From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ongota (also known as Birale [ISO 639-3], Birayle) is a moribund language of southwest Ethiopia. In 2008, it was said to be in a state of decline with only 6 elderly native speakers, the rest of their small village on the west bank of the Weito River having adopted the Tsamai language instead.[1] The grammar follows a Subject Object Verb word order. It is probably Afroasiatic, but has not been definitively classified. As of 2004, it is being studied by Aklilu Yilma of Addis Ababa University.
[edit] Classification
Ongota has features of both Afroasiatic and Nilo-Saharan languages that confuse its classification. Fleming (2006) considers it to be an independent branch of Afroasiatic. Savà and Tosco (2003) believe it to be an East Cushitic language with a Nilo-Saharan substratum—that is, that Ongota speakers shifted to East Cushitic from an earlier Nilo-Saharan language, traces of which still remain.
[edit] Bibliography
- Fleming, Harold, 2002. "Ongota Lexicon: English-Ongota". Mother Tongue, VII, pp. 39-65.
- Fleming, Harold, 2006. Ongota: A Decisive Language in African Prehistory. - Wiesbaden : Harrassowitz. ISBN 3-447-05124-8
- Mikesh, P. and Seelig, J.M. 1992. "Ongota or Birale: a moribund language of Gemu-Gofa (Ethiopia)". Journal of Afroasiatic Languages, 3,3:181-225.
- Savà, Graziano and Mauro Tosco 2000. A sketch of Ongota, a dying language of southwest Ethiopia. Studies in African Linguistics 29.2.59-136.
- Savà, Graziano and Mauro Tosco 2003. "The classification of Ongota". In Bender et al. eds, Selected comparative-historical Afrasian linguistic studies. LINCOM Europa.
[edit] External links
