Chaha (in Chaha and Amharic: ቸሃ čehā or čexā) is a Semitic language spoken in central Ethiopia, mainly within the Gurage Zone in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region and by speakers of the language who have settled in Ethiopian cities, especially Addis Ababa. Chaha is known to many phonologists and morphologists for its very complex morphophonology. Current distribution of Human Language Families A language family is a group of related languages said to have descended from a common proto-language. ... The Afro-Asiatic languages constitute a language family with about 375 languages (SIL estimate) and more than 300 million speakers spread throughout North Africa, East Africa, the Sahel, and Southwest Asia (including some 200 million speakers of Arabic). ... 14th century BCE diplomatic letter in Akkadian, found in Tell Amarna. ... The Semitic languages are the northeastern subfamily of the Afro-Asiatic languages, and the only family of this group spoken in Asia. ... Ethiopian Semitic languages (sometimes Ethiopic) is a language group which together with Old South Arabian forms the Western branch of the South Semitic languages. ... ... ISO 639-1 is the first part of the ISO 639 international-standard language-code family. ... ISO 639-2 is the second part of the ISO 639 standard, which lists codes for the representation of the names of languages. ... ISO 639-3 is in process of development as an international standard for language codes. ... Articles with similar titles include the NATO phonetic alphabet, which has also informally been called the “International Phonetic Alphabet”. For information on how to read IPA transcriptions of English words, see IPA chart for English. ... Phonetics (from the Greek word φωνή, phone meaning sound, voice) is the study of the sounds of human speech. ... Unicode is an industry standard designed to allow text and symbols from all of the writing systems of the world to be consistently represented and manipulated by computers. ... Note: This article contains special characters. ... 14th century BCE diplomatic letter in Akkadian, found in Tell Amarna. ... Gurage is a Zone in the Ethiopian Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNPR). ... Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region is one of the nine ethnic divisions (kililoch) of Ethiopia. ... For the long-distance runner, see Addis Abebe. ... Phonology (Greek phonÄ“ = voice/sound and logos = word/speech), is a subfield of linguistics which studies the sound system of a specific language (or languages). ... For other uses, see Morphology. ... Morphophonology (also morphophonemics, morphonology) is a branch of linguistics which studies: The phonological structure of morphemes. ...

Speakers

According to Ethnologue, the dialects of SBG (Sebat Bet Gurage) are Chaha (čäxa), Ezha (äža), Gumer, Gura, Gyeto (or Gyeta, gʸäta), and Muher (mʷäxǝr). However, some of these are sometimes considered languages in their own right. In particular, Muher diverges so much from the other dialects that it is not necessarily even treated as a member of the Western Gurage group to which SBG belongs.^[1] This article focuses on the Chaha dialect, which has been studied more than the others. Unless otherwise indicated, all examples are Chaha.

Sounds and orthography

Consonants and vowels

SBG has a fairly typical set of phonemes for an Ethiopian Semitic language. There is the usual set of ejective consonants as well as plain voiceless and voiced consonants. However, the language also has a larger set of palatalized and labialized consonants than most other Ethiopian Semitic languages. Besides the typical seven vowels of these languages, SBG has open-mid front (ɛ) and back vowels (ɔ). Some of the dialects have both short and long vowel phonemes, and some have nasalized vowels. Ethiopic languages is a language group which belongs to the Western branch of the Southern Semitic languages. ... Ejective consonants are a class of consonants which may contrast with aspirated or tenuis consonants in a language. ... Palatalization means pronouncing a sound nearer to the hard palate, making it more like a palatal consonant; this is towards the front of the mouth for a velar or uvular consonant, but towards the back of the mouth for a front (e. ... Labialisation is a secondary articulatory feature of phonemes in a language, most usually used to refer to consonants. ... The open-mid vowels make a class of vowel sounds used in some spoken languages. ...

The charts below show the phones of the Chaha dialect; exactly how many phonemes there are is a matter of controversy because of the complexity of SBG morphophonology.^[2] For the representation of SBG sounds, this article uses a modification of a system that is common (though not universal) among linguists who work on Ethiopian Semitic languages, but it differs somewhat from the conventions of the International Phonetic Alphabet. When the IPA symbol is different, it is indicated in brackets in the charts. Morphophonology (also morphophonemics, morphonology) is a branch of linguistics which studies: The phonological structure of morphemes. ... Ethiopic languages is a language group which belongs to the Western branch of the Southern Semitic languages. ... Articles with similar titles include the NATO phonetic alphabet, which has also informally been called the “International Phonetic Alphabet”. For information on how to read IPA transcriptions of English words, see IPA chart for English. ...

In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a sound in spoken language that is characterized by a closure or stricture of the vocal tract sufficient to cause audible turbulence. ... Labials are consonants articulated either with both lips (bilabial articulation) or with the lower lip and the upper teeth (labiodental articulation). ... Dentals are consonants such as t, d, n, and l articulated with either the lower or the upper teeth, or both, rather than with the gum ridge as in English. ... Postalveolar (or palato-alveolar) consonants are consonants articulated with the tip of the tongue between the alveolar ridge (the place of articulation for alveolar consonants) and the palate (the place of articulation for palatal consonants). ... Palatal consonants are consonants articulated with the body of the tongue raised against the hard palate (the middle part of the roof of the mouth). ... Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue (the dorsum) against the soft palate (the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum). ... Glottal consonants are consonants articulated with the glottis. ... Labialisation is secondary articulatory feature of sounds in a language, most usually used to refer to consonants. ... Labialisation is secondary articulatory feature of sounds in a language, most usually used to refer to consonants. ... A stop, plosive, or occlusive is a consonant sound produced by stopping the airflow in the vocal tract. ... In phonetics, a voiceless consonant is a consonant that does not have voicing. ... A voiced consonant is a sound made as the vocal cords vibrate, as opposed to a voiceless consonant, where the vocal cords are relaxed. ... Ejective consonants are a class of consonants which may contrast with aspirated or unaspirated consonants in a language. ... Affricate consonants begin as stops (most often an alveolar, such as or ) but release as a fricative (such as or or, in a couple of languages, into a fricative trill) rather than directly into the following vowel. ... In phonetics, a voiceless consonant is a consonant that does not have voicing. ... A voiced consonant is a sound made as the vocal cords vibrate, as opposed to a voiceless consonant, where the vocal cords are relaxed. ... Ejective consonants are a class of consonants which may contrast with aspirated or unaspirated consonants in a language. ... Fricatives (or spirants) are consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. ... In phonetics, a voiceless consonant is a consonant that does not have voicing. ... A voiced consonant is a sound made as the vocal cords vibrate, as opposed to a voiceless consonant, where the vocal cords are relaxed. ... A nasal consonant is produced when the velum—that fleshy part of the palate near the back—is lowered, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. ... Approximants are speech sounds that could be regarded as intermediate between vowels and typical consonants. ... In phonetics, a flap or tap is a type of consonantal sound, which is produced with a single contraction of the muscles so that one articulator (such as the tongue) is thrown against another. ... Note: This page contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ...

Morphophonology

In addition to the complexity in verb morphology characteristic of all Semitic languages, SBG exhibits another level of complexity because of the intricate relationship between the set of consonants in the root of a verb and how they are realized in a particular form of that verb or a noun derived from that verb. For example, the verb meaning 'open' has a root consisting of the consonants {kft} (as it does in most other Ethiopian Semitic languages). In some forms we see all of these consonants. For example, the third person singular masculine perfective Chaha form meaning 'he opened' is käfätä-m. However, when the impersonal of this same verb is used, meaning roughly 'he was opened', two of the stem consonants are changed: käfʷäč-i-m. Morphophonology (also morphophonemics, morphonology) is a branch of linguistics which studies: The phonological structure of morphemes. ... The Semitic languages are the northeastern subfamily of the Afro-Asiatic languages, and the only family of this group spoken in Asia. ... In the terminology used to discuss the grammar of the Semitic languages, a triliteral is a root containing a sequence of three consonants. ...

At least three different phonological processes play a role in SBG morphophonology.

Devoicing and "gemination"

In most Ethiopian Semitic languages, gemination, that is, consonant lengthening, plays a role in distinguishing words from one another and in the grammar of verbs. For example, in Amharic, the second consonant of a three-consonant verb root is doubled in the perfective: {sdb} 'insult', säddäbä 'he insulted'. In Chaha and some other SBG dialects (but not Ezha or Muher), gemination is replaced by devoicing. For example, the verb root meaning 'insult' is the same in SBG as in Amharic (with b replaced by β), but in the perfective the second consonant becomes t in the non-geminating dialects: sätäβä-m 'he insulted'. Listen to this article · (info) This audio file was created from the revision dated 2005-07-20, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. ... Note: This article contains special characters. ...

Only voiced consonants can be devoiced: b/β → p, d → t, g → k, bʷ → pʷ, ǧ → č, gʸ → kʸ, gʷ → kʷ, z → s, ž → š.

The "devoiced/geminated" form of r is n. Other voiced consonants are not devoiced.

Labialization

Several morphological processes cause consonants to be labialized (rounded). For example, from the three-consonant verb root {gkr} 'be straight', there is the derived adjective gʷǝkʷǝr 'straight'. Labialisation is a secondary articulatory feature of phonemes in a language, most usually used to refer to consonants. ...

Labial and velar consonants can be labialized: p → pʷ, b → bʷ, β → w, f → fʷ, k → kʷ, ḳ → ḳʷ, g → gʷ, x → xʷ.

Palatalization, depalatalization

Several morphological processes cause consonants to be palatalized. For example, the second-person feminine singular form of verbs in the imperfective and jussive/imperative palatalizes one of the root consonants (if one is palatalizable): {kft} 'open', tǝ-käft 'you (m.) open', tǝ-käfč 'you (f.) open'. Palatalization means pronouncing a sound nearer to the hard palate, making it more like a palatal consonant; this is towards the front of the mouth for a velar or uvular consonant, but towards the back of the mouth for a front (e. ...

Dental and velar consonants can be palatalized: t → č, ṭ → č̣, d → ǧ, s → š, z → ž, k → kʸ, ḳ → ḳʸ, g → gʸ, x → xʸ.

r palatalizes to y.

In one morphological environment the reverse process takes place. In the imperative/jussive form of one class of verbs, the first consonant in the root is depalatalized if this is possible. For example, the verb meaning 'return' (transitive) has the stem consonants {žpr} in other forms, for example, žäpärä-m 'he returned', but the ž is depalatalized to z in the imperative zäpǝr 'return! (m.)'.

Allophones

The relationship among n, r, and l is complex. At least within verb stems, [n] and [r] may be treated as allophones of a single phoneme. The consonant is realized as [n] at the beginning of the word, when this is a "gemination" environment, and when it ends the penultimate syllable of the word. [n] appears otherwise. In phonetics, an allophone is one of several similar phones that belong to the same phoneme. ...

• nämädä-m 'he liked', tä-rämädä-m 'he was liked'
• yǝ-βära 'he eats', bäna-m 'he ate' ("geminated")
• sǝräpätä-m 'he spent some time', wä-sämbǝt 'to spend some time' (the n becomes m because of the following b)

Banksira also argues that k is an allophone of x and b an allophone of β.^[3]

Orthography

SBG is written in the Ge'ez, or Ethiopic, writing system, originally developed for the now-extinct Ge'ez language and familiar today in its use for Amharic and Tigrinya. Although there are still relatively few texts in the language, three novels have appeared in the Chaha dialect (by Sahlä Sǝllase and Gäbräyäsus Haylämaryam). To represent the palatalized consonants not found in Ge'ez, Amharic, or Tigrinya, new sets of characters were introduced to the script. The Geez language (or Giiz language) is an ancient language that developed in the Ethiopian Highlands of the Horn of Africa as the language of the peasantry. ... Note: This article contains special characters. ... Note: This article contains special characters. ... Tigrinya (Geez ትግርኛ tigriññā, also spelled Tigrigna) is a Semitic language spoken by the Tigray-Tigrinya people in central Eritrea (there referred to as the Tigrinya people), where it is one of the main working languages (Eritrea does not have official languages), and in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia (whose...

See also

• Inor – Another Western Gurage language.
• Soddo - A Northern Gurage language.
• Zay and Silt'e -- Eastern Gurage languages.
• Gurage

Inor ([ino:r]), sometimes called Ennemor, is a Semitic language spoken in central Ethiopia, mainly within the Gurage zone in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region, and by speakers of the language who have settled in Ethiopian cities, especially Addis Ababa. ... Soddo (autonym kəstane Christian; formerly called Aymälläl in Western sources, after a particular dialect of it) is a Gurage language spoken by about 300,000 people in southeastern Ethiopia. ... The Zay language is one of the Ethiopic languages. ... The Silte language (Selti, Silti; ISO/DIS 639-3: xst) is an South Semitic (East Gurage) language of Ethiopia, with some 830,000 speakers (1998 census), spoken in the region about 150 km south of Addis Abeba. ... The Gurage are an ethnic group in Ethiopia. ...

References

• ^ Banksira, D. P. (2000). Sound Mutations: the Morphophonology of Chaha. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. ISBN 90-272-2564-8.[4]
• Cohen, Marcel (1931). Études d'éthiopien méridional. Société Asiatique, Collection d'ouvrages orientaux. Paris: Geuthner.
• Goldenberg, G. (1974). "L'étude du gouragué et la comparaison chamito-sémitique", in: Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Roma - Problemi attuali di Scienza e di Cultura, Quaderno N. 191 II, pp. 235-249 [=Studies in Semitic Linguistics: Selected Writings by Gideon Goldenberg, Jerusalem: The Magnes Press 1998, pp. 463-477].
• Goldenberg, G. (1977). "The Semitic Languages of Ethiopia and Their Classification", in: Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 40, pp. 461-507 [=Selected Writings, pp. 286-332].
• Goldenberg, G. (1987). "Linguistic Interest in Gurage and the Gurage Etymological Dictionary". Review article of W. Leslau, Etymological Dictionary of Gurage (see below). in: Annali, Istituto Universitario Orientale di Napoli 47, pp. 75-98 [=Selected Writings, pp. 439-462].
• ^ Hetzron, R. (1972). Ethiopian Semitic: studies in classification. Manchester: Manchester University Press. ISBN 0-7190-1123-X.
• Hetzron, R. (1977). The Gunnän-Gurage Languages. Napoli: Istituto Orientale di Napoli.
• Hudson, G. (ed.) (1996). Essays on Gurage Language and Culture. Dedicated to Wolf Leslau on the occasion of his 90th birthday. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. ISBN 3-447-03830-6. [5]
• Leslau, W. (1950). Ethiopic Documents: Gurage. Viking Fund Publications in Anthropology, No. 14. New York: The Viking Fund.
• Leslau, W. (1965). Ethiopians Speak: Studies in Cultural Background. Berkeley: University of California Press.
• Leslau, W. (1979). Etymological Dictionary of Gurage (Ethiopic). 3 vols. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz. ISBN 3-447-02041-5
• Leslau, W. (1981). Ethiopians Speak: Studies in Cultural Background. Part IV : Muher. Äthiopistische Forschungen, Band 11. Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag. ISBN 3-515-03657-1.
• Leslau, W. (1983). Ethiopians Speak: Studies in Cultural Background. Part V : Chaha - Ennemor. Äthiopistische Forschungen, Band 16. Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag. ISBN 3-515-03965-1
• Leslau, W. (1992). Gurage Studies: Collected Articles. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz. ISBN 3-447-03189-1. [6]
• Polotsky, H.J. (1938). "Études de grammaire gouragué", in: Bulletin de la Société de Linguistique de Paris 39, pp. 137-175 [=Collected Papers by H.J. Polotsky, Jerusalem: The Magnes Press 1971, pp. 477-515].
• Polotsky, H.J. (1939). "L labialisé en gouragué mouher", in: GLECS 3, pp. 66-68 [=Collected Papers, pp. 516-518].
• Polotsky, H.J. (1951). Notes on Gurage grammar. Notes and Studies published by the Israel Oriental Society, No. 2 [=Collected Papers, pp. 519-573].
• Shack, W.A. and Habte-Mariam Marcos (1974). Gods and heroes, Oral Traditions of the Gurage of Ethiopia. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-815142-X.

Robert Hetzron (1937 – 1997) was a linguist who specialized in Afroasiatic languages and whose work embraced comparative studies, semantic analysis and theoretical aspects of grammar. ... Wolf Leslau (November 14, 1906 - November 18, 2006) was a scholar of Semitic languages and one of the foremost authorities on Semitic languages of Ethiopia. ...

External links

• Ethnologue report for Sebat Bet Gurage
• "The Jesus Film" in West Gurage
• "Words of Life" -- recordings in Chaha at the Recordings Network website
• The Gurage and Silte Research Group
• The homepage of Sharon Rose at the University of California, San Diego Linguistics Department
• BeteGuraghe.org