Xamtanga language
Xamtanga (also Agawinya, Khamtanga, Simt'anga, Xamir, Xamta) is a Central Cushitic language spoken in Ethiopia by the Xamir people.
| 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 |
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.
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