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Show 62 ON TIIE DISTRIDUTION AND This very extended family comprehends the Mandingo, properly so termed, or better the MENDE,-tho KAUUNOA, Mandingo dialect spoken in the land of Kabou,- and several other dialects of the same language, such as the ToRONKA, dialect of Toro; tho DcrrALUNKA, dialect of Foutadjalon; tho KANKANKA, dialect of Kankan; the BAMBARA, tho KoNo, talked westwards and northwards of tho Kisi; tho V EI, in the country of this name situate to tho cast of the Atlantic and north of Gbandi, which embraces several dialects, viz: the TENE, spoken in tho land so called, that has Souwekourou for its capital; the GnANDI, spol on at the north of Gula and at tho west of Nieriwa; tho LAND ORO, taU<cd west of Limba; the MENDE, spread over tho west of Kono and the K-isi, and cast of Karo; the GBESE, idiom of tho borders of tho river Nyua; tho ToMA, called likewise BousE, spohn in tho land of tho same name situated to the south of that of the Gbese; and the Gro, talked westward from Fa. m.-UPPER-GUINEAN -that is, tho languages of tho Pepper, Ivory, Gold and Slave, coasts, decompose themselves into three groups, viz : lat.-Tho Kroo tongues, comprising the DEwor, spoken on the banks of tho river JJ6, or St. Paul's; the BASSA, talked in a portion of the Liberian territory; the KRA, or Knoo, spread south of tho Bassa along the coast; tho KREDO spoken in a neighboring canton; the GnE, or GnEI, whos~ domain 1ies cast of the Great Bassa. 2d.-The languages of Dahomey, of which the principal are the DAIIOME, or PoPo; tho MArr:E, spoken eastward of tho Dahome; and the II WIDA, talked in the country of that name, located to the south of the Gelefe islands. 3d.-The languages Akou-Igala, embracing the numerous dialects of the speech of the Alcou, among which tho YozounA, spoken between Egba and the Nigcr,-and tho IaALA, language of the country of that name-are the most important. 23 We shall revert further on to the YozounA. IV.- The languages of the nortlt-west of UPPER SOODAN divide themselves into four groups: 1st. -The group Guzen, represented chiefly by the idiom of a very barbarian people, the Guzesclta, who inhabit to the west of Ton; 23 1'he .Ytbou, of ~bich M. D'AVEZAO has Jlublishocl tho grammn.r (Mbnoires do la Soci~te Ethnologtqrte de Pam, II, part 2, pp. 106 scqq.), appc1·to.ins to this group. CLASSIFICATION OF TONGUES. 63 2d.- The group Legba, which embraces the LEGBA and the KIAMDA; 3d.- 'l'he group Koama, to which belongs the BAa BALAN; 4th. -And lastly, the group Kasm, spoken westward of the land of the Guzesclta. V.- The tongues of the DELTA of the Niger are divided into three groups :-the first represented by the lbo dialects,- the second uy the EgbtHe and several other idioms,-tho third by the dialect of Okouloma, the name of a maritime district near the country of tho Ibo and that of Outclw. VI.- 'l'ho NUPE family, or languages of the basin of the Tcltadda, -a family cmuracing nine idioms, of which the principal ru:e the NuPl], or TAYDA, spoken in a country neighboring Raba on tho Niger; and tho GoALI, or GnALr, talked to the cast of the Nup6. VII.-'l'he family of CENTRAL-AFRICAN languages is composed of two groups : 1st.- The tongues of Bornou, which comprise also those of the KANAM, and the BunoUMA, spoken in tho lake-isle of that name. The main language of Bornou is the KANoum, which attaches itself by close relationship to the threo tongues of Guinea, -the AsiiANTEE, the F ANTEE, and the 0DJI. 2d. - Thi.s group comprehends the PIKA, or FmA, and the Bon:M dialects spoken west of Bornou. VID.- 'l'ho WOLOF, or JIOLOF, spoken by the populations of Senegambia, distinguishes itself, with sufficient sharpness, from all the preceding tongues; and offers a grammatical system that has more than one trait in common with the Semitic languages. IX.-In the same region, another family of tongues has tho FOOLAH, or PEULE, for its typo; one dialect of which iB spoken by the Fellatalts, and very probably also by the liausa, or Haousans. The vocabulary ofthcsc divers idioms, and notably that of the Peule, has presented a remarkable analoo-y with the Malayo-Polynesian 21· languages, of which we shall treat anon. It seems, therefore, that the Peule family might not, perhaps, be attachable to African tongues. The Wolof, althouo-h constituting a separate family, approaches in certain points the YozounA, spoken to the "'0USTAV~1 n'Ero!l'rHAL, Ilistoirc et Origine des Foulahs ou Fellans, Paris, 1841 (Tirnge a. part clo l'Extl'ait clos Memoires de Ia Socidt6 Etlmologique). |