The Agaw or Central Cushitic languages are

Afro-Asiatic languages The Afroasiatic languages (also known as Afro-Asiatic, Afrasian, Hamito-Semitic, or Semito-Hamitic) are a language family (or "phylum") of about 400 languages spoken predominantly in West Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and parts of th ...

spoken by several groups in

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

and, in one case,

Eritrea Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...

. They form the main

substratum Substrata, plural of substratum, may refer to: *Earth's substrata, the geologic layering of the Earth *''Hypokeimenon'', sometimes translated as ''substratum'', a concept in metaphysics *Substrata (album), a 1997 ambient music album by Biosphere * ...

influence on

Amharic Amharic is an Ethio-Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amhara people, and also serves as a lingua franca for all other metropolitan populati ...

and other

Ethiopian Semitic languages Ethio-Semitic (also Ethiopian 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 languages, ...

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 Sudan, and to the south in Kenya and Tanzania. As of ...

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

Lake Tana Lake Tana (; previously transcribed Tsana) is the largest lake in Ethiopia and a source of the Blue Nile. Located in Amhara Region in the north-western Ethiopian Highlands, the lake is approximately long and wide, with a maximum depth of , and ...

, much the largest, with over 350,000 speakers :( Kunfäl, 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, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

around the town of

Kassala Kassala (, ) is the capital of the state of Kassala (state), Kassala in eastern Sudan. In 2003 its population was recorded to be 530,950. Built on the banks of the Mareb River, Gash River, it is a market city and is famous for its fruit gardens. ...

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

Amhara Region The Amhara Region (), officially the Amhara National Regional State (), is a Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in northern Ethiopia and the homeland of the Amhara people, Amhara, Awi people, Awi, Xamir people, Xamir, Argobba people, Argobba, a ...

:* Qimant (Western Agaw) nearly extinct, spoken by the

Qemant The Qemant (also known as western Agaws) are a small Cushitic ethnic group in northwestern Ethiopia, specifically in Gondar, Amhara Region. The Qemant people traditionally practiced an early Pagan-Hebraic religion; however, most members of the Qe ...

Semien Gondar Zone North Gondar (Amharic: ሰሜን ጎንደር; or Semien Gondar) is a zone in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. This zone is named for the city of Gondar, the capital of Ethiopia until the mid-19th century. Geography North Gondar is bordered on the ...

::(dialects Qwara – nearly extinct, spoken by

Beta Israel Beta Israel, or Ethiopian Jews, is a Jewish group originating from the territory of the Amhara Region, Amhara and Tigray Region, Tigray regions in northern Ethiopia, where they are spread out across more than 500 small villages over a wide ter ...

formerly living in Qwara, now in

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

;

Kayla Kayla may refer to: * Kayla (name), a feminine given name (and list of people with the name) Ethiopia * Kayla (Beta Israel), a Beta Israel community * Kayla dialect, an Agaw language of Beta Israel India * Kayla River, a river in the state ...

– 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 The Qimant language is a highly endangered language spoken by a small and elderly fraction of the Qemant people in northern Ethiopia, mainly in the Chilga woreda in Semien Gondar Zone between Gondar and Metemma. Classifications The language ...

, now mostly in Israeli museums, to the modern

Bilen language The Bilen language ( or ) is spoken by the Bilen people in and around the city of Keren in Eritrea. It is the only Agaw (Central Cushitic) language spoken in Eritrea. It is spoken by about 72,000 people. Spelling of the name "Blin" is the E ...

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. Phonology Vowels The central vowels have fronted and backed allophones, depending on the adjacent consonan ...

, and there is a deep tradition of folklore in the Awngi language.

Phonology

Central Cushitic languages are characterised by the presence of , , , and

central vowel A central vowel, formerly also known as a mixed vowel, is any in a class of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a central vowel is that the tongue is positioned approximately halfway between a front vowel ...

s, while they lack ejectives, implosives, pharyngeals, consonant gemination, vowel length, and the consonant .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