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Shabo language

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Languages

   Shabo
   Mikeyir
   Spoken in: Ethiopia
   Region: western SNNPR
   Total speakers: 400–500 (2000)
   Language family: Uncertain, possibly Nilo-Saharan
   Language codes
   ISO 639-1: none
   ISO 639-2: ssa
   ISO/FDIS 639-3: sbf
   Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. See IPA
   chart for English for an English-​based pronunciation key.

   Shabo (also called Mikeyir) is an endangered language spoken by about
   600 hunter-gatherers in southwestern Ethiopia, in the westernmost part
   of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region. They live
   in three places in the Keficho Shekicho Zone: Anderaccha, Gecch'a, and
   Kaabo. Many of its speakers are shifting to other neighboring
   languages, in particular Majang and Shakicho (Mocha); its vocabulary is
   heavily influenced by loanwords from both these languages, particularly
   Majang, as well as Amharic. Its classification is uncertain; it may be
   Nilo-Saharan (Anbessa & Unseth 1989, Fleming 1991), or may be a
   language isolate ( Ehret 1995). It was first reported to be a separate
   language by Lionel Bender in 1977, using a wordlist gathered by the
   missionary Harvey Hoekstra. It is currently ( as of 2004) being studied
   by Daniel Aberra of Addis Ababa University.

Classification

   Once the many loanwords from its immediate neighbors, Majang and
   Shakicho, are removed, the wordlists collected show a significant
   number of Koman words side by side with a larger number of words with
   no obvious external relationships. The tentative grammar so far
   collected offers few obviously convincing external similarities. On
   this basis, Fleming (1991) has classified Shabo as Nilo-Saharan and,
   within Nilo-Saharan, as nearest to Koman, while Ehret (1995) has argued
   that neither Nilo-Saharan nor Afro-Asiatic present any convincing
   similarities, seeing the Koman words as early loans and saying that
   "once the evidence of these influences is identified and separated out,
   there is little else to suggest that Shabo might belong to the
   Nilo-Saharan family." He thus regards it as an African isolate. Anbessa
   & Unseth consider it Nilo-Saharan, but present little by way of
   argument for their position, and no detail on its position within the
   family.

Sounds

   The consonants are:
                Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
     Plosives   (p) b    t d      (c) (ɟ) k g   ʔ
    Implosives  ɓ        ɗ                ɠ
    Ejectives   pʼ       tʼ       cʼ      kʼ
    Fricatives  f        (s) sʼ   (ʃ)           h
   Approximants w        l        j
      Nasals    m        n        ɲ       ŋ
      Trills             r

   Consonants in parenthesis are not entirely phonemic, according to
   Teferra (1995):
     * [p] and [f] are in free variation
     * [s] and [ʃ], and sometimes also [c], [ɟ], and [ʒ], are in free
       variation, as in Majang; Teferra speculatively links this to the
       traditional practice of removing the lower incisors of men.
     * [h] and [k] occasionally alternate.

   Consonant length is found in several words, such as walla "goat", kutti
   "knee"; however, it is often unstable.

   Teferra tentatively postulates 9 vowels: /i/ /ɨ/ /u/ /e/ /ə/ /o/ /ɛ/
   /a/ /ɔ/, possibly with further distinctions based on advanced tongue
   root. Five of these - /a/ /e/ /i/ /o/ /u/ - have long counterparts.
   Occasionally final vowels are deleted, shortening medial vowels: eg
   deego or deg "crocodile".

   The syllable structure is (C)V(C); all consonants except /pʼ/ and /tʼ/
   can occur syllable-finally.

   The language is tonal, but its tonology is unclear. Two minimal pairs
   are cited by Teferra 1995, including há "kill" versus hà "meat".

Grammar

Syntax

   Basic word order is subject-object-verb; there are postpositions rather
   than prepositions.

Pronouns

    English                  Ehret                  Tefera & Unseth Hoekstra
   I         tiŋ (m.), ''taŋa (f.)                  tiŋ             tiŋ(ka)
   you (sg.) kuku (m.), kungu (f.)                  kuku            ŋaŋ(ka)
   he        yi (m.)                                ŋa              ŋa(ufə)
   we        yiŋ (m.), ann (f.)                     yiŋ             yiiŋa
   you (pl.) sitalak (m.), siyakk (f.), suba (both) ʃu(bək)
   they      kuka

   The pronouns "I" and "he" have been compared to Surmic languages;
   however, there are also resemblances in the pronouns with the Omotic
   Gunza language (Bender 1983.) The gender distinctions made are unusual
   for Africa.

Verbs

   Negation is by adding the particle be after the verb or noun negated:
   gumu be "(it is) not (a) stick", ʔam be-gea "he will not come" ("come
   not-?"). Negative forms in b are widespread in Nilo-Saharan and
   Afro-Asiatic languages.

   There appears to be a causative suffix -ka: mawo hoop, "water boiled" >
   upa mawo hoop-ka "(a) man boiled water".

   A particle git ( infinitive? subjunctive?) marks the verb in
   constructions with "want": moopa git inɗeet ("sit git want") "I want to
   sit".

   Much of the verbal morphology is uncertain; there appears to be a 3rd
   person singular future suffix -g- (eg inɗage t'a-g "he will eat") and a
   2nd person plural suffix -ɗe (eg subuk maakɛle kak t'a-ɗe "You (pl.)
   ate corn", "you-pl. corn past? eat-2nd-pl.")

   Ehret (1995) mentions the following tense-aspect suffixes:
     * -gg imperfect
     * -e perfect
     * -kkus present perfect
     * no affix: imperative

Nouns

   The plural system is unclear. Three plural forms given by one person
   were:
     * "house" ɗoku > "houses" ɗokuk
     * "dog" kaal/kaan > "dogs" kaalu/kaanu
     * "leg" bicca > "legs" biccaka

   However, another speaker did not form separate plurals at all, or added
   them by uniformly adding the word yɛɛro afterwards.

   There is a suffix -k which seems to sometimes mark the direct object,
   eg upa kaan-ik ye "a man saw a dog" ("man dog saw"). A similar suffix
   is found in many Eastern Sudanic languages.

   Case markings mentioned by Ehret (1995) include:
     * -ti ablative
     * -uk, -ik instrumental
     * -ke, -e genitive
     * -kak, -gak accusative

Postpositions

   Shabo uses postpositions after nouns, eg: upa mana pond ɗɛpik moi "a
   man sat on a rock" (lit. "man rock on ? sat").

Numbers

   The number system, as given by Tefera and Unseth, is as follows:
    1. iŋki
    2. bap
    3. jiita
    4. aŋan
    5. tuul
    6. tulu(ŋ/m)
    7. tulikakiŋki (possibly error for 6?)
    8. tunajiita
    9. tulaaŋan
   10. bapif (bap if = "two hands")
   11. mabafifiŋki

   and 20 is iŋk upa kor ("one person complete").

Lexicon

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shabo_language"
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