Region Tanzania Extinct mid 20th century Glottolog aasa1238 | Ethnicity Asa people ISO 639-3 aas | |
Language family Afro-Asiatic?
Cushitic?
Rift?
East Rift
Asa | ||
The Asa (Aasá) language, commonly rendered Aasax, was spoken by the Asa people of Tanzania. The language is extinct; ethnic Assa in northern Tanzania remember only a few words they overheard their elders use, and none ever used it themselves. Little is known of the language; what is recorded was probably Aasa lexical words used in a register of Maasai like the mixed language Mbugu.
Contents
Classification
Asa is usually classified as Cushitic, most closely related to Kw'adza. However, it might have retained a non-Cushitic layer from an earlier language shift, and might be best left unclassified.
The Aramanik (Laramanik) people once spoke Asa, but shifted to Nandi (as opposed to Maasai).
Vocabulary
References
Asa language Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA