Short Guide to the Recording of African Languages

Extract

The following list of words and sentences is intended as a first guide towards the systematic recording of African languages. The number of African languages and dialects about which little or nothing is known is great, and it is desirable that such languages should be recorded before they die out or degenerate. In many parts of Africa the chief language or dialect of a district has been used in literature and has been well studied, while on others little work has been done and there is no published material available. Records of these lesser known languages as well as of dialects of languages already known would afford valuable help towards comparative study, and any one who contributes to the collection of reliable data will render a service to linguistic science in addition to furnishing material for the practical study of a particular language.