Ongota language
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ongota iifa ʕongota |
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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 639-3: | bxe | |
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. |
Ongota (also known as Birale [ISO 639-3], 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.