Kunama language

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Kunama
Baada, Baazayn, Diila
Native toEritrea, Ethiopia
Regionwestern Eritrea, northern Ethiopia
EthnicityKunama
Native speakers
180,000 (2022)[1]
Dialects
  • Barka (Berka)
  • Marda
  • Aymasa
  • Tika (Lakatakura-Tika)
  • Sokodasa
  • Takazze-Setit
  • Tigray
Latin
Official status
Recognised minority
language in
Language codes
ISO 639-3kun
Glottologkuna1268
Map of Kunama languages

The Kunama language is spoken by the Kunama people of the Gash-Barka Region in western Eritrea and just across the Ethiopian border. It is a member of the eponymous language family, which is included as part of the proposed wider Nilo-Saharan language family, though it is distantly related to the other languages, if at all. The language has several dialects including: Barka, Marda, Aimara, Odasa, Tika, Lakatakura, Sokodasa, Takazze-Setit and Tigray. Ilit and Bitama are not mutually intelligible and so may be considered distinct languages.

In 1985, the Eritrean People's Liberation Front decided to use the Latin script for all non-Semitic languages in Eritrea, including Kunama.[2] Kunama has been used in some publications, including in a translation of the Gospel of Mark first published in 1906.[3]

Phonology

Consonants

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Stop voiceless t tʃ k
voiced b d dʒ g
Fricative f s ʃ (h)
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Rhotic r
Lateral l
Approximant w j
  • /h/ is only of marginal status.
  • /k, ɡ/ are labialized as [kʷ, ɡʷ] after back vowels.
  • /k/ is heard as aspirated [kʰ] in syllable-initial position.

Vowels

Front Central Back
Close i iː (ɨ) u uː
Mid e eː (ə) o oː
Open a aː
  • /i, e/ can be heard as [ɨ, ə] when in unstressed syllable position.[4]

See also

References

  1. Kunama at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024) Closed access icon
  2. Paul D. Fallon (18 September 2006). "Blin Orthography: A History and an Assessment" (PDF). Retrieved 1 June 2014.
  3. Andemariam, Senai Woldeab (2020). "The Polygon of the Bible Translation Efforts in Eritrea 1880–2012". Journal of Translation. 16 (1): 1–16. doi:10.54395/jot-d389t.
  4. Getachew, Anteneh (2018). Segmental and Non-Segmental Phonology of Kūnámá. Addis Ababa University.

Relevant literature

  • Bender, M. Lionel (1996). Kunama. Languages of the World/Materials. Vol. 59. München: Lincom Europa. ISBN 978-3-89586-072-0.
  • Bender, Marvin Lionel (2001). "English-Kunama lexicon". Afrikanistische Arbeitspapiere. 65: 201–253.
  • Idris, Nikodimos (1987). The Kunama and their language (BA thesis). Addis Ababa University.
  • Thompson, E. D. (1983). "Kunama: phonology and noun phrase". In Bender, M. L. (ed.). Nilo-Saharan Language Studies. East Lansing: African Studies Center, Michigan State University. pp. 280–322.
  • Thompson, E. David (1989). "Kunama Verb Phrase". In Bender, M. Lionel (ed.). Topics in Nilo-Saharan Linguistics. Hamburg: Helmut Buske. pp. 305–346.
  • Tucker, A. N.; Bryan, M. A., eds. (1966). "Kunama". Linguistic Analyses: the Non-Bantu Languages of North-Eastern Africa. London: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315104645. ISBN 978-1-315-10464-5.