Meʼen language

Meʼen (also Mekan, Mieʼen, Mieken, Meqan, Men) is a Nilo-Saharan language (Eastern Sudanic, Surmic, Southeast Surmic[2]) spoken in Ethiopia by the Meʼen people. In recent years, it has been written with the Geʽez alphabet, but in 2007 a decision was made to use the Latin alphabet. Dialects include Bodi (Podi) and Tishena (Teshina, Teshenna).

Meʼen
Mɛʼɛn
Native toEthiopia
RegionEastern Africa
EthnicityMe'en people
Native speakers
150,000 (2007 census)[1]
Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3mym
Glottologmeen1242

Meʼen and Kwegu are unique among Surmic languages in that they have ejective consonants.

Reliable descriptions of some parts of the language have been produced by Hans-Georg Will, often contradicting Carlo Conti Rossini's work, the editing of the extensive language notes of a non-linguist.

Phonology

Consonants are,[3]

Bilabial Dental Palatal Velar Glottal
Stop p~f, b t, d tʃ, dʒ k, ɡ (ʔ)
ɓ tʼ, ɗ tʃʼ kʼ
Fricative s, z ʃ h
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Liquid ɺ, r
Glide w j

Notes
  1. Ethiopia 2007 Census Archived 2010-11-14 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Peter Unseth. 1988. The Validity and Unity of the Southeast Surma Language Grouping. Northeast African Studies 10.2/3:151-163
  3. Will, Hans-Georg (1993) Meʼen phonology

References
  • Conti Rossini, Carlo. (1913). "I Mekan o Suro nell'Etiopia meridionale e il loro linguaggio." Rendiconti della Reale Accademia dei Lincei XXII (7-10): 397-463.
  • Diehl, Achim and Hans-Georg Will. (2007). "Meˀen language." In Siegbert Uhlig (ed.), Encyclopaedia Aethiopica 3, 907-909. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag.
  • Eba Teresa Garoma and Amanuel Raga Yadate. 2015. Sketch [of] Morphology and Syntax of Meʼenit. International Journal Advances in Social Science and Humanities Vol.3, Issue 7, pp. 30–50.
  • Will, Hans-Georg. 1989. "Sketch of Meʼen grammar." In M. Lionel Bender (ed.), Topics in Nilo-Saharan linguistics 129-50. Nilo-Saharan, 3. Hamburg: Helmut Buske.
  • Will, Hans-Georg. 1998. "The Meʼen verb system: Does Meʼen have tenses?." In Gerrit J. Dimmendaal and Marco Last (eds.), Surmic languages and cultures, 437-58. Nilo-Saharan, 13. Cologne: R. Köppe


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