Climate and Language Families of Ancient Africa

Ancient African Climate

Image from http://www.esd.ornl.gov/projects/qen/afr(pre.gif

c. 18,000 BCE to c. 8,000 BCE

• This was a dry period for Africa, which grew drier over time through the Younger Dryas period (aka. The Big Freeze, roughly 10,300 to 9,000 BCE). This was a swiftly developing ice age that led to very arid conditions-drier than the even the map portrays.

• Humans were hunter-gatherers

Ancient African Climate

Image from http://www.esd.ornl.gov/projects/qen/afr(8-7.gif

c. 7,500 BCE to c. 3,000 BCE• A wet period, known as the

Neolithic Subpluvial or Holocene Wet Phase followed.

• Deserts, including the Sahara, became grasslands that supported more humans than it did before or than it does now.

• The Neolithic or agricultural revolution occurred.

Ancient African Climatec. 7,500 BCE to c. 3,500 BCE

• This wet period led to a migrations of people due to more hospitable conditions.

• As people migrated, they spread their culture, languages, and practices (including agriculture).

• The migrations, as represented on the map, reflect the dispersal of language we see represented in modern Africa.

Image from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S096098220902065X

Modern African Climate

Image from http://www.esd.ornl.gov/projects/qen/afr(pre.gif

After c. 3,500 BCE• The wet period came to an end, and

the climate came to resemble what it does now.

• The Sahara gradually became a desert again and the peoples is supported migrated again to its edges or perished.

• The development of agriculture continued and allowed for settlements that led to cities, kingdoms, and empires.

Climate and Language

• Just as scientist believe humans can tie their origins to Africa, linguists believe language originated in Sub-Saharan Africa.

• The theory is that as humans spread, language spread and evolved.

• As changes in climate caused the people of Africa to migrate, language spread.

Image from http://www.palgrave.com/history/shillington/resources/maps/Map1.2.jpg

Language• Four language families have been

identified: 1. Afroasiatic2. Nilo-Saharan3. Khoisan4. Niger-Korddofanian/Niger-

Congo

• The language families can be traced from the Late Stone Age

• The language families were heavily

influenced by the migrations, both of the African people and outsiders, as represented by the map.

Image from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S096098220902065X

LanguageThe language families are associated with subsidence methods of the cultures who spoke them. The methods of subsidence were in part dictated or encouraged by the climate of the area they inhabited during the wet period.

Afro-AsiaticPastoralists and agropastoralists

Nilo-Saharanpastoralists

KhoisanHunters and gatherers

Niger-Korddofanian/Niger-CongoAgriculturalists

Image from http://starling.rinet.ru/maps/maps1.php?lan=en

Language: AfroasiaticFun facts about the Afroasiatic language group• Only African language group to include a language non-African in origin, Arabic• Arabic currently the most widely spoken language within the group• Currently has over 200 million speakers• 371 languages in group• Earliest written record in ancient Egyptian c. 3400BCE

Image from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hamito-Semitic_languages.jpg

Language: KhoisanFun facts about the Khoisan language group• Smallest of the African language families• 36 languages within group• Most Khoisan languages are endangered or extinct• Many languages within the group have no written record• Currently 200,000 to 300,000 speakers• Best known for click sounds

Image from http://www.findtripinfo.com/assets/Africa/south_africa/northern-cape/khoisan-kalahari.jpg

Language: Nilo-SaharanFun facts about the Nilo-Saharan language group• Roughly 200 languages within group• Currently approximately 30 million speakers• One major unifying characteristic of the group is how the languages is how

numbers are used

Image from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lenguas_nilo-saharianas.PNG

Language: Niger-Korddofanian/Niger-CongoFun facts about the Niger-Korddofanian/Niger-Congo language group• Largest of the groups• Over 1,400 languages within group• Currently over 300 million speakers• Covers the largest area geographically

Image from http://mapsof.net/uploads/static-maps/niger_congo_language_map.png

sourcesAdams, Jonathan. “Africa During the Last 150,000 Years.” n.d. Web. 28 April 2013.

<http://www.esd.ornl.gov/projects/qen/nercAFRICA.html>.

Alleyne, Richard. “Language Like People Came Out of Africa.” The Telegraph. 14 April 2011. Web. 28 April 2013. <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/evolution/8451185/Language-like-people-came-out-of-Africa.html>.

Bosch, Sonja. “African Language Families and Their Structural Properties.” 31 March 2009. Web. 28 April 2013. <http://www.slideshare.net/aflat/tutorial-bosch>.

Herlin, Susan J. “Ancient African Civilizations to ca. 1500.” 2003. Web. 28 April 2013. <http://wysinger.homestead.com/africanhistory.html>.

“History of Africa.” Wikipedia. n.d. Web 28 April 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Africa>.