science of healing). It should be noted that in Egyptian the word qA.t means "thought, plan, device, plot." If this is the case in Egyptian, then our second example would demonstrate that the M17 reed glyph acts as a prefix and the determinative could give clues on how to pronounce the prefix (whether it should be pronounced ci-, ki-, bi-, etc.). In Kiswahili, the ki-/vi- class includes individuals with certain titles such as kiOngozi/viOngozi leaders. This is probably whats going on in Sumerian for the word ki-ngal commandant (gal big; lu-gal king) which later came into English as the word king (German knig). This could possibly be present in the word iqr. We can do this for another term as well: Egyptian mniw herdsmen: Table 8: ciLuba
Mu-Moni, mu-Muni, mu-Mune muna

ciKam

Meaning
mniw herdsmen mniw herdsmen mn a man, someone

Meaning
Breeder, pastor

Domesticator, breeder

Muntu Munu / mwunu

a person, human being Man, human-being (<Munu Kam= black man) Person

mnw a kind of priest, ministrant

Muena/Mwena Mumanyi

learned

This reveals another angle by which we can check our research. The dictionaries give the A1 glyph values of i- and s-. But the above should inform us that it also carried the value mn man (muntu) or simply ma/-mu-. The glyph can be transcribed as in, inn in Esperanto Egyptology for which I think should also be rendered mi-. The following will demonstrate why. Table 9:44 ciLuba
Mani

ciKam

Meaning
Leaves, foliage

mnw trees, plantation

Mani, manyu [bi-Mani ?] leaves, plants, greenery

mnw trees, plantation

mena sprout, germinate, grow, ci-mena "that sprouts, who believes"

44

See Nsapo and Bilolo (2010: 124) with additional insights from myself.

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mnw trees, plantation

Manya45 diMiinu
46

to know, awareness, knowledge (di-Manya, bu-Manyi) seeds, seeds/grains reserved for planting

mnyt plant root

mnDi seed, grain

inyt date stones, kernel, flax seeds

diMina ciMeni, ciMena Manya Action of sprouting, of germinating What grows, germinates = plants to know, awareness, knowledge (di-Manya, bu-Manyi)

The M1 tree-glyph can be rendered in Egyptian iAm, im, imA, nbs and nht. In KiSwahili, for instance, the m-/mi- class contains nouns of plants and trees, non-living things, some body parts of the body, and some nominalized verbs.47 So the word for trees, plantation could possibly be rendered im-mnw (miManyu). Keep in mind that A = l and l often interchanges with n in Egyptian. imA can easily become mnw. The glyph, for grammatical purposes and being a plant, could be rendered mi-.

THE GLOTTAL STOP48

Our last section will focus on how the study of the evolution of the glyphs reveals different aspects of the Egyptian language. These revelations could only happen by examining the languages south of Egypt from where the Pharaonic culture emerged. In keeping with our focus on the vocalization of the glyphs, we will tackle the letter A in English and its evolution from Egyptian through Caananite, Greek and Latin. ******************* From here we can see that the initial k/g sound found in the Kongo-Saharan languages became a glottal stop () in the Semitic languages (k-l, k-n > -l, -n). The glottal stop is produced when the vocal folds are
45

Ciluba reveals a relationship between mani/Manyu "leaves, foliage" and Manya "knowledge, awareness", as it reveals the relationship between Ngandu, Nganda, Nyandu, "papyrus" and ganda, kanda, nkanda "book paper" or kandu " binding law, force of law. " 46 It should be known that the M2 herb determinative can be rendered as Hn, Hrrt, i, or is in Egyptian. The i-form may derive gi-. 47 Danie Prinsloo, Albina R. Chuwa and Elsbe Taljard The Lexicons of Africa in African Voices: An Introduction to the Languages and Linguistics of Africa, Eds. Vic Webb and Kembo-Sure, Oxford University Press, 2000, p. 229. 48 This section is taken from the authors 2011 work Passion of the Christ or Passion of Osiris: The Kongo Origins of the Jesus Myth. However we expand on our initial findings here.

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compressed, or pinched together, and then released as pressure builds up. In the production of these sounds the glottis is used as a piston, both to produce sounds by sucking air in (implosives) and by pushing air out (ejectives). The glottal stop is a phoneme in Arabic, in other words it is a sound that distinguishes one word from another. It isn't a phoneme in English, but an allophone i.e., a variant of a sound, a variant of the phoneme /t/ in English's case. That means that pronouncing the word water with a glottal stop i.e., wa'er does not change the meaning of the word in English as it would in Arabic. In African-American Vernacular English (kiKala) you will often hear people pronounce the word heaven as heaem: replacing the /v/ with a glottal stop and the /n/ value turning into a /m/ sound. GJK Campbell-Dunn in his Sumerian Dictionary (2009b: 8) further enlightens us on possible developments of the glottal stop in the regions of the Middle East. In discussing the Lost Laryngeal, he states the following:
In his introduction Chantraine briefly alludes to Indo-European laryngeals, (attested in Hittite as h, but generally lost in other Indo-European languages), which we have explained elsewhere (Campbell-Dunn 2008) as remnants of old Niger-Congo CV prefixes. We regard the glottal stop onset of German words with initial vowel as further evidence for Niger-Congo CV prefixes in Indo-European. The glottal stop reflects a reduced consonant. Prefixes and suffixes alike tend to be eroded and lost due to weak accentuation. In Sumerian old prefixes tend to be reduced to meaningless vowels; old suffixes tend to be reduced to a consonant, which becomes meaningless, weakens and is attached to the preceding CV root.

We find this same activity in Hebrew as will be shown further below. The glottal stop may derive from a host of different consonants. As Allen (2010: 15) noted in regards to Egyptian, the glottal stop may have sounded like English d as in deed, and in Middle Egyptian it may still have had that sound in some words in some dialects. In regards to ayn, I believe that it derived from an initial k/g value with the y was inserted to aid pronunciation now that a stop was not present. Campbell-Dunn continues to add insight into this phenomena in Indo-European which we see happening in Semitic. He informs us that:
The Hittite laryngeal h is traceable to weakened Niger-Congo consonants (often from a prefix), but lost in most IE languages. See Lehmann (1955), Keiler (1970) etc for the IE details. Sumerian h is from PNC k, as in hada 2 brilliant, ha-ra-an road, where ha = *ka. In many ways it resembles Hittite h. It is a remnant. Often it can be omitted, leaving a bare initial vowel (ara road). So it must be a weak fricative, like the various Indo -European laryngeals. Compare the Niger-Congo prefixes in h, the Khoisan h of Hazda etc. Laryngeal Theory grew out of the work by De Saussure (1887) on vocalic coefficients. (Campbell-Dunn, 2009b: 8)

Many publications speak about how in different languages the glottal stop replaces the k sound. The Yorkshire dialect of English in Northern England is such an example. However, it is less common than the replacement of d or t with a glottal stop in this dialect.49 The Dravidian language glottal stop in initial position may derive from an initial h,50 which itself often derives from k/kh. In Hebrew, The aleph sign (the first sound in the Hebrew alphabet) is used as a consonant in initial and non initial word positions and is represented by a glottal stop //, //; or it can be silent. The ancestral forms of this sign are as follows:
49

See for instance KM Petyt, Dialect & Accent in Industrial West Yorkshire, John Benjamins Publishing Company, 1985, p.147 50 See Murray B. Emeneau Dravidian Studies: Selected Papers, Motilal Banarsidass Publications, 1994, p.25

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Modern Hebrew aleph

Rashi

Phoenician

Paleo-Hebrew

Aramaic

However, this form is older than Semitic and derives from the word #kV cow, head, ox (ga horns); Mande ku head (lost prefixes affect the initial consonant: T/K), CN Moru kuru head, Berta alu, kuru head; Afro-Asiatic : Semitic : Aramaic gulgulto, skull (cf Golgotha); Sumerian kir cow (fem); Mande gama, dama ox; Mangbetu ga horn; Sumerian gud, gu4 ox; Egyptian kA.t female bull, cow [>Axt Hathor cow > Aht cow51; iHt cow > iht celestial cow]; kA cow [ really k-l and we will see below why this is important to note. ]. The kA root is

Ayele Bekerie in his book Ethiopic, an African Writing System (1997), provides us with a historical context for the evolution of the term that became the Hebrew aleph, which ultimately became our English letter A (through the Greek alpha). The evolution can be seen in the following image:

The letter A in English is simply an upside-down set of cow horns. In the Ancient Egyptian writing script this sign had the sound value of ka. The word ka in African languages can mean, elder, king, head, power, force, grandmother, ancestor and chief. With ka being the head, it is the beginning of all things and is why it is also associated with God (Egyptian Kaka god, Luvale-Bantu Kaka God; PWS ka , kaka chief, king (head of the tribe); PWN KAKA grandfather, master). The Semites adopted the ka symbol, but called it something else in their language. But there may be an alternative explanation for the Aleph association with this glyph by the Semites. The word aleph could actually be Egyptian. The term aleph in Semitic would derive from the Egyptian word:

xrp bull for slaughter This term is associated with the word xrp to present, bring, provide, make offering of, dedicate, to subject to. The aleph (Alpha > A) is the beginning, or head of the Alphabet, in part, because of another association by play on a similar word: xrp govern, control, administer, act as controller, direct (someone). Compare with the Sumerian word kapar shepherd (meta-thesis?). This would coincide with our Kongo-Saharan root ka meaning head, chief, king, grandfather, master, etc. And if there was
51

See also qdt cow, bull > idt cow; A > d.

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any thought that the x-r-p root begins the alphabet by coincidence, then the Egyptian word xrp start, begin, be the first, manage 52 should release all doubts. Aleph begins the alphabet because it literally means the beginning (the head) and is a degraded form of Egyptian xrp. Kongo-Saharan informs us that the -p is a suffix and this -p suffix is prefixed in Bantu. Egyptian xrp becomes ciLuba bakulu forefathers, ancestors (p > b); mukl "old, ancient, grandfather, forefather, Chief, Director, President, chief wife of a polygamist (household)"; bakl "ancient, antique, older, primordial, primary, supreme" (<kulu).53 In traditional African societies, the village is run by the elders, and more importantly, the ancestors (the ones who come before). The chief is representative of the person who founded the village. The chief, the head of household, and the ancestors are the ones who direct the community (or house) and governs it into prosperity. This is reflected among the pastoral Egyptians in the term xrp drive (cattle), lead, get ahead (with work), undertake (works), advance. The -p being a suffix is reinforced by Semitic words for cattle where it is primarily prefixed: e.g., Hebrew bkr cattle, Arabic bakar cattle, Epigraphic South Arabian bqr cattle, br bull, wr bull, Eblaitic ba-ka-lum cattle, arssi bkrt bull, Mehri bkreet/abkaar cow, Soqotri faahar bull, fatar calf, alf heifer, Ugaritic alp bullock (Blench, 2010: 7-8). It is my contention that the /x/ sound was dropped and/or became a glottal stop in Semitic and this is how we get aleph instead of something like khaleph. Again, glottal stops are just weakened consonants and as we can see from the examples immediately above, the glottal stop takes the place of //. That the glottal stop takes the place of // can be further demonstrated in the Arabic word caliph (alfah/khalfah) which means head of state and is a name for a ruler in an Islamic Ummah. This would be cognate with our Egyptian term xrp govern, control, administrator, direct (someone)54 (xA office, bureau, hall; HAt xA herdsmen) and ciLuba mukl "old, ancient, grandfather, forefather, Chief, Director, President, chief wife of a polygamist (household)"; bakl "ancient, antique, older, primordial, primary, supreme" (<kulu). The caliphates are simply the Bakulu (Kikongo) the elders (see Fu-Kiau, 2001) among the Bantu.55 The Grammar and Dictionary of the Buluba-Lulua Language by W. M Morrison (1906: 232) informs us of a variant of this root kulu (kelenge) and its relationship to leadership. Office, n. The name of the office is made by prefixing bu- to the root of the title; as, mukelenge, bukelenge, "chieftship." appoint to, v. see APPOINT. This operates in the same fashion as ki-/vi- in Kiswahili which is attached to the titles of persons. The buprefix may be a byform of baMAN BA man, chief [R] Sumerian pab father, brother, man, chief (pap)

PWS b, bb father, king, chief

52 53

Compare the root to ciLuba iikija start, make; cyaShilu "start, at the beginning, foundation, realization" See also PB *-kodo- ancestress, female line; *-kd big, senior, adult 54 For a more fuller discussion on the word xrp as an administrative term in the Old Kingdom, see Toby A. H. Wilkinson Early Dynastic Egypt, 2001, pp. 114-128 55 A reflex may exist in Yoruba where the phonemes are a by-product of meta-thesis: Yoruba egbre gnome (Hebrew geber valiant man); Yoruba al-gbra powerful man (Hebrew gibbowr powerful man); Igbo agbara powerful oracle, agbara/abala great spirit; Hebrew gebuwr-ah power; Yoruba agbra power. Here the b-k-r root becomes k-b-r.

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PWS ba they, PWS ba someone PWN BA they, PWN BHBH father, grandfather Bantu baba grandfather, father Holoholo baan, who Mande fa-fa grandfather Mangbetu bae white man Mangbetu pa father CN Kunama aba man CS Lendu ba man ES Lotuko (x)aba man *B = p *A = a *B = b *A = #

Men were traditionally the heads of the household and protectors of the village, thus the elevated status for man. Male is synonymous with bigness and strength and the terms become used to convey power. The convention in the Kongo may be found in Egyptian. For example, the ruling elite were known as pat (Wilkinson, 2001: 114). 56 The word zAb or sAb means judge, dignitary, senior (in titles)." Wilkinson (2001: 116) defines zAb as noble, official. This term looks to be a palatalized form and/or dialectical variant of xrp. The root would be sr nobleman, magistrate, official, great one, chief (<Hry master, upper, top; HrHr in charge of); Yoruba asalu a title of honor among the Ogboni people, awujale supreme king (Egyptian wsr Osiris); Igbo ozo title of high degree, eze to honor, to participate, and to assume a role of privilege. Here we see x > s.
Proto-Afro-Asiatic: *carw- "elder, chief"; Semitic: *sarw(-ay)- ~ (?) *sVran- '(military) chief, prince; Proto-Berber: *zVwVr- "'precede, be the first'"; Ayr: wr; Ahaggar (Tahaggart): hwr; Tawllemmet: wr; Taneslemt: wr; Qabyle (Ayt Mangellat): zwir; Proto-WChadic: *car(am)"chief"; Warji: cra [SNb ]; Daffo-Butura: saram [JR]; Proto-EChadic: *sVr- (<*n-sVr-) "adult"; Tumak: sri [Cp] [Notes: Ch *s-> Tum h-, *ns- > s-, for initial prefix cf. CCh Mafa nar- `be older then (person, thing)' [BMaf] (n - < *nc- is normal)].

As we can see, once we get to the Chadic, the -m morpheme (Bantu m-/b-) becomes apparent. This *sVr variant derives from Kongo-Saharan kVl (PWS ka father, king, chief + l (article);57 PB *-kd big, senior, adult58; PWS ku, kul old; PWS ku big; PWN K old, KWUL be big; Mangbetu kumu old person; Holoholo kul increase: PWS gn big, chief; PWN (GHIDU) head; Mande gna war chief). The Semitic entry is problematic for me and it appears they are equating two different words which are unrelated.
Proto-Semitic: *sVrw(-ay)- ~ (?) *sVran- "(military) chief, prince"; Ugaritic: Cf. srn 'prince' (DUL, 770); Hebrew: Cf. sranim 'Stadtfrsten' (pl.) (KB deutsch, 727); Arabic: sarr- 'dignit royale, royaut ' BK I 1076, sarw- 'chef, prince', srw '. genreux et d 'un caractere male ' BK I 1085; Epigraphic South Arabian: Sab s1rwyt 'campaigning force' (considered a Gz loanword by
56 57

pat is also a word meaning mankind, patricians. Or this could be the result of a ku- prefix on a -l(e,a,u) root. The Ku-class contains nouns created from verbs that use the prefix indicating the infinitive marker to express the act of doing, becoming, or the state of being. This could also just be a seriel noun. 58 The PB form kd would be closer to the Proto-Afro-Asiatic: *gad- "old age group, elder"; Proto-Semitic: *gadd'grandfather, ancestor'; Arabic: gadd- 'grandfather, ancestor', gdd [-a-] 'be considerable, be respectable (of men)'; Proto-EChadic: *gad- (<*gaHad-) "old"; Mobu (dial. Kwang): gd-at [Jg]; Ngam (dial. Kwang): gade [Bn?]; Proto-High East Cushitic: *gad- "age group, generation"; Burji (Bambala, Dashe): gada; Proto-South Cushitic: *gad- "old man"; Alagwa (Wasi): (?) gar-mo; Burunge (Mbulungi): gad-uwa [Notes: Ehr HRSC 297. If Alg reflects a different root *garVm- it might be compared with CCh *gurVm- 'become old': Mofu gurm].

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Mller) (SD, 128); Geez (Ethiopian): sarwe 'army, troops; military leader; virile, robust' (LGz 515); Tigre: srot, pl. srwat 'relation, tribe, kind' (LH, 178); Tigrai (Tigrinna): srawit 'army' (KT, 678); Amharic: srwe 'leader' (LGz 515, K 491) ( < Gz?); East Ethiopic : Zwy. tor srawit 'army' (LGur, 563); Gurage: End tr srawit, So srayt 'army' (LGur, 563); [Notes: Highly problematic. Ugr and Hbr are considered non-Sem loanwords. Arb is otherwise related to Akk arru 'king' < Sem *arr - < Afras *sarr-.]

It is my contention that the words for army, military, etc., derive from a word for war, fight or large group. While a military leader is part of an army, I think the ancients understood the difference between a leader and the army itself. The -p suffix may have gone through another sound change, p > f, and found its way into the word itf father, a class of elderly priests. But as we noted before, this /f/ sound may have originally been /b/. In Kalenjiin (Nilo-Saharan) this word is Poiyoot a priest, father (Coptic paiwt) and as we can see here the -p suffix is prefixed in Kalenjiin (and Coptic). We see this also with the word nb lord, master, owner, possessor in Egyptian. This same word in ciLuba (and common Bantu) is bwena lord, owner, possessor, family, member, quality of (bwen(a,e) < ena59 > mwena (ben/beena); bwana; bwina). A check for this sound order can be made with Egyptian nb "tie, wind up, unwind"; ciLuba bunya "bend, fold."60 When searching for an etymology for the word caliph, all sources I have access to can only trace the word to Arabic. Given our research above, this informs us that, more than likely, this is a loan into Arabic and probably by way of Egypt. One example can be seen in the etymonline.com database.
caliph (n.) late 14c., from O.Fr. caliphe (12c., also algalife), from M.L. califa, from Arabic khalifa "successor," originally Abu-Bakr, who succeeded Muhammad in the role of leader of the faithful after the prophet's death.

Getting back to the word aleph, it is interesting the Wiki entry on the etymology of this term:
In Modern Standard Arabic, there is a word /alif/ which literally means "tamed" or "coy", derived from the root |-l-f| from which the past tense verb /alafa/ means to "to coy". This has sometimes been connected with the name of alif in folk etymology. In modern Hebrew, the same root t |-l-f| (alef-lamed-pe) gives "me'ulaf", the passive participle of the verb "le'alef", and
59

ena "owned, family, member, the owner, possessor, one who, who is responsible for, manufactures, sells, native, characterized in, the quality of." There may be reflex in Egyptian: n(y) of, upon, in, belong to; ny us, our, them, we two, they. We mentioned earlier that in ciLuba l and b interchange and this possibly being the case in Egyptian. We also have in Egyptian nri power (<nb ?). See also qbs / qAs to bind, to tie (A = l). With b interchanging with m (as well) and r interchanging with n, we can see the reversed order in mr (nb?) "bind together, to tie up, fasten, choke, be bound." 60 The ciLuba term bunya ( -vnya) is a derivative form of vngula unfold, roll, unroll, twist < vnga wrap, roll, fold, twist, wound. This term in Egyptian would be pXr (=vngula) roll (papyrus), turn, turn about, revolve (of sun), move about (of limbs), surround, enclose, travel around, traverse (a region), twist or distort (what is said)." ciLuba ambika attach, devote, apply appears to be related as well. A variant of vunga is lunga "bind, connect, make ends meet, weaving, making chains"; tenga tie, bind. This is reflected in Egyptian as irq "tie on"; arq "to bind, basket (a woven basket?), bent up, raised, give a curve to a ship's hull planking." The word mDAt (with noun forming -t suffix) "papyrus roll, book, letter, dispatch, amulet, spell-book, bandage" may also be a variant (p>m, X > D(j/g); r > A). Egyptian mDAt = ciLuba mukanda book, letter, document (< Eg. Ax "papyrus thicket" > wAD "papyrus plant" (>art "papyrus scrolls"; awrt "papyrus roll, scroll, list, tablet"); Dt "papyrus stem, papyrus leaves" > Adw/idHw "the delta marshes, greenery, plants"; drf "papyrus, writing, script, title: ciLuba-Bantu ng-andu/ny-andu/nyanda/lu-ny-andu papyrus; MuKandu order, law, legislation; ngAnda/Ganda royal court; mwAnda history, affair, problem; bwAnda very fine thread (which is manufactured with di-Diba = fabric, carpet or papyrus paper "). See Nsapo & Bilolo (2010: 117-118).

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means trained (when referring to pets) or tamed (when referring to wild animals); the IDF rank of Aluf, taken from an Edomite title of nobility, is also cognate.61

This entry would fall in line with our findings here. So we note that the glottal stop in Hebrew is simply a weakened CV prefix and it is evident in the evolution of the very name for the sign used to denote the sound. Through this we discover that the Egyptians may have had a convention where the -p or -b phoneme was used to denote leadership. Early African languages showed free word order, so the affixes could be placed at the beginning or ends of words as grammatical features were once whole words with distinct meanings.

CONCLUSION
We set out to lay the ground work for verifying the phonetic associations for the basic monoliteral glyphs in the ancient Egyptian language. We did this by looking at the terms in indigenous African languages for the objects being depicted and suggested correspondences for those glyphs. We often verified our suggestions by looking into the Vai, Linear A and even the Merotic script which had similar signs. We come to discover that a few of the later Egyptian forms suffered from phonetic reduction. The cause of these phonetic reductions, as far as it is known, was a strong stress on the root syllable. As noted by a number of scholars, the Egyptian society and language develops from a pool of cultures that converged in the Sudan. Different traders, negotiating with foreign speakers, exaggerated the stress on the root syllable of their words, to make their meaning easily understood. Thus they simplified their language to the essentials and abolished its elaborate grammatical structure. This is a common procedure in forming a lingua franca and this can be seen in languages like Sumerian, another Kongo-Saharan language. The evidence that Egyptian once had a productive set of classifiers can still be detected in the so-called silent determinatives. Sumerian and Egyptian provide us with detailed and concrete insights into the early vocabulary and grammar of Nilo-Saharan and Niger-Congo. As mentioned earlier, Egyptian derives from a pool of languages and there is another phenomenon that must be considered that majorly affects language change. In many parts of Africa, in times of conflict, wife abduction was once widespread. It is the wives who often spoke a different language or dialect from their husbands. They, in turn, taught this, with greater or lesser success, to their children, however the language of the males dominated. We note that among the Sumerians, the women spoke a separate dialect called EMESAL. As Diop (1974, 1991) has often pointed out, the Egyptians were constantly taking wives from other places. See M. Leenhardt, (1946), Langues et dialectes de l Austro-Mlansie, Paris, for a discussion of the effects of mobile female speakers on native languages. As stated by Leenhardt: Les indigenesne mettent point la guerre en cause quand ils dcrivent les changements de langue en une rgion: ils accusent seulement laction des femmes...Les femmes enseignent aux enfants leur langue maternelle. The nativesdo not point to the war involved when they describe changes of language in a region : They blame solely the action of womenWomen teach children their mother tongue. (Leenhardt, 1946 : xvi) This reminds us of the famous Narmer palatte which allegedly depicts the successful military campaign to unify Egypt. What happened to the women of the conquered territory and what language(s) did they teach their children? What impact did this have on the development of Egyptian?
61

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleph (retrieved November 21, 2012).

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This is what they regard as a major cause of language change. As the languages concerned at this early period were already related, it is this process (among others) that inevitably leads to doublets and byforms, as well as profound grammatical changes in a language. Thomason and Kaufman (1988) remind us of the importance of dialect interference in the process of language change. Leenhardt (1946) and Darkwah (2005) remind us that it was normal for speakers to speak several different languages and this is more fundamental than the well-known phenomenon of linguistic taboo which prohibits the use of words of conquered peoples and of the names of important chiefs, etc. Thomason and Kaufman (1988) also informs us on how the competency of the bilingual speakers, in the secondary language, affects language change as well. These are the contexts for which we must understand the development of not only the Egyptian language, but of Egyptian society as well. Our associations in this essay point to the earliest formations of the language(s) and they help to set a guideline for determining the pronunciation of Egyptian words. Because of the nature of dialects and/or other languages in this region throughout its history, I do not believe you can reconstruct a vocalization schema for Egyptian that speaks for all periods without doing the necessary work of reconstructing proto-Egyptian. I ultimately think that it cannot be done using the comparative method, for Egyptian is a mixed languageas a result of language contact of many different families converging on the Nile as a result of the drying of North Africa. To determine the proper phonemes associated with the glyphs, one must engage the Kongo-Saharan, Cushitic and Chadic languages. From this pool of cultures is where Egypt began and it is from this pool of cultures from which we must start to look for answers to our questions regarding the hieroglyphic writing script; not Semitic.

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SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Allen, James P. (2005). The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts. Society of Biblical Literature. ______. (2010). Middle Egyptian: An Introduction into the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, 2nd Edition. Cambridge University Press. Amen, Rkhty. (2010). The Writing System of Medu Neter: Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs. The Institute of Kemetic Philology. Anselin, Alain. Some Notes about an Early African Pool of Cultures from which Emerged the Egyptian Civilisation in Egypt in its African Context : Proceedings of the conference held at The Manchester Museum, University of Manchester, 2-4 October 2009. 2011. pp. 43-53. Bengston, John D. (Ed.). (2008) In Hot Pursuit of Language in Prehistory: Essays in the four fields of anthropology. John Benjamins Publishing Company. Berkerie, Ayele. (1997). Ethiopic, An African Writing System: Its History and Principles. RSP. Biedermann, Hans (1992). Dictionary of Symbolism. Facts on File. Bilolo, Mubabinge. (2010). Invisibilite et Immanence du Createur Imn (Amon-Amun-Amen-Iman-Zimin): Example de la Vitalite de lAncien Egyptien ou CiKam dans le Cyena Ntu. Publications Universitaires Africaines. Munich-Kinshasa-Paris. ______ (2008). Meta-Ontologie Egyptienne du IIIe millenaire Madwa Meta-Untu: Tum-Nunu ou ShaNtu (APA. I.8). Munich-Kinshasa-Paris. ______ (2011). Vers Un Dictionnaire Cikam-Copte-Luba: Bantuite du vocabulaire egyptien-copte dans les essays de Homburger et dObenga. Publications Universitaires Africaines. Munich-Kinshasa-Paris. Blench, Roger. (2010). The Semiticisation of the Arabian Peninsula and the Problem of its reflection in the archeological record. Paper presented at the Conference Red Sea V: Navigated spaces, connected places: Institute for Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter, 16-19th September, 2010. Bowen, T.J. (1858). Grammar and Dictionary of the Yorb Language. Smithsonian Institute Budge, E.A. Wallis. (1967). The Egyptian Book of the Dead: The Papyrus of Ani. Dover Publications. Campbell-Dunn, GJK. (2006). Who Were the Minoans: An African Answer. Author House. ______. (2009b). Sumerian Comparative Dictionary. Penny Farthing Press. ______. (2009a). Sumerian Grammar. Penny Farthing Press. ______. (2004). Comparative Linguistics: Indo-European and Niger-Congo. Penny Farthing Press. Cassirer, Ernst. (1946). Language and Myth. Dover Publishing. New York, NY. Danesi, Marcel. (2004). A Basic Course in Anthropological Linguistics. Canadian Scholars' Press Inc. Toronto, Ontario. Diop, Cheikh Anta. (1974). The African Origin of Civilization: Myth or Reality. Lawrence Hill & Company. New York, NY. Page 59 of 62

Doumbia, Adama and Doumbia, Naomi. (2004). The way of the Elders: West African Spirituality and Traditions. Llewellyn Publications Epega, Afolabi A. (2003). Ifa: The Ancient Wisdom. Athelia Henrietta Press. Erman, Adolph and Grapow, Hermann. (1971). WRTERBUCH DER AEGYPTISCHEN SPRACHE im Auftrage der deutschen Akademien hrsg Bd. I-V. Unvernderter Nachdruck. Berlin Fu-Kiau, Kimbwandende K. Bunseki. (2001). African Cosmology of the Bantu Kongo: Principles of Life and Living. Athelia Henrietta Press. ______. (1991). Self-Healing Power and Therapy: Old Teachings from Africa. Inprint Editions. Faulkner, R.O. (1962). A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian. Griffith Institute, Ashmolean Museum. Greenberg, Joseph. (2005). Genetic Linguistics: Essays on Theory and Method. Oxford University Press. Oxford, NY. Hannig, R. (2000). Die Sprache der Pharaonen: Groes Handwrterbuch Deutsch-gyptisch (2800 - 950 v. Chr.). (Lexica 3). Kulturegeschichte der Antiken Welt 86. Mainz: von Zabern. Harrison, S. P. (2003), On the limits of the comparative method, in Joseph and Janda (eds.), 21343. The Handbook of Historical Linguistics (Oxford: Blackwell). Hermstein, Hermel. (2012). Black Sumer: The African Origins of Civilization. Pomegranate Publishing. London Imhotep, Asar (2009). The Bakala of North America The living Suns of Vitality: In Search of a Meaningful Name for African-Americans. MOCHA-Versity Press. ______. (forthcoming). Ogn, African Fire Philosophy and the Meaning of KMT. MOCHA-Versity Press (forth coming). ______. (2011). Passion of the Christ or Passion of Osiris: The Kongo Origins of the Jesus Myth. MOCHA-Versity Press Karenga, Maulana and Carruthers, Jacob H. (Eds.). (1986). Kemet and the African Worldview: Research, Rescue and Restoration. Sankore Press. Los Angeles, CA. Klieman, Kairn A. (2003). The Pygmies Were Our Compass: Bantu and Batwa in the History of West Central Africa, Early Times to c.1900 C.E. Heinemann Lichtheim, M. (1975). Ancient Egyptian Literature -- Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms. University of California Press. Lobban-Fluehr, Carolyn and Rhodes, Kharyssa (Eds.). (2004). Race and Identity in the Nile Valley: Ancient and Modern Perspectives. The Red Sea Press. Trenton, NJ. Loprieno, Antonio. (1995). Ancient Egyptian: A Linguistic Introduction. Cambridge University Press. New York, NY. Lord, Robert. (1966). Comparative Linguistics. David McKay Company. New York, NY.

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Miller, Cynthia L. (Ed.). (2007). Studies in Semitic and Afro-Asiatic Linguistics Presented to Gene B. Gragg. Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. Nsapo, Kalamba and Bilolo, Mubabinge (Eds.). (2010). Renaissance de la Theologie Negro-Aficaine: Melanges en lhonneur du Prof. Bimwenyi-Kweshi. Publications Universitaires Africaines. Munich, Kinshasa, Freising. Obenga, Theophile. (1992). Ancient Egypt & Black Africa: A Students Handbook for the Study of Ancient Egypt in Philosophy, Linguistics & Gender Relations. Karnak Books. ______. (1995). Readings in Precolonial Central Africa: Texts and Documents. Karnak House Publishing Oduyoye, Modupe. (1996). Words and Meaning in Yorb Religion: Linguistic Connections in Yorb, Ancient Egyptian & Semitic. Karnak House Publishing. ______. (2001). Yorb Names: Their Structure and their Meanings, 3rd Edition. Daystar Press ______. (1984). The Sons of Gods and the Daughters of Men: An Afro-Asiatic Interpretation of Genesis 1-11. Orbis Books. Perios, Ilia. (1999). Family Evolution, Language History and Genetic Classification. In Historical Linguistics and Lexicostatistics. AHL Studies in the History of Language 3. Melbourne. Pp. 260-306. Ra, Ankh Mi. (1995). Let the Ancestors Speak: Removing the Veil of Mysticism from Medu Netcher Vol. 1. JOM International, Inc. Roberts, Allen. (1976). Memory: Luba Art and the Making of History. Prestel Saakana, Amon Saba (Ed.). (1991). African Origins of the Major World Religions. Karnak House Publishing. Thomason, Sarah Grey and Kaufman, Terrence. (Eds.). (1988). Language Contact, Creolization and Genetic Linguistics. University of California Press. Berkley and Los Angeles, CA. Vygus, Mark. (2012). Ancient Egyptian Dictionary. Webb, Vic and Sure, Kembo (Eds.). (2000). African Voices: An Introduction to the Languages and Linguistics of Africa. Oxford University Press. London. Welmers, WM. E. (1973). African Language Structures, UCLA Press. Berkeley, CA. ______ (1971). Niger-Congo, Mande in Thomas Sebeok ed., Current Trends in Linguistics, Subsaharan Africa, Mouton, The Hague. Wilkinson, Toby H. (2001). Early Dynastic Egypt. Routledge. New York, NY. Websites Canaanite Dictionary http://canaanite.org/ Yorb Online Dictionary http://www.yorubadictionary.com

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CiLuba Dictionary http://www.ciyem.ugent.be The Beinlich Egyptian-German Wordlist http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/er/beinlich/beinlich.html Bible Study.com http://www.biblestudytools.com/ Ancient Scripts http://www.ancientscripts.com/ LEgyptologie par Dou Kaya http://doukaya.over-blog.com/article-introduction-au-seminaire-d-egyptologie-57165207.html Radical Linguistics Alexander Aberfeldy, 2010 http://lochearnhead.wikidot.com/ Nostratic Online Database (Afro-Asiatic) http://starling.rinet.ru/

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