Omotic languages
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Omotic | |||||
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Geographic distribution | Ethiopia, Sudan | ||||
Native speakers | 7.9 million | ||||
Linguistic classification | Afro-Asiatic
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Subdivisions |
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ISO 639-5 | omv | ||||
Glottolog | None | ||||
Omotic languages:
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The Omotic languages are a group of languages spoken in southwestern
Four separate "Omotic" groups are accepted by Glottolog 4.0 and Güldemann (2018): North Omotic, Dizoid (Maji), Mao, and Aroid ("South Omotic").[2]
Languages
The
- Omotic
- )
- North Omotic / Non-Aroid
Apart from terminology, this differs from Fleming (1976) in including the Mao languages, whose affiliation had originally been controversial, and in abolishing the "Gimojan" group.[clarification needed] There are also differences in the subclassification of Ometo, which is not covered here.
Hayward (2003)
Hayward (2003) separates out the Mao languages as a third branch of Omotic and breaks up Ometo–Gimira:
- Omotic
- South Omotic
- Mao
- North Omotic
Blench (2006)
Blench (2006) gives a more agnostic classification:[3]
Bosha† is unclassified; Ethnologue lists it as a dialect of Kafa but notes it may be a distinct language.
Classification
Omotic is generally considered the most divergent branch of the
The Aroid (South Omotic) languages were first included in "West Cushitic" by Greenberg; they were excluded from earlier classifications by Italian Cushiticists such as Enrico Cerulli and Mario Martino Moreno,[13] and their inclusion in Omotic remains contested.
Glottolog
Hammarström, et al. in Glottolog does not consider Omotic to be a unified group, and also does not consider any of the "Omotic" groups to be part of the Afroasiatic phylum. Glottolog accepts the following as independent language families.
These four families are also accepted by Güldemann (2018), who similarly doubts the validity of Omotic as a unified group.[2]
Characteristics
General
The Omotic languages have a morphology that is partly
- Agglutinating: Yem am-se-f-∅-à go+plural+present+3. Person+Femininum “they go”[14]
- Fusional: Aari ʔíts-eka eat+3. Person Pl. Converb “by eating”[15]
- Bench sum˩ "name", sum-s˦ "to name"
The
Phonology
The Omotic languages have on average slightly less than thirty
All omotic languages for which sufficient data is available are
Morphology
Nouns
The Omotic languages distinguish between the nominal categories
- Absolute keett-a "the house"
- Nominative keett-i "the house"
Some common case suffixes are:
- Nominative *-i (Gonga-Gimojan, Dizi-Sheko)
- Accusative *-m (South Domotic)
- Genitive *-kV (Gonga-Gimojan, Dizi-Sheko, Mao, Dime)
- Dative *-s (Gonga-Gimojan, Dizi-Sheko, Mao?[18])
A typological peculiarity, which is also isolated within Omotic, is the person and gender dependency of the nominative in Bench (either -i˧ or -a˧, depending on the person):
- a˦tsin˦-a˧ “a woman” (3rd person sg. femininum)[19]
- nun˧-a˧ "we" (1st person plural exclusive)[20]
- nas˦i˧ “a man” (3rd person sg. masculine)[20]
In most languages, the singular is unmarked, while the plural has its own suffix. It is possible that plural suffixes in some languages arose from a partitive construction. This is supported by the length of certain plural suffixes, formal relationships to the genitive singular and the fact that the determining suffix sometimes comes before the plural suffix, which is typologically unusual:[21]
Pronouns
The
Singular | Plural | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | 2. | 3. m. | 3. f. | 1. | 2. | 3. | ||
Omotic | Nordomotic | |||||||
Proto-Gonga-Gimojan | *ta | *no | *isi | ? | *nu~*no | *int- | *is- | |
Proto-Dizi-Sheko | *ǹ | *yeta | *iz- | *iži | *ń | *iti | *iš- | |
Proto-Mao | *ti- | *hiya | ? | ? | ? | *nam | ? | |
Proto-Southomotic | *inta | *yaa/*in | *nuo | *naaa | *wo-ta | *ye-ta | *ke-ta | |
Other | Afroasiatic: Akkadian | ī | k-a/k-ī | š-u | š-a | nī | k-unu/k-ina | š-unu/š-ina |
Nilotic: Teso[25] | ɛɔŋɔ | ɪjɔ | ŋɛsɪ | ɔnɪ/ɪs(y)ɔ | yɛsɪ | kɛsɪ |
The case endings of the personal pronouns and the nouns are usually identical:
- Aari: Accusative -m: yé-m "you", fatir-in-ám "the corn"
Possessive pronouns in particular have their own forms:
- Aari: yé "yours," ʔéed-te "a man's"
Reconstruction
Bender (1987: 33–35)[26] reconstructs the following proto-forms for Proto-Omotic and Proto-North Omotic, the latter which is considered to have descended from Proto-Omotic.
English gloss | Proto- Omotic |
Proto-North Omotic |
---|---|---|
ashes | *bend | |
bird | *kaf | |
bite | *sats’ | |
breast | *t’iam | |
claw | *ts’ugum | |
die | *hayk’ | |
dog | *kan | |
egg | *ɓul | |
fire | *tam | |
grass | *maata | |
hand | *kuc | |
head | *to- | |
hear | *si- | |
mouth | *non- | |
nose | *si(n)t’ | |
root | *ts’ab- | |
snake | *šooš | |
stand (vb.) | *yek’ | |
this | *kʰan- | |
thou (2.SG) | *ne(n) | |
water | *haats’ | |
we (1.PL) | *nu(n) | |
ye (2.PL) | *int- | |
green | *c’il- | |
house | *kyet | |
left | *hadr- | |
elephant | *daŋgVr | |
sister, mother | *ind | |
armpit | *šoɓ- | |
boat | *gong- | |
grave | *duuk | |
vomit | *c’oš- |
Comparative vocabulary
Sample basic vocabulary of 40 Omotic languages from Blažek (2008):[27]
Language | eye | ear | nose | tooth | tongue | mouth | blood | bone | tree | water | eat | name |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Basketo | af | waytsi | sints | ačči | B ɪnts'ɨrs | no·na | suuts | mεk'εts | B mɪts | B waːtse | A moy- | B sumsa |
Dokka |
af | waytsi | si·nts | ačči | ɨrs'ɪns | no·na | su·ts | mik'әts | mittse | wa·tsi | m- | suntsa |
Male |
’aːpi | waizi | sied‘i | ’ači | ’ɪndɪrsi | daŋka | sugutsi | mεgεtsi | mitsi | waːtsi | mo- | sunsi |
Wolaita |
ayf-iya; A ayp'-iya | haytta | sir-iya | acca; A acc'a | int'arsa | doona | suutta; Ch maččamié | mek'etta | mitta | hatta | m- | sunta |
Kullo |
ayp'-iya | haytsa | siid'-iya | acc'a | ins'arsa | doona | sutsa | mek'etsa | barzap'-iya | hatsa | m- | sutta |
Cancha | ayp'e | hayts | sire | acc‘a | ins‘arsa | doona | suts | mek'etsa | mits | haats | m- | sunts |
Malo | ’áɸe | hʌ́je | síd'e | ’áčʰә | ’irɪ́nts | dɔ́nʌ | sútsʰ | mεk‘ɨ́ts‘ | mɪ́ts | ’átsә | m- | sʊns |
Gofa |
ayp'e | haytsa | siide | acc'a | intsarsa | doona | sutsa | mek'etta | mitsa | hatse | m- | suntsa |
Zala | ayfe | (h)aytsa | sid'e | ačča | int'arsa | duna | tsutsa | mitsa | hatsa | maa- | ||
Gamu |
ayp'e | haytsa | siire | acc'a | ins'arsa | doona | suuts | mek'ets | mitsa | hatse | m- | sunts |
Dache |
ayfe | hayts'e | siyd'e | acé | ɪntsεrs | duna | suts | mek'ets | šara | hatse | m- | sunts |
Dorze | ayp'e | waye | sire | acc'a | ins'arsa | duuna | suts | mek'etsa | mits | haats | m- | sunts |
Oyda | ápe, ayfe | B haːye | sid'e | ’ač, pl. o·či | iláns | B doːna | suts | mεk'εts | mɪns'a | haytsi | mu’- | suntsu |
Zayse |
’áaɸε | waayέ | kuŋké | ’acc' | ints'έrε | baadέ | súuts' | mεk'έεte | mits'a | wáats'i | m- | č'úuč'e |
Zergulla |
’aːɸe | wai | kuŋki | ’ac'e | ’insәre | haː’e | suːts | nεkεtε | mintsa | waːtse | m- | suːns |
Ganjule |
’áaɸε | waašέ | kuŋkε | gaggo | ints'úrε | baadέ | súuts' | mεk'έtε | mits'i | waats'i | m- | ts'únts'i |
Gidicho |
’áaɸε | waašέ | kuŋké | gaggo | ints'úrε | baadέ | súuts'i | mεk'εte | míts'i | wáats'i | m- | ts'únts'i |
Kachama |
’áaɸε | uwaašέ | kuŋkέ | gaggo | ints'úrε | baadέ | súuts'ε | mέk‘έtee | mits'i | wáats'i | m- | ts'únts'i |
Koyra |
’áɸε | waayέ | siid'ε | gaggo | ’únts'úrε | ’áaša | súuts' | mεk‘έεte | míts'e; Ce akka | wáats'e | múuwa | súuntsi |
Chara | áːpa | wóːya | sínt'u | áč'a | ’íns'ila | noːná | súːta | mertá | mítsa | áːs'a | ḿ-na | sumá |
Bench | ap | (h)ay | sint' | gaš; san | eyts' | non | sut | mert | inč | so’ | m’ | sum |
She |
af | ai | sint' | gaš | ets' | non | sut | mεrt | enc | so’ | mma | sum |
Yemsa |
aafa; kema | odo | siya | a’ya | terma | noono | anna | mega | i’o | aka | me | suna |
Bworo |
aawa | waaza | šint'a | gaša | albeera | noona | ts'atts'a | mak'әttsa | mitta | aatsa | maa- | šuutsa |
Anfillo | aːfo | waːjo | šiːnto | gaːššo | εrɪːtso | nɔːno | ts'antso | šaušo | mɪːtso | yuːro | m | šiːgo |
Kafa | affo, aho | wammo; kendo | muddo | gašo | eč'iyo | nono; koko | dammo | šawušo | met'o | ač'o | mammo; č‘okko | šiggo |
Mocha |
á·p̱o | wa·mmo | šit'ó | gášo | häč'awo | no·no | damo | ša·wúšo | mit'ó | à·č'o | ma̱·(hä) | šəgo |
Proto-Omotic[26] | *si(n)t’ | *non- | *haats’ | |||||||||
Maji
| ||||||||||||
Proto- Maji[28] |
*ʔaːb | *háːy | *aːç’u | *eːdu | *uːs | *inču | *haːy | *um | ||||
Dizi |
ab-u | aːi | sin-u | ažu | yabɪl | εd-u | yεrm-u | us | wɪč | aːi | m- | sɪm-u |
Shako |
áːb | aːy | B sɪnt' | áːč'u | érb | eːd | yärm | uːsu | íːnču | áːy | m̥̀- | suːm |
Nayi | ’aːf | B haːy | si.n | B acu | B yalb | eːdu | yarbm | ’uːs | B incus | B hai | m- | suːm |
Mao | ||||||||||||
Mao | áːfέ | wáːlέ | šíːnt'έ | àːts'ὲ | ánts'ílὲ | pɔ́ːnsὲ | hándέ | máːlt‘έ | ’íːntsὲ | hàːtsὲ | hà míjà | jèːškέ |
Seze | aːb, áːwi | wέὲ | šíːnté | háːts'έ, haːnsì | jántsílὲ/ t'agál | waːndè | hámbìlὲ | bàk‘ílí | ’innsì | háːns'ì | máːmɔ́ | nìːší |
Hozo | abbi | wεεra | šini | ats'i | S wìntə́lә | waandi | hambilε | bak‘ilε | S ’íːnti | haani | maa | iiši |
Aroid
| ||||||||||||
Dime | ’afe, ’aɸe | k'aːme | nʊkʊ | F baŋgɪl; ɪts; kәsɪl | ’ɨdәm | ’afe; B ’app- | maχse; F dzumt | k‘oss; F k‘ʊs | ’aχe; B haːɣo | naχe; B nәːɣ- | ’ɨčɨn | mɨze; F naːb |
Hamer | api, afi | k'a(ː)m- | nuki | ’ats' | ’ad’ab | ap- | zum’i | leːfi | ak'- | noko | kʊm- | nam- |
Banna |
afi | k'ami | nuki | atsi | adʌb/adɪm | afa | zump'i | lεfi | ɑhaka/haːk'a | noko | its-; kum- | na(a)bi |
Karo | afi | k'ami | nuki | asi | attәp' | M ’apo | mәk'әs | lefi | aka | nuk'o | isidi | |
Ari | afi | k'ami | nuki | atsi; B kasel geegi | adim | afa | zom’i | lεfi | ahaka | noɣa; B nɔk'ɔ | its- | nami |
Ubamer | a·fi | ɣ/k'a·mi | nuki | atsi | admi | afa | mək'əs ~ -ɣ- | lεfí | aɣa | luk'a, luɣa | ’its- | na·mi |
Galila |
a·fi | k'a·mi | nuki | ači | admi | afa | mәk'әs | lεfí | aɣa/aháɣa | lu·ɣa/lo·ɣa | ič- | la·mi |
See also
Notes
- ^ "Omotic languages". Ethnologue. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
- ^ S2CID 133888593.
- ^ Blench, 2006. The Afro-Asiatic Languages: Classification and Reference List
- ^ Hayward (2000:85)
- ^ Lamberti (1991), Zaborksi (1986)
- ISBN 9780759104662.
- ^ I. M. Diakonoff (1998) Journal of Semitic Studies 43:209: "It is quite evident that cultural ties between Proto-Semitic and the African branches of the Afrasian macrofamily must have been severed at a very early date indeed. However, the grammatical structure of [Common Semitic] (especially in the verb) is obviously close to that of Common Berbero-Libyan (CBL), as well as to Bedauye. (Bedauye might, quite possibly, be classified as a family distinct from the rest of Kushitic.) The same grammatical isoglosses are somewhat more feebly felt between Semitic and (the other?) Kushitic languages. They practically disappear between the Semitic and the Omotic languages, which were formerly termed Western Kushitic, but which actually may not be Afrasian at all, like their neighbours the Nubian languages and Meroitic."
- ^ Newman (1980)
- ^ Rolf Theil (2006) Is Omotic Afro-Asiatic? pp 1–2: "I claim to show that no convincing arguments have been presented [for the inclusion of Omotic (OM) in Afro-Asiatic (AA)], and that OM should be regarded as an independent language family. No closer genetic relations have been demonstrated between OM and AA than between OM and any other language family."
- ^ Gerrit Dimmendaal (2008) "Language Ecology and Linguistic Diversity on the African Continent", in Language and Linguistics Compass 2/5:841: "Although its Afroasiatic affiliation has been disputed, the allocation of Omotic within this family is now well-established, based on the attestation of morphological properties that this family shares with other Afroasiatic branches."
- ISBN 978-0-520-94759-7.
- ISBN 978-90-272-4753-7.
- ^ Lamberti, Marcello (1991). "Cushitic and its Classifications". Anthropos: 552–561.
- ^ Mammo Girma: Yemsa Verb Morphology. Some Inflections and Derivations. 1986, quoted from Bender 2000, 120; Clay marking according to the different forms in Lamberti 1993, 190
- ^ Hayward 1990, quoted in Bender 2000, 171
- ^ See: R. Hayward, Y. Tsuge: Concerning case in Omotic. In: Africa and Overseas. Volume 81, pp. 21-38. 1998.
- ^ Bender 2000, 21
- ^ So Bender 2000, 212
- ^ Bender 2000, 127
- ^ a b Mary J. Breeze: Personal Pronouns in Gimira (Benchnon). In: Ursula Wiesemann (Ed.): Pronominal Systems. Narr, Tübingen 1986, ISBN 3-87808-335-1, pp. 47–70, p. 53.
- ^ Hayward 2003, 246; Lamberti 1993, 70 f.
- ^ Bender 2000.
- ^ Lamberti 1993, 71
- ^ Reconstructions according to Bender 2000, 196
- ^ Bender 2000, 163
- ^ a b Bender, Lionel M. 1987. "First Steps Toward proto-Omotic." Current Approaches to African Linguistics 3 (1987): 21–36.
- ^ Blažek, Václav. 2008. A lexicostatistical comparison of Omotic languages. In Bengtson (ed.), 57–148.
- ^ Aklilu, Yilma. 2003. Comparative phonology of the Maji languages. Journal of Ethiopian studies 36: 59–88.
Sources cited
- Bender, M. Lionel. 2000. Comparative Morphology of the Omotic Languages. Munich: LINCOM.
- Fleming, Harold. 1976. Omotic overview. In The Non-Semitic Languages of Ethiopia, ed. by M. Lionel Bender, pp. 299–323. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University.
- Newman, Paul. 1980. The classification of Chadic within Afroasiatic. Universitaire Pers Leiden.
- Marcello Lamberti: Materialien zum Yemsa. Studi Linguarum Africae Orientalis, Band 5. Universitätsverlag Winter, Heidelberg 1993, ISBN 3-8253-0103-6.
General Omotic bibliography
- Bender, M. L.1975. Omotic: a new Afroasiatic language family. (University Museum Series, 3.) Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University.
- Blench, Roger. 2006. Archaeology, Language, and the African Past. AltaMira Press
- Hayward, Richard J., ed. 1990. Omotic Language Studies. London: School of Oriental and African Studies.
- Hayward, Richard J. 2003. Omotic: the "empty quarter" of Afroasiatic linguistics. In Research in Afroasiatic Grammar II: selected papers from the fifth conference on Afroasiatic languages, Paris 2000, ed. by Jacqueline Lecarme, pp. 241–261. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
- Lamberti, Marcello. 1991. Cushitic and its classification. Anthropos 86(4/6):552-561.
- Zaborski, Andrzej. 1986. Can Omotic be reclassified as West Cushitic? In Gideon Goldenberg, ed., Ethiopian Studies: Proceedings of the 6th International Conference pp. 525–530. Rotterdam: Balkema.
External links
- Is Omotic Afro-Asiatic? by Rolf Theil