Jean-Claude MBOLI Linguist Senior System Design ...€¦ · Senior System Design & Verification...

Jean-Claude MBOLI Linguist

Senior System Design & Verification Engineer Freescale Semiconductor, Toulouse

Author of : Origine des langues africaines : Essai d’application de la méthode comparative aux langues africaines anciennes et modernes, Éditions L’Harmattan, Paris, 2011, 630 p.

November 28th 2015

Argument #1:

New word creation process

11/28/2015 2 © Jean-Claude MBOLI

Argument #1: How new words are created Argument #1


Borrowing: chief « leader »

From French chef

Semantically motivated word: head « leader »

Non-semantically Motivated: Nearly non-

existent

Tim

e re

vers

al

onomatopoeia

Basic semantically motivated:

head

Basic semantically motivated:

chef « head »

Direct inheritance: PIE *kaput « head »

Borrowing from NE: *kapu-ti « head »

NE *kapu- « tip » NE *-ti « body (part) »

toto « internet » ?

NOT OBSERVED IN ACTUAL

LANGUAGES

Argument #2:

Guessing games with robots


Argument #2: Robots inventing own language (Luc Steels experiments)

Video at: https://vimeo.com/61088290

Argument #2


Skills required from the two interacting robots: Be able to create and associate a symbol (sound) to an entity (object, motion, etc,) Be able to register this association as a word after acceptance by both robots Be able to combine basic associations (words) to describe complex entities

Problem: The more the agents are, the more time the association takes to be fully accepted by all

Solution: Simple & Non-arbitrary symbols (e.g. traffic signs) => Monosyllabic Onomatopoea

https://vimeo.com/61088290�

Argument #3:

Negro-Egyptian very first stage


Argument #1: African mother-tongue Argument #1


Archaic Negro-Egyptian •CV,CV

Branch 1 (determined-determinant)

•CV-CV

Branch 2 (determinant-determined)

CV-•CV

Branch 3 No change

•CV,CV

Kweke Group (determined-determinant) •(•CV-CV)-CV > •CV-CV

Kekwe Group (determinant-determined) CV-•(CV-•CV) > CV-•CV

Kikuki Group CV,CV,CV

Post-classic Negro-Egyptian: bére-S

Appearance of S-suffix

Hypothetical Dialect (triconsonantal root;

internally modified root; ablaut; infix; etc.)

CVCVC(V) Bere Dialect

(accented suffix) (•CV-CV)-•CV > CVCV

Beer Dialect (non-accented suffix) (•CV-CV)-CV > CVVC

Zande Hausa Middle-Egyptian

Coptic Sango Somali

?

Argument #3: African mother-tongue Argument #1


Words of the very first stage of the African Mother-Tongue (Negro-Egyptian) is composed of two switchable CV syllables (syllables such ta, ki, po, fa, etc.): CV,CV = CV-CV or CV-CV (stressed syllable in red) • Each CV syllable is called primo-lexeme • Ten such primo-lexemes have been isolated in NE • All are onomatopoea

Emergence of Spoken Language Emergence of spoken language


THREE INDEPENDENT ANALYSES POINT TO THE SAME CONCLUSION:

LANGUAGE STARTED AS ONOMATOPOEA ITS PLACE OF ORIGIN IS AFRICA

The ten primo-lexemes Emergence of spoken language


Form Meaning Origin U Here, self Tongue backward: => ‘to me’

I Right there Tongue forward => ‘in front of me’

A Over there, large Mouth largely open => ‘large’, ‘far’

K(A) Dry wood Sound of a dry wood being broken (English ‘crack’)

NHW(A) Mom Baby warble (only sound by a baby) => ‘call to Mom’

CHI (?) To eat Sound of chewing => ‘mouth activity’ (food, speech)

HU To breathe Sound of breathing or blowing => air manipulation

HŨ To sniff Sound of sniffing or smelling => nose activity

XU Voice Sound imitating animal growl => voice

KWI To shiver Sound from a surprise touch

Derived meanings Emergence of spoken language


Form Meaning U Me one (two) first male foot

I You two (one) second female head

A Other(s) many all the rest female

KA Body, limb, person, fire, strong, to hurt

NHWA=N Person, animal (animated being)

CHI (?) To speak

HU Wind, spirit (strangeness)

HŨ Nose, odor

XU (?) Voice

KWI (?) Be happy, cold, fear

Early grammatical rules Emergence of spoken language


1. In association, the more significant word CV (determined) is accented (high tone), whereas the less significant CV (determinant) is not, regardless the order: CV-CV = CV-CV;

2. Two instances of an entity is designated by repeating twice the word (archaic dual in M-E, reduplication for dual organs in Sango: titi ‘hand’, fufu ‘lung’, ngba-ngba ‘cheek’, didi ‘horn’, etc,);

3. Three or more instances of an entity is designated by repeating thrice the word (archaic plural in M-E; M-E kkw ‘darkness’ ~ Sango kukuku idem), M-E sssw.w ‘days’ (singular sw ‘day’)

Emergence of spoken language


1. K+ø=KA ‘Stick’:

1. Object > Tool, Thing 2. Hard > Force > Hurt, Dangerous, stone

2. K+U=KU ‘Tree’ (lower part)

1. Foot > Place > To be 2. Ground > Earth

3. K+I=KI ‘Tree’ (upper part) > ‘Branch’

1. Limb > Arm > To take; Horn, Tail 2. Medecine

4. KI,KU=KIKU or KUKI ‘Tree’

1. Trunk > Body > person 2. Skin

5. KI,KU=KIKU or KUKI ‘High place’

1. Head > Sky 2. Mountain > Huge

KI,KU

KU

KI

First true words



1. KI,HU=KIHU or HUKI ‘Firewood’ > ‘Fire’

1. Coal > Black > Night > Yesterday 2. Light:

1. White > To see, Morning > Tomorrow 2. Sun > Day > Today 3. Moon > Month

3. Heat > Dry season > Year

2. KU,KI=KUKI or KIKU ‘To go’, ‘to flee’, ‘to run’ 1. River:

1. Water > Rain > Rainy season, Year 2. Salt lake, Sea > Salt

2. Path > Rightness, truth > name

3. KI,KU=KIKU or KUKI ‘To come’ 1. Appearance > Dream, Spook > Spirit > God 2. To come out > Grain, Fruit, Egg, Grass > Bush

First true words (cont’ed)

Water Salt Zande hime hame

M-E Hm HmA,t

• M-E pr.i ‘to come out’ • M-E pr.t ‘grain, fruit’ • Zande para ‘egg’ • M-E n.pr.i ‘god’



1. N,(KI,KU)=N,KI-KU or N,KU-KI ‘Chief’ (he-who is on top)

1. Leader: Bantu kulu ‘chief’ 2. Father > Man > Person: Bantu ntu ‘man’ 3. Adult (space): Egyptian nxt ‘adult’, ‘giant’ 4. Aged (time)

2. N,(KI,KU)=N,KI-KU or N,KU-KI ‘Person’ (the tree-like one)

3. N,(KI,KU)=N,KI-KU or N,KU-KI ‘The huge one’ (mountain-like)

1. Pregnant woman > Mother, woman 2. Rich

4. N,(KI,KU)=N,KI-KU or N,KU-KI ‘The hard one’

1. Strong: Egyptian nxt ‘strong’ 2. Dangerous > Animal:

1. Bull: Egyptian nxt ‘bull’ 2. Snake > Rope > Intestine > Belly > Child > Little

Note: KU > K, Q, G, KP, P, B, F, W, U, O; KI > K, J, D, TCH, SH, T, S, R, L, Y, I, E

First true words (cont’ed)



Numerals: X = object noun, u ‘this’, i ‘there’, a ‘over there’

1. One instance of entity X: 1. X,u ‘this X’ 2. X,i ‘that X’

2. Two instances of entity X: 1. X,i ‘(and) that X’ 2. X,u ‘(and) this X’ 3. X,u + X,i ‘this X (and) that X’ = X,u+i ‘X, this one and that one’ 4. X,i + X,u ‘that X (and) this X’ = X,i+u ‘X, that one and this one’ 5. X,u + X,u ‘this X (and) this X’ = X,u+u ‘X, this one and this one’ 6. X,i + X,i ‘that X (and) that X’ = X,i+i ‘X, that one and that one’

3. Many or all instances of entity X: 1. X,a ‘all the rest of instances X’

Possessive pronouns: X = object noun, u ‘me’, i ‘you’, a ‘any other’

1. X,u ‘my X’ (Egyptian pr.i ‘my house’, Sango da tî mbï ‘my house’) (pr/da ‘house’ : ø/tî ‘of’ : i/mbï ‘I’)

Subject/object pronouns: X = action noun, u ‘me’, i ‘you’, a ‘any other’ 1. X,i ‘I do X’ (Egyptian pr.i ‘I go out’, Sango lörö tî mbï ‘I run’ < ‘my run’) Origin of Egyptian suffix conjugation with syntactic confirmation from Sango

First grammatical rules

Emergence of Thoughth Emergence of spoken language


Emergence of the notion of ‘number’:

Emergence of the notion of ‘time’:

X Y

X

Y X

Y

object

‘here’ ‘there’ ‘over there’

‘one X’ ‘two Xs’ ‘any Xs’

‘one’ ‘two’ ‘any’

object

time

space

Big (great) = Aged • Egyptian wr ‘great’, ‘aged’ • Egyptian Tn.i ‘lift up’ > Tn,i ‘old man’ • Bantu khulu ‘great’, ‘aged’ • Zande son-a ‘to grow’ > PIE *sen ‘old’ > senior, senate • Latin altus ‘grown tall’, ‘noble’ > English old

Emergence of Thought Emergence of spoken language


My chief is big:

Tree Big, tall Adult, elder, rich

Woo, stick Hard Strong, powerful

Top High chief

King, emperor, souvereign



THANK YOU

Jean-Claude MBOLI Linguist Senior System Design ...€¦ · Senior System Design & Verification...

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