South of the Desert we find other languages spoken by the blacks; and are told by Arabs who have frequently performed the journey from Jinnie to Cairo, and the Red Sea, that thirty-three different Negroe languages are met with in the course of that route, but that the Arabic is spoken by the intelligent part of the people, and the Mohammedan religion is known and followed by many; their writings are uniformly in Arabic.
It may not be improper in this place, seeing the many errors and mutilated translations which appear from time to time of Arabic, Turkish, and Persian papers, to give a list of the Mohammedan moons or lunar months, used by all those nations, which begin with the first appearance of the new moon, that is, the day following, or sometimes two days after the change, and continue till they see the next new moon; these have been mutilated to such a degree in all our English translations, that I shall give them, in the original Arabic character, and as they ought to be spelt and pronounced in the English character, as a clue whereby to calculate the correspondence between our year and theirs. They divide the year into 12 months, which contain 29 or 30 days, according as they see the new moon; the first day of the month Muharam is termed راس العام Ras Elame, i.e. the beginning of the year.
As we are more used to the Asiatic mode of punctuation, that will be observed in these words.
| Muharam | مُحَارَمْ |
| Asaffer | اَصاَفرْ |
| Arabia Elule | الَّرابيع الَّوله |
| Arabea Atthenie | الَّرابيع الَّثاني |
| Jumad Elule | جوماد الول |
| Jumad Athenie | جوماد الَّثاني |
| Rajeb | راجب |
| Shaban | شعبان |
| Ramadan | رامدان |
| Shual | شوال |
| Du’elkada | دُلكعدهَ |
| Du Elhagah | دُلحاجَهْ |
The first of Muharram, year of the Hejira 1221, answers to the 19th March of the Christian æra, 1806.
Among the various languages spoken south of the Desert, or Sahara, we have already observed that there are thirty-three different ones between the Western Ocean and the Red Sea, following the shores of the Nile El Abide, or Niger: among all these nations and empires, a man practically acquainted with the Arabic may always make himself understood, and indeed it is the language most requisite to be known for every traveller in these extensive regions.
The Mandinga is spoken from the banks of the Senegal, where that river takes a northerly course from the Jibel Kumera to the kingdom of Bambarra; the Wangareen tongue is a different one; and the Houssonians speak a language differing again from that.
Specimen of the difference between the Arabic and Mandinga language; the words of the latter extracted from the vocabularies of Seedi Mohammed ben Amer Soudani.
| ENGLISH. | MANDINGA | ARABIC. |
|---|---|---|
| One | Kalen | Wahud |
| Two | Fula | Thanine |
| Three | Seba | Thalata |
| Four | Nani | Arba |
| Five | Lulu | Kumsa |
| Six | Uruh | Setta |
| Seven | Urn’klu | Sebba |
| Eight | Säae | Timinia |
| Nine | Kanuntée | Taseud |
| Ten | Dan | Ashra |
| Eleven | Dan kalen | Ahud ash |
| Twelve | Dan fula | Atenashe |
| Thirteen | Dan seba | Teltashe |
| Nineteen | Dan kanartée | Tasatash |
| Twenty | Mulu | Ashreen |
| Thirty | Mulu nintau | Thalateen |
| Forty | Mulu fula | Arbä’in |
| Fifty | Mulu fula neentan | Kumseen |
| Sixty | Mulu sebaa | Setteen |
| Seventy | Mulu sebaa nintan | Sebä’in |
| Eighty | Mulu nani | T’ammana’een |
| Ninety | Mulu nani neentaan | Tasa’een |
| One hundred | Kemi | Mia |
| One thousand | Uli | Elf |
| This | Neen | Hadda |
| That | Waleem | Hadduk |
| Great | Bawa | Kabeer |
| Little | Nadeen | Sereer |
| Handsome | Nimawa | Zin |
| Ugly | Nuta | Uksheen (k guttural) |
| White | Kie | Bead |
| Black | Feen | Abeed, or khal |
| Red | Williamma | Hummer |
| How do you do? | Nimbana mountania | Kif-enta |
| Well | Kantée | Ala khere |
| Not well | Moon kanti | Murrede |
| What do you want | Ala feeta matume | Ash-bright |
| Sit down | Siduma | Jils |
| Get up | Ounilee | Node |
| Sour | Akkumula | Hamd |
| Sweet | Timiata | Helluh |
| True | Aituliala | Hack |
| False | Funiala | Kadube |
| Good | Abatee | Miliah |
| Bad | Minbatee | Kubiah |
| A witch | Bua | Sahar |
| A lion | Jatta | Sebaâ |
| An elephant | Samma | El fele |
| A hyæna | Salua | Dubbah |
| A wild boar | Siwa | El kunjer |
| A water horse | Mali | Aoud d’Elma |
| A horse | Suhuwa | Aoud |
| A camel | Kumaniun | Jimmel |
| A dog | Wallee | Killeb |
| Hel el Killeb or the dog-faced race | Hel Wallee | Hel El Killeb |
| A gazel | Tankeen | Gazel (g guttural) |
| A cat | Niankune | El mish |
| A goat | Baâ | El mâize |
| A sheep | Kurenale | Kibsh |
| A bull | Nisakia | Toôr |
| A serpent | Saâ | Hensh |
| A camelion | Mineer | Tatta |
| An ape | Ku’nee | Dzatute |
| A fowl or chicken | Susee | Djez |
| A duck | Beruee | El Weese |
| A fish | Hihu | El hout |
| Butter | Tulu | Zibda |
| Milk | Nunn | El hellib |
| Bread | Mengu | El khubs (k guttural) |
| Corn | Nieu | Zra |
| Wine | Tangee | Kummer (k guttural) |
| Honey | Alee | Asel |
| Sugar | Tobabualee | Sukar |
| Salt | Kuee | Mil’h |
| Ambergris | Anber | Anber |
| Brass | Tass | Tass |
| Silver | Kudee | Nukra |
| Gold-dust | Teber | Tiber |
| Pewter | Tass ki | Kusdeer |
| A bow | Kula | El kos |
| An arrow | Binia | Zerag |
| A knife | Muru | Jenui |
| A spoon | Kulia | Mogerfa |
| A bed | El arun | El ferrashe |
| A lamp | El kundeel | El kundeel |
| A house | Su | Ed dar |
| A room | Bune | El beet |
| A light-hole or window | Jinnee | Reehâha |
| A door | Daa | Beb |
| A town | Kinda | Midina |
| Smoke | Sezee | Tkan (k guttural) |
| Heat | Kandia | Skanna (k guttural) |
| Cold | Nini | Berd |
| Sea | Bedu baba | Bahar |
| River | Bedu | Wed |
| A rock | Berri | Jerf |
| Sand | Kinnikanni | Rummel |
| The earth | Binku | Dunia |
| Mountain | Kuanku | Jibbel |
| Island | Juchüi | Dzeera |
| Rain | Sanjukalaeen | Shta |
| God | Allah | Allah |
| Father | Fa | Ba |
| Mother | Ba | Ma |
| Hell | Jahennum | Jehennume |
| A man | Kia | Rajil |
| A woman | Musa | Murrah |
| A sister | Bum musa | Kat (k guttural) |
| A brother | Bum kia | Ka |
| The devil | Buhau | Iblis |
| A white man | Tebabu | Rajil biad |
| A singer | Jalikea | Runai (r guttural) |
| A singing woman | Jalimusa | Runaiah (r guttural) |
| A slave | June | Abeed |
| A servant | Bettela | Mutalem |
Having now given some account of the languages of Africa, we shall proceed to animadvert on the similitude of language and customs between the Shelluhs of Atlas and the original inhabitants of the Canary Islands. The words between inverted commas are quotations from Glasse’s History of the Discovery and Conquest of the Canary Islands.