Ethiopian language area

The Ethiopian language area is a hypothesized linguistic area that was first proposed by Charles A. Ferguson (1970, 1976), who posited a number of phonological and morphosyntactic features that were found widely across Ethiopia, which then included Eritrea, including the Ethio-Semitic, Cushitic and Omotic languages but not the Nilo-Saharan languages.

Others scholars have since pointed out smaller areas of shared features within the larger area (Appleyard 1989, Breeze 1988, Sasse 1986, Tosco 1994, Wedekind 1989).

One of area's most notable features seems to be the use of the verb "say" as an inflected dummy element for an uninflected lexical base (Appleyard 2001, Cohen et al. 2002). Hayward also pointed out patterns of lexicalisation as evidence of a shared linguistic unity across the area (1999, 2000), and Treis noted further examples (2010).

Though Tosco earlier accepted that the area's status had "long been well established" (1994:415), he later challenged Ferguson's work as flawed (2000). He concludes that the Ethiopian language area is not valid and suggests that Ferguson's work reflects the politics of his time, when there was a strong emphasis on Ethiopian unity, as reflected in Donald N. Levine's book Greater Ethiopia: The Evolution of a Multiethnic Society.[1]

Baye Yiman has shown evidence of pragmatic similarities among languages of the Ethiopian language area (1997).

Güldemann has proposed that the use of a generic auxiliary is an area feature that includes Ethiopia but also other languages to its west and northwest.[2] Similarly, Cohen, Simeone-Senelle, and Vanhove have examined the grammaticalised use of "say" and "do" as an area feature of what the scholars call "East Africa".[3]

Wu Tong has examined prenominal relative clauses as an areal feature in the Ethiopian language area.[4]

Tolemariam Fufa Teso has done a broad comparative study of verbal derivation across the area.[5]

The existence of the area is still debated.