Omotic languages


The Omotic languages are group of languages spoken in southwestern Ethiopia. The Ge'ez script is used to write some of the Omotic languages, the Latin script for some others. They are fairly agglutinative and have complex tonal systems. The languages have around 6.2 million speakers. The group is generally classified as belonging to the Afroasiatic language family, but this is disputed by some.
Four separate "Omotic" groups are accepted by Glottolog 4.0 and Güldemann : Ta-Ne-Omotic, Dizoid, Mao, and Aroid.

Languages

The North and South Omotic branches are universally recognized, with some dispute as to the composition of North Omotic. The primary debate is over the placement of the Mao languages. Bender classifies Omotic languages as follows:
Apart from terminology, this differs from Fleming in including the Mao languages, whose affiliation had originally been controversial, and in abolishing the "Gimojan" group. There are also differences in the subclassification of Ometo, which is not covered here.

Hayward (2003)

Hayward separates out the Mao languages as a third branch of Omotic and breaks up Ometo–Gimira:
Blench gives a more agnostic classification:
Bosha† is unclassified; Ethnologue lists it as a dialect of Kafa but notes it may be a distinct language.

Classification

Omotic is generally considered the most divergent branch of the Afroasiatic languages. Greenberg had classified it as the Western branch of Cushitic. Fleming argued that it should instead be classified as an independent branch of Afroasiatic, a view which Bender established to most linguists' satisfaction, though a few linguists maintain the West Cushitic position or that only South Omotic forms a separate branch, with North Omotic remaining part of Cushitic. Blench notes that Omotic shares honey-related vocabulary with the rest of Afroasiatic but not cattle-related vocabulary, suggesting that the split occurred before the advent of pastoralism. A few scholars have raised doubts that the Omotic languages are part of the Afroasiatic language family at all, and Theil proposes that Omotic be treated as an independent family. However, the general consensus, based primarily on morphological evidence, is that membership in Afroasiatic is well established.

''Glottolog''

Hammarström, et al. in Glottolog does not consider Omotic to be a unified group, and also does not consider any of the "Omotic" groups to be part of the Afroasiatic phylum. Glottolog accepts the following as independent language families.
These four families are also accepted by Güldemann, who similarly doubts the validity of Omotic as a unified group.

Reconstruction

reconstructs the following proto-forms for Proto-Omotic and Proto-North Omotic, the latter which is considered to have descended from Proto-Omotic.
English glossProto-
Omotic		Proto-North
Omotic
ashes*bend
bird*kaf
bite*sats’
breast*t’iam
claw*ts’ugum
die*hayk’
dog*kan
egg*ɓul
fire*tam
grass*maata
hand*kuc
head*to-
hear*si-
mouth*non-
nose*sit’
root*ts’ab-
snake*šooš
stand *yek’
this*kʰan-
thou *ne
water*haats’
we *nu
ye *int-
green*c’il-
house*kyet
left*hadr-
elephant*daŋgVr
sister, mother*ind
armpit*šoɓ-
boat*gong-
grave*duuk
vomit*c’oš-

Comparative vocabulary

Sample basic vocabulary of 40 Omotic languages from Blažek :
Languageeyeearnosetoothtonguemouthbloodbonetreewatereatname
BasketoafwaytsisintsaččiB ɪnts'ɨrsno·nasuutsmεk'εtsB mɪtsB waːtseA moy-B sumsa
Dokkaafwaytsisi·ntsaččiɨrs'ɪnsno·nasu·tsmik'әtsmittsewa·tsim-suntsa
Male’aːpiwaizisied‘i’ači’ɪndɪrsidaŋkasugutsimεgεtsimitsiwaːtsimo-sunsi
Wolaitaayf-iya; A ayp'-iyahayttasir-iyaacca; A acc'aint'arsadoonasuutta; Ch maččamiémek'ettamittahattam-sunta
Kulloayp'-iyahaytsasiid'-iyaacc'ains'arsadoonasutsamek'etsabarzap'-iyahatsam-sutta
Canchaayp'ehaytssireacc‘ains‘arsadoonasutsmek'etsamitshaatsm-sunts
Malo’áɸehʌ́jesíd'e’áčʰә’irɪ́ntsdɔ́nʌsútsʰmεk‘ɨ́ts‘mɪ́ts’átsәm-sʊns
Gofaayp'ehaytsasiideacc'aintsarsadoonasutsamek'ettamitsahatsem-suntsa
Zalaayfeaytsasid'eaččaint'arsadunatsutsamitsahatsamaa-
Gamuayp'ehaytsasiireacc'ains'arsadoonasuutsmek'etsmitsahatsem-sunts
Dacheayfehayts'esiyd'eacéɪntsεrsdunasutsmek'etsšarahatsem-sunts
Dorzeayp'ewayesireacc'ains'arsaduunasutsmek'etsamitshaatsm-sunts
Oydaápe, ayfeB haːyesid'e’ač, pl. o·čiilánsB doːnasutsmεk'εtsmɪns'ahaytsimu’-suntsu
Zayse’áaɸεwaayέkuŋké’acc'ints'έrεbaadέsúuts'mεk'έεtemits'awáats'im-č'úuč'e
Zergulla’aːɸewaikuŋki’ac'e’insәrehaː’esuːtsnεkεtεmintsawaːtsem-suːns
Ganjule’áaɸεwaašέkuŋkεgaggoints'úrεbaadέsúuts'mεk'έtεmits'iwaats'im-ts'únts'i
Gidicho’áaɸεwaašέkuŋkégaggoints'úrεbaadέsúuts'imεk'εtemíts'iwáats'im-ts'únts'i
Kachama’áaɸεuwaašέkuŋkέgaggoints'úrεbaadέsúuts'εmέk‘έteemits'iwáats'im-ts'únts'i
Koyra’áɸεwaayέsiid'εgaggo’únts'úrε’áašasúuts'mεk‘έεtemíts'e; Ce akkawáats'emúuwasúuntsi
Charaáːpawóːyasínt'uáč'a’íns'ilanoːnásúːtamertámítsaáːs'aḿ-nasumá
Benchapaysint'gaš; saneyts'nonsutmertinčso’m’sum
Sheafaisint'gašets'nonsutmεrtencso’mmasum
Yemsaaafa; kemaodosiyaa’yatermanoonoannamegai’oakamesuna
Bworoaawawaazašint'agašaalbeeranoonats'atts'amak'әttsamittaaatsamaa-šuutsa
Anfilloaːfowaːjošiːntogaːššoεrɪːtsonɔːnots'antsošaušomɪːtsoyuːromšiːgo
Kafaaffo, ahowammo; kendomuddogašoeč'iyonono; kokodammošawušomet'oač'omammo; č‘okkošiggo
Mochaá·p̱owa·mmošit'ógášohäč'awono·nodamoša·wúšomit'óà·č'oma̱·šəgo
Diziab-uaːisin-uažuyabɪlεd-uyεrm-uuswɪčaːim-sɪm-u
ShakoáːbaːyB sɪnt'áːč'uérbeːdyärmuːsuíːnčuáːym̥̀-suːm
Nayi’aːfB haːysi.nB acuB yalbeːduyarbm’uːsB incusB haim-suːm
Maoáːfέwáːlέšíːnt'έàːts'ὲánts'ílὲpɔ́ːnsὲhándέmáːlt‘έ’íːntsὲhàːtsὲhà míjàjèːškέ
Sezeaːb, áːwiwέὲšíːntéháːts'έ, haːnsìjántsílὲ/ t'agálwaːndèhámbìlὲbàk‘ílí’innsìháːns'ìmáːmɔ́nìːší
Hozoabbiwεεrašiniats'iS wìntə́lәwaandihambilεbak‘ilεS ’íːntihaanimaaiiši
Dime’afe, ’aɸek'aːmenʊkʊF baŋgɪl; ɪts; kәsɪl’ɨdәm’afe; B ’app-maχse; F dzumtk‘oss; F k‘ʊs’aχe; B haːɣonaχe; B nәːɣ-’ɨčɨnmɨze; F naːb
Hamerapi, afik'am-nuki’ats'’ad’abap-zum’ileːfiak'-nokokʊm-nam-
Bannaafik'aminukiatsiadʌb/adɪmafazump'ilεfiɑhaka/haːk'anokoits-; kum-nabi
Karoafik'aminukiasiattәp'M ’apomәk'әslefiakanuk'oisidi
Ariafik'aminukiatsi; B kasel geegiadimafazom’ilεfiahakanoɣa; B nɔk'ɔits-nami
Ubamera·fiɣ/k'a·minukiatsiadmiafamək'əs ~ -ɣ-lεfíaɣaluk'a, luɣa’its-na·mi
Galilaa·fik'a·minukiačiadmiafamәk'әslεfíaɣa/aháɣalu·ɣa/lo·ɣaič-la·mi

General Omotic bibliography