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Awngi language
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Awngi language
The Awngi language, in older publications also called Awiya (an inappropriate ethnonym), is an endangered indigenous Central Cushitic language spoken by the Awi people, traditionally living in Central Gojjam in northwestern Ethiopia.
Most speakers of the language live in the Agew Awi Zone of the Amhara Region, but there are also communities speaking the language in various areas of Metekel Zone of the Benishangul-Gumuz Region. Until recently, Kunfäl, another Southern Agaw language spoken in the area west of Lake Tana, has been suspected to be a separate language. It has now been shown to be linguistically close to Awngi, and it should be classified as a dialect of that language.
The central vowel /ɨ/ is the default epenthetic vowel of the language and almost totally predictable in its occurrence. Likewise, /æ/, normally an allophone of /a/, is fossilized in some words and might be justified as a separate phoneme.
Palmer and Hetzron both identified three distinctive tone levels in Awngi: high, mid and low. The low tone, however, only appears in word-final position on the vowel a. A falling tone (high-mid) appears on word-final syllables only. Joswig reanalyzes the system as having only two distinctive tone levels, with the low tone being a phonetic variant of the mid tone.
The Awngi syllable in most cases fits the maximum syllable template CVC (C standing for a consonant, V for a vowel). This means there is only one (if any) consonant each in the syllable onset and the rhyme. Exceptions to this happen at word boundaries, where extrametrical consonants may appear.
In positions other than word-initial, Awngi contrasts geminate and non-geminate consonants. The consonants /ɢ, ɢʷ, t͡s, t͡ʃ, j, w, ʒ/, however, have no contrast in gemination.
Whenever a suffix containing the [+high] vowel i is added to a stem, a productive vowel harmony process is triggered. Hetzron calls this process regressive vowel height assimilation. The vowel harmony only takes place if the underlying vowel of the last stem syllable is e. This vowel and all preceding instances of e and o will take over the feature [+high], until a different vowel is encountered. Then the vowel harmony is blocked. Hetzron provides the following example: /moleqés-á/ ‘nun’ vs. /muliqís-í/ ‘monk’.
Awngi is used as Medium of Instruction from Grade 1 to 6 in primary schools of Awi Zone. It is written with an orthography based on the Ethiopian Script. Extra fidels used for Awngi are ጝ for the sound /ŋ/ and ቕ for the sound /q/. The fidel ፅ is used for /ts/, the fidel ኽ for the sound /ɢ/. Various aspects of the Awngi orthography are yet to be finally decided.[when?][by whom?]
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Awngi language AI simulator
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Awngi language
The Awngi language, in older publications also called Awiya (an inappropriate ethnonym), is an endangered indigenous Central Cushitic language spoken by the Awi people, traditionally living in Central Gojjam in northwestern Ethiopia.
Most speakers of the language live in the Agew Awi Zone of the Amhara Region, but there are also communities speaking the language in various areas of Metekel Zone of the Benishangul-Gumuz Region. Until recently, Kunfäl, another Southern Agaw language spoken in the area west of Lake Tana, has been suspected to be a separate language. It has now been shown to be linguistically close to Awngi, and it should be classified as a dialect of that language.
The central vowel /ɨ/ is the default epenthetic vowel of the language and almost totally predictable in its occurrence. Likewise, /æ/, normally an allophone of /a/, is fossilized in some words and might be justified as a separate phoneme.
Palmer and Hetzron both identified three distinctive tone levels in Awngi: high, mid and low. The low tone, however, only appears in word-final position on the vowel a. A falling tone (high-mid) appears on word-final syllables only. Joswig reanalyzes the system as having only two distinctive tone levels, with the low tone being a phonetic variant of the mid tone.
The Awngi syllable in most cases fits the maximum syllable template CVC (C standing for a consonant, V for a vowel). This means there is only one (if any) consonant each in the syllable onset and the rhyme. Exceptions to this happen at word boundaries, where extrametrical consonants may appear.
In positions other than word-initial, Awngi contrasts geminate and non-geminate consonants. The consonants /ɢ, ɢʷ, t͡s, t͡ʃ, j, w, ʒ/, however, have no contrast in gemination.
Whenever a suffix containing the [+high] vowel i is added to a stem, a productive vowel harmony process is triggered. Hetzron calls this process regressive vowel height assimilation. The vowel harmony only takes place if the underlying vowel of the last stem syllable is e. This vowel and all preceding instances of e and o will take over the feature [+high], until a different vowel is encountered. Then the vowel harmony is blocked. Hetzron provides the following example: /moleqés-á/ ‘nun’ vs. /muliqís-í/ ‘monk’.
Awngi is used as Medium of Instruction from Grade 1 to 6 in primary schools of Awi Zone. It is written with an orthography based on the Ethiopian Script. Extra fidels used for Awngi are ጝ for the sound /ŋ/ and ቕ for the sound /q/. The fidel ፅ is used for /ts/, the fidel ኽ for the sound /ɢ/. Various aspects of the Awngi orthography are yet to be finally decided.[when?][by whom?]