Inor (pronounced ), sometimes called Ennemor, is an

Afroasiatic language 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 su ...

spoken in central

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 ...

. One of the

Gurage languages The Gurage languages (Gurage: ጉራጌ), also known as Guragie, is a dialect-continuum language, which belong to the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken by the Gurage people, who inhabit the Gurage Zone within t ...

, it is mainly spoken within the

Gurage Zone Gurage is a zone in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region of Ethiopia. The region is home to the Gurage people. Gurage is bordered on the southeast by Hadiya and Yem special woreda, on the west, north and east by the Oromia ...

in the

Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region The Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region (often abbreviated as SNNPR; am, የደቡብ ብሔር ብሔረሰቦችና ሕዝቦች ክልል, Yädäbub Bḥer Bḥeräsäbočna Hzboč Kllə) is a regional state in southwestern ...

, as well as by speakers of the language who have settled in Ethiopian cities, especially

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...

. In addition to the morphological complexity that is common to all Semitic languages, Inor exhibits the very complex

morphophonology Morphophonology (also morphophonemics or morphonology) is the branch of linguistics that studies the interaction between morphological and phonological or phonetic processes. Its chief focus is the sound changes that take place in morphemes ...

characteristic of

West Gurage languages The Gurage languages (Gurage: ጉራጌ), also known as Guragie, is a dialect-continuum language, which belong to the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken by the Gurage people, who inhabit the Gurage Zone within t ...

. Endegegn, Enner, Gyeto, and the extinct dialect Mesmes are all sometimes considered dialects of Inor. Inor possesses

nasal vowel A nasal vowel is a vowel that is produced with a lowering of the soft palate (or velum) so that the air flow escapes through the nose and the mouth simultaneously, as in the French vowel or Amoy []. By contrast, oral vowels are produced with ...

s, which are unusual for a Gurage language. Many of these may be the result of historical rhinoglottophilia.

Phonology

Consonants

Vowels

may be regarded as largely epenthetic and only marginally phonemic.

References

Bibliography

*Berhanu Chamora. "Consonant distribution in Inor", in: G. Hudson (ed.), ''Essays on Gurage Language and Culture'' (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag), pp. 53–67. * *Bustorf, Dirk. (2005). "Ennämor Ethnography”, in: Siegbert Uhlig (ed.):

Encyclopaedia Aethiopica The ''Encyclopaedia Aethiopica'' (''EAe'') is a basic English-language encyclopaedia for Ethiopian and Eritrean studies. The ''Encyclopaedia Aethiopica'' provides information in all fields of the discipline, i.e. anthropology, archaeology, ethno ...

, vol. 2: D-Ha, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, p. 307-08. *Boivin, Robert (1996). "Spontaneous Nasalization in Inor", in: G. Hudson (ed.), ''Essays on Gurage Language and Culture'' (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag), pp. 21–33. *Hetzron, R. (1977). ''The Gunnän-Gurage Languages''. Napoli: Istituto Orientale di Napoli. * Leslau, W. (1979). ''Etymological Dictionary of Gurage (Ethiopic)''. 3 vols. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz. *Leslau, W. (1983). ''Ethiopians Speak: Studies in Cultural Background. Part V : Chaha - Ennemor''. Äthiopistische Forschungen, Band 16. Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag. *Leslau, W. (1996). "Inor Lullabies", in: ''Africa'' 66/2, pp. 280–287. *Voigt, Rainer.(2005). "Ennämor Language”, in: Siegbert Uhlig (ed.):

, vol. 2: D-Ha, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, p. 307. Outer Ethiopian Semitic languages Languages of Ethiopia {{Semitic-lang-stub