Konso language

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Konso
አፈ ኾንሶ‎ (äfä honəso)
Native toEthiopia
RegionSouth of Lake Chamo in the bend of the Sagan River
Native speakers
240,000 (2007)[1]
Ethiopic script
Language codes
ISO 639-3kxc
Glottologkons1243

Konso (Komso, Khonso, also Af Kareti, Afa Karatti, Conso, Gato, Karate, Kareti) is a Lowland East Cushitic language spoken in southwest Ethiopia. Native speakers of Konso number about 200,000 (SIL 2005). Konso is closely related to Dirasha (also known as Gidole), and serves as a "trade language"—or lingua franca—beyond the area of the Konso people. Blench (2006) considers purported dialects Gato and Turo to be separate languages.[2]

The Grammar of Konso was first described by Hellenthal (2004), and later, in more detail, by Ongaye (2013). The New Testament was published in the Konso language in 2002.

Phonology[edit]

Consonants[edit]

Unlike its Oromoid relatives and most East African languages in general, Konso distinguishes neither voiced nor ejective consonants. Instead, it has a series of implosive stops, including the extremely rare uvular implosive /ʛ/.[3]

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Nasal m n ɲ
Plosive plain p t c k ʔ
implosive ɓ ɗ ʄ ʛ
Fricative f s ʃ χ h
Lateral l
Trill r
Glide w j

Vowels[edit]

Typical of a Cushitic language, Konso distinguishes five short and five long vowels:

Front Central Back
Close i u
Mid e o
Open a

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Ethiopia 2007 Census
  2. ^ Blench, 2006. The Afro-Asiatic Languages: Classification and Reference List (ms)
  3. ^ Orkaydo, Ongaye Oda (2013). A Grammar of Konso. p. 11.

Literature on the Konso language[edit]

  • Bliese, Loren; Gignarta, Sokka (1986). "Konso Exceptions to SOV (subject–object–verb) Typology". Journal of Ethiopian Studies. 19: 1–40. JSTOR 41965937.
  • Hellenthal, Anne-Christie (2004). Some Morphosyntactic Aspects of the Konso Language (MA thesis). Leiden University.
  • Orkaydo, Ongaye Oda (2013). A grammar of Konso (PDF) (Ph.D. thesis). Leiden University. hdl:1887/20681.
  • Uusitalo, Mirjami (2007). Konso language. in Siegbert Uhlig (ed.), Encyclopaedia Aethiopica 3, 424-425. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag.