Central Cushitic languages

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Central Cushitic Agaw
Geographic distribution:	Ethiopia and central Eritrea
Genetic classification:	Afro-Asiatic Cushitic Central Cushitic
Subdivisions:	Southern Central Cushitic Northern Agaw

The Central Cushitic, or Agaw, languages (also known as Abyssinian) are spoken by small groups in Ethiopia and, in one case, Eritrea. They form the main substratum influence on Amharic and other Ethiopian Semitic languages.

1 Classification
2 See also
3 Bibliography
4 External links

[edit] Classification

The Central Custhitic languages (Abyssinian) are classified as follows (after Appleyard):

Southern:

Awngi - spoken southwest of Lake Tana, much the largest, with over 350,000 speakers
Kunfal - (poorly recorded), spoken west of Lake Tana

Northern Agaw:

North-Central:

Northern:

Blin - spoken in Eritrea around the town of Keren (70,000 speakers)

Central:

Xamtanga (also called Khamir, Khamta) - 143,000 speakers in the North Amhara Region

Western:

Qemant - nearly extinct, spoken by the Qemant in the Qwara region
Qwara - nearly extinct, spoken by Beta Israel formerly of the Qwara region, now in Israel

Transitional between Western and Central?:

Kayla - extinct, formerly spoken by some Beta Israel

There is a rich literature in Abyssinian but it is widely dispersed: from fascinating mediaeval texts in the western (Qemant) dialect, now mostly in Israeli museums, to the modern, flourishing and topical northern (Bilen) dialect, with its own newspaper, based in Keren, Eritrea. Much historical material is also available in the eastern (Xamtanga) dialect and there is a deep tradition of folklore in the southern (Awngi) dialect.

[edit] See also

Agaw people

[edit] Bibliography

Appleyard, David L. (2006) A Comparative Dictionary of the Agaw Languages (Kuschitische Sprachstudien — Cushitic Language Studies Band 24). Köln: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag.