Ongota language
Encyclopedia
Ongota is a moribund language of southwest Ethiopia
. In 2008, it was said to be in a state of decline with only 6 elderly native speakers, the rest of their small village on the west bank of the Weito River
having adopted the Tsamai language
instead. The grammar
follows a Subject Object Verb word order. It is probably Afroasiatic, but has not been definitively classified. As of 2004, it is being studied by Aklilu Yilma of Addis Ababa University
.
and Nilo-Saharan
languages that confuse its classification. Fleming (2006) considers it to be an independent branch of Afroasiatic. Savà and Tosco (2003) believe it to be an East Cushitic language with a Nilo-Saharan substratum
—that is, that Ongota speakers shifted to East Cushitic from an earlier Nilo-Saharan language, traces of which still remain.
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
. In 2008, it was said to be in a state of decline with only 6 elderly native speakers, the rest of their small village on the west bank of the Weito River
Weito River
The Weito River is a river in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region of Ethiopia...
having adopted the Tsamai language
Tsamai language
Tsamai is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Ethiopia. Tsamai is a member of the Dullay dialect continuum.- References :* Ethnologue information on...
instead. The grammar
Grammar
In linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules that govern the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology, syntax, and phonology, often complemented by phonetics, semantics,...
follows a Subject Object Verb word order. It is probably Afroasiatic, but has not been definitively classified. As of 2004, it is being studied by Aklilu Yilma of Addis Ababa University
Addis Ababa University
Addis Ababa University is a university in Ethiopia. It was originally named "University College of Addis Ababa" at its founding, then renamed for the former Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie I in 1962, receiving its current name in 1975.Although the university has six of its seven campuses within...
.
Classification
Ongota has features of both AfroasiaticAfro-Asiatic languages
The Afroasiatic languages , also known as Hamito-Semitic, constitute one of the world's largest language families, with about 375 living languages...
and Nilo-Saharan
Nilo-Saharan languages
The Nilo-Saharan languages are a proposed family of African languages spoken by some 50 million people, mainly in the upper parts of the Chari and Nile rivers , including historic Nubia, north of where the two tributaries of Nile meet...
languages that confuse its classification. Fleming (2006) considers it to be an independent branch of Afroasiatic. Savà and Tosco (2003) believe it to be an East Cushitic language with a Nilo-Saharan substratum
Substratum
In linguistics, a stratum or strate is a language that influences, or is influenced by another through contact. A substratum is a language which has lower power or prestige than another, while a superstratum is the language that has higher power or prestige. Both substratum and superstratum...
—that is, that Ongota speakers shifted to East Cushitic from an earlier Nilo-Saharan language, traces of which still remain.