Afronalia

We're thrilled to introduce #Afronalia: A venture that seeks to reinforce the presence of—and interest in—African languages by bringing together mainstream design and the linguistic diversity of African languages through wearable, useable products.

Don’t forget to check out our mugs!

Check it out here: afronalia.com/products/kupum…

Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop! Our Kupumzika Féexal Yaram Soft pillow comes in 3 different sizes and comes in two languages on its front and back: KiSwahili and Wolof. Read more about this product in the link below 👇🏿! #afronalia #langtwt #pillows

Some linguistic fact: Due to the community’s high incidence of hereditary deafness, they developed Adamorobe Sign Language, one of only two indigenous sign languages in Ghana alongside Ghanaian Sign Language. It has distinct features & is recognized by Ethnologue as stable.

My Yoruba ass wondering how bimbo is a slur ☠️

Yes, you know what you want but do you know what you have to do to get it? Sabaweli is an isiXhosa word that denotes a desire used in the context of things or experiences one cannot currently have. #sbwl #africanlanguages #africanproducts

Take a look at it here: afronalia.com/products/ngiya…

Pop open a bottle of delight with our bottle opener! Ngiyaphila(I’m alive) appears in some Bantu languages(isiZulu, siSwati and Ndebele). It’s a common response to Unjani(how are you)?, to which it would mean “I’m fine”. We use it here as a statement, more than as a response.

@adornedbybarb @MeraNkron I don’t think the words in the OP are *particularly related but I think the etymologies of baako, mmienu, mmiɛnsa definitely correlate to ɛko, enu and ɛsa as root words. Ba and ebi are attached to them(ba usually for people, badu for eg).

@adornedbybarb @MeraNkron This is a great convo because I feel what may be happening here is a rift between spoken Akan and written Akan. The accurate spelling of an Akan word can reveal its roots/connection to culture while spoken Akan follows other rules(cadence, specific history of a Akan people, etc)

Yoruba & Akan cognates show the relatedness that the Yam belt cultures can exhibit without the need for mass migration. Local AI language initiatives like @GhanaNLP could possibly help reconstruct Proto-Niger-Congo languages or find cognates between languages.

While exploring African languages and their etymologies is fun(!), we should not conflate homophones and false friends with words that have historical relation. The construction of “chicken”, for eg, is more onomatopoeic, and also similar in Igbo and a bunch of Bantu languages.

Hilarious

Shop this phone case, and more, here: afronalia.com/products/tough…

Start your weekend by accomplishing one of your postponed goals! Abusuapanyin is a Twi/Fante title for the head of a family. It translates directly to “family elder”. The head honcho, the don dada, the final boss! #afronalia #africanlanguages #twi #langtwt #africanproducts

2008 called, it wants its uninspired and ignorant tweets about African Languages back.

How different African languages sound...

I love this essay better than the first one I commented on. It immediately identifies that the attempt to find language for sex in indigenous languages is done through English transliteration, and then links it to structural forces. Good analysis.

This mug, which features some of the different cultural variations of the Akan name, Afia, is available on our website in different colors! Get it here: afronalia.com/products/diffe…

Afia is a feminine, Akan day name for a child born on a *Friday* FUN FACT: The Baoulé name, Affoué, in turquoise, is actually given to a child born on a *Saturday*. #afronalia #africanlanguages #akan #afia #affoué