The Agaw or Central Cushitic languages are

Afro-Asiatic languages The Afroasiatic languages (or Afro-Asiatic), also known as Hamito-Semitic, or Semito-Hamitic, and sometimes also as Afrasian, Erythraean or Lisramic, are a language family of about 300 languages that are spoken predominantly in the geographic s ...

spoken by several groups in

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

and, in one case,

Eritrea Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopi ...

. They form the main

substratum In linguistics, a stratum (Latin for "layer") or strate is a language that influences or is influenced by another through contact. A substratum or substrate is a language that has lower power or prestige than another, while a superstratum or sup ...

influence on

Amharic Amharic ( or ; (Amharic: ), ', ) is an Ethiopian Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amharas, and also serves as a lingua franca for all oth ...

and other

Ethiopian Semitic languages Ethiopian Semitic (also Ethio-Semitic, Ethiosemitic, Ethiopic or Abyssinian) is a family of languages spoken in Ethiopia, Eritrea and Sudan. They form the western branch of the South Semitic languages, itself a sub-branch of Semitic, part of th ...

Classification

The Central

Cushitic languages The Cushitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken primarily in the Horn of Africa, with minorities speaking Cushitic languages to the north in Egypt and the Sudan, and to the south in Kenya and Tanzania. As ...

are classified as follows (after Appleyard): * Awngi (South Agaw) spoken southwest of

Lake Tana Lake Tana ( am, ጣና ሐይቅ, T’ana ḥāyik’i; previously Tsana) is the largest lake in Ethiopia and the source of the Blue Nile. Located in Amhara Region in the north-western Ethiopian Highlands, the lake is approximately long and ...

, much the largest, with over 350,000 speakers :(Kunfal, spoken west of Lake Tana, is poorly recorded but most likely a dialect of Awngi) * Northern Agaw: :*Bilen–Xamtanga: ::* Bilen (North) spoken (70,000 speakers) in

around the town of Keren and eastern

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

around the town of Kassala ::* Xamtanga (Central Agaw; also called Khamir, Khamta) 143,000 speakers in the North

Amhara Region The Amhara Region ( am, አማራ ክልል, Åmara Kilil), officially the Amhara National Regional State (), is a regional state in northern Ethiopia and the homeland of the Amhara people. Its capital is Bahir Dar which is the seat of the Re ...

:* Qimant (Western Agaw) nearly extinct, spoken by the Qemant in Semien Gondar Zone ::(dialects Qwara – nearly extinct, spoken by

Beta Israel The Beta Israel ( he, בֵּיתֶא יִשְׂרָאֵל, ''Bēteʾ Yīsrāʾēl''; gez, ቤተ እስራኤል, , modern ''Bēte 'Isrā'ēl'', EAE: "Betä Ǝsraʾel", "House of Israel" or "Community of Israel"), also known as Ethiopian Jews ...

formerly living in Qwara, now in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

; Kayla – extinct, formerly spoken by some

, transitional between Qimant and Xamtanga) There is a literature in Agaw but it is widely dispersed: from medieval texts containing passages in the Qimant language, now mostly in

Israeli Israeli may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel * Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel * Modern Hebrew, a language * ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008 * Guni Israeli (b ...

museums, to the modern Bilen language with its own newspaper, based in Keren,

. Historical material is also available in the

Xamtanga language Xamtanga (also Agawinya, Khamtanga, Simt'anga, Xamir, Xamta) is a Central Cushitic language spoken in Ethiopia by the Xamir people. Sound system Vowels The central vowels have fronted and backed allophone In phonology, an allophone (; ...

, and there is a deep tradition of folklore in the

Awngi language The Awngi language, in older publications also called Awiya (an inappropriate ethnonym), is a Central Cushitic language spoken by the Awi people, living in Central Gojjam in northwestern Ethiopia. Most speakers of the language live in the Agew ...

Phonology

Central Cushitic languages are characterised by the presence of /ŋ/, /ɣ/, /z/, and central vowels, while they lack ejectives, implosives, pharyngeals, consonant gemination, vowel length, and the consonant /ɲ/.Zelealem, ollaligneLeyew. 2020. Central Cushitic. In: Rainer Vossen and Gerrit J. Dimmendaal (eds.), ''The Oxford Handbook of African Languages''. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Bibliography

*Appleyard, David L. (2006) ''A Comparative Dictionary of the Agaw Languages'' (Kuschitische Sprachstudien – Cushitic Language Studies Band 24). Köln: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag. *Hetzron, Robert (1976) The Agaw Languages. ''Afroasiatic Linguistics'' 3,3. p. 31–37 * Joswig, Andreas and Hussein Mohammed (2011)
A Sociolinguistic Survey Report; Revisiting the Southern Agaw Language areas of Ethiopia
SIL International. SIL Electronic Survey Reports 2011-047.

References

* {{AfroAsiatic-lang-stub

Classification

Phonology

See also

Bibliography

References