Agaw languages

Agaw
Central Cushitic
Geographic distribution:	Ethiopia and central Eritrea
Linguistic classification:	Afro-Asiatic Cushitic Agaw
Subdivisions:	Awngi Bilin Qimant Xamtanga

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

Classification

The Central Cushitic languages are classified as follows (after Appleyard):

• Awngi (South Agaw) spoken southwest of Lake Tana, much the largest, with over 350,000 speakers

(dialect Kunfal, spoken west of Lake Tana; poorly recorded, most likely a dialect of Awngi)

• Northern Agaw:

• Blin–Xamtanga:

• Blin (North) spoken in Eritrea around the town of Keren (70,000 speakers)
• Xamtanga (Central Agaw; also called Khamir, Khamta) 143,000 speakers in the North Amhara Region

• Qimant (Western Agaw) nearly extinct, spoken by the Qemant in Semien Gondar Zone

(dialects Qwara – nearly extinct, spoken by Beta Israel formerly living in Qwara, now in Israel; Kayla – extinct, formerly spoken by some Beta Israel, transitional between Qimant and Xamtanga)

There is a rich literature in Agaw but it is widely dispersed: from fascinating mediaeval texts in the Qimant language, now mostly in Israeli museums, to the modern, flourishing and topical in the Bilen language, with its own newspaper, based in Keren, Eritrea. Much historical material is also available in the Xamtanga language, and there is a deep tradition of folklore in the Awngi language.

See also

• Agaw people

Bibliography

• Appleyard, David L. (2006) A Comparative Dictionary of the Agaw Languages (Kuschitische Sprachstudien – Cushitic Language Studies Band 24). Köln: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag.
• Hetzron, Robert (1976) The Agaw Languages. Afroasiatic Linguistics 3,3. p. 31–37
• Joswig, Andreas and Hussein Mohammed (2011). A Sociolinguistic Survey Report; Revisiting the Southern Agaw Language areas of Ethiopia. SIL International. SIL Electronic Survey Reports 2011-047.