| Berta | |
|---|---|
| Gebeto | |
| Spoken in | Sudan, Ethiopia |
| Region | Benishangul-Gumuz |
| Ethnicity | Berta people, Wetawit |
| Native speakers |
205,732 in Ethiopia,[1] 22,000 in Sudan [2] (date missing) |
| Language family |
Nilo-Saharan?
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | wti |
Berta, aka Wetawit, is spoken by the Berta (or Bertha) in Sudan and Ethiopia. It is a language isolate which has been also included as branch of the proposed Nilo-Saharan language family. It has the typical word order subject–verb–object. It is a tonal language. It has significantly influenced some of the Eastern Jebel languages. The Arabic name "Beni-Shangul" (as in the Ethiopian province of Benishangul-Gumuz) derives from a Berta expression (with bele "rock/stone" misanalyzed as Arabic beni "sons"). Berta has several dialects (some quite divergent) including: Bake, Dabuso, Gebeto, Mayu, and Shuru. Fadashi and Undu are divergent enough to be considered separate languages, in which case the dialect name Gebeto may be used for the rest of Berta.
The pronouns of Berta are as follows:
| Topic | Postverbal subject | Postverbal object | |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | àl(ì) | -lɪ́ɪ̀ | -ɟì |
| you (sg.) | (à)ŋɡó | -ŋó | -ŋɡó |
| he, she, it | ɲìnè | -né | ɲìnè, -né |
| we | χàtâŋ | -ŋàa | χàtâŋ |
| you (pl.) | χàtú | χátú | χàtú |
| they | mèrée | mérée | mèrée |
