Human Nature: English Lesson 2: Aardvark

Aardvark

English is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world. In a previous post, we established that the letter Aa wasn't English but was borrowed from North Semitic people in its root. In this post, we will look at a new word, aardvark. What is an aardvark? We will look at aardvark as a word, its origin, nature and history as well as provide its connection to English language and people.

What is an aardvark? Aardvark is a large burrowing African mammal that feeds on ants and termites with its long and sticky tongue. It is an insectivore. It has a long snout, similar to that of a pig which is used to sniff out food. It is the last living species of Tubulidentada. The aardvark has a pig-like look. Its body is stout with a prominent arched back and is sparsely covered with coarse hairs. The limbs are of moderate length, with the rear legs being longer than the forelegs. The front feet have lost the pollex (or 'thumb'), resulting in four toes, while the rear feet have all five toes. Each toe bears a large, robust nail which is somewhat flattened and shovel-like, and appears to be intermediate between a claw and a hoof. Whereas the aardvark is considered gigitigrade it appears at times to be plantigrade. This confusion happens because when it squats it stands on its soles.A contributing characteristic to the burrow digging capabilities of aardvarks is an endosteal tissue called compacted coarse cancellous bone (CCCB). The stress and strain resistance provided by CCCB allows aardvarks to create their burrows, ultimately leading to a favorable environment for plants and a variety of animals.

Geographic Location of Aardvarks

The aardvark is found over much of the southern two-thirds of the African continent namely they are present throughout sub-Saharian Africa; Ethiopia, Ghana, Madagascar, South Africa, Nambia and Ivory Coast. The closest living relatives of the aardvark are the elephant shrews, tenrecidae and golden moles. along with sirenians, hyraxes, elephantsand their extinct relatives, these animals form the superorder afrotheria. Despite some of the misconceptions aardvark is not related to South American anteater or pig. The similarities on appearances are only connected to the evolutionary changes. Aardvark is an animal as African as black people. Its earliest known ancestors were in southern –two thirds of Africa as far back as 56 million years ago. Fossils from Europe show some aardvark like creatures existing about 5 million years ago but it is confirmed that they had no connections to aardvark aside from their looks. The aardvark, in a way, is a living fossil as its chromosomes are highly conserved, reflecting much of the early eutherian arrangement before the divergence of the major modern taxa.

Depiction of god Set

It is also much admired by African tribal folklore, because of its diligent quest for food and its fearless response to soldier ants. Hausa magicians make a charm from the heart, skin, forehead, and nails of the aardvark, which they then proceed to pound together with the root of a certain tree. Wrapped in a piece of skin and worn on the chest, the charm is said to give the owner the ability to pass through walls or roofs at night. The charm is said to be used by burglars and those seeking to visit young girls without their parents' permission. Also, some tribes, such as the Margbetu, Ayanda and Logo, will use aardvark teeth to make bracelets, which are regarded as good luck charms. The meat, which has a resemblance to pork, is eaten in certain cultures. In the mythology of the Dagbon people of Ghana, the aardvark is believed to possess superpowers. The Dagombas believe this animal can transfigure into and interact with humans. The ancient Egyptian god Set is usually depicted with the head of an unidentified animal, whose similarity to an aardvark has been noted in scholarship. Clearly, in many different cultures, tribes and regions of African continent aardvark has a deep meaning and significance.

How do aardvark procreate? They birth one at a time and only during mating season they get pregnant. Their numbers are reportedly steady although some believe there may have been a decrease in their numbers. Their total number in their home is unknown. Their average life span is about 23 years and they are nocturnal in their nature. Unfortunately, they have been kidnapped and put in captivities in zoos around the world. Aardvarks are very important part of their native ecosystem in southern Africa. Thus, their kidnap and captivity to other parts of the world, not only threatens their own life but also threatens the security of biological, ecological and geological ecosystem of the region. Aardvarks must be freed and returned back to their homelands.

Linguistically speaking, aardvark is a noun and name of an animal from Southern Africa scattered through multiple modern countries. The word aardvark comes from the Afrikaan language, a West Germanic language. In Afrikaan aardvark spelled as erdvark. English changed the spelling and possibly the pronunciation to fit it better with English language.

How did this animal found a word in a West Germanic language such as Afrikaan? When Dutch people went and colonized South Africa, they came across this animal and due to its similar appearance to pig, which was a known animal to Dutch people in Europe, they named it erdvark (earth pig) due to its life in burrows. Aardvark breaks into two words: aard means earth and vark means pig which means earth pig.

The answer to the ultimate question of is aardvark English? The response is a firm, no. Although English is one of the West Germanic languages, and related to Afrikaan language, the word aardvark is not English.

Examples: We saw a couple of aardvarks in San Diego zoo.

Aardvarks belong in southern Africa.

Aardvarks should be returned to their native regions.

Why do people kidnap aardvarks?

South Africans, in Zulu, call aarkvark as isambane.