Saho language

Not to be confused with the Sahu language.

The Saho language (Tigrinya: ሳሆ/ቋንቋ ሳሆ) is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Eritrea and Ethiopia. It belongs to the family's Cushitic branch.

Saho
Saho
Native to	Eritrea, Ethiopia
Region	Southern, Northern and Southern Red Sea regions in Eritrea, Tigray in Ethiopia
Ethnicity	Saho
Native speakers	180,000 (2007–2022)[1]
Language family	Afro-Asiatic Cushitic East Lowland Saho–Afar Saho
Writing system	Geʽez script (Used in Ethiopia) Latin alphabet (Used in Eritrea)
Official status
Recognised minority language in	Eritrea
Language codes
ISO 639-3	ssy
Glottolog	saho1246

Overview

Saho is spoken natively by the Saho people. Traditionally, they inhabit the territory in Eritrea bounded by the bay of Erafayle (ዓራፋሊ) in the east, the Laacasi Gade (ላዐሲ ጋደ) valleys in the south, and the Eritrean highlands to the west (the Shimejana district on the eastern flank of the South- or Debub region in what was formerly known as Akele Guzai province).

This speech area is bordered by other Afro-Asiatic-speaking communities, with Tigre speakers on the west and Afar speakers on the east. In Ethiopia, Saho is primarily spoken in the Tigray Region. It has about 250,000 speakers in total and four main dialects:^{[clarification needed]} Northern dialect, mainly spoken by Casawurta (ዓሳኣዉርታ), Tharuuca (ጣሩዓ), Casabat Care (ዓሳባት ካረ), etc.; Central dialect is mainly spoken by Faqhat Xarak (ፋቃት ሓራክ) of Minifere (ሚኒ ፊረ); Southern dialect mainly spoken by Minifire (ሚኒ ፊረ), Xazo (ሓዞ/ዶ), Dabrti-meela ዳብሪ መላ), Irob (ኢሮብ), Sancafe (ሳንዓፈ).^[2]

The Saho also use the Arabic (special now Latin letters)^{[clarification needed]} to document their history and render information.

The Saho language in former Italian Eritrea has received a strong influence of italian loanwords.^[3]

Also recently the language is being used on the cyberspace as a tool of communication. And there is one website completely designed with saho language.^[4]

Saho is so closely related to the Cushitic Afar language, spoken as a mother tongue by the Afar people, that some linguists regard the two tongues as dialects of a single "Saho–Afar language". Regardless, it has been shown that at least in their basic lexicon the two can be cleanly separated.^[5]

Phonology

Consonants

		Labial	Dental/ Alveolar	Retroflex	Dorsal	Pharyngeal/ Epiglottal	Glottal
Plosive	voiceless		t̪		k	ʡ	(ʔ)
	voiced	b	d̪	ɖ	g
	ejective		(t̪ʼ)		(kʼ)
Fricative	voiceless	f	s			ħ	h
	voiced		(z)			(ʕ)
	ejective		(sʼ)
Nasal		m	n
Rhotic			ɾ
Approximant		w	l		j

• Sounds /t̪ʼ, sʼ, z, kʼ, ʔ/ are heard from loanwords.
• /b/ can be heard as [β] when in intervocalic positions or when preceding a fricative consonant.
• /t̪, d̪/ can be heard as laminal [t̻, d̻] when before or after /a/.
• /ɾ/ can be heard as a trill [r] in free variation.
• /ɖ/ can be heard as a flap [ɽ] in intervocalic positions.
• /l/ can be heard as apical [l̺] or alveolar [l] when before vowels /i, u/, and as laminal [l̻] when before vowels /a, e, o/.
• /n/ when preceding sounds /b, f, ɖ, k, ɡ/ can be heard as [m, ɱ, ɳ, ŋ].
• /ʡ/ can also be heard as a fricative [ʕ] in free variation or in intervocalic position.
• Stops /b, t̪, d̪, ɖ/ are heard as unreleased [b̚, t̪̚, d̪̚, ɖ̚] when in word-final position.^[6]

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i iː		u uː
Mid	ɛ ɛː		ɔ ɔː
Open		a aː

• /ɛ/ can be heard as either [ɛ] or [e], and may occur as [ə] when in unstressed positions.
• /ɔ/ may be pronounced as either [ɔ] or [o] among speakers across dialects.^[6]

Writing systems

Saho has three written versions: a version in the Latin alphabet, official in Eritrea; a version in the Ge'ez script, official in Ethiopia; and a version in the Ajami script with no official recognition.^[5]