Koman languages


The Koman languages are a small close-knit family of languages located along the Sudan–Ethiopia border with about 50,000 speakers. They are conventionally classified as part of the Nilo-Saharan family. However, due to the paucity of evidence, many scholars treat it as an independent language family. Among scholars who do accept its inclusion within Nilo-Saharan, opinions vary as to their position within it.
Koman languages in Ethiopia are in close contact with the Omotic Mao languages. In Ethiopia, some Koman-speaking groups also consider themselves to be ethnically Mao.

Internal classification

The Koman languages are:
The poorly known Shabo language shows strong Koman influence, and it has been suggested that it may be a Koman language. Gule is generally classified as Koman, but the evidence is as yet insufficient.

Otero (2019)

Otero's internal classification of Koman:
;Koman
Dimmendaal notes that mounting grammatical evidence has made the Nilo-Saharan proposal as a whole more sound since Greenberg proposed it in 1963 but that such evidence has not been forthcoming for Songhay, Gumuz, and Koman: very few of the more widespread nominal and verbal morphological markers of Nilo-Saharan are attested in the Coman languages plus Gumuz... Their genetic status remains debatable, mainly due to lack of more extensive data. And later, In summarizing the current state of knowledge,... the following language families or phyla can be identified:... Mande, Songhai, Ubangian, Kadu, and the Coman languages plus Gumuz. However, Ahland reports that with better attestation, both Koman and Gumuz do appear to be Nilo-Saharan, and perhaps closest to each other.

Reconstruction

Proto-Koman has been reconstructed by Lionel Bender and Otero.

Numerals

Comparison of numerals in individual languages:
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ɗɛ́sʊdìʃdɔɡɔ̀nbùsʼkáná ɡɪ ɗɛ́ káná á sʊ káná á dìʃ káná á dɔɡɔ̀n kʼɔ́ʃ kʼɔ̀lɔ̀
ɗe / ɗɛʔ suʔin / sʊʔ dícin / dǐʃǐn dōɡɔne / dɔ̄ɣɔ́n busín / bʊ̀sʼín kɛnɡɪɗe / kàːnaɡǐɗɛ́ kɛnnɛsɔ / kàːnàsʊʔ kɛnnɛdiʃ / kàːnàdɪʃ kɛnnɛdɔɡɔn / káːndɔ̀ɡɔ̀n kɔʃinkwolo / kʼɔ́ʃkʼɔ̀lɔ̀
sóndò /sɛ́ːnɛ́ /sɛ́ːsʼkìnsùjátwásɛ̀nbéːsʼìnkúːmùtʼkúbà-sèːn kúbá-sùjá kúbà-twásɛ̄n kúb-béːsʼín kʼúːzí
sɛ́ɛ́kʼínswíjátwàsɛ́nbéésʼínkómòtʼkúpà-sɛ́n kúpà-swíjá kúpà-twàsɛ̄n kúpà-béésʼín kʼoosʼi
seːko ~ se:ndo / ʔāˈsɛ́n~ ʔāsɛ́l siːya / ˈsíjá twazan ~ twasan / ˈtʷāsán mbisiːna ~ beːsen / bēːsīn kʷʊmbut ~ kombɔt / ˈkʰūːmùt kʊmpasɛnde / ˈkōbāsín kʊmpa-siːya / kōbə̄ˈsìa kʊmpa-twasən / kōbə̄ˈtʷàsɪn kʊmpa-n-beːsina / kōˈbeːéːsīn kʊʃʊmbiːt ~kwuːzia / ˈkūːzi
ɗɛ̄n~dɛ̄ sʊ̄kʼátùsùʍànmùtá-kʼʊ̄j kān-ɪ́-ɗɛ̄, contraction, kān-ɪ́-sʊ̄kʼá kān-ɪ́-tùsù kān-ɪ́-ʍàn kʼʊ̄j-ā-sʊ̄kʼ-ɛ́n
ɗán / ɗíánsùkʼátùsúhwánmùtá-kʼʷèj kánè-ɗéékánè-sùkʼákánè-tùsúkánè-hʷánmútá-kʼʷùjá-sùkʼén
diʃeɗeʃuka / cukatuʃu / tusuhwan / ŋwanmutaːkwei ?kane-ɗekane-ʃukakane-tūʃūkane-hwānmuta-kweya-ʃuka-yen ?
ɗéʔsúʔkʷārādòŋònmúd̻èɗ múd̻èɗ pé ɗéʔ múd̻èɗ pé súʔ múd̻èɗ pé kʷārā múd̻èɗ pé dòŋòn ʼkúmèɗ
ɗesuʔkwaradoŋonmudheɗ peɗe pesuʔ pekwara pedoŋon kumeɗ