Mao languages

Last updated
Mao
Blue Nile Mao
Geographic
distribution		 Ethiopia, Sudan [1]
Linguistic classification Afro-Asiatic
Language codes
Glottolog maoo1243

The Mao languages are a branch of the Omotic languages spoken in Ethiopia and parts of Sudan. The group had the following categories:

Contents

It is estimated that there are 5,000 speakers of Bambasi, 3,000 speakers each of Hozo and Seze and a few hundred Ganza speakers (Bender, 2000). During recent political upheavals, a few thousand Bambassi speakers established themselves in the valley of the Didessa River and Belo Jegonfoy woreda. Much of the Mirab Welega Zone was once the home of Mao languages, but they have lost speakers because of the increasing influence of Oromo.

Contact

Mao languages are in close and long-standing contact with Koman languages, and linguistic affiliation does not always coincide with ethnic identity. Some Koman-speaking groups in western Ethiopia, like the Kwama, are known as Mao [2] , or vice versa, as in the case of the Ganza (also known as Koma).

Intensified contact between Mao, Koman, and Kefoid languages dates to the formation of the Gonga kingdom of Anfillo in the late sixteenth century, following the westward migration of Kefoid-speaking elites during the Oromo expansions into the Gibe basin around 1560–1570 [3] [4] . The establishment of Anfillo brought Mao populations into sustained and asymmetric contact with Kefoid languages as well as with neighboring Koman languages, whose speakers inhabited the surrounding lowlands.

Within the Gonga political system, Mao speakers formed a subordinate social category, which promoted widespread bilingualism and language shift toward dominant languages. Mao communities were integrated as serfs or dependent clients of Gonga elites, creating daily interaction in labor, ritual, and military contexts, conditions known to facilitate lexical borrowing and structural influence. In parallel, other Mao groups remained mobile at the margins of Gonga territories, maintaining master-client relations with agricultural populations through the exchange of forest products, a setting that likewise favored multilingual repertoires [5] [6] .

The designation Mao historically functioned as a sociopolitical label applied to diverse subordinate populations (also known as Nao, Mawo, Manno, or Manjo) rather than a single linguistic entity [7] [8] . This has contributed to the present-day linguistic diversity and fragmentation of Mao languages, as well as to their heavy contact-induced restructuring through prolonged interaction with Koman, Kefoid, and later Oromo languages.

Numerals

Comparison of numerals in individual languages: [9]

Language12345678910
Ganza (Gwàmì Nánà) (1)ʔìʃì kwéʔènmámꜜbútʼíꜜzímáꜜs’ík’wísʼíʔìʃkìbínꜜmámpʰìnwòbóꜜʃèléꜜkónsó-báꜜ (litː 'hand-pair')
Ganza (Gwàmì Nánà) (2)ʔìʃì kwéʔènmámꜜbútʼíꜜzímáꜜs’ík’wísʼíʔìʃkìbínꜜmámpʰìnwòbóꜜʃèléꜜkónsó-báꜜ (litː hand-pair)
Ganza (3)ʔíʃkúwéénmámbùʔtíízìʔmás’s’ìʔk’wíssíʔʔíʃkípínmámpínwóp’òʃéléʔkónsóbààʔ
Hozo (1)ʔónnàdòmbósìjázìbétsʼìkwítsʼì (lit: 'hand')kwítsʼì ʔòttá ʔónnà (5 + 1)kwítsʼì ʔòttá dòmbó (5 + 2)kwítsʼì ʔòttá sìjázì (5 + 3)kwítsʼì ʔòttá bétsʼì (5 + 4)pʼóʃì
Hozo (2)ʊnːa / onnadʊmbo / dombosìɑːsi /siyazibɛtsíː / betsʼikʷɪtsí / kʼwitsi (lit: 'hand', kutsi)kɛniː / ota-onna (5 + 1)ʔɔːta / ota-dombo (5 + 2)ʔɔ̀ːtá / ota-siyazi (5 + 3)ʔɔ̀ːtì / ota-beːtsi (5 + 4)pʼɔ́ːʃi / poːši
Northern Mao hishkìnumboteezèmesʼekʼwíssíkyaansèkúlùmbò (litː hand-two ?)kúteezé (litː hand-three?)kúsmésʼe (litː hand-four ?)kúúsú
Sezi (Seze / Sezo) (1)ʔìʃílènòmbésììzébesʼsʼékʼwíssé (lit: 'hand', kusɛ)kʼwíssé ʔòòt ʔìʃílè (litː 5 remaining 1)kʼwíssé ʔòòt nòmbé (litː 5 remain. 2)kʼwíssé ʔòòt sììzé (litː 5 remaining 3)kʼwíssé ʔòòt besʼsʼé (litː 5 remain. 4)kúúsé
Seze (Sezo) (2)ɪ̀ʃìlɛ / ɪšilɛnɔ̀mbɛ́ / noːmbɛsìːzí /siːzɛbɛ̀sʼɛ́ / bɛtsʼɛkʼúsɛ́ / kʼʊsse (lit: 'hand', kusɛ)dʒɑ;j / ot-šilɛʔɔːt nɔ̀mbɛ́ / ot-nombɛʔɔ̀ːt síːzí / ota-siːzɛʔɔ̀ːt bèːtsʼé / ota-bɛːsʼɛ̞kʊ́ːsɛ̀ / kʊːsɛ

See also

Further reading

References

  1. 1 2 "Omotic languages". Ethnologue. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
  2. ↑ Küspert, Klaus-Christian (2015). "The Mao and Komo Languages in the Begi–Tongo area in Western Ethiopia: Classification, Designations, Distribution". Linguistic Discovery. 13 (1). doi: 10.1349/PS1.1537-0852.A.447 .
  3. ↑ Hassen, Mohammed (1994). The Oromo of Ethiopia: A History 1570–1860. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 33–36.
  4. ↑ Gidada, Negasso (2001). History of the Sayyoo Oromoo of Southwestern Wallaga, Ethiopia. Addis Ababa: Mega Printing Enterprise. pp. 80, 86–88, 180–181, 237–240.
  5. ↑ González-Ruibal, Alfredo (2014). An Archaeology of Resistance: Materiality and Time in an African Borderland. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 306–320.
  6. ↑ Megenassa, Worku Derara (2019). Forest-Based Livelihoods and Socioeconomic Relations in Southwestern Ethiopia. Addis Ababa University.
  7. ↑ Huntingford, G. W. B. (1955). The Galla of Ethiopia: The Kingdoms of Kafa and Janjero. London: International African Institute / Oxford University Press. p. 136. doi:10.4324/9781315308111.
  8. ↑ Lange, Dierk (1982). Ancient Kingdoms of West Africa: Africa-Centred and Canaanite-Israelite Perspectives. Dettelbach: J. H. Röll. pp. 242, 260.
  9. ↑ Chan, Eugene (2019). "The Afro-Asiatic Language Phylum". Numeral Systems of the World's Languages.
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