SHELLUH. ARABIC. ENGLISH. Tandaraman Ertella .b’hairie Venemous spider Tenawine Sfune Ships Marmol says, the Shellubs and Berebbers write and speak one language, called Killem A bim a lick ,* the name o f the person who was accounted the inventor o f A rabic lette rs; but the foregoing specimen, the accuracy o f which may be depended on, clearly proves this assertion to be erroneous, as well as that o f many moderns who have formed their opinion, in all probab ility , on the above authority. .Now, although the Shelluh and Berebber languages are so totally dissimilar, that there is not one word in the foregoing vocabulary which resembles its corresponding word in the other language, yet, from the prejudice which Marmol has established, it w ill still be difficult, perhaps, to persuade the learned that such an author could be mistaken on such a subject. My account therefore must remain for a future age to determine upon, when the languages o f A fr ica shall be better known than they are at p re sen t; for i t is not a few travellers occasionally sent out on a limited plan that can ascertain facts, the attainment o f w hich requires a long residence, and familiar intercourse with the natives. Marmol has also misled the world in saying that they write a different language; the fact is, that when they write a n y th in g o f consequence, it is in the Arabic, but any trifling subject is written in the Berebber words, though in the Arabic character. If they had any peculiar character in the time o f Marmol, they ha ve none n ow ; for I have conversed with hundreds o f them, as well as with the Shelluhs, and have had them staying at my house for a considerable time together, but never could learn from any that a character different from the A rab ic had e ve r been in use among them. In addition to these languages, there is another spoken at the Oasis o f Ammon, or Siwah, called in A rab ic ^ !rP El Wah E l Garble, which appears to be a mixture o f Berebber and Shelluh, as w ill appear from the list o f Siwahan words given by Mr. Horneman,* in his Journal1,, page 19) part o f which I have here transcribed, to shew the similitude between those two languages, whereby it w ill appear that the language o f Siwah and that o f the Shelluhs o f South Alias are one and the same language. ENGLISH- SIWAHAN, SHELLUH. as g jv en b y M r . H o rn em an , p . i g t gun ltfuckt A tlu c t Head A-ehfiS Akfie Camel* Lgum Arume Sheep Jelibfcr Jelibb @ow Tfunest Tafunesd Mountain Iddrarn Id d u a t Have you a horse? Goreck A ckmar Is deck A chm a r? i Milk A ch i Akfiffi Bread* T a g o r Tagora§, Dates Tena T en is (sing.)i Tena (plural.) * In-rending Mr. William Marsden’s observations on the language of Siwah, at the end of Horneman’s Journal, in page 190, I< perceive that the short vocabul a r y inserted corresponds with a vocabulary of the Shelluh language, which I presented' to that gentleman some years past. Plural Iddrarn. i Or, is derf,' ayeere: & This is applied to bread when baked in a. pan, or over the embers of charcoal, or other fire, but when baked in an oven it is called Agarom (g guttural.)
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