Silvestre de Sacy, Antoine Isaac. “Rapport sur les travaux de M. Asselin de Chervillé,” Magasin encyclopédique, 1815, vol. 5, pp. 297‒313.
(1) English translation
[Some emphasis and paragraph breaks have been added;
likewise the headings in brackets]
[p. 297]
LITERARY HISTORY
Report on the work of Mr. Asselin de Chervillé,
presented to the History and [Ancient] Literature Class of the Royal Institute of France on behalf of a Commission
by Baron Silvestre de Sacy
[ Manuscripts to be evaluated ]
The Class entrusted Messrs. Caussin, Langlès, and me with examining the handwritten volumes in the vernacular of Abyssinia, which were sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by Mr. Asselin de Chervillé, an official at the French Consulate General in Cairo. After His Excellency the Minister of Foreign Affairs had forwarded these volumes to the Minister of the Interior, the latter approached the Class to seek its assessment of the value of Mr. Asselin’s work. To enable the Class to respond knowledgeably to the Minister’s request, it commissioned us to prepare a report on this matter. The two handwritten volumes sent by Mr. Asselin to the Minister of Foreign Affairs contain two of the Books of Moses: Genesis and Leviticus. Previously [p. 298], the Class had received another volume from Mr. Asselin containing Exodus.
[ Asselin on his work ]
In a letter sent by Mr. Asselin to [Mr. Dacier,] the Permanent Secretary of the Class, dated Cairo, August 1, 1814, and which has just been published in the Magasin Encyclopédique [year 1815, vol. 3], this consular agent—who is at the same time a scholar as diligent as he is well-versed in Oriental languages—expresses himself as follows regarding the work that is the subject of this report:
“Having found myself, by a twist of fate, in the capital of a famous country which, by virtue of its location and its dual significance for religion and commerce, has long since become the meeting point of the semi-civilized nations of the East and the savage peoples of the South, I considered myself charged by a liberal government with the task of seeking to remove the principal obstacle standing in the way of the free movement of individuals, the activity of commerce, the endeavors of travelers, and the research of scholars. I regarded Egypt as the center where I should study the dialects which are currently spoken in the different countries watered by the Nile, from its sources to its mouths, [p. 299] and in the vast deserts which surround it on all sides.
In order to begin the task of permanently recording the various dialects that are spoken but not written down, I devised and, fortunately, carried out a plan to establish a center for translators right at the heart of superstition and fanaticism. A great number of scholars, poor and foreign, come to seek refuge in the Great Mosque of Al-Azhar from all the bordering regions of Asia and Africa. It is in this sanctuary, free from all the cares and burdens of life, far removed from a world they despise, that they can devote themselves to the kind of study that pleases them most. My greatest difficulty has been overcoming the prejudices of men who prefer independence, peace, and poverty to gold, and who consider impure any individual foreign to their customs and religion. Through patience and persistence, I have managed to bring some of them to my side.
My aim was to obtain, in the unknown languages of Asia and Africa, as many phrases and expressions as possible, within the most limited space, in order to be able to compare these languages [p. 300] with one another. No known work written in Arabic could fulfill my purpose. I therefore had to take matters into my own hands and compose one myself. I intended to make only a collection of a hundred pages at most, of fables, proverbs, anecdotes, and simple, clear tales. However, the abundance of material led me further… had to take matters into my own hands and compose one myself. I intended to make only a collection of a hundred pages at most, of fables, proverbs, anecdotes, and simple, clear tales. However, the abundance of material led me further, and along the way, I had the good fortune to discover the sources from which the modern compilers of the Arabian Nights drew the anecdotes they inserted into this famous work. This task, which at first seemed thankless and daunting, has become for me a source of pleasure in a country where such pleasures are so rare. Nine sheikhs are busy providing me with translations into their respective languages — languages which I hope one day to be able to publish in a comparative table alongside the ancient languages we are familiar with…”
[ Asselin’s projects ]
p. 300] Later in the same letter, Mr. Asselin lists the projects he has undertaken—and which he is carrying out or having carried out—including: 1. The translation of the entire Holy Scriptures into the Abyssinian dialect spoken in Gondar, which, he says, is the most widely spoken in the eastern regions of Africa near the equator; 2. The Fables of Lokman, Aesop, and Pilpai, as well as the Dialogues and a Vocabulary in the same language. He notes that this dialect is the one used in commerce and trade between [p. 301] the natives, the Arabs, and the Black people of the interior, and adds that the translation of the Bible, begun seven years ago, is nearly complete.
[ Translating the Bible into Amharic ]
Or rather, it is clear that Mr. Asselin could not have turned to Muslim sheikhs based at the Al-Azhar Mosque to obtain a translation of the Bible. He identifies the author of this translation in an earlier letter addressed to Mr. de Volney, dated April 1812, which is included in Volume 3 of Les Mines de l’Orient. From this letter, we learn that the translator was an elderly Abyssinian who had traveled for forty years through the most remote regions of Asia and who had been employed by the traveler J. Bruce and by the famous president of the Calcutta Society, W. Jones. It also reveals the reasons that led Mr. Asselin to prefer translating the Bible over any other book. Finally, it shows that, as early as 1812, this translation was well advanced, which suggests that it must be fully completed by now.
One has to agree with Mr. Asselin’s choice of the Bible, rather than [p. 302] any other book. Indeed, there is no other book that, in such a small volume, contains so many different things. Most Abyssinians, who are deeply religious, know various parts of the Old and New Testaments by heart. Consequently, translating the Bible into their everyday language requires less effort than translating any other work. Furthermore, since we in Europe possess the Holy Scriptures—or at least a large portion of them—in Ge’ez, this provides us with an easy means of comparing these two languages. Finally, the various parts of the Bible frequently refer to one another. By bringing together the same ideas and expressions, they make it easier to determine with certainty the meaning of words, their various meanings, and the etymological relationships between roots and their derivatives.
[ On Amharic and Ge’ez ]
Mr. Asselin refers to the language in which this translation of the Bible is written only as the “common Abyssinian language” spoken in Gondar. This language is the one we know as Amharic, and which the Abyssinians themselves call by that name, because it is the language spoken in the Kingdom of Amhara [p. 303]. The language we commonly call “Ethiopian,” and which the Abyssinians call lisana ge’ez—that is, the language of the kingdom—is that of the province of Tigray, to which the famous city of Axum belonged. It was the common language of Abyssinia until the time when Axum ceased to be the royal residence and authority passed into the hands of princes who spoke the Amharic language. Ge’ez, however, remained the only language used in public worship and in all administrative matters, and the only one in which anything requiring written documentation was composed. Thus, the Ethiopians call it the “language of the books,” while Amharic, as the language of the ruling family, is called the “royal language.” With the help of the Amharic language, one can travel throughout all the provinces of Abyssinia, despite the differences in the dialects spoken there.
Although all those who have mentioned this language agree that it is not customary to write it, this assertion should not be taken too strictly. It is even likely that there was at least a time when it was used [p. 304] fairly frequently for writing, since it has its own alphabet, which is composed of letters from the Ge’ez alphabet, with the addition of seven characters intended to represent sounds specific to the Amharic language. These added letters were formed in a manner analogous to the Ge’ez alphabet. They are based on those Ge’ez letters most closely related to the articulations specific to the Amharic language, and are distinguished from them only by an additional stroke added to the original form. Thus, “tja [ቸ]” is formed from “ta [ተ]”; “gna [ኘ]” from “na [ነ]”; “ja [ዠ]” from “za [ዘ]”; and so on. This is roughly how the Poles and some other nations that speak languages of Slavic origin have adapted the Latin alphabet to their languages, by means of accents or other signs intended to characterize certain articulations foreign to the Latin language. Moreover, in Amharic script, as in Ge’ez script, each consonant carries its own vowel by means of a small appendage or a slight modification to its original form. Since there are seven vowels, each letter can be modified in seven different ways.
[ Earlier publications on/ in Amharic ]
[p. 305] The Amharic language was by no means entirely unknown in Europe before the manuscripts that Mr. Asselin has just sent were obtained there. The renowned Job Ludolf, to whom we owe all the most significant works published on the language, literature, and history of Abyssinia, produced a grammar and a dictionary of the Amharic language. The materials at his disposal for composing these two works were very limited, and one cannot help but admire the skill with which he analyzed this language—whose structure is quite complex and differs in many respects from that of the Ge’ez language—and, in a sense, deciphered its grammatical system. Ludolf did, it is true, have the assistance of Abba Gorgoryos, an Abyssinian. However, this assistance was very limited, first because the Abyssinians, like the Copts in this respect, have no method for learning Ethiopian, and furthermore, because they most often write in accordance with pronunciation, without taking into account the guttural sounds that disappear in everyday speech, or any of the formative letters that are elided in speech. I have no doubt that with more [p. 306] abundant materials than those available to Ludolf, one could correct and improve his grammar; and yet I am convinced that one will have far more occasion to admire his patience and sagacity than to reform or enrich his work with new observations.
The same cannot be said of his Amharic Dictionary. The core of this dictionary is drawn from a small handwritten Italian-Amharic vocabulary that Abba Gorgoryos had compiled for his own use, and which is kept in Paris at the Royal Library. Ludolf added to it everything he was able to gather directly from the Abyssinian himself, as well as words derived from a very small number of passages translated by this foreigner into the same language, and a fragment from Chancellor Seguier’s library, which had been made available to him by Dr. [Louis] Picques. There is no doubt that, through the translations commissioned by Mr. Asselin, one could greatly expand Ludolf’s dictionary—or rather, compile a new Amharic dictionary—which would make this scholar’s first attempt completely obsolete. It would be desirable if Mr. Asselin had obtained the Ge’ez-Amharic dictionary or vocabulary [p. 307], known as “ladder” [Ge’ez: ሰዋሰው, säwasäw], which the Abyssinians use to learn Ge’ez. It is likely that possession of this dictionary—similar to the Coptic-Arabic vocabulary published by [Athanasius] Kircher—would have greatly shortened and facilitated his work.
Before Mr. Asselin, the missionaries of the Society of Jesus, who had resided in Abyssinia for quite some time, had translated various portions of the Holy Scriptures into the Amharic language there. None of these translations made their way to Europe, and it is unknown what they consisted of or what became of them.
The only passage in the Amharic language that has been published since Ludolf is a very small portion of the Song of Songs, which Bruce had engraved and included, along with other samples of the various languages spoken in Abyssinia, in Volume I of his Journey to the Sources of the Nile. This fragment seems to me to contain a large number of spelling errors, and this can hardly be otherwise, since a similar passage in the Ge’ez language is also marred by many errors of the same kind, which could easily have been avoided.
[ Amharic fragments in French libraries ]
[p. 308] I had expected to find some Amharic fragments in a fairly thick Ge’ez manuscript in quarto format, brought back from Egypt by Mr. Villoteau, a member of the Egyptian Commission, and which I had been entrusted with for several years, though my other duties had not allowed me to examine its contents. I have just completed this examination, and I can affirm that everything contained in this volume is written in Ge’ez.
Finally, according to Ludolf’s account, it appears that there were, in Chevalier [Knight] Seguier’s library, a few very brief fragments in the Amharic language. The manuscripts from this library, which later belonged to Mr. de Coislin, Bishop of Metz, were bequeathed in 1732, through Mr. de Coislin’s will, to the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, and are now located in the Royal [i.e., National] Library. There are a fairly large number of Ge’ez manuscripts there. Having been tasked, about twenty years ago, with cataloging the Oriental manuscripts of Saint-Germain-des-Prés—after the fire at the abbey and before their transfer to the Royal Library—I do not recall having observed any fragments written in [p. 309] the Amharic language. I admit that in the course of such a considerable undertaking, carried out amid all manner of inconveniences, it is quite possible that this escaped my attention. The matter did not seem important enough to me today to warrant a fresh examination of these manuscripts.
[ Asselin’s manuscript containing the Amharic translation of Genesis ]
I spent a few hours analyzing the first verses of Genesis in Mr. Asselin’s manuscript. With the help of Ludolf’s Grammar, his Dictionary, and the meaning I already knew of what I wanted to analyze, I succeeded fairly easily in this task. I did, however, encounter a few difficulties for which I have not yet found a solution. They will likely disappear soon, once one has gained greater familiarity with the analysis and become accustomed to the structure of this language. The large number of roots common to Ge’ez and Amharic would greatly facilitate this study for anyone with a perfect knowledge of and acquired familiarity with the former of these languages. I must admit that I am not in that position. I once read Ge’ez quite [p. 310] fluently. Since I had no opportunity to apply my knowledge of that language to useful work, I have completely neglected it, and I would need sustained effort to regain what I have lost. One of the difficulties that will most hinder those who wish to study the Amharic language with the aid of Ludolf’s Dictionary is the uncertainty of spelling, the very frequent confusion of letters whose pronunciation has something in common, and, finally, the omission of guttural sounds.
[ … ]
If I had thought that the Class expected a report from its Commission on the nature of the Amharic language, its relationship to Ge’ez, and the characteristics that distinguish it from the latter, I would have considered it my duty to set aside all other work to devote myself to the study this would have required, and I would not have been able to fulfill its request until after a fairly long delay. But since the Class, in order to respond to the Minister’s request, merely needs to be informed of the value of Mr. Asselin’s work, I believe that it will find, in the details I have the honor of presenting, sufficient grounds to conclude that Mr. Asselin renders an important service to Oriental literature [p. 311] and to the arts in general, by providing Europe with knowledge of a language spoken across a vast expanse of countries.
[ Value of Asselin’s work ]
The new relations that England has sought to establish with Abyssinia—which have already provided us with knowledge of a most precious monument and have dispelled any doubts that might still have existed regarding the authenticity of the monument at Adulis—certainly add further value to Mr. Asselin’s work. Mr. Salt’s latest journey to Abyssinia has also enriched us with vocabularies of the vernacular languages of the country’s various provinces—most notably Amharic. The [Bible] society established in England to spread, through printing, knowledge of the Holy Scriptures in all known languages, is already seeking the honor of printing the Amharic version of the Bible.
It should be added that knowledge of Amharic can help expand our understanding of Ge’ez—an area where our knowledge remains quite imperfect—and that Ge’ez, owing to its close ties to Arabic and even to Hebrew, is of greater importance to the study of biblical languages than is commonly realized [p. 312]. Finally, Amharic can serve as a bridge for studying other languages spoken in Abyssinia and neighboring regions—particularly that of the Falashas [i.e., Beta Israel], whose alleged Jewish origins present a historical problem of genuine interest.
[ … ]
[ Asselin and his work deserve the Government’s favor ]
Based on these considerations, we believe we can propose to the Class that it respond to His Excellency the Minister of the Interior, stating (1) that Mr. Asselin’s work—and in particular those projects aimed at expanding our knowledge or providing us with new insights into the Amharic language and the other languages spoken in Abyssinia and the neighboring regions of neighboring African regions—appears worthy of every kind of encouragement and deserves the Government’s attention and favor; (2) that the two volumes sent by Mr. Asselin, containing Genesis and Leviticus in the Amharic language, as well as any other volumes of the same translation he may send in the future, should be deposited in the Royal Library.
At the same time, we would remind the Class of Mr. Asselin’s expressed wish to obtain the title of Correspondent. We believe it is fair to say that this title has never been more richly deserved. The Class would do well to take pride in recognizing Mr. Asselin’s zeal, thereby encouraging and supporting him in endeavors that are arduous, costly, and—even to the majority of educated people—seemingly unglamorous.
(2) French text
Source: Google Books
Cross-reference
Asselin de Cherville, Bibliography