Suvarna Garge (Editor)

Xamtanga language

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Pronunciation
  
ˈχamtaŋa

Region
  
North Amhara Region

ISO 639-3
  
xan

Native to
  
Ethiopia

Native speakers
  
210,000 (2007 census)

Language family
  
Afro-Asiatic Cushitic Agaw Northern Xamtanga

Xamtanga (also Agawinya, Khamtanga, Simt'anga, Xamir, Xamta) is a Central Cushitic language spoken in Ethiopia by the Xamir people.

Contents

Vowels

The central vowels /ɨ ə a/ have fronted and backed allophones, depending on the adjacent consonant(s).

Consonants

  • /h/ is found only word-initial in loanwords, and may be glottal [h] or pharyngeal [ħ].
  • /t/ is alveolar before the vowel /i/, dental otherwise.
  • /q/ can be ejective [qʼ], and in some cases the ejectives appear to be in free variation with the voiceless plosives.

    • Gemination

    In positions other than word-initial, Xamtanga contrasts geminate and non-geminate consonants. With most consonants, the difference between a geminate and a non-geminate is simply one of length, but the cases of /b t q/ are more complex. When not word-initial, non-geminate /b/ is realized as a bilabial [β] or labiodental fricative [v], and /t/ and /q/ are realized as affricates: [tθ qχ]. Their geminate equivalents may be realized as prolonged [bː tː qː], or can simply be short [b t q].

    In word-initial position, geminate consonants do not occur, and /b t q/ are realized as plosives.

    References

    Xamtanga language Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA