Qimant language

Last updated
Qimant
Kemantney
Native to Ethiopia
Region Amhara Region
Ethnicity Qemant people
Native speakers
(1,700 cited 1994 census) [1]
Dialects
Language codes
ISO 639-3 ahg
Glottolog qima1242
ELP K'emant
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

The Qimant language is a highly endangered language spoken by a small and elderly fraction of the Qemant people in northern Ethiopia, mainly in the Chilga woreda in Semien Gondar Zone between Gondar and Metemma.

Contents

Classifications

The language belongs to the western branch of the Agaw languages. [2] Other (extinct) varieties of this branch are Qwara and Kayla. Along with all other Cushitic languages, Qimant belongs to the Afroasiatic language family.

Geographic distribution and sociolinguistic situation

Qimant is the original language of the Qemant people of North Gondar Zone, Ethiopia. Although the ethnic population of the Qemant was 172,327 at the 1994 census, only a very small fraction of these speak the language nowadays. All speakers live either in the Chilga or Lay Armachiho woredas. [3] The number of first-language speakers is 1,625, the number of second language speakers 3,450. [4] All speakers of the language are older than 30 years, and more than 75% are older than 50 years. [5] The language is no longer passed on to the next generation of speakers. Most ethnic Qemant people speak Amharic. Qimant is not spoken in public or even within the home as a means of daily communication anymore, but is reduced to a secret code. [6]

Dialects/Varieties

It is not clear to what extent Kayla, Qwara, and Qimant have been dialects of the same Western Agaw language, or were languages distinct from each other.

Phonology

Consonants

Consonant phonemes [7]
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar
plain lab.
Nasal m n ŋ ŋʷ
Plosive voiceless t tʃ k kʷ
voiced b d dʒ ɡ ɡʷ
Fricative voiceless f s ʃ χ χʷ
voiced z ɣ ɣʷ
Tap r
Approximant l j w

Continuants can be geminated word-medially.

Vowels

Vowel phonemes [7]
Front Central Back
Close i ⟨i⟩ ɨ ⟨ï⟩ u ⟨u⟩
Mid ə o
Open a

Phonotactics

The maximum syllable structure in Qimant is CVC, which implies that consonant clusters are only allowed word-medially. [8] In loanwords from Amharic there may also be consonant-clusters within a syllable. Vowel clusters are not allowed.

Phonological processes

Consonant clusters with more than two consonants are broken up by inserting the epenthetic vowel /ɨ/. Other phonological processes are nasal assimilation and devoicing of /ɡ/ at word boundaries. [9]

Prosody

The prosodic features of Qimant have not been studied yet.

Grammar

Morphology

The personal marking system distinguishes between first person singular and plural, second person singular, polite, and plural, and third person masculine, feminine and plural. On the verb, all inflectional categories are marked by suffixes. Zelealem (2003, p. 192) identifies three different aspect forms in Qimant: Perfective, Imperfective and Progressive. Like in other Central Cushitic languages, the numbers one to nine go back to an ancient quinary system, where the suffix /-ta/ added to the numbers two to four results in the numbers six to nine [ clarification needed ] (2-4 are three numbers, 6-9 are four numbers). [10]

Syntax

The basic constituent order in Qimant, like in all other Afro-Asiatic languages of Ethiopia, is SOV. The presence of a case marking system allows for other, more marked orders. In the noun phrase the head noun follows its modifiers. Numbers, however, can also follow the head noun. All kind of subordinate clauses precede the main verb of the sentence. [11]

Vocabulary

As a consequence of the looming language death, many items of the vocabulary are already replaced by Amharic words.

Notes

  1. ↑ Qimant at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  2. ↑ Leyew 2003, p. 30.
  3. ↑ see map in Leyew 2003 , p. 31
  4. ↑ Leyew 2003, p. 62.
  5. ↑ Leyew 2003, p. 63.
  6. ↑ Leyew 2003, p. 75.
  7. 1 2 Leyew 2003, p. 158.
  8. ↑ Leyew 2003, pp. 160ff.
  9. ↑ Leyew 2003, pp. 164ff.
  10. ↑ Leyew 2003, p. 233.
  11. ↑ Leyew 2003, pp. 252–262.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Afroasiatic languages</span> Large language family of Africa and West Asia

The Afroasiatic languages, also known as Hamito-Semitic or Semito-Hamitic, are a language family of about 400 languages spoken predominantly in West Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and parts of the Sahara and Sahel. Over 500 million people are native speakers of an Afroasiatic language, constituting the fourth-largest language family after Indo-European, Sino-Tibetan, and Niger–Congo. Most linguists divide the family into six branches: Berber, Chadic, Cushitic, Egyptian, Semitic, and Omotic. The vast majority of Afroasiatic languages are considered indigenous to the African continent, including all those not belonging to the Semitic branch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cushitic languages</span> Branch of Afroasiatic native to East Africa

The Cushitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken primarily in the Horn of Africa, with minorities speaking Cushitic languages to the north in Egypt and Sudan, and to the south in Kenya and Tanzania. As of 2012, the Cushitic languages with over one million speakers were Oromo, Somali, Beja, Afar, Hadiyya, Kambaata, and Sidama.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oromo language</span> Cushitic language of Ethiopia and Kenya

Oromo, historically also called Galla, is an Afroasiatic language that belongs to the Cushitic branch. It is native to the Ethiopian state of Oromia and Northern Kenya and is spoken predominantly by the Oromo people and neighboring ethnic groups in the Horn of Africa. It is used as a lingua franca particularly in the Oromia Region and northeastern Kenya.

Bench is a Northern Omotic language of the "Gimojan" subgroup, spoken by about 174,000 people in the Bench Maji Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region, in southern Ethiopia, around the towns of Mizan Teferi and Shewa Gimira. In a 2006 dissertation, Christian Rapold described three varieties of Bench as "...mutually intelligible...varieties of one and the same language". Bench is the ancestral language of the Bench people.

The Agaw or Central Cushitic languages are Afro-Asiatic languages spoken by several groups in Ethiopia and, in one case, Eritrea. They form the main substratum influence on Amharic and other Ethiopian Semitic languages.

Wiyot or Soulatluk (lit. 'your jaw') is an Algic language spoken by the Wiyot people of Humboldt Bay, California. The language's last native speaker, Della Prince, died in 1962.

Kayliñña is one of two Agaw languages formerly spoken by a subgroup of the Beta Israel. It is a dialect of Qimant. The name Kayla (ካይላ) is sometimes also used as a cover term for both Beta Israel dialects. It is known only from unpublished notes by Jacques Faitlovitch written in the Ge'ez script, recently studied by David Appleyard. It is preserved by the Beta Israel today.

The Qemant are a small Cushitic ethnic group in northwestern Ethiopia, specifically in Gondar, Amhara Region. The Qemant people traditionally practiced an early Pagan-Hebraic religion, however most members of the Qemant are followers of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. They are historically related to, but distinct from, the Beta Israel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Languages of Ethiopia</span>

The languages of Ethiopia include the official languages of Ethiopia, its national and regional languages, and a large number of minority languages, as well as foreign languages.

Lay Armachiho is a woreda in Amhara Region, Ethiopia. This woreda is named after "Armachiho", a province in northwestern Ethiopia along the border with Sudan and south of the Tekezé River. Part of the Semien Gondar Zone, Lay Armachiho is bordered on the south by Dembiya, on the west by Chilga, on the north by Tach Armachiho, on the east by Wegera, and on the southeast by Gondar Zuria. The administrative center of this woreda is Tekle Dingay.

Chilga also Chelga, Ch'ilga is a woreda in Amhara Region, Ethiopia. It is named after its chief town Chilga, an important stopping point on the historic Gondar-Sudan trade route. Part of the Maekelawi Gondar Zone, Chilga is bordered on the south by Takusa, on the west by Metemma, on the north by Tach Armachiho, on the northeast by Lay Armachiho, and on the east by Dembiya. Other towns in Chilga include Seraba and Wohni.

Metemma is a woreda in Amhara Region, Ethiopia. Part of the Semien Gondar Zone, Metemma is bordered on the south by Qwara, on the west by Sudan, on the north by Mirab Armachiho, on the northeast by Tach Armachiho, on the east by Chilga, and on the southeast by Takusa. The administrative center is Shehedi; other towns in Metemma include Metemma and Shinfa.

Qwara is one of the woredas in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. Qwara is named after the former province of Qwara, which was in the same area. Located at the westernmost point of the Semien Gondar Zone, Qwara is bordered on the south by the Benishangul-Gumuz Region, on the west by Sudan, on the north by Metemma, on the east by Takusa and Alefa, and on the southeast by Agew Awi Zone; part of its boundary with the Benishangul-Gumaz Region is defined by the Dinder River. The administrative center of this woreda is Gelegu; other settlements include Tewodros Ketema.

The Awngi language, in older publications also called Awiya, is a Central Cushitic language spoken by the Awi people, living in Central Gojjam in northwestern Ethiopia.

Alaba-Kʼabeena, also known as Wanbasana, is a Highland East Cushitic language spoken in Ethiopia by the Halaba and Kebena people in the Great Rift Valley southwest of Lake Shala, specifically in Alaba special district, the Kebena district of Gurage Zone, and the Goro district of Oromia Region. The literacy rate of native speakers in their language is below 1%, while their literacy rate in second languages is 8.6%; Alaba-Kʼabeena is taught in primary schools. It has an 81% lexical similarity with Kambaata. However, Fleming (1976) classifies Kʼabeena as a dialect of Kambaata, and Blench (2006) classifies both as dialects of Kambaata. The 2007 census in Ethiopia lists Alaba and Qebena as separate languages.

Baiso or Bayso is an Afro-Asiatic, more specifically a Lowland East Cushitic language belonging to the Omo-Tana subgroup, and is spoken in Ethiopia, in the region around Lake Abaya.

Grass Koiari (Koiali) is a Papuan language of Papua New Guinea spoken in the inland Port Moresby area. It is not very close to the other language which shares its name, Mountain Koiali. It is considered a threatened language.

Tlacolula Valley Zapotec or Valley Zapotec, known by its regional name Dizhsa, and formerly known by the varietal name Guelavia Zapotec is a Zapotec language of Oaxaca, Mexico.

Avava (Navava), also known as Katbol, Tembimbe-Katbol, or Bangsa’ is an Oceanic language of central Malekula, Vanuatu. It has nasalized fricatives and a bilabial trill.

References

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.