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 2012, the Cushitic languages with over one million speakers were Oromo, Somali, Beja, Afar, Hadiyya, Kambaata, and Sidama.^[1]

Cushitic
Geographic distribution	Egypt, Sudan, Horn of Africa, East Africa
Linguistic classification	Afro-Asiatic Cushitic
Proto-language	Proto-Cushitic
Subdivisions	North Central Dullay Highland East Lowland East South
Language codes
ISO 639-2 / 5	cus
Glottolog	cush1243
Distribution of the Cushitic languages in Africa
Map of the Cushitic languages

Official status

The Cushitic languages with the greatest number of total speakers are Oromo (37 million),^[2] Somali (22 million),^[3] Beja (3.2 million),^[4] Sidamo (3 million),^[5] and Afar (2 million).^[6]

Oromo serves as one of the official working languages of Ethiopia^[7] and is also the working language of several of the states within the Ethiopian federal system including Oromia,^[8] Harari and Dire Dawa regional states and of the Oromia Zone in the Amhara Region.^[9]

Somali is the first of two official languages of Somalia and three official languages of Somaliland.^[10][11] It also serves as a language of instruction in Djibouti,^[12] and as the working language of the Somali Region in Ethiopia.^[9]

Beja, Afar, Blin and Saho, the languages of the Cushitic branch of Afroasiatic that are spoken in Eritrea, are languages of instruction in the Eritrean elementary school curriculum.^[13] The constitution of Eritrea also recognizes the equality of all natively spoken languages.^[14] Additionally, Afar is a language of instruction in Djibouti,^[12] as well as the working language of the Afar Region in Ethiopia.^[9]

Origin and prehistory

See also: Proto-Afroasiatic homeland § Northeast African homeland theory

Christopher Ehret argues for a unified Proto-Cushitic language in the Red Sea Hills as far back as the Early Holocene.^[15] Based on onomastic evidence, the Medjay and the Blemmyes of northern Nubia are believed to have spoken Cushitic languages related to the modern Beja language.^[16] Less certain are hypotheses which propose that Cushitic languages were spoken by the people of the C-Group culture in northern Nubia,^[17] or the people of the Kerma culture in southern Nubia.^[18]

Typological characteristics

Phonology

Most Cushitic languages have a simple five-vowel system with phonemic length (/a a: e e: i i: o o: u u:/); a notable exception are the Agaw languages, which do not contrast vowel length, but have one or two additional central vowels.^[19][20] The consonant inventory of many Cushitic languages includes glottalic consonants, e.g. in Oromo, which has the ejectives /pʼ tʼ tʃʼ kʼ/ and the implosive /ᶑ/.^[21] Less common are pharyngeal consonants /ħ ʕ/, which appear e.g. in Somali or the Saho–Afar languages.^[19][21]

Most Cushitic languages have a system of restrictive tone also known as ‘pitch accent’ in which tonal contours overlaid on the stressed syllable play a prominent role in morphology and syntax.^[19][22]

Grammar

Nouns

Nouns are inflected for case and number. All nouns are further grouped into two gender categories, masculine gender and feminine gender. In many languages, gender is overtly marked directly on the noun (e.g. in Awngi, where all female nouns carry the suffix -a).^[23]

The case system of many Cushitic languages is characterized by marked nominative alignment, which is typologically quite rare and predominantly found in languages of Africa.^[24] In marked nominative languages, the noun appears in unmarked "absolutive" case when cited in isolation, or when used as predicative noun and as object of a transitive verb; on the other hand, it is explicitly marked for nominative case when it functions as subject in a transitive or intransitive sentence.^[25][26]

Possession is usually expressed by genitive case marking of the possessor. South Cushitic—which has no case marking for subject and object—follows the opposite strategy: here, the possessed noun is marked for construct case, e.g. Iraqw afé-r mar'i "doors" (lit. "mouths of houses"), where afee "mouth" is marked for construct case.^[27]

Most nouns are by default unmarked for number, but can be explicitly marked for singular ("singulative") and plural number. E.g. in Bilin, dəmmu "cat(s)" is number-neutral, from which singular dəmmura "a single cat" and plural dəmmut "several cats" can be formed. Plural formation is very diverse, and employs ablaut (i.e. changes of root vowels or consonants), suffixes and reduplication.^[28][29]

Verbs

Verbs are inflected for person/number and tense/aspect. Many languages also have a special form of the verb in negative clauses.^[30]

Most Cushitic languages distinguish seven person/number categories: first, second, third person, singular and plural number, with a masculine/feminine gender distinction in third person singular. The most common conjugation type employs suffixes. Some languages also have a prefix conjugation: in Beja and the Saho–Afar languages, the prefix conjugation is still a productive part of the verb paradigm, whereas in most other languages, e.g. Somali, it is restricted to only a few verbs. It is generally assumed that historically, the suffix conjugation developed from the older prefix conjugation, by combining the verb stem with a suffixed auxiliary verb.^[31] The following table gives an example for the suffix and prefix conjugations in affirmative present tense in Somali.^[32]

			suffix conjugation	prefix conjugation
			"bring"	"come"
1st person	singular		keen-aa	i-maadd-aa
	plural		keen-naa	ni-maad-naa
2nd person	singular		keen-taa	ti-maadd-aa
	plural		keen-taan	ti-maadd-aan
3rd person	singular	masc.	keen-aa	yi-maadd-aa
		fem.	keen-taa	ti-maadd-aa
	plural		keen-aan	yi-maadd-aan

Syntax

Basic word order is verb final, the most common order being subject–object–verb (SOV). The subject or object can also follow the verb to indicate focus.^[33][34]

Classification

Overview

The phylum was first designated as Cushitic in 1858.^[35] The Omotic languages, once included in Cushitic, have almost universally been removed. The most influential recent classification, Tosco (2003), has informed later approaches. It and two more recent classifications are as follows:

Tosco

Tosco (2000, East Cushitic revised 2020)^[36][37]

• Cushitic
  • North Cushitic (Beja)
  • Central Cushitic (Agaw)
  • South Cushitic
    • Maʼa (Bantu hybrid & partially a planned language, difficult to classify)
    • Dahalo (divergent; possibly not Southern Cushitic)
    • Rift
  • East Cushitic
    • Highland
    • Lowland
      • Saho–Afar
      • Southern
        • (nuclear Southern)
          • Omo–Tana
          • Oromoid
        • Peripheral (?)
          • Yaaku
          • Dullay

Appleyard (2012)^[38]

• Cushitic
  • North Cushitic (Beja)
  • Central Cushitic (Agaw)
  • South Cushitic
  • East Cushitic
    • Lowland East Cushitic
    • Highland East Cushitic
    • Yaaku–Dullay
    • Dahalo

Bender (2019)^[39]

Geographic labels are given for comparison; Bender's labels are added in parentheses. Dahalo is made a primary branch, as also suggested by Kiessling and Mous (2003). Yaaku is not listed, being placed within Arboroid. Afar–Saho is removed from Lowland East Cushitic; since they are the most 'lowland' of the Cushitic languages, Bender calls the remnant 'core' East Cushitic.

• Cushitic
  • North Cushitic (Beja)
  • Central Cushitic (Agew)
  • Dahalo
  • South Cushitic
  • East Cushitic
    • Afar–Saho
    • Highland East Cushitic
    • Lowland East Cushitic ('core' East Cushitic)
      • Dullay
      • SAOK
        • Eastern Omo–Tana (Somaloid)
        • Western Omo–Tana (Arboroid)
        • Oromoid (Oromo–Konsoid)

These classifications have not been without contention. For example, it has been argued that Southern Cushitic belongs in the Eastern branch, with its divergence explained by contact with Hadza- and Sandawe-like languages. Hetzron (1980) and Fleming (post-1981) exclude Beja altogether, though this is rejected by other linguists. Some of the classifications that have been proposed over the years are summarized here:

Other subclassifications of Cushitic

Greenberg (1963)[40]	Hetzron (1980)[41]	Orel & Stolbova (1995)	Ehret (2011)[42]
Cushitic Northern Cushitic (Beja) Central Cushitic Eastern Cushitic Western Cushitic (Omotic) Southern Cushitic	Beja (not part of Cushitic) Cushitic Highland Rift Valley (= Highland East Cushitic) Agaw Lowland Saho–Afar Southern Omo-Tana Oromoid Dullay Yaaku Iraqw (i.e. Southern Cushitic)	Cushitic Omotic Beja Agaw Sidamic (i.e. Highland East Cushitic) East Lowlands Rift (Southern)	Cushitic North Cushitic (Beja) Agäw–East–South Cushitic Agäw East–South Cushitic Eastern Cushitic Southern Cushitic

For debate on the placement of the Cushitic branch within Afroasiatic, see Afroasiatic languages.

Beja

Main article: Beja language § Classification

Beja constitutes the only member of the Northern Cushitic subgroup. As such, Beja contains a number of linguistic innovations that are unique to it, as is also the situation with the other subgroups of Cushitic (e.g. idiosyncratic features in Agaw or Central Cushitic).^[43][44][45] Hetzron (1980) argues that Beja therefore may comprise an independent branch of the Afroasiatic family.^[41] However, this suggestion has been rejected by most other scholars.^[46] The characteristics of Beja that differ from those of other Cushitic languages are instead generally acknowledged as normal branch variation.^[43]

Didier Morin (2001) assigned Beja to Lowland East Cushitic on the grounds that the language shared lexical and phonological features with the Afar and Saho idioms, and also because the languages were historically spoken in adjacent speech areas. However, among linguists specializing in the Cushitic languages, the standard classification of Beja as North Cushitic is accepted.^[47]

Other divergent languages

There are also a few languages of uncertain classification, including Yaaku, Dahalo, Aasax, Kw'adza, Boon, Ongota and the Cushitic component of Mbugu (Ma'a). There is a wide range of opinions as to how the languages are interrelated.^[48]

The positions of the Dullay languages and of Yaaku are uncertain. They have traditionally been assigned to an East Cushitic subbranch along with Highland (Sidamic) and Lowland East Cushitic. However, Hayward thinks that East Cushitic may not be a valid node and that its constituents should be considered separately when attempting to work out the internal relationships of Cushitic.^[48] Bender (2020) suggests Yaaku to be a divergent member of the Arboroid group.^[49]

The Afroasiatic identity of Ongota has also been broadly questioned, as is its position within Afroasiatic among those who accept it, because of the "mixed" appearance of the language and a paucity of research and data. Harold C. Fleming (2006) proposes that Ongota is a separate branch of Afroasiatic.^[50] Bonny Sands (2009) thinks the most convincing proposal is by Savà and Tosco (2003), namely that Ongota is an East Cushitic language with a Nilo-Saharan substratum. In other words, it would appear that the Ongota people once spoke a Nilo-Saharan language but then shifted to speaking a Cushitic language while retaining some characteristics of their earlier Nilo-Saharan language.^[51][52]

Hetzron (1980)^[53] and Ehret (1995) have suggested that the South Cushitic languages (Rift languages) are a part of Lowland East Cushitic, the only one of the six groups with much internal diversity.

Omotic

Cushitic was formerly seen as also including most or all of the Omotic languages. An early view by Enrico Cerulli proposed a "Sidama" subgroup comprising most of the Omotic languages and the Sidamic group of Highland East Cushitic. Mario Martino Moreno in 1940 divided Cerulli's Sidama, uniting the Sidamic proper and the Lowland Cushitic languages as East Cushitic, the remainder as West Cushitic or ta/ne Cushitic. The Aroid languages were not considered Cushitic by either scholar (thought by Cerulli to be instead Nilotic); they were added to West Cushitic by Joseph Greenberg in 1963. Further work in the 1960s soon led to the putative West Cushitic being seen as typologically divergent and renamed as "Omotic".^[54]

Today the inclusion of Omotic as a part of Cushitic has been abandoned. Omotic is most often seen as an independent branch of Afroasiatic, primarily due to the work of Harold C. Fleming (1974) and Lionel Bender (1975); some linguists like Paul Newman (1980) challenge Omotic's classification within the Afroasiatic family itself.

Extinct languages

A number of extinct populations have been proposed to have spoken Afroasiatic languages of the Cushitic branch. Marianne Bechhaus-Gerst (2000) proposed that the peoples of the Kerma culture – which inhabited the Nile Valley in present-day Sudan immediately before the arrival of the first Nubian speakers – spoke Cushitic languages.^[18] She argues that the Nilo-Saharan Nobiin language today contains a number of key pastoralism related loanwords that are of proto-Highland East Cushitic origin, including the terms for sheep/goatskin, hen/cock, livestock enclosure, butter and milk. However, more recent linguistic research indicates that the people of the Kerma culture (who were based in southern Nubia) instead spoke Nilo-Saharan languages of the Eastern Sudanic branch, and that the peoples of the C-Group culture to their north (in northern Nubia) and other groups in northern Nubia (such as the Medjay and Blemmyes) spoke Cushitic languages with the latter being related to the modern Beja language.^{[55][56][17][57]} The linguistic affinity of the ancient A-Group culture of northern Nubia—the predecessor of the C-Group culture—is unknown, but Rilly (2019) suggests that it is unlikely to have spoken a language of the Northern East Sudanic branch of Nilo-Saharan, and may have spoken a Cushitic language, another Afro-Asiatic language, or a language belonging to another (non-Northern East Sudanic) branch of the Nilo-Saharan family.^[58] Rilly also criticizes proposals (by Behrens and Bechaus-Gerst) of significant early Afro-Asiatic influence on Nobiin, and considers evidence of substratal influence on Nobiin from an earlier now extinct Eastern Sudanic language to be stronger.^{[56][55][59][17]}

Julien Cooper (2017) states that in antiquity, Cushitic languages were spoken in Lower Nubia (the northernmost part of modern-day Sudan).^[60] He also states that Eastern Sudanic-speaking populations from southern and west Nubia gradually replaced the earlier Cushitic-speaking populations of this region.^[61]

In Handbook of Ancient Nubia, Claude Rilly (2019) states that Cushitic languages once dominated Lower Nubia along with the Ancient Egyptian language.^[62] He mentions historical records of the Blemmyes, a Cushitic-speaking tribe which controlled Lower Nubia and some cities in Upper Egypt.^[63][64] He mentions the linguistic relationship between the modern Beja language and the ancient Blemmyan language, and that the Blemmyes can be regarded as a particular tribe of the Medjay.^[65]

Additionally, historiolinguistics indicate that the makers of the Savanna Pastoral Neolithic (Stone Bowl Culture) in the Great Lakes area likely spoke South Cushitic languages.^[66]

Christopher Ehret (1998) proposed on the basis of loanwords that South Cushitic languages (called "Tale" and "Bisha" by Ehret) were spoken in an area closer to Lake Victoria than are found today.^[67][68]

Also, historically, the Southern Nilotic languages have undergone extensive contact with a "missing" branch of East Cushitic that Heine (1979) refers to as Baz.^[69][70]

Reconstruction

Main article: Proto-Cushitic language

Christopher Ehret proposed a reconstruction of Proto-Cushitic in 1987, but did not base this on individual branch reconstructions.^[71] Grover Hudson (1989) has done some preliminary work on Highland East Cushitic,^[72] David Appleyard (2006) has proposed a reconstruction of Proto-Agaw,^[73] and Roland Kießling and Maarten Mous (2003) have jointly proposed a reconstruction of West Rift Southern Cushitic.^[74] No reconstruction has been published for Lowland East Cushitic, though Paul D. Black wrote his (unpublished) dissertation on the topic in 1974.^[75] Hans-Jürgen Sasse (1979) proposed a reconstruction of the consonants of Proto-East Cushitic.^[76] No comparative work has yet brought these branch reconstructions together.

Comparative vocabulary

Basic vocabulary

Sample basic vocabulary of Cushitic languages from Vossen & Dimmendaal (2020:318) (with PSC denoting Proto-Southern Cushitic):^[77]

Branch	Northern	Southern	Eastern		Central
Gloss	Beja[78]	Iraqw[79][80]	Oromo[81]	Somali[82]	Awŋi[83]	Kemantney[84]
'foot'	ragad/lagad	yaaee	miila/luka	lug	lɨkw	lɨkw
'tooth'	kwire	siħinoo	ilkee	ilig	ɨrkwí	ɨrkw
'hair'	hami/d.ifi	seʔeengw	dabbasaa	timo	ʧiʧifí	ʃibka
'heart'	gin'a	muuná	onnee	wadne	ɨʃew	lɨbäka
'house'	gau/'anda	doʔ	mana	guri/min	ŋɨn	nɨŋ
'wood'	hindi	ɬupi	mukha	qori/alwaax	kani	kana
'meat'	ʃa/dof	fuʔnaay	foon	so'/hilib	ɨʃʃi	sɨya
'water'	yam	maʔay	biʃan	biyo/maayo	aɣu	axw
'door'	ɖefa/yaf	piindo	balbala	irrid/albaab	lɨmʧi/sank	bäla
'grass'	siyam/ʃuʃ	gitsoo	ʧ'itaa	caws	sigwi	ʃanka
'black'	hadal/hadod	boo	gurraʧʧa	madow	ʧárkí	ʃämäna
'red'	adal/adar	daaʕaat	diimaa	cas/guduud	dɨmmí	säraɣ
'road'	darab	loohi	karaa/godaana	jid/waddo	dad	gorwa
'mountain'	reba	tɬooma	tuullu	buur	kán	dɨba
'spear'	fena/gwiʃ'a	*laabala (PSC)	waraana	waran	werém	ʃämärgina
'stick' (n)	'amis/'adi	*ħada	ulee/dullaa	ul	gɨmb	kɨnbɨ
'fire'	n'e	ʔaɬa	ibidda	dab	leg	wɨzɨŋ
'donkey'	mek	daqwaay	haare	dameer	dɨɣwarí	dɨɣora
'cat'	bissa/kaffa	maytsí	adure	bisad/dummad	anguʧʧa	damiya
'dog'	yas/mani	seeaay	seere	eey	gɨséŋ	gɨzɨŋ
'cow'	ʃ'a/yiwe	ɬee	sa'a	sac	ɨllwa	käma
'lion'	hada	diraangw	lenʧ'a	libaax	wuʤi	gämäna
'hyena'	galaba/karai	*bahaa (PSC)	waraabo	waraabe	ɨɣwí	wäya
'sister'	kwa	ħoʔoo	obboleeytii	walaalo/abbaayo	séná	ʃän
'brother'	san	nana	obboleessa	walaal/abboowe	sén	zän
'mother'	de	aayi	haaɗa	hooyo	ʧwá	gäna
'father'	baba	taata	aabba	aabbe	tablí	aba
'sit'	s'a/ʈaʈam	iwiit	taa'uu	fadhiiso	ɨnʤikw-	täkosɨm-
'sleep'	diw/nari	guuʔ	rafuu	hurud	ɣur\y-	gänʤ-
'eat'	tam/'am	aag	ɲaaʧʧu	cun	ɣw-	xw-
'drink'	gw'a/ʃifi	wah	ɗugaaiti	cab	zɨq-	ʤax-
'kill'	dir	gaas	aʤʤeesuu	dil	kw-	kw-
'speak'	hadid/kwinh	ʔooʔ	dubbattu	hadal	dibs-	gämär-
'thin'	'iyai/bilil	*ʔiiraw (PSC)	hap'ii	caato	ɨnʧu	k'ät'än-
'fat'	dah/l'a	*du/*iya (PSC)	furdaa	shilis/buuran	morí	wäfär-
'small'	dis/dabali	*niinaw (PSC)	t'innoo	yar	ʧɨlí	ʃigwey
'big'	win/ragaga	*dir (PSC)	guddaa/dagaaga	weyn	dɨngulí	fɨraq

Numerals

Comparison of numerals in individual Cushitic languages:^[85]

Classification	Language	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
North	Beja (Bedawi)	ɡaːl	ˈmale	mheːj	ˈfaɖiɡ	eːj (lit: 'hand')	aˈsaɡwir (5 + 1)	asaːˈrama (5 + 2)	asiˈmheːj (5 + 3)	aʃˈʃaɖiɡ (5 + 4)	ˈtamin
Central	Bilin (Bilen)	laxw / la	ləŋa	səxwa	sədʒa	ʔankwa	wəlta	ləŋəta	səxwəta	səssa	ʃɨka
Central, Eastern	Xamtanga	lə́w	líŋa	ʃáqwa	síza	ákwa	wálta	láŋta / lánta	sə́wta	sʼájtʃʼa	sʼɨ́kʼa
Central, Southern	Awngi	ɨ́mpɨ́l / láɢú	láŋa	ʃúɢa	sedza	áŋkwa	wɨ́lta	láŋéta	sóɢéta	sésta	tsɨ́kka
Central, Western	Kimant (Qimant)	laɣa / la	liŋa	siɣwa	sədʒa	ankwa	wəlta	ləŋəta	səɣwəta	səssa	ʃɨka
East, Highland	Alaaba	matú	lamú	sasú	ʃɔːlú	ʔɔntú	lehú	lamalá	hizzeːtú	hɔnsú	tɔnnsú
East, Highland	Burji	mitʃːa	lama	fadia	foola	umutta	lia	lamala	hiditta	wonfa	tanna
East, Highland	Gedeo	mitte	lame	sase	ʃoole	onde	dʒaane	torbaane	saddeeta	sallane	tomme
East, Highland	Hadiyya	mato	lamo	saso	sooro	onto	loho	lamara	sadeento	honso	tommo
East, Highland	Kambaata	máto	lámo	sáso	ʃóolo	ónto	lého	lamála	hezzéeto	hónso	tordúma
East, Highland	Libido	mato	lamo	saso	sooro	ʔonto	leho	lamara	sadeento	honso	tommo
East, Highland	Sidamo (Sidaama)	mite	lame	sase	ʃoole	onte	lee	lamala	sette	honse	tonne
East, Dullay	Gawwada	tóʔon	lákke	ízzaħ	sálaħ	xúpin	tappi	táʔan	sétten	kóllan	ħúɗɗan
East, Dullay	Tsamai (Ts'amakko)	doːkːo	laːkːi	zeːħ	salaħ	χobin	tabːen	taħːan	sezːen	ɡolːan	kuŋko
East, Konsoid	Bussa (Harso-Bobase)	tóʔo	lakki, lam(m)e, lamay	ezzaħ, siséħ	salaħ	xúpin	cappi	caħħan	sásse /sésse	kollan	húddʼan
East, Konsoid	Dirasha (Gidole)	ʃakka(ha) (fem.) / ʃokko(ha) (masc.)	lakki	halpatta	afur	hen	lehi	tappa	lakkuʃeti	tsinqoota	hunda
East, Konsoid	Konso	takka	lakki	sessa	afur	ken	lehi	tappa	sette	saɡal	kuɗan
East, Oromo	Orma	tokkō	lamā	sadi	afurī	ʃanī	dʒa	torbā	saddeetī	saɡalī	kuɗenī
East, Oromo	West Central Oromo	tokko	lama	sadii	afur	ʃani	dʒaha	torba	saddet	saɡal	kuɗan
East, Saho-Afar	Afar	enèki / inìki	nammàya	sidòħu / sidòħoòyu	ferèyi / fereèyi	konòyu / konoòyu	leħèyi / leħeèyi	malħiini	baħaàra	saɡaàla	tàbana
East, Saho-Afar	Saho	inik	lam:a	adoħ	afar	ko:n	liħ	malħin	baħar	saɡal	taman
East, Rendille-Boni	Boni	kóów, hál-ó (masc.) / hás-só (fem)	lába	síddéh	áfar	ʃan	líh	toddóu	siyyéèd	saaɡal	tammán
East, Rendille-Boni	Rendille	kôːw / ko:kalɖay (isolated form)	lámːa	sɛ́jːaħ	áfːar	t͡ʃán	líħ	tɛːbá	sijːɛ̂ːt	saːɡáːl	tomón
East, Somali	Garre (Karre)	kow	lamma	siddeh	afar	ʃan	liʔ	toddobe	siyeed	saɡaal	tommon
East, Somali	Somali	ków	labá	sáddeħ	áfar	ʃán	liħ	toddobá	siddèed	saɡaal	toban
East, Somali	Tunni (Af-Tunni)	ków	lámma	síddiʔ	áfar	ʃán	líʔ	toddóbo	siyéed	saɡáal	tómon
East, Arboroid	Arbore	tokkó (masc.) / takká (fem.), ˈtaˈka	laamá, ˈlaːma	sezzé, ˈsɛːze	ʔafúr, ʔaˈfur	tʃénn, t͡ʃɛn	dʒih, ˈd͡ʒi	tuzba, ˈtuːzba	suyé, suˈjɛ	saaɡalɗ, ˈsaɡal	tommoɲɗ, ˈtɔmːɔn
East, Arboroid	Bayso (Baiso)	koo (masc.) too (fem.)	lɑ́ɑmɑ	sédi	ɑ́fɑr	ken	le	todobɑ́	siddéd	sɑ́ɑɡɑɑl	tómon
East, Arboroid	Daasanach	tɪ̀ɡɪ̀ɗɪ̀ (adj.) / tàqàt͡ʃ ̚ (ord.)/ ʔɛ̀ɾ (ord.)	nàːmə̀	sɛ̀d̪ɛ̀	ʔàfʊ̀ɾ	t͡ʃɛ̀n	lɪ̀h	t̪ɪ̀ːjə̀	síɪ̀t̚	sàːl	t̪òmòn
East, Arboroid	El Molo	t'óko / t'áka	l'ááma	séépe	áfur	kên, cên	yíi	tíípa, s'ápa	fúe	s'áákal	t'ómon
South or East	Dahalo	vattúkwe (masc.) / vattékwe (fem.)	líima	kʼaba	saʕála	dáwàtte, possibly ← 'hand'	sita < Swahili	saba < Swahili	nane	kenda / tis(i)a	kumi
South	Alagwa (Wasi)	wák	ndʒad	tam	tsʼiɡaħ	kooʔan	laħooʔ	faanqʼw	dakat	ɡwelen	mibi
South	Burunge	leyiŋ / leẽ	t͡ʃʼada	tami	t͡ʃʼiɡaħa	koːʔani	laħaʔu	faɴqʼu	daɡati	ɡweleli	mili
South	Gorowa (Gorwaa)	wak	tsʼar	tám	tsʼiyáħ	kooʔán	laħóoʔ	fâanqʼw	dakáat	ɡwaléel / ɡweléel	mibaanɡw
South	Iraqw	wák	tsár	tám	tsíyáħ	kooán	laħoóʔ	faaɴw	dakaát	ɡwaleél	mibaaɴw

See also

• Cushitic speaking peoples
• List of Proto-Cushitic reconstructions (Wiktionary)
• Meroitic language

Notes

1. Mous (2012), pp. 343–345.
2. Eberhard, David M.; Simons, Gary F.; Fennig, Charles D., eds. (2021). "Oromo". Ethnologue: Languages of the World (Twenty-fourth ed.). Dallas, Texas: SIL International. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
3. Eberhard, David M.; Simons, Gary F.; Fennig, Charles D., eds. (2021). "Somali". Ethnologue: Languages of the World (Twenty-fourth ed.). Dallas, Texas: SIL International. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
4. "Bedawiyet". Ethnologue. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
5. "Sidamo". Ethnologue. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
6. "Afar". Ethnologue. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
7. Shaban, Abdurahman. "One to five: Ethiopia gets four new federal working languages". Africa News. Archived from the original on 15 December 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
8. "Ethiopia". The World Factbook (2024 ed.). Central Intelligence Agency. 6 June 2022. (Archived 2022 edition.)
9. "Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia" (PDF). Government of Ethiopia. pp. 2 & 16. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 June 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
10. "Somaliland profile". BBC News. 14 December 2017. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
11. "The Constitution of the Somali Republic (as amended up to October 12, 1990)" (PDF). Government of Somalia. p. 2. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 23 November 2017. "The Transitional Federal Charter of the Somali Republic" (PDF). Government of Somalia. p. 5. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
12. "Journal Officiel de la République de Djibouti – Loi n°96/AN/00/4èmeL portant Orientation du Système Educatif Djiboutien" (PDF). Government of Djibouti. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
13. Graziano Savà; Mauro Tosco (January 2008). ""Ex Uno Plura": the uneasy road of Ethiopian languages toward standardization". International Journal of the Sociology of Language. 2008 (191): 117. doi:10.1515/ijsl.2008.026. S2CID 145500609. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
14. "The Constitution of Eritrea" (PDF). Government of Eritrea. p. 524. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 December 2017. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
15. Stevens, Chris J.; Nixon, Sam; Murray, Mary Anne; Fuller, Dorian Q. (July 2016). Archaeology of African Plant Use. Routledge. p. 239. ISBN 978-1-315-43400-1.
16. Rilly (2019), pp. 132–133.
17. Cooper (2017).
18. Bechhaus-Gerst (2000), p. 453.
19. Appleyard (2012), p. 202.
20. Mous (2012), p. 353.
21. Mous (2012), p. 355.
22. Mous (2012), p. 350–351.
23. Appleyard (2012), pp. 204–206.
24. König (2008), p. 138.
25. Appleyard (2012), pp. 205.
26. Mous (2012), p. 369.
27. Mous (2012), pp. 373–374.
28. Appleyard (2012), p. 204.
29. Mous (2012), pp. 361–363.
30. Mous (2012), p. 389.
31. Appleyard (2012), pp. 207–208.
32. Appleyard (2012), pp. 254–255.
33. Appleyard (2012), pp. 210–211.
34. Mous (2012), pp. 411–412.
35. Lipiński, Edward (2001). Semitic Languages: Outline of a Comparative Grammar Volume 80 of Orientalia Lovaniensia analecta. Peeters Publishers. p. 21. ISBN 90-429-0815-7. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
36. Tosco, Mauro (November 2000). "Cushitic Overview". Journal of Ethiopian Studies. 33 (2): 108. JSTOR 41966109.
37. Mauro Tosco (2020) East Cushitic. In the Oxford Handbook of African Languages, p. 292, 297.
38. Appleyard (2012), p. 200.
39. Bender (2019), p. 91.
40. Greenberg, Joseph (1963). The Languages of Africa. Bloomington: Indiana University. pp. 48–49.
41. Hetzron (1980).
42. Ehret, Christopher (2011). History and the Testimony of Language. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 138, 147. ISBN 978-0-520-26204-1.
43. Zaborski, Andrzej (1988). Fucus – "Remarks on the Verb in Beja". John Benjamins Publishing. p. 491. ISBN 90-272-3552-X. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
44. Treis, Yvonne; Vanhove, Martine (31 May 2017). Similative and Equative Constructions: A cross-linguistic perspective. John Benjamins Publishing Company. p. 189. ISBN 978-90-272-6597-5.
45. Vanhove, Martine (2016). "North-Cushitic". Halshs.
46. Güldemann (2018), pp. 327–328.
47. Vanhove, Martine. "North-Cushitic". LLACAN, CNRS-INALCO, Université Sorbonne Paris-Cité. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
48. Richard Hayward, "Afroasiatic", in Heine & Nurse, 2000, African Languages
49. Bender, M. Lionel. (2020). Cushitic Lexicon and Phonology. ed. Grover Hudson. (Schriften zur Afrikanistik / Research in African Studies, 28). Berlin: Peter Lang. ISBN 978-3-631-60089-4
50. "Harrassowitz Verlag – The Harrassowitz Publishing House". Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
51. Savà, Graziano; Tosco, Mauro (2003). "The classification of Ongota". In Bender, M. Lionel; et al. (eds.). Selected comparative-historical Afrasian linguistic studies. LINCOM Europa.
52. Sands, Bonny (2009). "Africa's Linguistic Diversity". Language and Linguistics Compass. 3 (2): 559–580. doi:10.1111/j.1749-818x.2008.00124.x.
53. Robert Hetzron, "The Limits of Cushitic", Sprache und Geschichte in Afrika 2. 1980, 7–126.
54. Lamberti, Marcello (1991). "Cushitic and its Classifications". Anthropos: 552–561.
55. Rilly (2011).
56. Rilly (2008).
57. Raue, Dietrich (4 June 2019). Handbook of Ancient Nubia. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. pp. 132–133. ISBN 978-3-11-042038-8.
58. Rilly (2019), p. 134.
59. Rilly (2016).
60. Cooper (2017), pp. 199: "In antiquity, Afroasiatic languages in Sudan belonged chiefly to the phylum known as Cushitic, spoken on the eastern seaboard of Africa and from Sudan to Kenya, including the Ethiopian Highlands."
61. Cooper (2017), pp. 208–209: "The toponymic data in Egyptian texts has broadly identified at least three linguistic blocs in the Middle Nile region of the second and first millennium BCE, each of which probably exhibited a great degree of internal variation. In Lower Nubia there was an Afroasiatic language, likely a branch of Cushitic. By the end of the first millennium CE this region had been encroached upon and replaced by Eastern Sudanic speakers arriving from the south and west, to be identified first with Meroitic and later migrations attributable to Nubian speakers."
62. Rilly (2019), p. 130: "Two Afro-Asiatic languages were present in antiquity in Nubia, namely Ancient Egyptian and Cushitic."
63. Rilly (2019), p. 133: "The Blemmyes are another Cushitic speaking tribe, or more likely a subdivision of the Medjay/Beja people, which is attested in Napatan and Egyptian texts from the 6th century BC on."
64. Rilly (2019), p. 134a: "From the end of the 4th century until the 6th century AD, they held parts of Lower Nubia and some cities of Upper Egypt."
65. Rilly (2019), p. 134b: "The Blemmyan language is so close to modern Beja that it is probably nothing else than an early dialect of the same language. In this case, the Blemmyes can be regarded as a particular tribe of the Medjay."
66. Ambrose (1984), p. 234.
67. Kießling, Roland; Mous, Maarten; Nurse, Derek (2007). "The Tanzanian Rift Valley area". In Bernd Heine; Derek Nurse (eds.). A Linguistic Geography of Africa. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
68. Schoenbrun, David L. (1993). "We Are What We Eat: Ancient Agriculture between the Great Lakes". The Journal of African History. 34 (1): 1–31. doi:10.1017/S0021853700032989. JSTOR 183030. S2CID 162660041.
69. Güldemann (2018).
70. Heine, Bernd, Franz Rottland & Rainer Voßen. 1979. Proto-Baz: Some aspects of early Nilotic-Cushitic contacts. Sprache und Geschichte in Afrika 1. 75‒92.
71. Ehret, Christopher. 1987. Proto-Cushitic Reconstruction. In Sprache und Geschichte in Afrika 8: 7–180. University of Cologne.
72. Hudson, Grover (1989). Highland East Cushitic Dictionary. Hamburg: Helmut Buske Verlag. ISBN 3-87118-947-2.
73. Appleyard, David (2006). A Comparative Dictionary of the Agaw Languages. Köln: Rüdiger Köppe. ISBN 3-89645-481-1.
74. Kießling, Roland; Mous, Maarten (2003). The Lexical Reconstruction of West-Rift Southern Cushitic. Köln: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag. ISBN 3-89645-068-9.
75. Black, Paul (1974). Lowland East Cushitic: Subgrouping and Reconstruction (PhD). Yale University.
76. Sasse, Hans-Jürgen (1979). "Consonant Phonemes of Proto East Cushitic". Afro-Asiatic Linguistics. 7 (1): 1–57.
77. Vossen, Rainer and Gerrit J. Dimmendaal (eds.). 2020. The Oxford Handbook of African Languages. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
78. Roper, E.M. (1928). Tu Beḍawiɛ: Grammar, texts and vocabulary. Hertford: Stephen Austin and Sons.
79. Kieβling, Roland (2002). Iraqw texts. (Archiv afrikanistischer Manuskripte, 4.) Köln: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag.
80. Kieβling, R., and Mous, M. (2003). The Lexical Reconstruction of West-Rift Southern Cushitic. Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe.
81. Mahdi Hamid Muudee (1995). Oromo Dictionary I. Atlanta: Sagalee Oromoo Publishing.
82. Puglielli, A. & Mansuur, C. (2012). Qaamuuska Af-Soomaaliga. Roma: RomaTrE-Press.
83. Appleyard, D. (2006). A Comparative Dictionary of the Agäw Languages. Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe.
84. Zelealem Leyew (2003). The Kemantney Language: A sociolinguistic and grammatical study of language replacement. Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe.
85. Chan, Eugene (2019). "The Niger-Congo Language Phylum". Numeral Systems of the World's Languages.

References

• Ethnologue on the Cushitic branch
• Ambrose, Stanley H. (1984). "The Introduction of Pastoral Adaptations to the Highlands of East Africa". In Clark, J. Desmond; Brandt, Steevn A. (eds.). From Hunters to Farmers: The Causes and Consequences of Food Production in Africa. University of California Press. pp. 212–239. ISBN 0-520-04574-2. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
• Appleyard, David (2012). "Cushitic". In Edzard, Lutz (ed.). Semitic and Afroasiatic: Challenges and Opportunities. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag. pp. 199–295. ISBN 978-3-447-06695-2.
• Bender, Marvin Lionel. 1975. Omotic: a new Afroasiatic language family. Southern Illinois University Museum series, number 3.
• Bender, M. Lionel. 1986. A possible Cushomotic isomorph. Afrikanistische Arbeitspapiere 6:149–155.
• Bender, M. Lionel (2019). Grover Hudson (ed.). Cushitic Lexicon and Phonology. Schriften Zur Afrikanistik – Research in African Studies. Vol. 28. Berlin: Peter Lang. ISBN 978-3-631-60089-4.
• Bechhaus-Gerst, Marianne (2000). "Linguistic evidence for the prehistory of livestock in Sudan". In Blench, Roger; MacDonald, Kevin (eds.). The Origins and Development of African Livestock: Archaeology, Genetics, Linguistics and Ethnography. Routledge. pp. 449–461. ISBN 978-1-135-43416-8. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
• Cooper, Julien (2017). "Toponymic Strata in Ancient Nubia Until the Common Era". Dotawo: A Journal of Nubian Studies. 4: 197–212. doi:10.5070/D64110028.
• Fleming, Harold C. 1974. Omotic as an Afroasiatic family. In: Proceedings of the 5th annual conference on African linguistics (ed. by William Leben), p 81-94. African Studies Center & Department of Linguistics, UCLA.
• Güldemann, Tom (2018). "Historical linguistics and genealogical language classification in Africa". In Güldemann, Tom (ed.). The Languages and Linguistics of Africa. The World of Linguistics, Volume 11. Berlin: De Mouton Gruyter. pp. 58–444.
• Hetzron, Robert (1980). "The limits of Cushitic". Sprache und Geschichte in Afrika. 2: 7–126.
• Kießling, Roland & Maarten Mous. 2003. The Lexical Reconstruction of West-Rift Southern Cushitic. Cushitic Language Studies Volume 21
• König, Christa (2008). Case in Africa. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-923282-6.
• Lamberti, Marcello. 1991. Cushitic and its classification. Anthropos 86(4/6):552-561.
• Mous, Maarten (2012). "Cushitic". In Frayzingier, Zygmunt; Shay, Erin (eds.). The Afroasiatic Languages. Cambridge University Press. pp. 342–422.
• Newman, Paul. 1980. The Classification of Chadic within Afroasiatic. Universitaire Pers.
• Rilly, Claude (2008). "Enemy brothers. Kinship and relationship between Meroites and Nubians (Noba)". In Godlewski, Włodzimierz; Łajtar, Adam (eds.). Between the Cataracts. Proceedings of the 11th International Conference for Nubian Studies Warsaw University 27 August-2 September 2006. Part 1. Main Papers. Warszawa: PAM Supplement Series. pp. 211–225. doi:10.31338/uw.9788323533269.pp.211-226. ISBN 978-83-235-3326-9.
• Rilly, Claude (2011). "Recent Research on Meroitic, the Ancient Language of Sudan" (PDF). ITYOPIS – Northeast African Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities (NEAJ). 1: 10–24.
• Rilly, Claude (2016). "The Wadi Howar Diaspora and its role in the spread of East Sudanic languages from the fourth to the first millenia BCE". Faits de Langues. 47: 151–163. doi:10.1163/19589514-047-01-900000010.
• Rilly, Claude (2019). "Languages of Ancient Nubia". In Dietrich Raue (ed.). Handbook of Ancient Nubia. Berlin: Walter de Gryuter. pp. 129–151.
• Zaborski, Andrzej. 1986. Can Omotic be reclassified as West Cushitic? In Gideon Goldenberg, ed., Ethiopian Studies: Proceedings of the 6th International Conference, pp. 525–530. Rotterdam: Balkema.
• Reconstructing Proto-Afroasiatic (Proto-Afrasian): Vowels, Tone, Consonants, and Vocabulary (1995) Christopher Ehret

Further reading

• Skoglund, Pontus; Thompson, Jessica C.; Prendergast, Mary E.; Mittnik, Alissa; Sirak, Kendra; Hajdinjak, Mateja; Salie, Tasneem; Rohland, Nadin; Mallick, Swapan (21 September 2017). "Reconstructing Prehistoric African Population Structure". Cell. 171 (1): 59–71.e21. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2017.08.049. ISSN 0092-8674. PMC 5679310. PMID 28938123.

External links

• Encyclopædia Britannica: Cushitic languages
• BIBLIOGRAPHY OF HIGHLAND EAST CUSHITIC
• Faculty of Humanities – Leiden University