Language Contact and Language Change in Ethiopia

Edited by: Joachim Crass, Ronny Meyer. With contributions by: Binyam Sisay Mendisu, Joachim Crass, Ronny Meyer, Ongaye Oda, Christian J. Rapold, Sascha Völlmin, Silvia Zaugg-Coretti.

Series: TIAS Topics in Interdisciplinary African Studies Volume 14

The database on Ethiopian languages increased considerably due to the activities within the Collaborative Research Center 295 Cultural and Linguistics Contacts: Processes of Change of North Eastern Africa and West Asia at the Johannes Gutenberg Uni­versity, Mainz/Germany. The research within this center was twofold. First, basic research led to the publication of descriptive grammars of different Ethiopian languages, second, the results were applied to update the status of the Ethiopian Linguistic Area and to extend its features. Two workshops in 2004 and 2007, organized by Joachim Crass and Ronny Meyer which provided an international platform for the assessment of the Ethiopian Linguistic Area.

The workshop in 2004 dealt with deictics, copula and focus in several Cushitic, Omotic and Semitic languages (cf. Crass and Meyer, Deictics, Copula and Focus in the Ethiopian Convergence Area, 2007, see link below). The second workshop, held on December 13–14, 2007, discussed linguistic contact and con­tact-induced language change in Ethiopia from a broader perspective. The six contributions in the present volume, which developed out of the second workshop, represent the diversity of current research on linguistic contacts and on language change in Ethiopia. The present volume offers examples confirming the assumption that Ethiopian languages regardless of their genetic affiliation deliberately display areal patterns by sharing a number of conceptual and structural similarities. It offers a potential enhancement for the discussion on language-internal versus contact-induced linguistic change in the Ethiopian Linguistic Area.

CONTENTS

Joachim Crass / Ronny Meyer: Introduction

Binyam Sisay Mendisu: Copula and/or focus – The morpheme -(k)ko in two East Ometo languages

Ronny Meyer: The quotative verb in Ethiosemitic languages and in Oromo

Ongaye Oda: The spread of punctual derivation in Dullay and Oromoid languages

Christian J. Rapold / Silvia Zaugg-Coretti: Exploring the periphery of the Central Ethiopian Linguistic Area – Data from Yemsa and Benchnon

Sascha Völlmin: Some dialectal differences between Gumer and Chaha (Gurage)

Silvia Zaugg-Coretti: The morpheme -tu as a focus marker in Yemsa (Omotic) and Oromo (Cushitic)

Review by Yvonne Treis in Afrikanistik-Ägyptologie online 2011

Under these links you will find further descriptions of Ethiopian / Ethio-semitic languages and cultures and publications by the volume editors:

Accompanying material:

• Deictics, Copula, and Focus in the Ethiopian Convergence Area (ISBN 978-3-89645-293-1)
• Language Change under Multilingual Conditions (ISBN 978-3-89645-724-0)
• Language Contact, Language Change and History Based on Language Sources in Africa (ISBN 978-3-89645-093-7)
• Tigrinya–English/Amharic Codeswitching (ISBN 978-3-89645-997-8)
• When Languages Meet (ISBN 978-3-89645-257-3)

Cross-reference:

• Converbs, Medial Verbs, Clause Chaining and Related Issues (ISBN 978-3-89645-719-6)
• Das Argobba (ISBN 978-3-89645-554-3)
• Das K’abeena (ISBN 978-3-89645-480-5)
• Das Zay (ISBN 978-3-89645-541-3)
• Die Verbalsysteme des Amharischen und Tigrinischen (ISBN 978-3-89645-687-8)
• Grammaire du beria (langue saharienne) (ISBN 978-3-89645-136-1)
• Tigrinische Bibliographie (ISBN 978-3-89645-688-5)
• To Live with Others (ISBN 978-3-89645-827-8)
• Wolane (ISBN 978-3-89645-547-5)

Reviews

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