Social:Mao languages

From HandWiki
Mao
Blue Nile Mao
Geographic
distribution
Ethiopia
Linguistic classificationAfro-Asiatic
Glottologmaoo1243[1]

The Mao languages are a branch of the Omotic languages spoken in Ethiopia. The group had the following categories:

  • Bambasi, spoken in the Bambasi woreda of Benishangul-Gumuz Region,
  • Hozo and Seze (often described together as 'Begi Mao'), spoken around Begi in the Mirab (West) Welega Zone of the Oromia Region, and
  • Ganza, which is spoken south of Bambasi in the Asosa Zone of Benishangul-Gumuz Region and west of the Hozo and Seze languages.

It is estimated that there are 5,000 speakers of Bambasi, 3,000 speakers each of Hozo and Seze and a few hundred Ganza speakers (Bender, 2000). During recent political upheavals, a few thousand Bambassi speakers established themselves in the valley of the Didessa River and Belo Jegonfoy woreda. Much of the Mirab Welega Zone was once the home of Mao languages, but they have lost speakers because of the increasing influence of Oromo.

Contact

Mao languages are in close contact with Koman languages. Some Koman-speaking groups in Ethiopia consider themselves to be ethnically Mao.[2]

Numerals

Comparison of numerals in individual languages:[3]

Language 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Ganza (Gwàmì Nánà) (1) ʔìʃì kwéʔèn mámꜜbú tʼíꜜzí máꜜs’í k’wísʼí ʔìʃkìbínꜜ mámpʰìn wòbóꜜ ʃèléꜜ kónsó-báꜜ (litː 'hand-pair')
Ganza (Gwàmì Nánà) (2) ʔìʃì kwéʔèn mámꜜbú tʼíꜜzí máꜜs’í k’wísʼí ʔìʃkìbínꜜ mámpʰìn wòbóꜜ ʃèléꜜ kónsó-báꜜ (litː hand-pair)
Ganza (3) ʔíʃkúwéén mámbùʔ tíízìʔ más’s’ìʔ k’wíssíʔ ʔíʃkípín mámpín wóp’ò ʃéléʔ kónsóbààʔ
Hozo (1) ʔónnà dòmbó sìjázì bétsʼì kwítsʼì (lit: 'hand') kwítsʼì ʔòttá ʔónnà (5 + 1) kwítsʼì ʔòttá dòmbó (5 + 2) kwítsʼì ʔòttá sìjázì (5 + 3) kwítsʼì ʔòttá bétsʼì (5 + 4) pʼóʃì
Hozo (2) ʊnːa / onna dʊmbo / dombo sìɑːsi /siyazi bɛtsíː / betsʼi kʷɪtsí / kʼwitsi (lit: 'hand', kutsi) kɛniː / ota-onna (5 + 1) ʔɔːta / ota-dombo (5 + 2) ʔɔ̀ːtá / ota-siyazi (5 + 3) ʔɔ̀ːtì / ota-beːtsi (5 + 4) pʼɔ́ːʃi / poːši
Northern Mao hishkì numbo teezè mesʼe kʼwíssí kyaansè kúlùmbò (litː hand-two ?) kúteezé (litː hand-three?) kúsmésʼe (litː hand-four ?) kúúsú
Sezi (Seze / Sezo) (1) ʔìʃílè nòmbé sììzé besʼsʼé kʼwíssé (lit: 'hand', kusɛ) kʼwíssé ʔòòt ʔìʃílè (litː 5 remaining 1) kʼwíssé ʔòòt nòmbé (litː 5 remain. 2) kʼwíssé ʔòòt sììzé (litː 5 remaining 3) kʼwíssé ʔòòt besʼsʼé (litː 5 remain. 4) kúúsé
Seze (Sezo) (2) ɪ̀ʃìlɛ / ɪšilɛ nɔ̀mbɛ́ / noːmbɛ sìːzí /siːzɛ bɛ̀sʼɛ́ / bɛtsʼɛ kʼúsɛ́ / kʼʊsse (lit: 'hand', kusɛ) dʒɑ;j / ot-šilɛ ʔɔːt nɔ̀mbɛ́ / ot-nombɛ ʔɔ̀ːt síːzí / ota-siːzɛ ʔɔ̀ːt bèːtsʼé / ota-bɛːsʼɛ ̞kʊ́ːsɛ̀ / kʊːsɛ

See also

  • Mao word lists (Wiktionary)

Further reading

References

  1. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds (2017). "Blue Nile Mao". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History. http://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/maoo1243. 
  2. Küspert, Klaus-Christian (2015). "The Mao and Komo Languages in the Begi–Tongo area in Western Ethiopia: Classification, Designations, Distribution". Linguistic Discovery 13 (1). doi:10.1349/PS1.1537-0852.A.447. https://journals.dartmouth.edu/cgi-bin/WebObjects/Journals.woa/1/xmlpage/1/article/447. 
  3. Chan, Eugene (2019). "The Afro-Asiatic Language Phylum". Numeral Systems of the World's Languages. https://lingweb.eva.mpg.de/channumerals/Afro-Asiatic.htm.