Kafa language

Kafa
Kafi noono
Native toEthiopia
RegionKeffa Zone
EthnicityKafficho
Native speakers
830,000 (2007 census)[1]
Dialects
Language codes
ISO 639-3kbr
Glottologkafa1242

Kafa or Kefa (Kafi noono) is a North Omotic language spoken in Ethiopia at the Keffa Zone. It is part of the Ethiopian Language Area, with SOV word order, ejective consonants, etc.

A collection of proverbs in the language has been published by Mesfin Wodajo.[2]

Phonology

Consonants

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
plain gem. plain gem. plain gem. plain gem.
Plosive/
Affricate 		voiceless p pː t tː tʃ tʃː k kː ʔ
voiced b bː d dː dʒ dʒː g ɡː
ejective pʼ pːʼ tʼ tːʼ tʃʼ tʃːʼ kʼ kːʼ
Fricative voiceless f s sː ʃ h
voiced z
Nasal m mː n nː
Rhotic ɾ
Approximant w l lː j
  • /f/ may also be heard as [ɸ] in free variation.
  • /b/ can be heard as a bilabial approximant [β̞] in intervocalic positions.
  • /t/ can be realized as [ts] in word-final position.[3]

Vowels

Front Back
Close i iː u uː
Mid ɛ ɛː ɔ ɔː
Open a aː
  • /a/ may also have an allophone of [ə].[3]

Manjo

Manjo
Mangiò
(speculative)
unattested
Language codes
ISO 639-3None (mis)
Glottologmang1364

Within the Kafa culture there is a caste of traditional hunters called the Manja/Manjo 'hunters'. They may once have spoken a different language. However, Leikola has shown that currently they speak Kafa with a number of distinctive words and constructions that they use, reinforcing the distinctions between themselves and the larger Kafa society.[4]

References

  1. ^ Ethiopia 2007 Census Archived 2010-11-14 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ 2012. Functions and Formal and Stylistic Features of Kafa Proverbs: Functional and Structural Approach. Lambert Academic Publishing.
  3. ^ a b Theil, Rolf (2007). Kafa phonology. Journal of African Languages and Linguistics, Vol. 28, No. 2: DeGruyter Mouton. pp. 193–216.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  4. ^ Leikola, Kirsi. 2014. Talking Manjo: Linguistic repertoires as means of negotiating marginalization. University of Helsinki: PhD dissertation.

Further reading

  • Brockelmann, Carl (1950): Zur Grammatik der Kafa-Sprache. in: Brockelmann, Carl (ed.): Abbessinische Berichte über die Verhandlungen der Sächsischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Leipzig. pp 40–60.
  • Cerulli, Enrico (1951), Studi etiopici. Vol. IV: La lingua Caffina. Roma: Istituto Per L'oriente.
  • Fleming, Harold C. (1976), "Kefa (Gonga) Languages", in The Non-Semitic Languages of Ethiopia. Bender, M. L. (ed.)


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