http://www.omniglot.com/images/writing/ethiopic_sounds.gif

Amharic is a Semitic language and the national language of Ethiopia. There are about 27 million speakers of Amharic, mainly in North Central Ethiopia. Amharic is also spoken in a number of other countries, particularly in Eritrea, Egypt, Israel and Sweden.

Someone asked what's keeping africa down? One of the answer is the fact that africans prefer copying europeans.
Why, after the independance, after the creation of the OAU, Africa never tried to adopt one those old african languages as it international languages and teach it throughout the schools, all over the continent?

Our we so selfish? egotistic? What's wrong with africans?
The chinese and japanese did it. Why not us?
Can you imagine, 40 years after independance, that all africans major magazines, radio stations, TV where all in one african language and not English here, french there, spanish, portuguese, etc?????

Is it too late for africa? are we condamned to always copy the europeans?

Yes, that's Amharic.

It's unique that Amharic has it's own alphabet (which is shared with some of the other languages in the area, like Tigrinya), but then again remember that Ethiopia was one of the only two countries in Africa to not be colonized, so their language and culture was relatively untouched by the Europeans unlike the rest of us...



My language, Somali, is in Latin script. In fact, with the exception of Kenya, most of the countries bordering or near Somali don't even use the latin script, they use this script (Ge'ez) or Arabic instead. It makes Somali kind of unique in the area. Probably one of the few Muslim countries to use Latin...

The government, when actually choosing an official script back in the 1970s, chose Latin over the others. The politicians thought it would be more advantageous to convert to Latin since the West used it, and the government didn't want to share an alphabet with the "those Ethiopians", and Somalia wasn't an official Arab country yet.

Back in the 1920s, there was an unofficial script developed for Somali, called the Osmanya alphabet. It wasn't very popular to the mostly illiterate population, and personally, it's too confusing. Somali these days has developed itself in Latin so much that it's unimaginable for it to change now.

Here is how Osmanya looks...

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/Ciismaniya.jpg

There was actually written in Language in West Africa too. West Africans are one of the most advanced groups of blacks if not the most advanced in history.:

(1) Vai Script of Vai People of West Africa

http://www.library.cornell.edu/africana/Writing_Systems/vai_syllabry.gif

(2) Nsibidi script of the Ejagham People of Nigeria

http://www.library.cornell.edu/africana/Writing_Systems/nsibidi.GIF

(3) Mende Script in modern day Sierra Leone

http://www.library.cornell.edu/africana/Writing_Systems/Mende_script.GIF

(4) Bassa Script in Liberia

http://www.ie-inc.com/vkarmo/bassascript.jpg

(5) The Written texts in University of Sankore, dating back to 15th century AD

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/mali/images/amm0001rs.jpg

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/mali/images/amm0011rs.jpg

http://www.timbuktufoundation.org/images/resourcec_pic.jpg

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/mali/images/amm0011vs.jpg

The politicians thought it would be more advantageous to convert to Latin since the West used it, and the government didn't want to share an alphabet with the "those Ethiopians", and Somalia wasn't an official Arab country yet.
-------------------------

Yes, Ethiopia was never colonised so its history was never dilluted by europeans. And yes, there are a few scripts arounds west africa. In Ivory Coast too, the Beteh have their own, the Baoule have their own.... The last one discovered was from a man called Pastor kokangba.... Yes we have bribs of our scripts but they were not as developed as the Amharic.

We were quick to adopt the French, the English, the spanish languages that came from the Europeans. But when it comes to chose our own, everyone claims he has one in his village and that's the one we should use.
Africa's biggest problem lies there. We are too selfish as a people. No we will not learn a language from Nigeria. No we will not learn a language from Ethiopia. No we will not adopt a language from Siera Leone...
Are we so curse to always reject whatever comes from one of us?

The politicians thought it would be more advantageous to convert to Latin since the West used it, and the government didn't want to share an alphabet with the "those Ethiopians", and Somalia wasn't an official Arab country yet.
-------------------------

Yes, Ethiopia was never colonised so its history was never dilluted by europeans. And yes, there are a few scripts arounds west africa. In Ivory Coast too, the Beteh have their own, the Baoule have their own.... The last one discovered was from a man called Pastor kokangba.... Yes we have bribs of our scripts but they were not as developed as the Amharic.

We were quick to adopt the French, the English, the spanish languages that came from the Europeans. But when it comes to chose our own, everyone claims he has one in his village and that's the one we should use.
Africa's biggest problem lies there. We are too selfish as a people. No we will not learn a language from Nigeria. No we will not learn a language from Ethiopia. No we will not adopt a language from Siera Leone...
Are we so curse to always reject whatever comes from one of us?

No, we're just human like everyone else. I doubt the Japanese would have wanted to adopt Chinese, the Indians adopt Bangladesh and so on and so fore, just for the sake of unity.

The problem with Africa(ns) lies in the amalgamation of different nations.

i have been researching this subject for several years.

"...One of the answer is the fact that africans prefer copying europeans..."

i've been saying/lamenting that for years, we never want to copy our selves or anyone else but europeans/americans

"...The politicians thought it would be more advantageous to convert to Latin since the West used it, and the government didn't want to share an alphabet with the "those Ethiopians"..."
this is why the europeans were able to conquer the continent way back then and this is why we are in the possition we are in now, more so than bad governance.

naijalove you do realize that the sankore documents you posted are written in a foreign script, right?

"...We were quick to adopt the French, the English, the spanish languages that came from the Europeans. But when it comes to chose our own, everyone claims he has one in his village and that's the one we should use.
Africa's biggest problem lies there. We are too selfish as a people. No we will not learn a language from Nigeria. No we will not learn a language from Ethiopia. No we will not adopt a language from Siera Leone...
Are we so curse to always reject whatever comes from one of us?..."
it is encouraging to see that i'm not the only one who see this

"...No, we're just human like everyone else. I doubt the Japanese would have wanted to adopt Chinese, the Indians adopt Bangladesh and so on and so fore, just for the sake of unity...."
actually the japanese and korean and i think maybe the vietnamese or someone else did adopt chinese. that's why they all look similar

N'kohttp://www.omniglot.com/writing/nko.htm
http://www.omniglot.com/images/writing/nko.gif

Arzaranh, you often say that Africans copy the West but what about the Lebanese people of which you are part of? They are extremely keen on copying the French/Europeans. They even wave the French flag on certain occasion in the streets in beirut, you give your restaurants French names, French is widely spoken and so on and so forth. Beirut is called even the "paris of the Middle East"! I don´t think that Lebanese have the right to tell African that they are "westernized" when Lebanon is by far the most "westernized" country in the MENA region. Before insulting me, this observation is not meant to be an insult, you know that I like Lebanon and Beirut and one of the prime reasons is that is a wonderful open city where many cultures and influences converge/have converged.

My suggestion: when countries want to be "nationalistic" , just be consequent by tearing down all that is left by the French/, burn their their schools, libraries and books and bombard their embassies ...and stop using/promoting Western languages such as French or being a part of "la Francophonie"! It is as simple as that! be consequent

WOW GREAT DISCUSSION PEOPLE...AFRICA UNITE.....WE COULD BE THE WORLD SUPER POWER IN 4 OR 5 GENERATION
OH AND YEA MY DAD HAD SEVERAL BOOKS IN VAI....THE INTELLECTUALS OF LIBERIA ......LIKE I SAID PREVIOUSLY IN THIS FORUM.....we should first be african then represent our nations...AFRICA FIRST, COUNRTY AFTER.......
WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT WHAT IS HOLDING AFRICA BACK AND YOU GUYS ARE LOOOKING TOO MUCH INTO IT...WHY DONT WE START IN THIS FORUM.....S.A BEATING ON NIGERIA, NAIJA BEATING ON C.I.....SO SO SO ON.......I agree that we must be proud.....but i think we should be PROUD OF AFRICA AS A WHOLE... AND NOT BASHING EACHOTHER WITH XENOPHOBIC RANTS

My suggestion: when countries want to be "nationalistic" , just be consequent by tearing down all that is left by the French/, burn their their schools, libraries and books and bombard their embassies ...and stop using/promoting Western languages such as French or being a part of "la Francophonie"! It is as simple as that! be consequent
How old is this dude?
Tu es hors sujet completement. Juste parce que tu as une bouche ne signifie pas que tu dois intervenir dans tous les topics. Quelques fois c'est mieux de la boucler.
Merci.

How old is this dude?
Tu es hors sujet completement. Juste parce que tu as une bouche ne signifie pas que tu dois intervenir dans tous les topics. Quelques fois c'est mieux de la boucler.
Merci.

Talking in French?? You???:hahaha: :hahaha: :goodnight

Meroitic script
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/Meroitic.png

Old Nubian
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6a/Old_Nubian_manuscript.jpg

N'Ko script
http://www.uiowa.edu/~linguist/faculty/culy/nko/nko_alpha.gif

Vai script
http://catarina.ai.uiuc.edu/L408/lecture2_figures/vai1.gif

Libyco-Berber Script
http://aleph2at.free.fr/ecritures/tifinagh/img/comp.gif

Arzaranh, you often say that Africans copy the West but what about the Lebanese people of which you are part of? They are extremely keen on copying the French/Europeans. They even wave the French flag on certain occasion in the streets in beirut, you give your restaurants French names, French is widely spoken and so on and so forth. Beirut is called even the "paris of the Middle East"! I don´t think that Lebanese have the right to tell African that they are "westernized" when Lebanon is by far the most "westernized" country in the MENA region. Before insulting me, this observation is not meant to be an insult, you know that I like Lebanon and Beirut and one of the prime reasons is that is a wonderful open city where many cultures and influences converge/have converged.

My suggestion: when countries want to be "nationalistic" , just be consequent by tearing down all that is left by the French/, burn their their schools, libraries and books and bombard their embassies ...and stop using/promoting Western languages such as French or being a part of "la Francophonie"! It is as simple as that! be consequent
i am a black african not lebanese

i am a black african not lebanese

I always thought that you were of Lebanese origin! Haven´t you once said that you are trying to either immigrate to some African country or to Canada and that you currently live in Lebanon ? If not, then I am sorry, I must have mixed you up with someone else! Forget about it!

I always thought that you were of Lebanese origin! Haven´t you once said that you are trying to either immigrate to some African country or to Canada and that you currently live in Lebanon ? If not, then I am sorry, I must have mixed you up with someone else! Forget about it!

didn't you ever wonder why a "lebanese" would be so obsessed with africa?:lol:
i live in the new world and yes i was considering vancouver and toronto for grad school, but i'm not going... i have been to turkey (loved every minute of it) but not lebanon.

didn't you ever wonder why a "lebanese" would be so obsessed with africa?
i live in the new world and yes i was considering vancouver and toronto for grad school, but i'm not going... i have been to turkey (loved every minute of it) but not lebanon.

Ok, forgive me then, I am sorry!

didn't you ever wonder why a "lebanese" would be so obsessed with africa?:lol:
i live in the new world and yes i was considering vancouver and toronto for grad school, but i'm not going... i have been to turkey (loved every minute of it) but not lebanon.Well there are many Lebanese who live in Africa or have family who live there.

Anyway, this thread is great. I always knew about Amharic but I didn't know of these other scripts. This is the best thing I've ever seen on SSC.

i
actually the japanese and korean and i think maybe the vietnamese or someone else did adopt chinese. that's why they all look similar

Vietnam uses the Latin script but you're right about Korean & Japenese.

Has there ever been tentatives to create a sort of african esperanto, by mixing elements from semitic, bantu, nilo-saharan etc languages?

Has there ever been tentatives to create a sort of african esperanto, by mixing elements from semitic, bantu, nilo-saharan etc languages?

The swahili language may fit that description. its a mixture of mainly bantu and semitic (arabic) content with words from portugese and english. Whats even better is that it is the national language in three East African countries (Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania) and widely spoken in Somalia, Southern Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Burundi and to some extent in Zambia.:)

cool! :)

The swahili language may fit that description. its a mixture of mainly bantu and semitic (arabic) content with words from portugese and english. Whats even better is that it is the national language in three East African countries (Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania) and widely spoken in Somalia, Southern Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Burundi and to some extent in Zambia.:)

I think these east african nations should put a bigger emphasis on swahili than european languages as a uniting force.

Vietnam uses the Latin script but you're right about Korean & Japenese.
i was talking about pre-french empire but like i said i'm not sure if it was them or someone else

I think these east african nations should put a bigger emphasis on swahili than european languages as a uniting force.

hell no!!!! that would make too much sense. it's too logical!
(note a hint of sarcasm?)

I think these east african nations should put a bigger emphasis on swahili than european languages as a uniting force.

Swahili has been the uniting language for most of East Africa. Especially in Tanzania. After independence, Tanzania focused alot on developing the language as both an official and national language. It was also the medium of instruction in schools. Today, Tanzania is considered the most peaceful and united country in East Africa where unlike elsewhere on the continent, Tanzanians put their nationality first before their tribe due to the universal use of Swahili.

Swahili is also the unifying language in most of the other Eaqst african countries. It is taught in schools alongside English (Kenya,Uganda) and French (Rwanda, Burundi-though Rwanda is a quadrilingual society). Its one of the main aspects that will help in finally unifying East Africa into one state through the formation of the East African Federation.

Swahili does have the effect of uniting different communities in East Africa regardless of which community or race a person comes from.:)

i was talking about pre-french empire but like i said i'm not sure if it was them or someone else

Yes, they used a variant of the Chinese alphabet

...Today, Tanzania is considered the most peaceful and united country in East Africa where unlike elsewhere on the continent, Tanzanians put their nationality first before their tribe due to the universal use of Swahili....
how do we know this last bit is true? (as of now it is only my hypothesis)

The swahili language may fit that description. its a mixture of mainly bantu and semitic (arabic) content with words from portugese and english. Whats even better is that it is the national language in three East African countries (Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania) and widely spoken in Somalia, Southern Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Burundi and to some extent in Zambia.:)

Except for the extreme southern part of Somalia (which has a large population of Bantus originally from Tanzania and Mozambique), Swahili is almost unknown in the country. Somalia overall is more positioned to Arabic or English as a lingua franca.

But, of course, there is a large portion of Somalis in Kenya who speak Swahili as a second language. When some of them come back after the war actually ends, Swahili will probably be more important in Somalia in the future.

Except for the extreme southern part of Somalia (which has a large population of Bantus originally from Tanzania and Mozambique), Swahili is almost unknown in the country. Somalia overall is more positioned to Arabic or English as a lingua franca.

But, of course, there is a large portion of Somalis in Kenya who speak Swahili as a second language. When some of them come back after the war actually ends, Swahili will probably be more important in Somalia in the future.

^^
That is precisely how Swahili ended up in southern sudan. The large number of returning refugees from Kenya and Uganda as well as Kenyan investors flocking into the country were more comfortable speaking Swahili than the native Dinka. This was accelerated when the southern sudanese began using the Kenyan education system and now swahili is taught in a few schools there.

For somalia, a good number of returning refugees from Kenya as well as investors will spur the growth of the language in Somalia as well.

how do we know this last bit is true? (as of now it is only my hypothesis)

^^
Its true that swahili is the biggest uniting factor for Tanzania. I base my argument on the historical political situation in East Africa as a whole. Only Tanzania and Kenya have not had a civil war since independence in the region. If you take Tanzania, they managed to overcome ethnicity by promoting the swahili language. This translated in less political patronage based on ethnic background where the largest or most dominant ethnic group benefitted from national resources at the expence of other ethnic groups. In East Africa, ethnicity seems to be the major cause of conflict eg. the Hutu-Tutsi genocide in Rwanda and Burundi, The civil war in Northern Uganda and even Kenya is not immune to ethnic tensions based on language groups. In comparison Tanzania, which is largely Swahili speaking, is the most peaceful.

I'm loving it!Keep those tore scriptures coming for awareness sake.I never knew the Europeans ever did gave our ancestors a peaceful minute war break time to archive these great fantasy.at least we inherited something.:banana:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2566/3991027408_98a90d7319_o.jpg



This is to introduce you to the lone African born writing system in full use today called Ethiopics and letters called Fidel. You would hate Roman letters if you knew how beautiful this system is. Used by Ethiopians and Eritreans everywhere today.

The script is supported by some unicode based writing software and can make use of standard English keyboard we find in our laptops and desktops. My typing speed is the same in both in Latin and Fidel.

We have websites with nothing but Fidel. There are sites for news, blogging, forums, chat sites and we exchange email. So YEAH!!! go Fidel.

We just completed a list of computer jargon translated into Amharic with about 3000 words in it. Microsoft is to release an office set that makes use of the Fidel script for Amharic and Tigrigna users. Oromifa (Oromo language) uses latin. Bummer!!! reason being, as some of you discussed above, we hate African we want European. Somalian should have used Fidel.

I am all for Swahili as an International African language with the Geez alphabet, by the way.

The sad thing is that Afan Oromo used to be written with the abugida, but then they invented Qubee, which is in the Latin script. How can we expect (which is rather unlikely) to spreak the abugida when Ethiopians are abandoning it themselves? A different script hampers communication, and undermines unity.:bash: In fact, we ought to have Somali in Ethiopia written in the Abugida, kind of like Hindi and Urdu, two dialects of the same language written in different scripts, which lead to a greater sense of unity. Imagine if Urdu was written in Sanskrit like Hindi?

The sad thing is that Afan Oromo used to be written with the abugida, but then they invented Qubee, which is in the Latin script. How can we expect (which is rather unlikely) to spreak the abugida when Ethiopians are abandoning it themselves? A different script hampers communication, and undermines unity.:bash: In fact, we ought to have Somali in Ethiopia written in the Abugida, kind of like Hindi and Urdu, two dialects of the same language written in different scripts, which lead to a greater sense of unity. Imagine if Urdu was written in Sanskrit like Hindi?

Eritreans dropped the Orthodox church calendar totally, another African born system dropped. They dropped Kidus Yohannis (inqutatash) too. When I wished this Eritrean friend of mine to have a happy new year and Inqutatash, he replied his people don't recognize that holiday any more. Funny thing is he had pride in his expression, now that his country moved to the European system. Its collective madness. You would think the intellectuals would know better, but they are the worse and guilty party. Everywhere in Africa, being educated means acting white. It makes me sick. There is this is mass hysteria to be like Europe or USA. If hearts had vectors, you would see African hearts pointing towards Europe and America like a compass directed northwards. We need to look in towards ourselves. That where who we are exists.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2566/3991027408_98a90d7319_o.jpg



This is to introduce you to the lone African born writing system in full use today called Ethiopics and letters called Fidel. You would hate Roman letters if you knew how beautiful this system is. Used by Ethiopians and Eritreans everywhere today.

The script is supported by some unicode based writing software and can make use of standard English keyboard we find in our laptops and desktops. My typing speed is the same in both in Latin and Fidel.

We have websites with nothing but Fidel. There are sites for news, blogging, forums, chat sites and we exchange email. So YEAH!!! go Fidel.

We just completed a list of computer jargon translated into Amharic with about 3000 words in it. Microsoft is to release an office set that makes use of the Fidel script for Amharic and Tigrigna users. Oromifa (Oromo language) uses latin. Bummer!!! reason being, as some of you discussed above, we hate African we want European. Somalian should have used Fidel.

I am all for Swahili as an International African language with the Geez alphabet, by the way.

Geez the ancestor of today's Ethiopian script developed from the extinct South-Arabian script that was native to the pre-Arab South Arabia, the ancient homeland of the ancestors of the Habeshas people.
I am always surprised to see that skin color is so important when labeling something African. Truth is Somalis and Ethiopians are way more similar in culture and History to the people of the Middle-East and Arabian Peninsula than Eastern, Southern, Central or Western African. So why should Ivoirians, for example, copy Ethiopians ? Only because they share the same skin shade ? So do a lot of Indians and Amerindians! Why don't Ivoirians go bollywood or pow-wow instead.

Geez the ancestor of today's Ethiopian script developed from the extinct South-Arabian script that was native to the pre-Arab South Arabia, the ancient homeland of the ancestors of the Habeshas people.
I am always surprised to see that skin color is so important when labeling something African. Truth is Somalis and Ethiopians are way more similar in culture and History to the people of the Middle-East and Arabian Peninsula than Eastern, Southern, Central or Western African. So why should Ivoirians, for example, copy Ethiopians ? Only because they share the same skin shade ? So do a lot of Indians and Amerindians! Why don't Ivoirians go bollywood or pow-wow instead.
"The term "Habesha" was formerly thought by some to be of Arabic descent (who used the word Habash, also the name of an Ottoman province comprising parts of modern-day Eritrea and Ethiopia), because the English name Abyssinia comes from the Arabic form."

The term "Abesha/Habesha" is an Arabic term used to describe a group of people, not ethnicities. The word is traced back to the Axum empire, which is in Africa.

Also..

""Ge'ez (ግዕዝ, Gəʿəz, IPA: [ɡɨʕɨz]; also transliterated Gi'iz, and less accurately referred to as Ethiopic) is an ancient South Semitic language that developed in the current region of Eritrea and northern Ethiopia in the Horn of Africa. It later became the official language of the Kingdom of Aksum and Ethiopian imperial court.

So, Ge'ez is an African language, it's script is African and no Ethiopian will agree on your claim that we have more in common with Middle-eastern people than our fellow Africans.

He is partially correct however. Ge'ez developed from the Sabean script, and Ethiopians did migrate from Southern Arabia.

He is partially correct however. Ge'ez developed from the Sabean script, and Ethiopians did migrate from Southern Arabia.
According to Wikipedia [I know, it isn't the most reliable source] Ge'ez was developed in todays Eritrea/Ethiopia.. However, I don't deny it's semitic roots.

What we call Ethiopians are a mix of different ethnicities. Those Pre-Arab Southern Arabians I guess are a little part of that mix, but you make it sound like Ethiopia is one tribe/group that moved from South Arabia to todays Ethiopia.

He is partially correct however. Ge'ez developed from the Sabean script, and Ethiopians did migrate from Southern Arabia.

OK, big mistake here. Ethiopians did not migrate from anywhere ( period). Every human being on earth today migrated from East-Africa, evolutionarily speaking, it is the only part of the world were we have found the earliest human ancestors. So, I strongly object to any statement that starts with Ethiopians migrated from point A and came to Ethiopia in time X. In our current form we ( humans) have lived in Ethiopia for hundreds of thousands of years, so I am sorry we didnot come from Arabia, rather Arabs or any other human beings came from Ethiopia.

OK, big mistake here. Ethiopians did not migrate from anywhere ( period). Every human being on earth today migrated from East-Africa, geologically speaking, it is the only part of the world were we have found the earliest human ancestors. So, I strongly object to any statement that starts with Ethiopians migrated from point A and came to Ethiopia in time X. In our current form we ( humans) have lived in Ethiopia for hundreds of thousands of years, so I am sorry we didnot come from Arabia, rather Arabs or any other human beings came from Ethiopia.

^^ This is what ignorance coupled with arrogance delivers: silly vulgarization of basic human history to serve a nationalist cause. Sad !

^^Anyway it's an reimigration, so there is nothing wrong with his claim that people migrate from the horn.

The foundation stone states that "Another lineage common in the ancestral Arab-Jewish gene pool is found among today's Ethiopians and may have reached the Middle East by men who traveled down the Nile. Though Ethiopians are generally considered black in pigmentation and hair type, their Caucasoid (Mediterranean) accretions are evident in their cranial and facial morphology, which distinguishes them from pure West African Negroids."

"...an ancient tongue spoken in this region fissured into the modern languages of the Afro-Asiatic (formerly Hamito-Semitic) family. This family includes the Cushitic and Semitic languages now spoken in Ethiopia.... During the 2nd millennium BC...a people speaking Ge'ez (a Semitic language) came to dominate the rich northern highlands of Tigray. There, in the 7th century BC, they established the kingdom of Da'amat.... Aksum's culture comprised Ge'ez, written in a modified South Arabian alphabet, sculpture and architecture based on South Arabian prototypes, and an amalgam of local and Middle Eastern deities. Thus, evidence exists of a close cultural exchange between Aksum and the Arabian peninsula...." ("History of Ethiopia," Encyclopaedia Britannica)

"The present composition of the Ethiopian population is the result of a complex and extensive intermixing of different peoples of North African, Near and Middle Eastern, and south-Saharan origin. The main groups inhabiting the country are the Amhara and the Tigray-Tigrinya people, descended from Arabian conquerors. The genetic distance analysis showed the separation between African and non-African populations, with the Amhara located in an intermediate position." (De Stefano et al., Ann Hum Biol, 2002)

"The occurrence of E*5 212 and E*5 204 alleles in two populations of the Mediterranean basin (Turkey and Italy) but not in West Africans can be explained by taking into account that the Ethiopian gene pool was estimated to be >40% of Caucasoid derivation (Cavalli-Sforza et al. 1994). In addition, more recent phylogenetic analysis based on classical protein polymorphism (Tartaglia et al. 1996) and Y-chromosome sequence variation (Underhill et al. 2000) showed that Ethiopians appear to be distinct from Africans and more closely associated with populations of the Mediterranean basin."

(Scacchi et al., Hum Biol, 2003)

"Non sub-Saharan African samples are all grouped together...with...the Ethiopian Amharic sample [on the Y-chromosome]. Ethiopians are not statistically differentiated from the Egyptian and Tunisian samples, in agreement with their linguistic affiliation with the Afro-Asiatic family."

(Poloni et al., Am J Hum Genet, 1997)

"On the basis of historical, linguistic, and genetic data, it has been suggested that the Ethiopian population has been strongly affected by Caucasoid migrations since Neolithic times. On the basis of autosomal polymorphic loci, it has been estimated that 60% of the Ethiopian gene pool has an African origin, whereas ~40% is of Caucasoid derivation.... Our Ethiopian sample also lacks the sY81-G allele, which was associated with 86% and 69% of Senegalese and mixed-African YAP+ chromosomes, respectively. This suggests that male-mediated gene flow from Niger-Congo speakers to the Ethiopian population was probably very limited ... Caucasoid gene flow into the Ethiopian gene pool occurred predominantly through males. Conversely, the Niger-Congo contribution to the Ethiopian population occurred mainly through females."

(Passarino et al., Am J Hum Genet, 1998)

"Notably, 62% of the Ethiopians fall in the first cluster, which encompasses the majority of the Jews, Norwegians and Armenians, indicating that placement of these individuals in a 'Black' cluster would be an inaccurate reflection of the genetic structure. Only 24% of the Ethiopians are placed in the cluster with the Bantu and most of the Afro-Caribbeans."

This graphic never fails to not crack me up.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2c/Ethiochart.jpg

^^ This is what ignorance coupled with arrogance delivers: silly vulgarization of basic human history to serve a nationalist cause. Sad !

What ignorance? I was trying to make the point that its usually easy to assume that technology or civilization is a phenomenon that started only in either the West or popular culture. A few facts: 1. Ethiopia has a long history 2. Has a unique language ( not just one, but plenty) 3. The main spoken language in Ethiopia is Amharic which comes from Ge'ez ( Ge'ez was not a copied or borrowed language from anywhere)
I have read it in papers before where some 'scholars' believe Ethiopian people are not Africans and that they came somewhere from the middle east or something. But, the truth is anyone with half a brain will know that is not true; the language, the people, the culture is unique and not copied from elsewhere ( period).
Yes, I am proud of my country, but nothing I said is a lie. So, if there is something specific, I would be happy to respond, but being aware of the facts and having pride in your country should not be mistaken for ignorance. sorry disappoint, but I can't afford to be ignorance for my own sake.

FYI: I would appreciate you not making personal remarks next time. I have tried to be positive and stayed on a very general topic of discussion, lets not turn it into insulting one another. After all I HOPE we have all evolved to a certain level of intelligence, have we not?

Ge'ez started in Eritrea and the first script was found there as well. The Tigre group of Eritrea are the closest to original Ge'ez speakers linguistically. Amharic is a Cushitic Agew language which it inherited words from Tigrinya as well as the culture from Aksum. I believe if Abyssinian truly care about their heritage then they will revive the Agaw language.

http://www.omniglot.com/images/writing/ethiopic_sounds.gif

Amharic is a Semitic language and the national language of Ethiopia. There are about 27 million speakers of Amharic, mainly in North Central Ethiopia. Amharic is also spoken in a number of other countries, particularly in Eritrea, Egypt, Israel and Sweden.

Someone asked what's keeping africa down? One of the answer is the fact that africans prefer copying europeans.
Why, after the independance, after the creation of the OAU, Africa never tried to adopt one those old african languages as it international languages and teach it throughout the schools, all over the continent?

Our we so selfish? egotistic? What's wrong with africans?
The chinese and japanese did it. Why not us?
Can you imagine, 40 years after independance, that all africans major magazines, radio stations, TV where all in one african language and not English here, french there, spanish, portuguese, etc?????

Is it too late for africa? are we condamned to always copy the europeans?

You should be proud of your own roots and not follow a dream. There's is nothing wrong with the Latin script, the majority of the world uses it. If you were to get rid of it in Africa then we would be put in a severe disadvantage economically with the rest world of the world. If we abandoned learning English then it would be even worse. I will give you a place in history when Amharic the language was forced on a people called the Eritreans. When Ethiopia went against a U.N. ruling and decided to satisfy its imperialist needs, it annexed Eritrea. After this, they tried to make the people succumb to Ethiopian culture and language i.e. Amharic. They burned all Eritrean literature, and forced the people to learn Amharic. Even if you were straight A' student, if you did not pass your Amharic course then you would repeat your grade level. This is one of many examples that led to the Eritrean revolution where we took back our nation. As Abyssinia grew, it expanded the Amharic language to foreign territories they acquired at the expense of dispensing indigenous cultures. This was a strategy used to easier control the newly acquired lands and to remain loyal in those territories.

So please be proud of your ancestry, English is a tool that everyone uses in this world in business, trade, and diplomacy. It would make no sense for Africans not to use it or a latin script. Even in my country where the Ge'ez script is used, every still uses latin script/English because we are cosmopolitan people.

so habashis were originally from Arabia and were Arabs:cheers: never knew before today thanks for enlightening us :)

so habashis were originally from Arabia and were Arabs:cheers:
:nuts: Pre-Arab Southern Arabia. You know Hebrew is a semitic language as well, but I don't think Jews are considered Arabs.

But yeah, everyone in the Horn except for Somalis are very mixed. That's why people have all kind of skin tones and facial features in Ethiopia.

You should be proud of your own roots and not follow a dream. There's is nothing wrong with the Latin script, the majority of the world uses it. If you were to get rid of it in Africa then we would be put in a severe disadvantage economically with the rest world of the world. If we abandoned learning English then it would be even worse. I will give you a place in history when Amharic the language was forced on a people called the Eritreans. When Ethiopia went against a U.N. ruling and decided to satisfy its imperialist needs, it annexed Eritrea. After this, they tried to make the people succumb to Ethiopian culture and language i.e. Amharic. They burned all Eritrean literature, and forced the people to learn Amharic. Even if you were straight A' student, if you did not pass your Amharic course then you would repeat your grade level. This is one of many examples that led to the Eritrean revolution where we took back our nation. As Abyssinia grew, it expanded the Amharic language to foreign territories they acquired at the expense of dispensing indigenous cultures. This was a strategy used to easier control the newly acquired lands and to remain loyal in those territories.

So please be proud of your ancestry, English is a tool that everyone uses in this world in business, trade, and diplomacy. It would make no sense for Africans not to use it or a latin script. Even in my country where the Ge'ez script is used, every still uses latin script/English because we are cosmopolitan people.
Eritrea, a province created by the slave masters Italy, suddenly gave us Christianity and Ge'ez.:lol:

Eritrea, a province created by the slave masters Italy, suddenly gave us Christianity and Ge'ez.:lol:

:) Yup unless your pea brain doesn't understand that Christianity has been in Eritrea longer than the Italians. You're a semitized Agaw/Oromo not that there's anything wrong with that. Just be proud of your true heritage. That is of course you are a Tigray.

Ethiopians praying to Italian masters :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_20tOa8C6VU


You owe us Eritreans a lot. One for giving you religion and Agazian culture.

:) Yup unless your pea brain doesn't understand that Christianity has been in Eritrea longer than the Italians. You're a semitized Agaw/Oromo not that there's anything wrong with that. Just be proud of your true heritage. That is of course you are a Tigray.

Ethiopians praying to Italian masters :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_20tOa8C6VU


You owe us Eritreans a lot. One for giving you religion and Agazian culture.
I didn't know that I was Tigray, I guess you know more about my family than I do. :lol:

The majority of all the people living in the province of Eritrea felt Ethiopian, how did we defeated the Italians in the first world war if not united?

It's the new generation of Eritreas like yourself that are totally brainwashed with hatered. Your daily life is based on hating on Ethiopia, the Issayas propaganda machine is working very well.

We were part of the same country before Northern part of the country got colonized by Facist Italy. Now those Italians wanted to stay and created a province called Eritrea. Those brainwashed Eritreas betrayed their own country and people and fought along side those European colonizersb [this is why many Ethiopians despise Eritreas and don't want anything to do with Eritrea besides Assab]. Now that little province has became a country and they trying hard to re-write history. Good luck with that. :cheers:

I didn't know that I was Tigray, I guess you know more about my family than I do. :lol:

The majority of all the people living in the province of Eritrea felt Ethiopian, how did we defeated the Italians in the first world war if not united?

It's the new generation of Eritreas like yourself that are totally brainwashed with hatered. Your daily life is based on hating on Ethiopia, the Issayas propaganda machine is working very well.

We were part of the same country before Northern part of the country got colonized by Facist Italy. Now those Italians wanted to stay and created a province called Eritrea. Those brainwashed Eritreas betrayed their own country and people and fought along side those European colonizersb [this is why many Ethiopians despise Eritreas and don't want anything to do with Eritrea besides Assab]. Now that little province has became a country and they trying hard to re-write history. Good luck with that. :cheers:


Really the "new generation"? My parents tease Ethiopians too :) You're very comical people. I am Eritrean, an Agazian. You're a victim of Semitiztion of your Agaw people. We gave you language, an alphabet, and enjera. The least you could do is be courteous :)

What ignorance? I was trying to make the point that its usually easy to assume that technology or civilization is a phenomenon that started only in either the West or popular culture. A few facts: 1. Ethiopia has a long history 2. Has a unique language ( not just one, but plenty) 3. The main spoken language in Ethiopia is Amharic which comes from Ge'ez ( Ge'ez was not a copied or borrowed language from anywhere)
I have read it in papers before where some 'scholars' believe Ethiopian people are not Africans and that they came somewhere from the middle east or something. But, the truth is anyone with half a brain will know that is not true; the language, the people, the culture is unique and not copied from elsewhere ( period).
Yes, I am proud of my country, but nothing I said is a lie. So, if there is something specific, I would be happy to respond, but being aware of the facts and having pride in your country should not be mistaken for ignorance. sorry disappoint, but I can't afford to be ignorance for my own sake.

FYI: I would appreciate you not making personal remarks next time. I have tried to be positive and stayed on a very general topic of discussion, lets not turn it into insulting one another. After all I HOPE we have all evolved to a certain level of intelligence, have we not?


The irony is Amharas had nothing to do with the Axumite Empire. :)

Amharic is an Agaw language with semitic influences when they adopted Axum traditions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agaw

Please man, look at the facts. All you're accomplishing is reaffirming negative stereotypes of Eritreans.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agaw

Please man, look at the facts. All you're accomplishing is reaffirming negative stereotypes of Eritreans.

Amharic is an Agaw language, linguistic experts will tell you that. And what negative stereotypes exist about Eritreans? You've already fallen into the common Ethiopian stereotype of an inferiority complex suffering imperialist Ethiopian. It's not a good Simfan. As long as I'm alive and 6 million nationalistic Eritreans, Eritrea will never fall into the hands of evil called Ethiopia. If you want war you will get war.

Did you even read the article? There are your "linguistic experts",it says nothing about Amharic's origin.

You know what, this is pointless. Good day.

Really the "new generation"? My parents tease Ethiopians too :) You're very comical people. I am Eritrean, an Agazian. You're a victim of Semitiztion of your Agaw people. We gave you language, an alphabet, and enjera. The least you could do is be courteous :)
:lol::lol::lol:

Wow you are truly some funny peoples. I've never seen anyone more brainwashed than the Issayas generation of Italian Africans. This is my last reply to you, good luck with Eritrea.

You know what, this is pointless. Good day.
They have all been brainwashed with their fake re-written history, just ignore him.

They have all been brainwashed with their fake re-written history, just ignore him.

chu chu demna chu chu chu chu :) I believe this is how Amharas talk :)

Nacfa this is a forum for urban development. There are tons of other sites were countless of Eritreans,somalis and Ethiopians can enjoy their cyberfights but not here. I have reported you so hopefully we will get back to the old SSC we were used to..

Nacfa this is a forum for urban development. There are tons of other sites were countless of Eritreans,somalis and Ethiopians can enjoy their cyberfights but not here. I have reported you so hopefully we will get back to the old SSC we were used to..


I couldn't agree with you more. The derogatory comments toward Eritrea needs to stop. Maybe you can get through your brethen who harbor these imperialist ideas. I'd like to discuss my people's development without your people's interference. FYI I have reported you and your friends as well.

Thanks

Oh, alors maintenant vous cultivez un cerveau; fou qui déteste notre pays! Désolé, mais je ne peux m'empêcher de laisser mes sentiments hors de moi!

Oh, alors maintenant vous cultivez un cerveau; fou qui déteste notre pays! Désolé, mais je ne peux m'empêcher de laisser mes sentiments hors de moi!


FYI I grew up in Europe, Prudent.... :)

So, mon amie, what does that mean? Mon as le la des automo l'empereur!

^^Det finns nåt som heter Google translate..

^^Det finns nåt som heter Google translate..


Somebody's mad about being reported. :)

I rEPORTED YOU ALL AGAIN.
HELLO ERI FRIEND.

Somebody's mad about being reported. :)

Just translate it ( Swedish --> English) and you'll see what i said :)