User:Aquatiki/SEDES

SEDES
ሴዴስ
Universal Language Map
Writingw:Bakri Sapalo
Region:w:Horn of Africa
Genders:2
Cases:2
AlignmentNominative-Accusative
Proto-language:w:Ethiopian language area
Typology:Fusional
Word-OrderSOV
Languages:w:Somali language,

w:Afar language, w:Tigrinya language w:Tigre language w:Amharic w:Oromo language w:Sidamo language

Population:117 million
Flag of SEDES

Africa: SEDESMiddle SemiticKintuGuosa Central Asia: JalpiCaucasZensDravindianNeo-Sanskrit Europe: IntralinguaFolksprakInterslavicBalkanSamboka Far East: Dan'a'yoIMMSEAL

Anthropology

The biggest languages to mix are Omoro (24.9), Amharic (21.6), Somali (16.6), Tigrinya (6.8), Sidamo (2.9), Wolaytta (1.6), Gurage (1.5), Afar (1.2), Tigre (1.0)

Eritrea

Tigrinya, Tigre, Dahlik, Beja, Saho, Afar, Blin, Kunama, and Nara.

Ethiopia

There are 88 languages inside the Somalia Eritrea Ethiopia Sprachbund:

Aari Afar Alaba-K’abeena Amharic Anfillo Anuak Arbore Argobba Awngi Baiso Bambassi Basketo Bench Berta Borna Burji Bussa Chara Daasanach Dawro Dime Dirasha Dizin Dorze Gamo Ganza Gawwada Gayil Gedeo Geez Gofa Gumuz Hadiyya Hamer-Banna Harari Hozo Inor Kachama-Ganjule Kacipo-Balesi Kafa Kambaata Karo Kistane Komo Konso Koorete Kwama Kwegu Libido Majang Male Me’en Melo Mesmes Mesqan Mursi Nayi Nuer Nyangatom Ongota Opuuo Oromo Oyda Qimant Rer Bare Saho Sebat Bet Gurage Seze Shabo Shekkacho Sheko Sidamo Silt’e Somali Suri Tigrigna Tsamai Weyto Wolane Wolaytta Xamtanga Yemsa Zay Zaysete

Of these 88 language spoken in Ethiopia, 86 are living and 2 are extinct. 41 of the living languages are institutional, 14 are developing, 18 are vigorous, 8 are in danger of extinction, and 5 are near extinction.


Charles Ferguson first proposed the Ethiopian language area (1970, 1976). (Various scholars may also use the terms Sprachbund or linguistic area.) He posited a number of phonological and morpho-syntactic features that were found widely across Ethiopia (which included Eritrea at that time), including the Ethio-Semitic, Cushitic, and Omotic languages, but it did not include the Nilo-Saharan languages. Since then, others have pointed out smaller areas of shared features within this larger area (Appleyard 1989, Breeze 1988, Sasse 1986, Tosco 1994, Wedekind 1989).

One of the strongest features of the Ethiopian Language Area seems to be the use of the verb "say" as an inflected dummy element for an uninflected lexical base (Appleyard 2001, Cohen et al. 2002). Hayward has also pointed out patterns of lexicalization as evidence of a shared linguistic unity across the Language Area (1999, 2000), and Treis has found further examples (2010).

Baye Yiman has shown evidence of pragmatic similarities among languages of the Ethiopian Language Area (1997).

Güldemann has proposed that the use of a generic auxiliary is an area feature that includes Ethiopia but also other languages to the west and northwest.[2] Similarly, Cohen, Simeone-Senelle, and Vanhove have examined the grammaticalized use of "say" and "do" as an area feature in what they call "East Africa".

This topic is still not settled among Ethiopian linguists.



Phonology

  • Nasals: m, n
  • Plosive: b/p/p' ; d/t/t' ; g/k/k' ; ?
  • Affricate: ǧ, č, č'
  • Fric: f, s, z, h
  • Approx: l, r, j, w (makes labio-velars)

gemination

no stress or tone

five vowels, all w/w/o length

Morphosyntax

definite article but no indefinite


Lexicography