Omotic languages

The Omotic languages are a group of languages spoken mainly in southwestern Ethiopia, around the Omo River region, and in parts of southeastern Sudan (Blue Nile State). These languages include the Damotic (North Omotic), Dizoid (Majoid), Mao and Aroid (South Omotic) languages.

Some Omotic languages are written using the Geʽez script, while others use the Latin alphabet. They are known for being agglutinative and having complex tonal systems, like in the Bench language. About 7.9 million people speak Omotic languages.

Most experts think Omotic languages belong to the larger Afroasiatic family, but some linguists question whether all Omotic languages truly belong together as one group. For example, some believe that the Mao and Aroid languages might be separate groups influenced by North Omotic languages.

Classification

The Omotic languages are a group of languages mainly spoken in southwestern Ethiopia near the Omo River, and in parts of southeastern Sudan. They are often considered part of the larger Afroasiatic language family, but this is debated among experts.

The main groups of Omotic languages include Damotic (North Omotic), Dizoid (Maji), Mao, and Aroid (South Omotic). Some experts think Mao and Aroid might not even belong to the Omotic family, and more research is needed to understand them better. The Damotic group is usually seen as closely related to Afroasiatic languages, while the Dizoid group shows some features but is still unclear. The Mao languages, spoken near the Sudan-Ethiopian border, are not well documented and have been influenced by nearby Koman languages. The Aroid languages are the most debated, with some suggestions they might be related to Nilo-Saharan languages, but this is uncertain due to influences from surrounding languages.

Characteristics

The Omotic languages have special ways of changing words to show meaning. Some of these ways add small parts to words, while others change the sounds inside the words.

These languages use certain sounds, like soft and hard consonants, and many have special sounds called tones that change meaning.

They also have special endings for words to show if something is one or many, or to show its role in a sentence. For example, a word might change to show it is the subject doing the action or the object receiving the action.

		1st person		2nd person		3rd person
		sg.	pl.	sg.	pl.	sg.		pl.
		sg.	pl.	sg.	pl.	m.	f.	pl.
Omotic	Nordomotic
	Proto-Gonga-Gimojan	*ta	nu~no	*no	*int-	*isi	?	*is-
	Proto-Dizi-Sheko	*ǹ	*ń	*yeta	*iti	*iz-	*iži	*iš-
	Proto-Mao	*ti-	?	*hiya	*nam	?	?	?
	Proto-Southomotic	*inta	*wo-ta	yaa/in	*ye-ta	*nuo	*naaa	*ke-ta
Other	Afroasiatic: Akkadian	ī	nī	k-a/k-ī	k-unu/k-ina	š-u	š-a	š-unu/š-ina
Other	Nilotic: Teso	ɛɔŋɔ	ɔnɪ/ɪs(y)ɔ	ɪjɔ	yɛsɪ	ŋɛsɪ		kɛsɪ

Reconstruction

Bender (1987: 33–35) studied the Omotic languages and found some important basic words that likely existed in the very first Omotic language, called Proto-Omotic. He also looked closely at the North Omotic languages, which are thought to have come from Proto-Omotic.

English gloss	Proto- Omotic	Proto-North Omotic
ashes	*bend
bird	*kaf
bite		*sats’
breast	*t’iam
claw	*ts’ugum
die	*hayk’
dog	*kan
egg	*ɓul
fire		*tam
grass	*maata
hand		*kuc
head	*to-
hear	*si-
mouth	*non-
nose	*si(n)t’
root	*ts’ab-
snake	*šooš
stand (vb.)		*yek’
this	*kʰan-
thou (2.SG)	*ne(n)
water	*haats’
we (1.PL)	*nu(n)
ye (2.PL)	*int-
green	*c’il-
house		*kyet
left	*hadr-
elephant	*daŋgVr
sister, mother	*ind
armpit		*šoɓ-
boat	*gong-
grave	*duuk
vomit		*c’oš-

Comparative vocabulary

Here is a sample of basic words from 40 Omotic languages collected by Blažek in 2008.

Language	eye	ear	nose	tooth	tongue	mouth	blood	bone	tree	water	eat	name
Basketo	af	waytsi	sints	ačči	B ɪnts'ɨrs	no·na	suuts	mεk'εts	B mɪts	B waːtse	A moy-	B sumsa
Dokka	af	waytsi	si·nts	ačči	ɨrs'ɪns	no·na	su·ts	mik'әts	mittse	wa·tsi	m-	suntsa
Male	’aːpi	waizi	sied‘i	’ači	’ɪndɪrsi	daŋka	sugutsi	mεgεtsi	mitsi	waːtsi	mo-	sunsi
Wolaita	ayf-iya; A ayp'-iya	haytta	sir-iya	acca; A acc'a	int'arsa	doona	suutta; Ch maččamié	mek'etta	mitta	hatta	m-	sunta
Dawro	ayp'-iya	haytsa	siid'-iya	acc'a	ins'arsa	doona	sutsa	mek'etsa	barzap'-iya	hatsa	m-	sutta
Cancha	ayp'e	hayts	sire	acc‘a	ins‘arsa	doona	suts	mek'etsa	mits	haats	m-	sunts
Malo	’áɸe	hʌ́je	síd'e	’áčʰә	’irɪ́nts	dɔ́nʌ	sútsʰ	mεk‘ɨ́ts‘	mɪ́ts	’átsә	m-	sʊns
Gofa	ayp'e	haytsa	siide	acc'a	intsarsa	doona	sutsa	mek'etta	mitsa	hatse	m-	suntsa
Zala	ayfe	(h)aytsa	sid'e	ačča	int'arsa	duna	tsutsa		mitsa	hatsa	maa-
Gamu	ayp'e	haytsa	siire	acc'a	ins'arsa	doona	suuts	mek'ets	mitsa	hatse	m-	sunts
Dache	ayfe	hayts'e	siyd'e	acé	ɪntsεrs	duna	suts	mek'ets	šara	hatse	m-	sunts
Dorze	ayp'e	waye	sire	acc'a	ins'arsa	duuna	suts	mek'etsa	mits	haats	m-	sunts
Oyda	ápe, ayfe	B haːye	sid'e	’ač, pl. o·či	iláns	B doːna	suts	mεk'εts	mɪns'a	haytsi	mu’-	suntsu
Zayse	’áaɸε	waayέ	kuŋké	’acc'	ints'έrε	baadέ	súuts'	mεk'έεte	mits'a	wáats'i	m-	č'úuč'e
Zergulla	’aːɸe	wai	kuŋki	’ac'e	’insәre	haː’e	suːts	nεkεtε	mintsa	waːtse	m-	suːns
Ganjule	’áaɸε	waašέ	kuŋkε	gaggo	ints'úrε	baadέ	súuts'	mεk'έtε	mits'i	waats'i	m-	ts'únts'i
Gidicho	’áaɸε	waašέ	kuŋké	gaggo	ints'úrε	baadέ	súuts'i	mεk'εte	míts'i	wáats'i	m-	ts'únts'i
Kachama	’áaɸε	uwaašέ	kuŋkέ	gaggo	ints'úrε	baadέ	súuts'ε	mέk‘έtee	mits'i	wáats'i	m-	ts'únts'i
Koyra	’áɸε	waayέ	siid'ε	gaggo	’únts'úrε	’áaša	súuts'	mεk‘έεte	míts'e; Ce akka	wáats'e	múuwa	súuntsi
Chara	áːpa	wóːya	sínt'u	áč'a	’íns'ila	noːná	súːta	mertá	mítsa	áːs'a	ḿ-na	sumá
Bench	ap	(h)ay	sint'	gaš; san	eyts'	non	sut	mert	inč	so’	m’	sum
She	af	ai	sint'	gaš	ets'	non	sut	mεrt	enc	so’	mma	sum
Yemsa	aafa; kema	odo	siya	a’ya	terma	noono	anna	mega	i’o	aka	me	suna
Bworo	aawa	waaza	šint'a	gaša	albeera	noona	ts'atts'a	mak'әttsa	mitta	aatsa	maa-	šuutsa
Anfillo	aːfo	waːjo	šiːnto	gaːššo	εrɪːtso	nɔːno	ts'antso	šaušo	mɪːtso	yuːro	m	šiːgo
Kafa	affo, aho	wammo; kendo	muddo	gašo	eč'iyo	nono; koko	dammo	šawušo	met'o	ač'o	mammo; č‘okko	šiggo
Mocha	á·p̱o	wa·mmo	šit'ó	gášo	häč'awo	no·no	damo	ša·wúšo	mit'ó	à·č'o	ma̱·(hä)	šəgo
Proto-Omotic			*si(n)t’			*non-				*haats’
Maji
Proto-Maji	*ʔaːb	*háːy		*aːç’u		*eːdu		*uːs	*inču	*haːy	*um
Dizi	ab-u	aːi	sin-u	ažu	yabɪl	εd-u	yεrm-u	us	wɪč	aːi	m-	sɪm-u
Shako	áːb	aːy	B sɪnt'	áːč'u	érb	eːd	yärm	uːsu	íːnču	áːy	m̥̀-	suːm
Nayi	’aːf	B haːy	si.n	B acu	B yalb	eːdu	yarbm	’uːs	B incus	B hai	m-	suːm
Mao
Mao	áːfέ	wáːlέ	šíːnt'έ	àːts'ὲ	ánts'ílὲ	pɔ́ːnsὲ	hándέ	máːlt‘έ	’íːntsὲ	hàːtsὲ	hà míjà	jèːškέ
Seze	aːb, áːwi	wέὲ	šíːnté	háːts'έ, haːnsì	jántsílὲ/ t'agál	waːndè	hámbìlὲ	bàk‘ílí	’innsì	háːns'ì	máːmɔ́	nìːší
Hozo	abbi	wεεra	šini	ats'i	S wìntə́lә	waandi	hambilε	bak‘ilε	S ’íːnti	haani	maa	iiši
Aroid
Dime	’afe, ’aɸe	k'aːme	nʊkʊ	F baŋgɪl; ɪts; kәsɪl	’ɨdәm	’afe; B ’app-	maχse; F dzumt	k‘oss; F k‘ʊs	’aχe; B haːɣo	naχe; B nәːɣ-	’ɨčɨn	mɨze; F naːb
Hamer	api, afi	k'a(ː)m-	nuki	’ats'	’ad’ab	ap-	zum’i	leːfi	ak'-	noko	kʊm-	nam-
Banna	afi	k'ami	nuki	atsi	adʌb/adɪm	afa	zump'i	lεfi	ɑhaka/haːk'a	noko	its-; kum-	na(a)bi
Karo	afi	k'ami	nuki	asi	attәp'	M ’apo	mәk'әs	lefi	aka	nuk'o	isidi
Ari	afi	k'ami	nuki	atsi; B kasel geegi	adim	afa	zom’i	lεfi	ahaka	noɣa; B nɔk'ɔ	its-	nami
Ubamer	a·fi	ɣ/k'a·mi	nuki	atsi	admi	afa	mək'əs ~ -ɣ-	lεfí	aɣa	luk'a, luɣa	’its-	na·mi
Galila	a·fi	k'a·mi	nuki	ači	admi	afa	mәk'әs	lεfí	aɣa/aháɣa	lu·ɣa/lo·ɣa	ič-	la·mi

Classification

Characteristics

Reconstruction

Comparative vocabulary

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