Les langues gbè dans les premiers écrits européens

This article looks at the early contacts between the Portuguese and the Spanish on the one hand, and the populations of the West African coastal area between eastern Ghana and western Nigeria on the other, and more specifically at the first two descriptions, in European languages, of the Gbe languages. The first dates from 1658; it bears no author's name and is entitled: Doctrina christiana; y explicacion de sus Misterios, en nuestro idioma español, y en lengua Arda. Our source is its reproduction in Labouret and Rivet (1929). The second, by Antonio da Costa Peixoto, dates from 1741 and is entitled Obra nova de Lingoa Geral de mina traduzida, ao nosso Igdioma. Our source is its reproduction by Silveira (1944). The article deals with the difficulties inherent in these writings, apart from the historical interest they represent. The first text, which announces the language of Arda, confuses the glossonym with the name of the Kingdom of Al-lada, whereas the second text clearly identifies the glossonym. Furthermore, the transcription (segmental and suprasegmental) of the texts in the two docu-ments studied is a source of semantic and syntactic disturbances. The lack of explicit transcription rules is compounded by the impossibility of highlighting them due to the irregularity of the transcriptions. The methods used are based on the search for semantic equivalents in several current Gbè languages.