64 ON T H E D I S T R I B U T I O N A N D
north of the Bight of Benin, — between the 2d and 3d degree
of W. long., and the 6th and 10th degree of if. latitude.
The "Wolof demarcates itself by its final inflexions. To it
other idioms, seemingly, have to he attached: such as the
B idsciiago, or B idshoro, which is spoken in the island of
Wun,—the G adschaya, idiom of a tribe called also Sehi-
ruU, or Serawouli, — and lastly the G oura.
X. — Another group, which is characterized by initial inflexions, is
spread over the basin of the Gambia, and is represented by
the Landoma, that is spoken in the land of Kakondi, — and
the Kabou, used in the canton of Kakond.au.
The W olof verb is susceptible of seventeen modifications,
that consist in adding to each radical one or two syllables,
and which extend or restrict its acceptation. It is
something like the forms of the Arabic verb. The article
follows the substantive, and embodies itself with it, as in
agglutinate languages. The plural article exhibits equally
an especial characteristic that makes it participate of a
demonstrative pronoun. In general, the W olof offers, in its
phonology, that same harmonical disposition which belongs
to all the African languages.
XI. — Although the W olof approximates to the YQZOTJBA more
than to any other African tongue, these two idioms still remain
separated by a difference sufficiently defined. The
Y ozouba possesses, in its grammatical system, a great
degree of perfection and regularity. One observes in it an
“ ensemble ” of prefixes complete and regular, that, upon
joining themselves to the verb, give birth to a multitude of
other words formed through a most simple process. The
radical thus passes on the abstract idea of action into all
derivative concrete ideas; and thus reciprocally by the addition
of a simple prefix, a noun becomes a possessive verb.
Another peculiarity of the Y ozouba is, that the same adverb
varies in form and even in nature according to the
species of words it qualifies.
The Y ozouba system, notwithstanding its individuality, connects
itself tolerably, near with that of the tongues of
Congo. The M ’pongwe, for example, spoken on the Gaboon
coast, forms its verbs by adding a monosyllabic prefix to the
substantive; by opposition to certain Senegambian languages,
such as the M andingo, in which they employ suffixes to
modify the sense of the verb or the noun.
XII. — The CONGO-languages appertain to that great formation of
African tongues of which we treated above, and that divide
themselves into many groups, united incontestably by close
bonds.
1st. — The first group is that of the tongues of Congo; the
whole of them characterized by the initial flexion. They
embrace the languages of the tribes named Atam, of which
one of the chiefest is the ITdom, spoken in a country of this
name, which has Ebil for its capital,—the languages of Mo-
¿os-tribes, that subdivide themselves into several groups,
embracing a great number of idioms,—the tongues of Congo
and of Angola that comprise three groups ; the first, represented
above all by the M bamba ; the second, by the B a-
huma , or M obuma; and the third, by the Y ’g o l a , speech of
Angola.
2d— The second group, comprehends the tongues of South-
West Africa, viz : the K i h i a u , that also forms its verbs by
means of prefixes, and attaches itself very nearly to the
Congo-languages. It appears to identify itself with the
MuNTOU-tongue, spoken by the Veiao, whom one encounters
m the country of Knyas, about two months’ journey west
from the Mozambique coast. To this group, likewise, belongs
the M a r a w i , the H iam b a n , and many other languages.
3d— The third group is represented by the Souahüee-tongues;
comprising the S o u a h î l i properly so-called, spoken by the
inhabitants of the coasts of Zanzibar; and the languages
of neighboring peoples who dwell to the south of the Galla-
country; such as the W a n i k a , the O e a o u a f i , the W a k am b a .
A good deal of the KmiAU-language is met with in the Sou-
a h i l i ; which indicates well the affinity of the two groups.
~ Tlie fourth, the group-Caffr, comprehends the Z oulou,
or Ga f f e proper,—the T em n eh , the S echuana, the D amara'
and the E j n i e a . All these languages offer the same organism,
and a great richness of changes (voies) together with an
extreme poverty of verbs.
X IH -T h e tongues of the preceding formation approximate in a
very singular manner, as regards certain points of their
oiganism, to that family that may be termed EAMITIC
(from K h im é , Ohemmia, the ancient native name of Egypt)-
and which has for its type the Egyptian, of which thé
C optic is b u t a m o r e m o d e r n d e r iv a tiv e . To i t m a y b e
attached, on the eastern side, the G a l la ; ancton the western
the B e r b e r .
The E gyptian is known to us from a high antiquity, thanks