Xamtanga language
Xamtanga | |
---|---|
Xamir | |
Pronunciation | ˈχamtaŋa |
Native to | Ethiopia |
Region | North Amhara Region |
Native speakers | 210,000 (2007 census)[1] |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | xan |
Glottolog | xamt1239 |
Xamtanga (also Agawinya, Khamtanga, Simt'anga, Xamir, Xamta) is a Central Cushitic language spoken in Ethiopia by the Xamir people.
Sound system
Vowels
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
High | i | ɨ | u |
Mid vowel | ə | ||
Low vowel | a |
The central vowels /ɨ ə a/ have fronted and backed allophones, depending on the adjacent consonant(s).
Consonants
Labial | Coronal | Postalveolar or palatal |
Velar | Uvular | Glottal | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Plain | Labialized | Plain | Labialized | ||||||
Plosives and affricates |
Voiceless | t | t͡ʃ | k | kʷ | q | qʷ | ||
Voiced | b | d | d͡ʒ | ɡ | ɡʷ | ||||
Ejective | tʼ | t͡ʃʼ | kʼ | kʷʼ | |||||
Fricatives | Voiceless | f | s | ʃ | χ | χʷ | h* | ||
Voiced | z | ||||||||
Ejective | sʼ | ||||||||
Nasals | m | n | ŋ | ŋʷ | |||||
Lateral | l | ||||||||
Tap | ɾ | ||||||||
Semivowels | j | w |
- /h/ is found only word-initial in loanwords, and may be glottal [h] or pharyngeal [ħ].
- /t/ is alveolar before the vowel /i/, dental otherwise.
- /q/ can be ejective [qʼ], and in some cases the ejectives appear to be in free variation with the voiceless plosives.
Phonological processes
Gemination
In positions other than word-initial, Xamtanga contrasts geminate and non-geminate consonants. With most consonants, the difference between a geminate and a non-geminate is simply one of length, but the cases of /b t q/ are more complex. When not word-initial, non-geminate /b/ is realized as a bilabial [β] or labiodental fricative [v], and /t/ and /q/ are realized as affricates: [tθ qχ]. Their geminate equivalents may be realized as prolonged [bː tː qː], or can simply be short [b t q].
In word-initial position, geminate consonants do not occur, and /b t q/ are realized as plosives.
Notes
Bibliography
- D.L. Appleyard (1987). "A Grammatical Sketch of Khamtanga—I". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. 50 (2): 241–266. doi:10.1017/S0041977X00049028.
- D.L. Appleyard (1987). "A Grammatical Sketch of Khamtanga—II". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. 50 (3): 470–507. doi:10.1017/S0041977X00039471.
- Appleyard, David L. (1988) "A Definite Article in Xamtanga", African Languages and Cultures 1/1, pp. 15–24.
- Appleyard, David L. (2006) A Comparative Dictionary of the Agaw Languages (Kuschitische Sprachstudien – Cushitic Language Studies Band 24). Köln: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag.
- Chloé Darmon, L'agäw xamtanga : une langue couchitique en contact avec l'amharique, In Pount. Cahiers d'études : Corne de l'Afrique - Arabie du Sud, 4, pp. 169–195, 2010