Omotic languages

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Omotic
Geographic distribution:	Ethiopia
Genetic classification:	Afro-Asiatic ?  Omotic
Subdivisions:	North Omotic (Kaffa) South Omotic (Arii) ? Mao

The Omotic languages are spoken in southwestern Ethiopia. They are often regarded as belonging to the Afro-Asiatic languages. The Ge'ez alphabet is used to write some Omotic languages, the Roman alphabet for some others.

The Omotic languages are fairly agglutinative.^[1] Blench (2006) notes that Omotic shares honey-related vocabulary, but not cattle-related vocabulary, with the rest of Afro-Asiatic, suggesting that the split occurred before the advent of pastoralism.^{[citation needed]} There are a few scholars who hold to the former position that Omotic should still be classified as West Cushitic, such as Lamberti (1991) and Zaborksi (1986).

Many scholars, however, are beginning to doubt that the Omotic languages are part of Afro-Asiatic.^[2][3]

The Omotic languages should not be confused with the unrelated Omotik language, a nearly extinct Nilotic language of Tanzania with a similar name.

Contents 1 Language List 2 Classification 3 Notes 4 Sources cited 5 General Omotic bibliography 6 See also 7 External links

[edit] Language List

The Omotic Languages include:

Anfillo Ari Bambassi Basketto Bench Boro Chara

Dime Dizzi Dorze Gamo-Gofa Ganza Hammer-Banna Hozo

Kachama-Ganjule Kara Kefa Kore Male Melo Mocha

Nayi Oyda Shakacho Sheko Welaytta (Welamo) Yemsa Zayse-Zergulla

Lionel Bender (2000) classifies this group as follows:

• South Omotic/Aroid (Hamer, Banna, Aari, Dime, Karo)
• North Omotic/Non-Aroid
  • Mao (Bambassi (Bambeshi), Hozo, Sezo, Ganza)
  • Dizoid (Dizi, Dorsha, Sheko (Shako), Nayi (Nao))
  • Gonga-Gimojan
    • Gonga/Kefoid (Boro, Anfillo, Kafa, Shekkacho language (Mocha))
    • Gimojan
      • Yem/Janjero (Yemsa (Janjero), Fuga)
      • Ometo-Gimira
        • Gimira (Bench, She, Mer)
        • Chara
        • Ometo (Male; Basketo; Kachama, Ganjule, Koreete (Koyra), Gidichho, Zayse, Zergulla; Welayta (Ometo), Oyta (Oyda), Dorze, Melo, Gamo, Gofa, Dawro)

Apart from terminology, this differs from Harold Fleming's earlier (1976) classification in including the Mao languages, whose affiliation had originally been controversial, and in abolishing the "Gimojan" group. There are also differences in the subclassification of Ometo, which is not given here.

Hayward (2003) separate out the Mao languages and slightly rearranges the Gimojan languages:

• South Omotic: Hamar, Aari, Dime
• Mao: Mao of Begi, Mao of Bambeshi, Diddesa
• North Omotic
  • Dizoid: Dizi, Sheko, Nayi
  • Ta-Ne languages
    • Gonga: Kafa, Shakicho (Mocha), Shinasha, Anfillo
    • Gimojan
      • Yem (earlier known as 'Janjero')
      • Gimira: Bench, She
      • Ometo-C'ara: C’ara
        • North Ometo: Wolaitta, Gamo, Gofa, Dawro, Malo, Basketo, Oyda
        • East Ometo: Zayse, Zargulla, Harro and other lacustrine varities, Koorete
        • South Ometo: Maale

[edit] Classification

The Omotic languages were formerly classified as the West subgroup of the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family. However, as more data became available, Harold Fleming proposed that they constituted a separate subgroup of Afro-Asiatic, and this became the prevalent view. Whether the old Cushitic linguistic subgroup should have been split in two in this way was still controversial among a few linguists.

Other linguists such as the noted Chadicist Paul Newman, on the other hand, regard the differences between the Omotic languages and the other Afro-Asiatic languages as being so great as to cast doubt on their very inclusion in the phylum. In keeping with Newman's views is Rolf Theil (2006), who proposes that Omotic be treated instead as an entirely independent language family on the basis that no closer genetic relations have been demonstrated between Omotic and Afro-Asiatic than between Omotic and any other language family.^[2]

[edit] Notes

[edit] Sources cited

• Bender, M. Lionel. 2000. Comparative Morphology of the Omotic Languages. Munich: LINCOM.
• Fleming, Harold. 1976. Omotic overview. In The Non-Semitic Languages of Ethiopia, ed. by M. Lionel Bender, pp. 299-323. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University.

[edit] General Omotic bibliography

• Bender, M. L. 1975. Omotic: a new Afroasiatic language family. (University Museum Series, 3.) Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University.
• Blench, Roger. 2006. Archaeology, Language, and the African Past. AltaMira Press
• Hayward, Richard J., ed. 1990. Omotic Language Studies. London: School of Oriental and African Studies.
• Hayward, Richard J. 2003. Omotic: the "empty quarter" of Afroasiatic linguistics. In Research in Afroasiatic Grammar II: selected papers from the fifth conference on Afroasiatic languages, Paris 2000, ed. by Jacqueline Lecarme, pp. 241-261. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
• Lamberti, Marcello. 1991. Cushitic and its classification. Anthropos 86(4/6):552-561.
• Zaborski, Andrzej. 1986. Can Omotic be reclassified as West Cushitic? In Gideon Goldenberg, ed., Ethiopian Studies: Proceedings of the 6th International Conference, pp. 525-530. Rotterdam: Balkema.

[edit] See also

• Languages of Ethiopia

[edit] External links

• Is Omotic Afro-Asiatic? by Rolf Theil

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