Ongota language

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ongota iifa ʕongota
Spoken in:	Ethiopia
Region:	Southern Omo Zone, Southern Region
Total speakers:	19 (2000)
Language family:	Unclassified, probably Afro-Asiatic
Language codes
ISO 639-1:	none
ISO 639-2:	`afa`
ISO/FDIS 639-3:	`bxe`
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. See IPA chart for English for an English-based pronunciation key.

Ongota (also known as Birale/Birayle) is a moribund language of southwest Ethiopia. In 2000, it was said to be in a state of decline with only 8 elderly native speakers, the rest of their small village on the west bank of the Weyt'o River having adopted the Ts'amakko language instead.[1] The grammar follows a Subject Object Verb word order. It is probably Afro-Asiatic, but has not been definitively classified. As of 2004, it is being studied by Aklilu Yilma of Addis Ababa University.

[edit] Bibliography

Fleming, Harold 2002. "Ongota Lexicon: English-Ongota". Mother Tongue, VII, pp. 39-65.
Fleming, Harold: Ongota: A Decisive Language in African Prehistory. - Wiesbaden : Harrassowitz, 2006. ISBN 3-447-05124-8
Mikesh, P. and Seelig, J.M. 1992. "Ongota or Birale: a moribund language of Gemu-Gofa (Ethiopia)". Journal of Afroasiatic Languages, 3,3:181-225.
Savà, Graziano and Mauro Tosco 2000. A sketch of Ongota, a dying language of southwest Ethiopia. Studies in African Linguistics 29.2.59-136.