Kw'adza language
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| Kw'adza | |
|---|---|
| Spoken in | Tanzania |
| Region | Mbulu District |
| Extinct | late 20th c. |
| Language family | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | wka |
Kw'adza (Qwadza) is an extinct Afroasiatic language formerly spoken in Tanzania in the Mbulu District. The last speaker died sometime between 1976 and 1999.[1] It is poorly attested, and apart from perhaps being close to Aasax, its classification is not certain; although it has a large number of identifiably Cushitic roots, the numerals itame 'one' and be'a ~ mbɛa 'two', for example, suggest a connection with Hadza.
[edit] Phonology
The phonology is not certain, but the following has been suggested (Ehret 1980):
| m | n | ɲ | ŋ | |||
| b | d | ɡ | ɡʷ | |||
| p | t | k | kʷ | ʔ | ||
| tsʼ | tɬʼ | tʃʼ | kʼ | kʼʷ | ||
| f | s | ɬ | x | xʷ | h | |
| β̞ | dz | l | j |
/ɡ/ and /l/ have the allophones [dʒ] and [ɽ] before front vowels. /tʃʼ/ is 'mildly' ejective. Ehret reports that /kʼ/ and /kʼʷ/ are voiced [ɡ, ɡʷ] if a preceding consonant is voiced.
Vowels are /a e i o u/.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Raymond G. Gordon, Jr, ed. 2005. Ethnologue: Languages of the World. 15th edition. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics.
[edit] References
- Christopher Ehret, 1980. "Kw'adza vocabulary". ms.
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