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Vol. 14 Juillet 2011

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U nivers ilé A bdou M oum ouni de N iam ey Revue de l ’Institut de Recherches en Sciences Humaines

MU KARA SANID irecteur de publication

Pr Hamidou Arouna Sidikou

Responsable de la RédactionAbdou Boniianti

Comité de lecture Pr.Alidou Ousseïna

Deparlemenl afA 'ricana Sludies and Département Comparative Litlératurç/Rulgcrs Univemily/USA

Bontianti AbdouIRSH/Université Abdou Moumouni de Niamey/Niger

Pr. Boureïma Alpha GadoFLSH/ Université Abdou Moumouni de Niamey/Niger

Pr. Christian Bouquet Université Bordeaux VFrance

El Back Adam FLSH/ Univeisité Abdou Moumouni de Niamey/Niger

^ . Halidou YacoubaFLSHAJniversité Abou Moumouni de Niamey/Niger

Pr. Hamidou Arouna SidikouIR S H // Université Abdou Moumouni de Niamey/Niger

Pr. Mahamane Tijani Alou FSEM Univarsitè Abdou Moumouni do Niamey/Niger

Maftorema Zakari IR SH / Université Abou Moumouni de Niamey/Niger

Pr. Mamoudou Gazibo Département de science politique. Université de Montréal/Canada

M™ Maâzou Areynatou Maga IRSH/ / Université Abdou Moumouni de Niamoy/Niger

Moumouni Seyni IR S H ' Université Abou Moumouni de Niamey/Niger

Seidou Abdoulaye FLS H / Université Abdou Moumouni de Nismey/Niger

Pr. Tandina Ousmane FLSH'1 Université Abdou Moumouni de Niamey/Niger

Yahaya Abdou FAJ Université Abdou Moumouni de Niamey. Niger

V/aziri Wafo MamanFLSHiUniversilè de Zinder/Wger

Com ité de Rédaction Diouldê Lava - Boniianti Abdou

Pr. Hamidou Arouna Sidikou - Seyni Moumouni Secrétariat

Ycunsa Harouna Hassane - Abdoulaye Seyni Ibrahim Vente

Mme Idé Fsti-Mme Ibrahim Haoua Correspondances

Pr. Hamiccu Ksrcuna S 'câcu - aornantiAbcou -MoumouniSeyni Ik S H . - i OSt i ce ■ ~;us r -'s -■éîwss

Mu Kara Sani N°1 A

Sommaire

1. Évaluation de la rentabilité économique du jardin potagercommunautaire dans le village de Tanka/Filingué..................... 5-30SOUMANA Boubacar, RABOISSAKA Salissou, JUPITER Ndjeunga

2. Les stratégies publicitaires des tradipraticicns hnusa deN iam ey.............................................................................................. 31-48BARA Souiey

3. Mécanismes contemporains de défense des régimes constitution­nels dans les Etats de la Œ DEAO : Cas de la 5™"' République auNiger.................................................................................................. 49-77GANDOU Zakara

4. Marché hebdomadaire et mobilité rurale : la logique de l'imbrica­tion de ces réalités à Téra au Niger............................................... 79-93Dr. BONTIANTI Abdou, ABDOU YONUW.NZA Issa

5. L'établ'ssement des Sot]ey-zarma dans le Sudan central :migrations, relations intergroupes et contacts culturels......... 94-111A LA SSA N E Hnssimi

6. Délinquance et gouvernance urbaine à Niamey.......................112-129Dr ISSAKA Haitiadou, P r BADARIOTT! Dominique

7. Le diagnostic socio-économique du milieu rural au niger : avan­tages et insuffisances des approches « classiques » et des approches« participatives » et propositions d'amélioration................... 130-144Dr. YAH A YA Abdou

8. Ancient Egyptian 'Balance' m-kh-3.t (< *m-kh-l.t) as an African Scientific Concept and the Root of Greek mokhlos ((JOxAôc;)'Lever' ......................................................................................... 145-159GARDA Maliawed

9. Joumalistic use of Hausa language, a weapon for or againstthe Development process?.......................................................... 160-175Dr Nana Aïchatou Aboubakar

ANCIENT EGYPTIAN ‘BALANCE’® ^ ) M-KH-3.T (< *m-kh-Lt) AS AN AFRICAN SCIENTIFIC CONCEPT

AND THE ROOT OF GREEK MOKHLOS (jioxXô^) ‘LEVER’1

Mohamed GARBA

RESUME :La question principale concerne les influences non-occidentales sur la civilisation grecque qui sont contestées par certains chercheurs occidentaux en études classiques sans justifications historiques ou linguistiques. Le terme grec mokhlos (pox^ôç) ‘levier’ est d’origine non-indo européenne. C’est un terme scientifique important d’origine égyptienne qui est adapté à la racine et structure suffixale du grec, e.g. Egyptien *m-kh-l.t ‘balance’> Grec mokhlos (poxAôç)‘levier’ (le préfixe m- plus la racine bilatérale *kh-l

MOTS-CLES :• Égyptien ancien ;• Balance ;• Concepts scientifiques africains ;

• Grec classique ;• Mokhlos (poxAôç) ‘levier’;• Les preuves linguistiques.

1. I acknowledge with gratitude my indebtedness to Professor Théophile Obenga, our teacher of Ancient Egyptian and Greek at Temple University, Philadelphia. I also thank the ano- nymous reviewer of this paper for the positive recommendations, and to the African lin- guistics scholar, Professor Mahamane Laoualy Abdoulaye, for his constructive criticism. The defects that remain, however, are my own responsibility.

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plus le suffixe du grec -ôs). La forme fondamentale égyptienne *kh-l.? ‘me­surer; examiner (malade)’ est attestée dans les langues nilo-saharien, tcha- dique, couchitique, éthiopique classique, et niger-congo. Les preuves linguistiques soutiennent les arguments de Cheikh Anta Diop pour les sources égyptiennes et africaines des concepts scientifiques importants en grec.

ABSTRACT:The main question is that of non-Western influences on Greek civilization that are denied by certain Western classicists with no historical or linguistic justification. The Greek term mokhlos ( pox^oç ) ‘lever’ is of

non-Indo-European origin. It is a major scientific term borrowed fromancient Egyptian and adapted to the root and suffix structure of Greek, e.g. Egyptian *m-kh-l.t ‘balance’ > Greek mokhlos (poxAôç) ‘lever’ (prefix m- plus bilatéral root *kh-l plus the Greek suffix —os). The basic Egyptian form *kh-l.? ‘measure; examine (patient)’ is attested in Nilo-Saharan, Chadic, Cushitic, Classical Ethiopie, and Niger-Congo lan-

guages. The linguistic evidence supports Cheikh Anta Diop’s argument for Egyptian and African sources of signifîcant scientific concepts in Greek.

Key-words:• Ancient Egyptian;• Balance;• African scientific concepts;• Classical Greek;• Mokhlos (poxAôç) ‘lever’;• Linguistic evidence.

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1.0. INTRODUCTION:The Greek word mokhlos ( pox^ôç ) ‘lever’ cannot be explained in terms of other Indo-European languages. It is a significant scientific term of non- Indo-European origin. The linguistic argument is central to the hypothesis (Bernai 2001: 107) that Egypt and the Levant (The East/Syro-Palestine) had a massive cultural, scientific and religious impact on the formation of ancient Greek civilization. The main question is that of non-Western in­fluences on Greek civilization that are denied by certain Western classi- cists. In particular, the position of classicists such as Dr. Mary Lefkowitz, who, in Bernal’s (2001: 372) words erroneously maintains that Egypt had no significant impact on the formation of any aspect of Greek civiliza­tion.” Again, as Bernai (2001: 372) explains: “What Lefkowitz finds intol­érable is the proposai that an African Egypt had a central and formative influence on Greek civilization.”2

Revisiting the debate over levers and responding to some criticisms, Bernai (2001: 262) makes three key historical, archaeological and linguistic state- ments in his Black Athena Writes Back:i) “The balance with cursors was used by Egyptians by the Middle King-

dom, which suggests that, at least by this period, a relatively sophisti- cated notion of centers of gravity existed.”;

ii) “The earüest représentation of scales in the Aegean is a gold leaf model discovered in a tomb at Mycenae, which dated from the middle of the second millennium B. C. E.”;

iii) “Another indication of an early Greek dérivation of levers from Egypt is the plausible origin of the Greek word mokhlos (‘lever’) attested in Homer. This word, which has no satisfactory Indo-European etymology, could well be from the Egyptian mh3t (‘balance’).”

The conventional Symbol 3 in mh3t ‘balance’ represents the Egyptian vulture glyph (Â) which corresponds to latéral III (Garba 1998; 2010; cf. appendices A and B; see Alain Anselin, (février/mars 2007) “Aegypto- Graphica I: Note sur la valeur phonétique du hiéroglyphe du percnoptère

2. “The Aryan Model, which is current today, claims that Greek culture arose as the resuit o f the conquest from the north by Indo-European speakers, or ‘Aryans,’ o f the native ‘pre- Hellenes’” while “The Ancient Model, which was maintained in Classical Greece, held that the native population of Greece had initially been civilized by Egyptian and Phoenician colonists ...”

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transilitéré /A/,” in Cahiers Caribéens d ’Egyptologie, no. 10, <http://www.egyptologie.be/ccdlO.htm>; see also, Alain Anselin on “L’oiseau b3 avec de 7’”, Groupe de Recherche des Ankhou, in i-Medjat, no. 1, juin 2008, <http://www.culturediff.org/mediasources/epublis/ i-Medjat/iMedjatl.pdf >; Cf. Zarma: b à à l â lâ “oiseau” (Yves Bernard and M. White-Kaba, 1994, Dictionnaire Zarma-Français, p. 16).3

Furthermore, as Diop (1981: 307) points out:i) “Les Egyptiens sont les inventeurs de la balance.”ii) “La balance est la première application rigoureusement scientifique

de la théorie du levier.”iii) “Les trois premières propositions du livre d’Archimède sur l’équihbre

des plans considèrent ‘un levier, des corps pesants suspendus à chacune de ses extrémités et un point d’appui. Elles établissent dès lors succes­sivement que, lorsque les bras du levier sont égaux, les poids supposés en équilibre sont aussi égaux, et des poids inégaux s’équilibrent à des distances inégales du point d’appui, le plus grands poids correspondant à la plus petite distance’.”

2.0. METHODOLOGYThe basic method for this study is based on the one proposed by Diop (1981: 480-481) on “Recensement des racines négro-africaines dans le grec clas­sique.” In his own words: “Voici donc la méthode qu’on pourrait suivre, dans cette recherche des mots négro-africains qui, au cours de ces contacts de langues et de ces traductions en particulier, ont pu passer dans le grec:i) Après analyse, le terme grec ne doit pas être d’origine indo-européenne

ou sémitique: dans certains cas il peut être africain et sémitique.ii) Il doit être attesté en égyptien.iii) L’idéal est qu’il soit attesté en égyptien, en grec et dans une ou plusieurs

langues négro-africaines modernes, à l’exclusion de l’indo-européen et du sémitique; sinon, signaler les cases vides avec des points d’interro­gation, pour que la recherche continue.

3. See also the explanation of the Egyptological linguist, Helmut Satzinger, that “ -3 is conso- nantic (*l)” (Helmut Satzinger, “An Egyptologist’s perusal o f the Hamito-Semitic Etymo- logical Dictionary o f Orel and Stolbova”). Moreover, “The phonèm e /3/ is originally a [ r /1 ] - like sound” according to the same scholar: Helmut Satzinger, 1994, “Das àgypti- sche ‘Aleph’ -Phonem,” in Zwischen den beiden Ewigkeiten, Festschrift Thousing, 191-205, see the abstract in the Annual Egyptological Bibliography, 1994 (International Association of Egyptologists), compiled by W. Hovestreydt and L.M.J. Jonhoven, Leiden, 1997.

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iv) Les concepts qui seraient passés ainsi des langues négro-africaines, de l’égyptien en particulier, au grec classique concerneraient surtout les différents domaines de la civilisation et des sciences: mathématiques4, physique, chimie, mécanique, astronomie, médecine, philosophie . . . ”

Moreover, Diop (1981: 481; note 6) adds that: “La contribution des Latins aux sciences exactes est quasi nulle, contrairement à celle des Grecs, du fait qu’ils ont été moins en contact avec l’Egypte.” Interesting among Diop’s (1981: 482) examples are the Greek terms of non-Indo-European origin such as: peras (TlepalJ ) ‘limite’ and piramis ( IIipapiM ) ‘pyramide’. The Ancient Egyptian and African linguistic sources are: Ancient Egyptian per ‘maison’ > Wolof (Atlantic) per ‘enclos qui entoure la maison, qui la limite’; and, Ancient Egyptian p(a)mer ‘pyramide’ > Wolof (Atlantic) ba-meel ‘tombe, tombeau.’

Clearly, in the analysis of Egypto-African roots of Greek scientific or tech- nical terms, the context is of language contact leading to loanwords and not a question of historical linguistic reconstruction of languages. As poin- ted out by Tourneux (2000: 88) on “L’argument linguistique chez Cheikh Anta Diop et ses disciples”: “Le vocabulaire technique doit faire l’objet d’une étude séparée, car ce n’est pas lui qui peut fonder en première analyse une parenté. En effet, il est susceptible de passer d’une langue à l’autre par le processus de l’emprunt.”5

3.0. DISCUSSIONIn his comparative work on Egyptian and Wolof (Atlantic), Cheikh Anta Diop is right in representing the Egyptian vulture glyph as latéral liquid 11/ as in (1):

(1) Egyptian III > Wolof IV :Egyptian 0„ Wolof (Atlantic')kh-1 haie‘être jeune, petit’ ‘enfant’ (Diop 1977: 277)

4. Cf. Théophile Obenga, La géométrie égyptienne - Contribution de l’Afrique antique à la Mathématique mondiale, Paris, L’Harmattan/Khepera, 1995.

5. Henry Tourneux, “L ’argument linguistique chez Cheikh Anta Diop et ses disciples, ” in Afro- centrismes: L ’histoire des Africains entre Egypte et Amérique, Paris, Editions Karthala, 2000, pp. 79-102.

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The phonetic correspondences between Egyptian and Wolof (Atlantic) are clearly /kh/ > Ihl and III > II/.

As shown in (2) and (3) below, this fact is not only attested in Greek, an Indo-European language, but also in the non-Indo-European language Fulfulde which belongs to the Niger-Congo (Atlantic) hnguistic family:

(2) Egyptian fl/ > Greek IH (X ) :Egyptian _ _ . Greek*m-kh-l.t ® > mokhlos (nox^ôç)‘balance’ ‘lever’

There is another Greek variant of the term mokhlos ( jioxAôç ) ‘lever,’ such as the Ionian term moklos ( poKÀôç ) ‘lever’ with /k/. Thus, the pho­netic correspondences between Egyptian and Greek are: /kh/ > /kh/ or /k/ and III > II/. We are not therefore surprised to find Egyptian /kh/ corre- sponding to Fulfulde (Atlantic) /k/ or Egyptian fil corresponding to Fulfulde fU as in (3) below:

(3) Egyptian III > Fulfulde III:Egyptian Fulfulde (Atlantic')*kh-L? kal ‘égalité’‘measure’6 kal-kal ‘tout à fait identique’(Cf. Fa 183) (Noye 1974:183)7

Considering “the largest branch of the Niger-Congo language family”, Bantu, which is spoken from Cameroon in the west to Kenya in the east and South Africa in the south,”8 we have the following forms for the term measure’ in (4):

(4) Proto-bantu (C.S. 583) *- dirjg- ‘measure’ (Guthrie, 1967-71):Holoholo (D.28a) - lerjg- ‘measure’Hemba (L.34) - liiq- id.;

G. R.O. Faulkner, A Concise Dictionary ofMiddle Egyptian, Oxford, Griffith Institute, 1996. References to this source are designated Fa followed by the page number.

7. D. Noye, Cours de Fulfulde: Dialect Peul du Diamaré, Nord-Cameroun, Cameroun/ Paris, Mission Catholique/ Librairie Orientaliste, 1974.

8. Martin Bernai, 2006, p. 697. Cf. Théophile Obenga, Origine Commune de l ’Égyptien, du Copte, et des Langues Négro-Africaines Modernes: Introduction a la Linguistique Histo­rique Africaine, Paris, Éditions L’Harmattan, 1993.

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Bemba (M.42) - liijg- id.;Yao (P.21) - lïr)g- id.;Makua (P.31) -lik- id.;

Of interest is the Makua (P.31) form -lik- which corresponds to the Egypt­ian root h -1 / *kh-l ‘measure’. In this case, it is a question of metathesis or the alternation of consonantal position The phonetic corre-spondences between Egyptian and the Bantu (Niger-Congo) languages Holoholo (D.28a), Hemba (L.34), Bemba (M.42), Yao (P.21), and Makua (P.31) are therefore:

(5) Egyptian Holoholo Hemba Bemba Yao Makua(D.28a) (L.34) (M.42) (P.21) (P-31)/kh/ lijgl w hsgl HdIV fil IV IV IV IV

Another interesting Proto-Bantu (C.S. 795) form is *-gèd- ‘measure’ which is attested in the following languages: Rundi (Burundi) (D.62) -ger- mea­sure’; Nyankore (Hima) (E.13) -jer- id.; Ganda (E.15) -ger- id.; Hanga (E.32a) -cer- id.; Gekoyo (Kikuyu) (E.51) -\er- id.; Pokomo (E.71) -ge- id.; Sukuma (F.21) -gel- id.; Langi (F.33) -ysr- id.; Gojo (G.ll) -jel- id.; Manyika (S. 13a) -er- id.; Pedi (S.32a) -eI- id. (Guthrie 1967-71). These are basic Bantu forms without the prefîx m.

However, there are Chadic (Hausa) nouns which are formed with the pre- fix ma- and a verb for “agential nouns” that indicate persons who perform an action habitually or by profession such as: magwàjii m. ‘person who measures’ (/d/ > Ijl (Standard Hausa /dj/) palatalization before front vowel /if); (magwajiiyaa f. id.; magwàdaa pl.); “Instrumental nouns” which indicate a tool or implement as in magwajii m. ‘measuring-rod’ (màgwàdai pl.)9. Thus, the relevant Hausa forms with the prefix ma- are:

(i) Agential noun: magwàjii m. ‘person who measures’; (magwajiiyaa f. id.; magwàdaa pl.);

9. There is a third form such as “Locative nouns” that indicate a place or location as in ma’auna ‘place where grain is sold’ formed from the verb auna ‘measure, weigh’ (cf. Egyp­tian i.w-s.w ‘balance’ (Fa 14): and Hausa (Chadic) awô, aunà ‘measure, weigh’; cf.Yoruba (Kwa) osuwün ‘balance’).

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(ii) Instrumental noun: magwajii m. ‘measuring-rod; any measuring device’ (màgwàdai pl.), (Abraham 1962; Newman & Ma 1979: 84).10

The basic non-prefixed forms in Hausa (Chadic) are: g"adà v.t. ‘to meas- ure, to test, to try’; gwaji vn.experiment, test’; gwàdaddee adj. ‘measured, tested’; (Katsina) gwalgwàdaa vb.‘kept on measuring’; (Kano) gwargwàdaa; gwàrgwadoo ‘what approximates to; standard’; ‘proportion’ gwàlgwâdôo n.v. ‘démonstration’ var. gwargwàdoo (Abraham 1962). Other Chadic languages are: Sura kâr ‘to measure oneself with’; and, Bole kor- ‘to meas- ure (off)’ (Takacs 1999: 160).

On the other hand, there is an Indo-European form such as the Hittite word me Dur ‘temps’ and the reconstructed root *meH- ‘mesurer’ (to measure) reflecting Martinet’s (1975: 135) assumption where -hur is said to be a suffix (“élément suffixal -hur”). The subject of Martinet (1975) was on “Laryngales” in his Evolution des langues et reconstruction. Specifically, the focus was on “Témoignage du hittite”, that is, the Hittite evidence for the laryngeal in Indo-European languages. The conventional Symbol H in the reconstructed form *meH- ‘mesurer’11, stands for ail laryngeals. But, Martinet (1975) saw no linguistic relationship with the other Indo-Euro- pean term in Greek such as mokhlos (poxAôç ) ‘lever’ which is derived from Ancient Egyptian m-h-l.t / *m-kh-l.t ‘balance.’ The first consonant m- is a prefix; and the basic root is composed of bilatéral fa-1 / *kh-l as attested in Ancient Egyptian h—1.? / *kh-l.? ‘measure.’

Furthermore, the Hittite form could not be used to solve the morphological structure of the Greek term mokhlos ( jioxAôç ) ‘lever’ which is certainly of non-Indo-European origin. The basic and prefixed forms of the root h-1 / *kh-l ’to measure’ are, therefore, examined in the following African languages12: (i) Ancient Egyptian; the Coptic dialects: Sahidic (S), Bohairic (B), Fayyumic (F), Akhmimic (A), and Lycopolitan (L); (ii) the Nilo-Saharan languages: Soqey (Kaado), Kanuri, and Tubu; (iii) the Cushitic languages: Burji, Afar, Hadiyya, Kambata, and Sidamo; (iv) the Chadic languages: Hausa, Sura, and Bole; and, (v) the Niger-Congo languages: Kwa: Akan, Bantu, Atlantic: Fulfulde, and Wolof.

10. Paul Newman and Roxana Ma Newman, Modem Hausa-English Dictionary, Ibadan, Uni- versity Press Limited, 1979.

11. André Martinet, Evolution des langues et reconstruction, France, Presse Universitaires de France, 1975.

12. Cf. C. Ehret, “The African Sources of Egyptian Culture and Language,” Ufahamu 23(3), 1995, pp. 34-46.

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3.1. Ancient Egyptian *kh-l.? and Coptic s-0 / h-0

The basic forms in ancient Egyptian are: *kh-l.? ‘measure; examine (patient)’ (Fa 183); *kh-l.? ‘measure’13 (with a determinative for a ‘corn- measure with grain pouring out’); and, *s-l.w ‘weigh’; ‘worth, value’ (Cf. Fa 261) where /kh-/ > Is-1.

The forms with the prefix m- are: *m.kh-l.t ‘balance’; *m.kh-l ‘match, equal; adjust; make level’. Cf. the Ancient Egyptian form with the prefix n-: *n.k!i-l ‘pendulous’ Pvr. 2003 (Cf. Fa 137).

The Coptic forms with the prefix ma- are: Sahidic (S) mase ‘balance’; Bohairic (B) mahe id.; Fayyumic (F) mesi id.; Lycopohtan (L) mase id. (Vycichl 1983: 128).14 Cf. maase ‘balance.’ Basically, Egyptian /kh-/ > Cop­tic /§-/ and the final latéral liquid l\l is deleted. Clearly, due to the various sound changes and deletions of final consonants, the Coptic forms are not very helpful in the attempt to dérivé the Classical Greek form mokhlos (HoxAôç) from Ancient Egyptian.

3.2. Classical Ethiopie k-1

The Classical Ethiopie15 forms are: Geez (Classical Ethiopie): kalaya (yakli) ‘measure’; Geez maklit ‘talent (of silver)’; Sahri micol ‘measure’ (n.); Amharic maklit ‘talent (of silver)’; Tigre kàyyàla ‘measure’ (Leslau 1987: 284; 339).

Cf. Arabie plain and m-ürefîxed forms: kàla ( ^ ) ‘to measure; to weigh’; (makàl ( ^ ) ; kail ( ^ ) id.; (makïl ); kail. ( à £ ) ‘measure’; ‘drymeasure for grain’, plural akyâl ( ); mikyàl, ( ) id. (Wehr 1976:850); plural makâyil ( ): mukl ( ) ‘lever, pinch bar, crowbar’; pl.amkâl ( J ^ ') ; mukül ( )16 (Wehr 1976: 896).

13. There is another term for ‘balance’ such as: i.w-s.w ‘balance’ (Fa 14). Egyptian i.w-s.w ‘balance’ (Fa 14); cf. Hausa awô; aunà ‘measure, weigh’. Basic Coptic forms: Sahidic (S) si ‘mesurer, peser’; Bohairic (B) si id.Akhmimic (A) hi id. (Vycichl 1983: 255; Vergote 1945: 86).

14. J. Vergote, Phonétique historique de l’égyptien : Les consonnes, Louvain, Museon, 1945, p. 83.

15. W. Leslau, Comparative Dictionary o f Ge’ez (Classical Ethiopie), Wiesbaden: Otto Har- rassowitz, 1987.

16. H. Wehr, Arabic-English Dictionary, éd., by J.M. Cowan, 3rd édition, New York, Spoken Language Services, Inc, 1976.

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3.3. Nilo-Saharan g-1 /13-I ~ k-r

The Nilo-Saharan forms are: Soijey (Kaado) kèri ‘peser’ (Ducroz et Charles 1982: 176); Kanuri ngâl- ‘measure out’17; Tubu rjàl- ‘mesurer’.18 Of interest is the Soqey form proposed by the linguistic scholar Maga- Mazou Areynatou in her comparative Egypto- Soqey study: manga and ex- plained by an anonymous reviewer as: “... deux branches de l’instrument de transport d’eau appelé tagalé l'équilibre étant assuré par la porteuse de cet instrument” (cf. Maga-Mazou Areynatou., 2003, La vérité cachée, Etudes Nigériennes, No. 59, pp. 208-209); cf. Zarma tàgàlâ (n.) ‘genre de planche’ as in Zarmaganda warborey ga jiney jare nda tagala : les femmes de la région de Oualam portent leurs affaires suspendues aux deux extrémités d’un bois posé sur l’épaule en équilibre (Bernard, Yves and M. White-Kaba, 1994, Dictionnaire Zarma-Français, Niamey). The form tàgàlâ / < *(tà-)gàlâ (?) appears to reflect the final latéral 11/ representing the Egyptian vulture sign in the basic Egyptian root (kh-3)/ *kh-l of m-kh-3.t / *m.kh-Lt ‘balance’; *m.kh-l ‘match, equal; adjust; make level’.

3.4. Chadic g-1 /gw-1 /gw-r/ gw-d ~ k-r

The Chadic forms are: Margi g'zl à ‘to measure, try’; gu i à g'zl à ‘mea- sured; just right in size’ (Hoffmann 1963:162);19 cf. the labialized velar /gw/ in the Hausa forms: gwadà v.t. ‘to measure, to test, to try’; gwaji vn. ‘experiment, test’ ; g' àdaddee adj. ‘measured, tested’; (Katsina Dialect) gwalgwàdaa vb.‘kept on measuring’; (Kano Dialect/Standard Hausa) g"argwàdaa; g"argwadoo ‘what approximates to; standard’; ‘proportion’ gwàlg"âdôo (n.v.) ‘démonstration’ var. gwargwàdoo.

Hausa forms with the prefix ma- are: noun of agent mag" àjii m. ‘person who measures’; magwajiiyaa f. id.; magwàdaa pl.; noun of instrument magwajii m. ‘measuring-rod’ màgwàdai pl. (Abraham 1962). Cf. Hoff- mann’s (1963:48-49) discussion of Margi nouns with m-prefixes and the

17. J.P. Hutchison, A Référencé Grammar ofthe Kanuri Language, Madison and Boston, Uni- versity o f Wisconsin African Studies program/Boston University African Studies Center, 1981, p. 332.

18. Mahamane L. Abdoulaye, Morphophonologie des formes aspectuelles, temporelles, et mo­dales affirmative et non-derivativees du verbe en Tubu, Mémoire de Maîtrise, Université de Niamey, 1985, p. 69.

19. Cari Hoffmann, A Grammar of the Margi Language, London, Oxford University Press, 19G3.

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ANCIENT ÉGYPTIAN ‘ BALANCE’

dérivation of “agent-nouns” and of nouns of place from verbs. Other Chadic languages are: Sura kâr ‘to measure oneself with’; and, Bole kor- ‘to meas­ure (off)’.20

3.5. Cushitic k-1 ~ k-n

The Cushitic forms are: Burji makk- ‘measure’; Afar makk-it ‘figure out, reason’; (Sasse 1982: 139); Cf. Amharic lakka ‘measure’; Gedeo lakka?- ‘measure’; Hadiyya keen- ‘weigh’; Kambata keen- ‘weigh’; Sidamo lakka?- ‘measure’.21 Assuming metathesis, we have the following structures: basic forms: kh-1 / 1-kk; and, prefixed forms: m-kh-1 / m-kk-

3.6. Niger-Congo k-1 / g-1 / g-r/ g-d ~ k-r

The Niger-Congo forms are: Atlantic: Fulfulde kal ‘égalité’; kal-kal ‘tout à fait identique’ (Noye 1974: 183). Cf. Wolof hay-ma ‘estimer, évaluer quantitativement’ (Diop 1977: 277); Kwa: Akan22 dialects: Akuapem kari ‘weigh’; Asante kari id.; Fanti ker id. (Dolphyne 1988: 2). Benue-Congo: Proto-Bantu (C.S. 795) *-gèd- ‘measure’; Rundi (Burundi) (D.62) -ger- ‘measure’; Nyankore (Hima) (E.13) -jer- id.; Ganda (E.15) -ger- id.; Hanga (E.32a)-cer- id.; Gekoyo (Kikuyu) (E.51) -ytr- id.; Pokomo (E.71)-ge- id.; Sukuma (F.21) -gel- id.; Langi (F.33) -yer- id.; Gojo (G .ll) -jel- id.; Manyika (S. 13a) -er- id.; Pedi (S.32a) -el- id. (Guthrie, 1967-71)23.

Consider the proto-bantu form (C.S. 583) *-dir)g- ‘measure’ (Guthrie, 1967-71) as attested in: Holohalo (D.28a) -leqg- ‘measure’; Hemba (L.34) - liirj-id.; Bemba (M.42) -lïijg- id.; (N.31c) -liijg- id.; Yao (P.21) -lïijg- id.; and, Makua (P.31) -lik- id. Of interest is the situation in Nilo-Saharan where the Tubu form îjal- ‘measure’ corresponds to Kanuri ngâl- ‘measure out’. Cf. Metathesis or consonantal alternation reflected in the Bantu lan- guage Holoholo (D.28a) -leg g- ‘measure’ and the Nilo-Saharan language Kanuri ngâl- ‘measure out’.

20. G. Takâcs, Etymological Dictionary o f Egyptian. Volume One: A Phonological Introduc­tion, Leiden / Boston / Kôln, Brill, 1999. p. 160.

21. G. Hudson, Highland East Cushitic Dictionary, Hamburg, Helmut Buske Verlag, 1989, p. 97.

22. F. A. Dolphyne, The Akan (Twi-Fante) Language: Its Sound Systems and Tonal Struc­ture, Accra, Ghana, Ghana Universities Press, 1988.

23. M. Guthrie, Comparative Bantu: An Introduction to the Comparative Iinguistics and Pre- history o f the Bantu Languages, 4 vols., Farnborough, Gregg, 1967-71.

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M U K A R A SANI

4.0. CONCLUSION:On the basis of the methodological principles proposed by Cheikh Anta Diop, we have presented and examined the comparative hnguistic evidence for the ancient Egyptian and African sources of the Greek term mokhlos (HOxAôç ) ‘lever’.

The ancient Egyptian m-prefixed form *m-kh-l.t ‘balance’ is the main source of the Greek term mokhlos (pox^ôç) ‘lever’ . The basic Egyptian form is *kh-l.? ‘measure; examine (patient).’ Thus, in contrast to the mor- phological structure of Tndo-European languages, the consonantal struc­ture of the borrowed Greek term is composed of the prefix m- plus the bilatéral root *kh-l added to the Greek suffix —ôs.

As shown in (6), the prefix m- is reflected in ancient Egyptian, Coptic, Hausa (Chadic), and among others, Burji and Afar (Cushitic) languages:

(6) Greek Egyptian Coptic Hausa Burji Afarmokhlos *m-kh-l.t mase mag"ajii makk- makk-it(poxAôç)

The Coptic, Chadic and Cushitic forms in (6) have dropped or transformed the latéral /l/. However, the basic non-prefixed forms that reflect the bi- consonantal root */kh-l/ in the significant Greek scientific term mokhlos (pioxAàç) are found in ancient Egyptian, Coptic, Chadic, Classical Ethiopie, Nilo-Saharan, Cushitic, and Niger-Congo languages. The basic consonan­tal structures and alternations are summarized in (7):

(7) Ancient Egyptian *kh-L?Coptic s-0 / h-0Classical Ethiopi k-1Chadic gw-l /gw-r/ gw-d ~ k-rNilo-Saharan g-1 /ij-1 ~ k-rCushitic k-1 ~ k-nNiger-Congo k-1 / g-1 / g-r/ g-d ~ k-r

The Semitic forms, i.e., Arabie plain and m-prefixed forms: kâla (SU ) ‘to measure; to weigh’; (makâl (^U ); kail (%J ) id.; (makïl -*%J ); kail, ( %J )‘measure’; ‘dry measure for grain’ are considered loanwords from the Ancient Egyptian language.

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ANCIENT ÉGYPTIAN ‘ BALANCE’

The comparative linguistic evidence, therefore, contradicts the position of such classicists as Lefkowitz,24 who, in Bernal’s (2001: 372) words erro- neously maintains that Egypt had no significant impact on the forma­tion of any aspect of Greek civilization.” Again, as Bernai (2001: 372) explains: “What Lefkowitz finds intolerable is the proposai that an African Egypt had a central and formative influence on Greek civilization.” This, clearly, is an “extreme position” représentative of “the destroyers of the An­cient model and creators of the Aryan model: the men who established the disciphne of Classics” (Bernai 2001: 372).

In the manner of the Egyptologist Aboubacry Moussa Lam, who, in con- trast to Martin Bernal’s “political purpose” of lessening “European cultural arrogance,” we would like to re-invite Western classicists, Egyptologists and Africanist scholars of good will to restore Egypt to Africa for the continent’s historical, linguistic and cultural coherence or intelligibility.25

Appendix A Egyptian vulture sign < 3 > = latéral fil:

Comparative Evidence in Ancient Egyptian and Niger-Congo

Ancien : E§?-j>rian < onvennonal Forms

Ni%er-C cnig en

F u lîu ld e {A t . ohitioi

Lexioal Sources C onsonanta" Caire ipor.der.ee*

i.b-i.wl -y iheep

baala « baalu %u

baal- 'baal-u

c : Zarma: bf.AlL-b£All

Z~zyr lt'~4:'.heepAit.™. l*i-7j 1 j :

4jL:ï. : u7: n':"

b-S b-;

Ancient Eg^pHar,Î - ;■ r a ’

'ï-: o~

3-Vd"ivr.:h

leivyi3 'du*15 > bb i f l

'. Ane. îucii ::»r .:k

-:C:

ï-îî MV-t?

A?;dt'nf Eg»2>tio.y, j =: ::

W o lo f < A t l antieir-3h ::r "ollir.rïK-i-»?: 2-i'i

C f t-> ̂rr :!-" 1■ jreen’i'Tïi 1 ): ”■ f

:aa. 5Ûlu:^r. ï.irTTl’-r le :*fU- ’ -.'l- lï'77: ZU'

t-3 i-l

A jîC îV ï'f Egipiio.r,

: r: TXb=Vv*

24. Cf. M. R. Lefkowitz, Not Out o f Africa: How Afrocentrism Became an Excuse to Teach Myth as History, New York, New Republic and Basic Books, 1996.

25. Qtd. in Aboubacry Moussa Lam, Les chemins du Nil: Les relations entre l’Égpte ancienne et l’Afrique Noire. (Préhistoire/Antiquité Négro-Africaine), Paris, Présence Africaine et Khepera, 1997, p. 198.

157

MU K A R A SANI

Appendix B Egyptian vulture sign < 3 > = latéral HI:

Evidence in Ancient Egyptian and Ancient Greek Borrowings

Ancient Egyptian C onventional F0 1 1 1 1%

Ancient Greek Lexical Sources Contenant al C orrespondence*

kh-3

tb>ii:and'

khî ilioi x T'Xioi ;■ 'rlioiisand'-Bsit-àI lOOii.: 3-5. G:0i

kh-3/kh-I

Anciejit Egyptian

3 = 'V k -îv r t ,■:=

kh-3.\vplant-:-. fleurer •Fa

khloë 1 x^cll 1• E -haI Ü006: 5-4 1

kh-3 / Ith-l

.-l/î c i en t Egyptia ? r

kU

L pper Aubia : iinXubiai'

•Fc.

kôlkhis kh-3- sk h -I-(k h }-s

.-i/i c ie?i t Egypti a ? î3 - /1/ b:-î kcî ,•=

26. D. W. Arnott, The Nominal and Verbal Systems ofFula, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1970.27. Yves Bernard and M. White-Kaba, Dictionnaire Zarma-Français, Niamey, L’Imprimerie

Tareya, 1994, p .16.28. Note: ndu = class for circular and cylindrical objects, e. g. moon, etc., Arnott (1970: 390).29. J. H. Greenberg, The Languages o f Africa, 3rd éd., Bloomington, Indiana University,

1970.30. Martin Bernai, cf. J. Jasanoff and A Nussbaum, “Word Games,” in M. Lefkowitz and G.M.

Rogers, eds. Black Athena Revisited, Chapel Hill and London, University of North Caro- lina Press, (Pp. 177-205), 1996, p. 191.Cf. Théophile Obenga, L’Égype.la Grèce et l’École d’Alexandre, Paris, Khepera et l’Har- mattan, 2005, p. 179.

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ANCIENT ÉGYPTIAN ‘ BALANCE’

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ver sity of London.Bernai, M. (2006). Black Athena: The Afroasiatic Roots of Classical Civi-

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Bernai, M. (2001). Black Athena Writes Back. Durham, NC, and London: Duke University Press.

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Diop, C.A. (1977). Parenté génétique de l’égyptien pharaonique et des langues négro-africaines. Dakar: Les Nouvelles Editions Africaines/ I.F.A.N.

Garba, M. (2010). “Ancient Egyptian and African Roots of Classical Greek and Western Civilisations: The Greek Concepts kër (Kqp) ‘fate ; soûl’ and bia ({ha) ‘vital force’ Revisited,” in Etudes Sahéliennes No.4, Niamey, pp. 41-56.

Garba, M. (1998). “Comparative Evidence for the Egyptian Vulture Sign as Latéral /L/: The Ancient Egyptian Lexeme k-L-p-L-p ‘cover,’” in Discussions in Egyptology 42, Oxford, pp. 25-39.

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