Ethio-Semitic languages

{{Short description|Family of languages spoken in Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Sudan}}

{{Infobox language family

|name = Ethio-Semitic

|altname = Ethiosemitic, Ethiopian Semitic, Ethiopic, Abyssinian

|region = Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan{{Cite web|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/25/country/SD/| title=Languages of Sudan|publisher=Ethnologue| accessdate=24 February 2024}}

|familycolor = Afro-Asiatic

|fam2 = Semitic

|fam3 = West Semitic

|fam4 = South Semitic

| fam5 = Southwestern

|child1 = North Ethiopic{{Cite web|url=https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Classification-of-Ethiosemitic-languages-according-to-Hudson-2013_fig1_363263199|title=Classification of Ethio Semitic languages according to Hudson 2013|publisher=Research Gate|access-date=21 April 2025}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/363263199|title=Issues in mapping and classifying the Semitic languages of Ethiopia|publisher=Tekabe Legesse Felake|access-date=21 April 2025}}

|child2 = South Ethiopic

|glotto = ethi1244

|glottorefname = Ethiosemitic

}}

Ethio-Semitic (also Ethiopian Semitic, Ethiosemitic, Ethiopic or Abyssinian{{cite book|first=Igor Mikhailovich |last=Diakonov |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hHoOAAAAYAAJ&q=%22Abyssinian+languages%22 |title=Semito-Hamitic Languages: An Essay in Classification |via=Google Books |location=Moscow |publisher=Nauka, Central Department of Oriental Literature |date=1965 |oclc=576634823 |pages=12}}) is a family of languages spoken in Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Sudan.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/25/country/SD/| title=Languages of Sudan|publisher=Ethnologue| accessdate=24 February 2024}} They form the western branch of the South Semitic languages, itself a sub-branch of Semitic, part of the Afroasiatic language family.

With 57,500,000 total speakers as of 2019, including around 25,100,000 second language speakers, Amharic is the most widely spoken of the group, the most widely spoken language of Ethiopia and second-most widely spoken Semitic language in the world after Arabic.{{cite web|title=Amharic |work=Ethnologue |url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/amh/25 |publisher=Ethnologue}}{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/ethiopia/ |title=The world factbook |website=cia.gov|date=18 September 2023 }} Tigrinya has 7 million speakers and is the most widely spoken language in Eritrea.{{cite journal|last1=Woldemikael |first1=Tekle M. |title=Language, Education, and Public Policy in Eritrea |journal=African Studies Review |date=April 2003 |volume=46 |issue=1 |pages=117–136 |doi=10.2307/1514983 |jstor=1514983 |s2cid=143172927}}{{cite web |url=http://llacan.vjf.cnrs.fr/PDF/Publications/Senelle/DahlikBilan.pdf |title=Up todate Assessment of the results of the research on the Dahalik language (December 1996 - December 2005) |date=December 2005 |first=Marie-Claude |last=Simeone-Senelle |access-date=2019-06-12 |archive-date=2016-03-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304023215/http://llacan.vjf.cnrs.fr/PDF/Publications/Senelle/DahlikBilan.pdf |url-status=dead }} Tigre is the second-most spoken language in Eritrea, and has also a small population of speakers in Sudan. The Geʽez language has a literary history in its own Geʽez script going back to the first century AD. It is no longer spoken but remains the liturgical language of the Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Churches, as well as their respective Eastern Catholic counterparts.

Development

{{expandsection|forms of the South Semitic hypothesis, contact with Cushitic languages|date=April 2025}}

The unity of the Ethio-Semitic languages has been usually assumed. They, however, do not share many common innovations. A possibility was entertained by Marcel Cohen and Harold C. Fleming that they could represent two separate branches of Semitic that had independently migrated to Africa. Current research regardless outlines reasons to consider the Ethiopian Semitic languages a single group, and notes an absence of reasons for any alternative classification within Semitic.

  • Agent noun formation with a vowel pattern CaCāCi, e.g. √kʼtʼl 'to kill' → *kʼatʼāli 'killer';{{cite encyclopedia|first=Stefan|last=Weninger|chapter=Ethio-Semitic in General|encyclopedia=The Semitic Languages: an International Handbook|editor-first=Stefan|editor-last=Weninger|publisher=de Gruyter Mouton|year=2012|pages=1114–1123}}
  • An innovative verb for 'to exist', *hallawa;
  • An infinitive ending *-ot;
  • Shared semantic shifts in several Semitic roots, e.g.{{cite book|first=Leonid|last=Kogan|year=2015|title=Genealogical Classification of Semitic|chapter=Lexical isoglosses and the historical unity of Ethiopian Semitic|publisher=De Gruyter|isbn=978-1-61451-726-9}}
  • √blʕ 'to eat' < Proto-Semitic √blʕ 'to swallow' (replaces PS √ʔkl, which only survives in a derived noun *ʔVkl- 'cereal');
  • √lḫsʼ 'bark' < PS √lḫsʼ 'to draw off, peel' (PS √kʼlp survives only in Zay kʼəlfi);
  • √ngŝ 'to be king' < PS √ngɬ 'to push, press for work' (replaces PS *malik 'king', which only survives in a broken plural form *ʔamlāk, meaning 'god');
  • *ŝʼaħāy 'sun' < PS √ɬʼħw 'to shine' (replaces PS *ɬamš-);
  • Shared innovative vocabulary, such as √kʼyħ 'to be red', √mwkʼ 'to be warm', √nbr 'to sit', √ndd 'to burn', *ħamad- 'ashes', *marayt- 'earth'.

A unique "causative-reflexive" prefix *ʔasta-, combining two Proto-Semitic causative prefixes *ʔa-, *š- and the reflexive-passive marker *-t-, is productive in Ge'ez and has left occasional remnants in Tigre, Tigrinya and Amharic, but is not known as an independent prefix in the smaller languages. A similar but shorter innovative formation *ʔat- has arisen in the languages other than Ge'ez, and it is possible *ʔasta- was a Proto-Ethio-Semitic innovation that later lost productivity.

All Ethiopian Semitic languages have ejective consonants, and the more northern languages have broken plurals, which were formerly seen as evidence for their connection with the Modern South Arabian languages. Today these are however considered to be archaic features inherited from Proto-Semitic, which were lost in most or all of the Central Semitic languages such as Arabic, Aramaic and Hebrew.

South Semitic Urheimat

The linguistic homeland of the South Semitic languages was widely debated, with some sources, such as A. Murtonen (1967) and Lionel Bender (1997),{{Cite journal|last=Bender |first=L. |date=1997 |title=Upside Down Afrasian |journal=Afrikanistische Arbeitspapiere |volume=50 |pages=19–34}} suggesting an origin in Ethiopia, and others suggesting the southern portion of the Arabian Peninsula.{{Cite book |last=Hetzron |first=Robert |title=Ethiopian Semitic: Studies in Classification |publisher=Manchester University Press |year=1972 |isbn=9780719011238 |pages=122 |language=EN}}

More recently (2009), a study based on a Bayesian model suggested a South Arabian origin, with Semitic languages being introduced from southern Arabia some 2,800 years ago.{{cite journal|last1=Kitchen |first1=Andrew |first2=Christopher |last2=Ehret |first3=Shiferaw |last3=Assefa |first4=Connie J. |last4=Mulligan |date=29 April 2009 |title=Bayesian phylogenetic analysis of Semitic languages identifies an Early Bronze Age origin of Semitic in the Near East |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |volume=276 |number=1665 |pages=2703–2710 |pmid=19403539 |pmc=2839953 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2009.0408}} This statistical analysis could not estimate when or where the ancestor of all Semitic languages diverged from Afroasiatic, but it suggested that the divergence of East, Central, and South Semitic branches most likely occurred in the Levant. According to other scholars, Semitic originated from an offshoot of a still earlier language in North Africa, perhaps in the southeastern Sahara, and desertification forced its inhabitants to migrate in the fourth millennium BCE – some southeast into what is now Ethiopia, others northeast out of Africa into Canaan, Syria and the Mesopotamian valley.{{cite book |last1=Weitzman |first1=Steven |title=The Origin of the Jews: The Quest for Roots in a Rootless Age |date=2017 |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton |isbn=978-0-691-19165-2 |page=69 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c3SYDwAAQBAJ&dq=The+Origin+of+the+Jews:+The+Quest+for+Roots+in+a+Rootless+Age&pg=PA69 |access-date=11 January 2023}}

Subclassification

A primary division of Ethiopic into northern and southern branches was proposed by Cohen (1931) and Hetzron (1972) and garnered broad acceptance, but has not been followed as such in more recent studies. Rainer Voigt{{cite web |title=North vs. South Ethiopian Semitic |url=http://portal.svt.ntnu.no/sites/ices16/Proceedings/Volume%204/Rainer%20Voigt%20-%20North%20vs.%20South%20Ethiopian%20Semitic.pdf |last=Voigt |first=Rainer |website=portal.svt.ntnu.no |access-date=2019-06-12 |archive-date=2014-01-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140110231342/http://portal.svt.ntnu.no/sites/ices16/Proceedings/Volume%204/Rainer%20Voigt%20-%20North%20vs.%20South%20Ethiopian%20Semitic.pdf |url-status=dead}} argues that features traditionally used to define the Northern and Southern group are not exclusive to them but also found in some languages of the other group, while others do not cover the entire group. Bulakh and Kogan{{cite journal|first1=Maria|last1=Bulakh|first2=Leonid|last2=Kogan|title=The Genealogical Position of Tigre and the Problem of North Ethio-Semitic Unity|year=2012|journal=Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft|issue=160|pages=273–302}}{{cite journal|first1=Maria|last1=Bulakh|first2=Leonid|last2=Kogan|title=More on Genealogical Classification of Ethiopian Semitic|year=2014|journal=Babel und Bibel|issue=7}} agree on rejecting North Ethiopian Semitic, and point to several unique features particularly in Ge'ez and Tigre; they continue to support the broad Southern group, but not Hetzron's Transversal Southern grouping of Amharic–Argobba and Harari–East Gurage.

File:Semitic languages genealogy.jpg

{{tree list}}

  • Ethiopic
  • Geʽez (Classical Ethiopic)For its membership in North Ethiopic, see {{cite book|first=Wolf |last=Leslau |chapter=Ethiopic and South Arabian |title=Linguistics in South West Asia and North Africa |location=The Hague |date=1970 |pages=467}}, and {{cite book|first=Alice |last=Faber |chapter=Genetic Subgrouping of the Semitic Languages |title=The Semitic Languages |publisher=Routledge |date=2005 |pages=6–7}}.
  • Tigre–Dahalik?
  • Tigre
  • Dahalik
  • Tigrinya
  • South Ethiopic
  • Amharic–Argobba
  • Amharic – Amharic is the working language of the Federal Government of Ethiopia.{{cite web |title=Ethiopia to Add 4 More Official Languages to Foster Unity |url=http://venturesafrica.com/ethiopia-to-add-4-more-official-languages-to-foster-unity/ |website=Ventures Africa |date=4 March 2020 |publisher=Ventures |access-date=2 February 2021 |last1=Emi |first1=Ishioma }}{{cite web|title=Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia – Article 5 |url=http://www.wipo.int/edocs/lexdocs/laws/en/et/et007en.pdf |publisher=Federal Government of Ethiopia |access-date=31 January 2018}}
  • Argobba
  • Harari–East Gurage
  • Harari
  • East Gurage
  • Silt'e (Silt'e; dialects Ulbare, Wolane, Inneqor)
  • Zway (Zay)
  • Outer South Ethiopic
  • n-group:
  • Gafat – extinct
  • Soddo (Kistane)
  • tt-group:
  • Mesmes – extinct (sometimes considered Inor)
  • Muher
  • West Gurage
  • Mesqan (Masqan)
  • Sebat Bet
  • Sebat Bet Gurage (dialects Chaha, Ezha, Gumer, Gura)
  • Inor (dialects Ennemor [Inor proper], Endegegn, Gyeto)

{{tree list/end}}

= Hudson (2013) =

Hudson (2013) recognises five primary branches of Ethiosemitic. His final classification is below.{{sfn|Hudson|2013|pp=289}}

{{tree list}}

  • Ethiosemitic
  • North
  • Geʽez
  • Dahalik–Tigre–Tigrinya
  • Dahalik–Tigre
  • Dahalik{{efn|Although Dahalik is not included on the main tree chart on page 289, Hudson notes on page 9 that other linguists have demonstrated a close relationship between it and Tigre and tentatively classifies it as having split from Tigre when examining Hetzron (1972)'s classification on page 45.{{sfn|Hudson|2013|pp=9}}{{sfn|Hudson|2013|pp=45}}}}
  • Tigre
  • Tigrinya
  • Gafat (†)
  • Soddo–Mesqan–Gurage
  • Soddo{{sfn|Hudson|2013|pp=35}}
  • Dobbi
  • Galila
  • Gogot
  • Mesqan–Gurage
  • Mesqan{{sfn|Hudson|2013|pp=35}}
  • Urib
  • Gurage
  • Muher
  • Chaha–Inor
  • Chaha{{sfn|Hudson|2013|pp=35}}
  • Ezma
  • Gumer
  • Gura
  • Inor{{sfn|Hudson|2013|pp=35}}
  • Ener
  • Gyeta
  • Indeganya
  • Meger
  • Mesmes
  • Siltʼe–Zay–Harari
  • Harari
  • Siltʼe–Zay
  • Siltʼe{{sfn|Hudson|2013|pp=35}}
  • Inneqor
  • Ulbareg
  • Wolane
  • Zay
  • Argobba–Amharic
  • Argobba
  • Amharic

{{tree list/end}}

Notes

{{Notelist}}

References

{{Reflist}}

Bibliography

  • {{cite book |last=Cohen |first=Marcel |date=1931 |title=Études d'éthiopien méridional |language=fr |trans-title=Southern Ethiopian Studies |location=Paris}}
  • {{cite book |last=Hetzron |first=Robert |date=1972 |title=Ethiopian Semitic: studies in classification |location=Manchester |publisher=Manchester University Press}}
  • {{cite book |last=Weninger |first=Stefan |chapter=Vom Altäthiopischen zu den neuäthiopischen Sprachen |language=de |trans-chapter=From Old Ethiopian to the New Ethiopian Languages |title=Language Typology and Language Universals |editor1-first=Martin |editor1-last=Haspelmath |editor2-first=Ekkehard |editor2-last=König |editor3-first=Wulf |editor3-last=Oesterreicher |editor4-first=Wolfgang |editor4-last=Raible |volume=2 |pages=1762–1774 |location=Berlin |publisher=Walter de Gruyter}}
  • {{cite book|first=Grover |last=Hudson |date=2013 |title=Northeast African Semitic: Lexical Comparisons and Analysis |location=Wiesbaden |publisher=Harrassowitz |isbn=9783447069830 |page=289}}

{{Languages of Ethiopia}}

{{Languages of Eritrea}}

{{Semitic languages |expanded=Western South}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Semitic languages

Category:Western South Semitic languages

Category:Languages of Ethiopia

Category:Languages of Eritrea

Category:Subject–verb–object languages