Kunama language
The Kunama language has been included in the proposed Nilo-Saharan language family, though it is distantly related to the other languages, if at all. Kunama is spoken by the Kunama people of the Gash-Barka Region in western Eritrea and just across the Ethiopian border. The language has several dialects including: Barka, Marda, Aimara, Odasa, Tika, Lakatakura, Sokodasa, Takazze-Selit and Tigray. Ilit and Bitama are not mutually intelligible and so may be considered distinct languages.
| Kunama | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Native to | Eritrea, Ethiopia |
| Region | western Eritrea, northern Ethiopia |
Native speakers | 190,000 all Kunama (2006–2007)[1] |
Nilo-Saharan?
| |
| Latin | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | kun |
| Glottolog | kuna1268 |
Map of the Kunama Languages
There have been some use of the Kunama language in publications. "The first Bible translation product in Kunama was the Gospel of Mark prepared by Andersson and published in 1906."[2]
See also
- Kunama word list (Wiktionary)
References
- Kunama at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
- Senai Woldeab Andemariam. 2020. The Polygon of the Bible Translation Efforts in Eritrea 1880–2012. ‘’Journal of Translation’’ 16.1:1-16.
Relevant literature
- Bender, M. Lionel. 1996. Kunama. Languages of the World/Materials 59. München: Lincom Europa.
- Bender, Marvin Lionel. 2001. English-Kunama lexicon. Afrikanistische Arbeitspapiere 65: 201-253.
- Idris, Nikodimos.1987. The Kunama and their language. Addis Ababa University BA thesis
- Thompson, E. D. 1983. "Kunama: phonology and noun phrase" in Bender, M. L. (ed.): Nilo-Saharan Language Studies. East Lansing: African Studies Center, Michigan State University. pp. 280–322.
- Thompson, E. David. 1989. "Kunama Verb Phrase" in Bender, M. Lionel (ed.): Topics in Nilo-Saharan Linguistics. Hamburg: Helmut Buske Verlag. pp. 305–346.
- Tucker, A. N. and Bryan, M. A. 1966. "Kunama" in Linguistic Analyses: the Non-Bantu Languages of North-Eastern Africa. London: Oxford University Press.
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