Das Zay

Deskriptive Grammatik einer Ostguragesprache (Äthiosemitisch)

Author: Ronny Meyer. Series edited by: Wilhelm J.G. Möhlig †, Bernd Heine.

Series: GA Grammatical Analyses of African Languages Volume 25

2005
422 pp.
1 map, 3 graphs, 50 tables
Text language(s): German
Format: 160 x 240 mm
850 g
Paperback
€ 69.80

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Zay is an Ethiosemitic language and therefore belongs to the Afro-Asiatic branch. It is spoken in Ethiopia at the five islands of the Lake Zway, but also on the shore and the surrounding mainland. The population census does not count the Zay people as one autonomous speech community, so the number of speakers is somewhat difficult to tell. It is estimated at up to 14,000.

The Zay do not have a mythological founding father, but were formed through numerous assimilation processes of different groups. According to their oral tradition the Christians played an important role in their history, and today the Zay are still characterised by their ethiopic-orthodox Christianity. The Zay are almost exclusively multilingual. They speak Oromo because of the closeness to the people and the fact that this language is the official, and school language. They also speak Amharic which is an important lingua franca.

This grammar is based mainly on the field research of the author from november 1998 until august 1999. It is classified into four main parts, phonology, morphology, syntax and discourse, followed by some language examples. The aim of the author is to document this language, but also to make new data available to the general and comparative linguistics.

Under these links you will find publications of the author and descriptions of further Ethiosemitic languages:

Accompanying material:

• APAL Annual Publication in African Linguistics (ISBN 978-3-89645-504-8)
• APAL Annual Publication in African Linguistics (ISBN 978-3-89645-503-1)
• Das Argobba (ISBN 978-3-89645-554-3)
• Deictics, Copula, and Focus in the Ethiopian Convergence Area (ISBN 978-3-89645-293-1)
• Encoding Motion – Case Studies from Africa (ISBN 978-3-89645-505-5)
• Language Contact and Language Change in Ethiopia (ISBN 978-3-89645-258-0)
• Oromo Oral Poetry Seen from Within (ISBN 978-3-89645-276-4)
• Wolane (ISBN 978-3-89645-547-5)

Cross-reference:

• 5000 Jahre semitohamitische Sprachen in Asien und Afrika (ISBN 978-3-89645-686-1)
• Die Verbalsysteme des Amharischen und Tigrinischen (ISBN 978-3-89645-687-8)
• Multidisciplinary Views on the Horn of Africa (ISBN 978-3-89645-683-0)
• Tigrinische Bibliographie (ISBN 978-3-89645-688-5)
• Tigrinya–English/Amharic Codeswitching (ISBN 978-3-89645-997-8)

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