Girma A Demeke - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Girma A Demeke

This paper focused on Microsoft language pack for Amharic. It has examined Windows integrated ke... more This paper focused on Microsoft language pack for Amharic. It has examined Windows integrated keyboard for Amharic. It involved a thorough analysis of Amharic characters and punctuation marks, culminating in the suggestion of a standardized solution. The paper has identified various challenges encountered when using the Windows integrated keyboard, particularly with the utilization of sequence of some keys to encode a single character and the unreliability of the current sorting order, which often fails to adhere to its own guidelines. Furthermore, the analysis has delved into shortcomings within the Microsoft-prepared Style Guide for Amharic, including instances of misinformation, typos, and grammatical errors. Based on these findings, the paper has suggested ways to revise the style guide and the keyboard assignment.

JAAL Vol. 13, No. 2, 2024

JAAL Volume 13, Number 2 is just published. The articles can be accessed at JAAL's site: https... more JAAL Volume 13, Number 2 is just published.

The articles can be accessed at JAAL's site:

https://jaalhc.org/uncategorized/current-issue/

Hard copies of the journal can be subscribed through EBSCO.

JAAL Volume 13, Number 1, 2024

The JOURNAL OF AFROASIATIC LANGUAGES, HISTORY AND CULTURE, also known as the JOURNAL OF AFROASIAT... more The JOURNAL OF AFROASIATIC LANGUAGES, HISTORY AND CULTURE, also known as the JOURNAL OF AFROASIATIC LANGUAGES (JAAL), is published by the Institute of Semitic Studies. JAAL brings forward contributions of history, culture, and linguistics of all types—historical, comparative, theoretical, descriptive, and others that deal with Afroasiatic languages and their speakers. JAAL welcomes book reviews in any area of linguistics and Afroasiatic studies, reactions to articles in JAAL or relevant issues raised anywhere, and addenda to articles. JAAL intends to provide a forum for debates on specific topics and invites suggestions.

For the latest articles, please visit: https://jaalhc.org/uncategorized/current-issue/

JAAL Volume 12, Number 2, 2023

The JOURNAL OF AFROASIATIC LANGUAGES, HISTORY AND CULTURE, also known as the JOURNAL OF AFROASIA... more The JOURNAL OF AFROASIATIC LANGUAGES, HISTORY AND CULTURE, also known as the JOURNAL OF AFROASIATIC LANGUAGES (JAAL), is published by the Institute of Semitic Studies. JAAL brings forward contributions of history, culture, and linguistics of all types—historical, comparative, theoretical, descriptive, and others that deal with Afroasiatic languages and their speakers. JAAL welcomes book reviews in any area of linguistics and Afroasiatic studies, reactions to articles in JAAL or relevant issues raised anywhere, and addenda to articles. JAAL intends to provide a forum for debates on specific topics and invites suggestions.

Journal of Afroasiatic Languages/Journal of Afroasiatic Languages, History and Culture (JAAL) Volume 12, Number 2, 2023

ARTICLES
ON THE LOCATION OF RETENU LAND FEATURED IN OLD EGYPTIAN RECORDS
Imad M. AlAtiqi

ISLAM STATE AND SOCIETY IN ETHIOPIA: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC ESSAY
Ebrahim Damtew

ኣጭር ሐተታ ስለ ግዕዝ ቁጥር አመጣጥ
Yohannes Gebresellassie

JAAL Volume 12, Number 1, 2023

The JOURNAL OF AFROASIATIC LANGUAGES, HISTORY AND CULTURE, also known as the JOURNAL OF AFROASI... more The JOURNAL OF AFROASIATIC LANGUAGES, HISTORY AND CULTURE, also known
as the JOURNAL OF AFROASIATIC LANGUAGES (JAAL), is published by the Institute
of Semitic Studies. JAAL brings forward contributions of history, culture, and linguistics of all types—historical, comparative, theoretical, descriptive, and others that deal with Afroasiatic languages and their speakers. JAAL welcomes book reviews in any area of linguistics and Afroasiatic studies, reactions to articles in JAAL or relevant issues raised anywhere, and addenda to articles. JAAL intends to provide a forum for debates on specific topics and invites suggestions.

The JOURNAL OF AFROASIATIC LANGUAGES, HISTORY AND CULTURE, also known as the JOURNAL OF AFROASIAT... more The JOURNAL OF AFROASIATIC LANGUAGES, HISTORY AND CULTURE, also known as the JOURNAL OF AFROASIATIC LANGUAGES (JAAL), is published by the Institute Institute of Semitic Studies. JAAL brings forward contributions of history, culture and linguistics of all typeshistorical, comparative, theoretical, descriptive, and others-that deal with Afroasiatic languages and their speakers. JAAL welcomes book reviews in any area of linguistics and Afroasiatic studies, reactions to articles in JAAL or to relevant issues raised anywhere, and addenda to articles. JAAL intends to provide a forum for debates on specific issues, and invites suggestions.

JAAL, 2022

The JOURNAL OF AFROASIATIC LANGUAGES, HISTORY AND CULTURE, also known as the JOURNAL OF AFROASIAT... more The JOURNAL OF AFROASIATIC LANGUAGES, HISTORY AND CULTURE, also known as the JOURNAL OF AFROASIATIC LANGUAGES (JAAL), is published by the Institute Institute of Semitic Studies. JAAL brings forward contributions of history, culture and linguistics of all typeshistorical, comparative, theoretical, descriptive, and others-that deal with Afroasiatic languages and their speakers. JAAL welcomes book reviews in any area of linguistics and Afroasiatic studies, reactions to articles in JAAL or to relevant issues raised anywhere, and addenda to articles. JAAL intends to provide a forum for debates on specific issues, and invites suggestions.

The major aim of this work is to give an overview of present tense copula constructions in select... more The major aim of this work is to give an overview of present tense copula constructions in selected Semitic and Cushitic languages spoken in Ethiopia. In particular, we deal with languages spoken in the central parts of the country, namely Gurage languages of different genetic affiliations, Wellegga Oromo and K’abeena. In addition we discuss data from Ge’ez, Tigre, Tigrinya, Argobba, Amharic and Harari

Institute of Semitic Studies, 2022

Institute of Semitic Studies. JAAL brings forward contributions of history, culture and linguisti... more Institute of Semitic Studies. JAAL brings forward contributions of history, culture and linguistics of all typeshistorical, comparative, theoretical, descriptive, and others-that deal with Afroasiatic languages and their speakers. JAAL welcomes book reviews in any area of linguistics and Afroasiatic studies, reactions to articles in JAAL or to relevant issues raised anywhere, and addenda to articles. JAAL intends to provide a forum for debates on specific issues, and invites suggestions.

Eastern African Literary and Cultural Studies, 2017

Diese Lesematerialien sind für Deutsch-Muttersprachler konzipiert worden, die Amharisch lernen wo... more Diese Lesematerialien sind für Deutsch-Muttersprachler konzipiert worden, die Amharisch lernen wollen. Die vorliegenden Geschichten wurden von Studenten aus verschiedenen Landesteilen Äthiopiens zusammengetragen und zeichnen sich besonders durch ihre literarische Gestaltung aus

In this paper we have described non-concatenative finite-state morphotactics of Amharic simple ve... more In this paper we have described non-concatenative finite-state morphotactics of Amharic simple verbs. A morphological analyzer (transducer) that analyses simple Amharic verbal stems into their roots and feature tags is developed. The transducer also functions as a morphological synthesizer. It has an interface that works for Amharic text written in Unicode encoded Fidel script. We used Xerox Finite-State Tool (XFST) and Lexicon Compiler (LEXC) to construct the finite-state lexical transducer. 1.

Many scholars such as Hudson (2000b, 2000c) have addressed the issues, but to the best of my know... more Many scholars such as Hudson (2000b, 2000c) have addressed the issues, but to the best of my knowledge, there has been no complete work of classification that has integrated recent findings to-date. In this paper, attempt will be made to consider such findings, assumptions about the origin of Proto-Semitic and Proto-Afroasiatic, discussions on the internal relationship of some of the Gurage languages in particular and South Ethio-Semitic in general such as that of Leslau (1996), and my own primary data from native speakers of various Gurage languages. On the bases of these considerations, I will propose a classification for Ethio-Semitic and also show the general position of this language group with respect to other language groups of Semitic

Journal of Afroasiatic Languages, History and Culture (JAAL). Vol. 10, No. 2, 2021, 2021

I am glad to share with you the latest issue of JAAL, Vol. 10, No. 2021. This issue has six paper... more I am glad to share with you the latest issue of JAAL, Vol. 10, No. 2021. This issue has six papers and published a month ahead of its publication date. I believe in academic freedom and freedom of sharing scholarly works. You can download and share with your students, colleagues or anyone.

Encyclopedia of the Bible Online

Derivation of its name The term Ethiopic (language), probably introduced by Ludolf in the 17 th c... more Derivation of its name The term Ethiopic (language), probably introduced by Ludolf in the 17 th century, is used in reference to the Old Semitic language of Ethiopia which is known as Ge ez lit. free pronounced [gɨ ɨz] with the pharyngeal fricative. Some Ethiopian Church scholars however refer to the language with the glottal stop as [gɨ ɨz] which means first and claim that it was the first language in which God communicated with Adam. Leaving the mythology aside, Ethiopic is one of the first seven languages of the ancient world to receive the Holy Scriptures (Isaac 2012). It is a sacred language for the Ethiopian Tewahido Orthodox Church. It was also the only authorized official language for written communication in the Ethiopian empire until the middle of the 19 th century. Ethiopic Literature Commonly found written on parchments, Ethiopic literature includes Biblical, apocryphal, and pseudoepigraphic works, hagiographies, poetry, chronicles, homilies, calendaric and theological works. All these texts offer insight not only into the history and culture of Ethiopia but also the literature and history of early Christianity, which became the official religion of the Aksumite kingdom around 340 ACE with the conversion of Emperor Ezana (reigned ca. 330-370). Ethiopic manuscripts are currently found in Ethiopian monasteries and churches as well as well-known manuscript collections of major private and public libraries and museums in Europe and America. Ethiopic literature represents an invaluable source not only for the understanding of African civilization, but also for the study of the transmission of the Biblical text as well as the study of the major religions of the world: Judaism, Christianity, Islam and the Traditional African Religions.

In this paper we have described nonconcatenative finitestate morphotactics of Amharic simple verb... more In this paper we have described nonconcatenative finitestate morphotactics of Amharic simple verbs. A morphological analyzer (transducer) that analyses simple Amharic verbal stems into their roots and feature tags is developed. The transducer also functions as a morphological synthesizer. It has an interface that works for Amharic text written in Unicode encoded Fidel script. We used Xerox FiniteState Tool (XFST)

JOURNAL OF AFROASIATIC LANGUAGES, HISTORY AND CULTURE, 2021

This issue contains four articles and three commentaries.

JAAL Vol. 13, No. 2, 2024

JAAL Volume 13, Number 2 is just published. The articles can be accessed at JAAL's site: https... more JAAL Volume 13, Number 2 is just published.

The articles can be accessed at JAAL's site:

https://jaalhc.org/uncategorized/current-issue/

Hard copies of the journal can be subscribed through EBSCO.

JAAL Volume 13, Number 1, 2024

For the latest articles, please visit: https://jaalhc.org/uncategorized/current-issue/

JAAL Volume 12, Number 2, 2023

Journal of Afroasiatic Languages/Journal of Afroasiatic Languages, History and Culture (JAAL) Volume 12, Number 2, 2023

ARTICLES
ON THE LOCATION OF RETENU LAND FEATURED IN OLD EGYPTIAN RECORDS
Imad M. AlAtiqi

ISLAM STATE AND SOCIETY IN ETHIOPIA: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC ESSAY
Ebrahim Damtew

ኣጭር ሐተታ ስለ ግዕዝ ቁጥር አመጣጥ
Yohannes Gebresellassie

JAAL Volume 12, Number 1, 2023

The JOURNAL OF AFROASIATIC LANGUAGES, HISTORY AND CULTURE, also known as the JOURNAL OF AFROASIAT... more The JOURNAL OF AFROASIATIC LANGUAGES, HISTORY AND CULTURE, also known as the JOURNAL OF AFROASIATIC LANGUAGES (JAAL), is published by the Institute Institute of Semitic Studies. JAAL brings forward contributions of history, culture and linguistics of all typeshistorical, comparative, theoretical, descriptive, and others-that deal with Afroasiatic languages and their speakers. JAAL welcomes book reviews in any area of linguistics and Afroasiatic studies, reactions to articles in JAAL or to relevant issues raised anywhere, and addenda to articles. JAAL intends to provide a forum for debates on specific issues, and invites suggestions.

JAAL, 2022

The JOURNAL OF AFROASIATIC LANGUAGES, HISTORY AND CULTURE, also known as the JOURNAL OF AFROASIAT... more The JOURNAL OF AFROASIATIC LANGUAGES, HISTORY AND CULTURE, also known as the JOURNAL OF AFROASIATIC LANGUAGES (JAAL), is published by the Institute Institute of Semitic Studies. JAAL brings forward contributions of history, culture and linguistics of all typeshistorical, comparative, theoretical, descriptive, and others-that deal with Afroasiatic languages and their speakers. JAAL welcomes book reviews in any area of linguistics and Afroasiatic studies, reactions to articles in JAAL or to relevant issues raised anywhere, and addenda to articles. JAAL intends to provide a forum for debates on specific issues, and invites suggestions.

Institute of Semitic Studies, 2022

Eastern African Literary and Cultural Studies, 2017

Journal of Afroasiatic Languages, History and Culture (JAAL). Vol. 10, No. 2, 2021, 2021

Encyclopedia of the Bible Online

JOURNAL OF AFROASIATIC LANGUAGES, HISTORY AND CULTURE, 2021

This issue contains four articles and three commentaries.

Kush/Cush and Cushitic: Language, History, Race, and Religion offers a multifaceted examination o... more Kush/Cush and Cushitic: Language, History, Race, and Religion offers a multifaceted examination of the term “Kush/Cush” and its related concepts, drawing from historical, linguistic, and cultural perspectives. In the realm of historical linguistics, “Cushitic” is employed to describe a hypothetical language family within the Afroasiatic phylum. This term may also be used to refer to the people who speak these languages. However, there is often confusion between this academic usage and the ancient kingdom of Kush, which is frequently referred to Nubia in historical works. The confusion extends to the usage of the same term in Biblical texts. The book delves into the history of the Kingdom of Kush, the Biblical usage of Kush/Cush, and the so-called Cushitic languages, offering a nuanced discussion of these intertwined topics.

ቋንቋ እና ነገድ በኢትዮጵያ, 2018

ይህ መፅሀፍ ከዚህ በፊት ቋንቋ እና ነገድ በኢትዮጵያ፡ የኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ ማንነት እና ቅድመታሪክ በሚል የታተመው ተከታይ ቅፅ ነው። በእዚህ መፅሀፍ፣ ማ. ... more ይህ መፅሀፍ ከዚህ በፊት ቋንቋ እና ነገድ በኢትዮጵያ፡ የኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ ማንነት እና ቅድመታሪክ በሚል የታተመው ተከታይ ቅፅ ነው። በእዚህ መፅሀፍ፣ ማ. ቅፅ ሁለት፣ የተዳሰሱት የኦሞአዊ፣ የአባይሰሀራዊ እና ምድብ ያልለየላቸው እና/ወይም ንጥል/ብቸኛ በኢትዮጵያ እና በኤርትራ የሚነገሩ ቋንቋዎች እና ከዚሁ ጋር በተያያዥነት የእነዚህ ተናጋሪዎች ናቸው። መፅሀፉ በእነዚህ ቋንቋዎች እና ተናጋሪዎቻቸው ላይ መሰረታዊ መረጃ ይሰጣል።

ኦሞአዊ በአፍሮኤሽያዊ ስር ከሚገኙት ቤተሰቦች ሁሉ አነስተኛ የጋራ ባህርያት የሚያሳይ ነው። ይህ ባህርይው በሁለት መንገድ ሲተረጎም ይስተዋላል። አንደኛው፣ ኦሞአዊ ከልዕለ-አፍሮኤስያዊ ቀድሞ የተገነጠለ ነው የሚል ሲሆን፣ ሁለተኛው ጨርሶውንም የአፍሮኤሽያዊ አባል ተደርጎ መወሰድ አይገባም የሚል ነው። ኦሞአዊ ምንም እንኳ የሚያንፀባርቀው የአፍሮኤሽያዊ ባህርያት አናሳ ቢሆኑም፣ የአፍሮኤሽያዊ ወገን መሆኑን የሚያሳዩ የስነምዕላድ እና የቃላት አስረጅዎች አሉ።

አባይሰሀራዊ እንደአንድ የቋንቋ ዘር ቡድን መውሰዱ ላይ አጥጋቢ መረጃ የለም። ይህ አባባል በኢትዮጵያ የሚገኙትንም የሚመለከት ነው። ለምሳሌ፣ በአባያዊ እና በሱርማዊ ቡድኖችም ሆነ በሌሎቹ፣ ኩናማ፣ ናራ (ኤርትራ)፣ ጉምዝ መሀከል ያለው ግንኙነት የዘር ነው ለማለት የሚያስደፍር አይደለም። ሆኖም በእያንዳንዳቸው ላይ ሰፋ ያለ ጥናት ተደርጎ ወደፊት የተሻለ መረጃ እስከሚገኝ ድረስ፣ በእዚህ መፅሀፍ የተዳሰሱት በአባይሰሀራዊ ስር ተካተው ነው።

በእዚህ መፅሀፍ ምድብ ያልለየላቸው እና/ወይም ንጥል/ብቸኛ ቋንቋዎች ስር የተዳሰሱት ጫቡ/ሻቡ፣ ዖንጎታ፣ እና የኢትዮጵያ የምልክት ቋንቋ ናቸው። ጫቡ እና ዖንጎታ ከአፍሮኤሽያዊም ሆነ ከአባይሰሀራዊ ቋንቋዎች ያልሆኑ ባህርያት አሏቸው። ሆኖም በእዚህ ስራ የመጀመሪያው ንጥል/ብቸኛ፣ ሁለተኛው ደግሞ ምድቡ ያልለየ በሚል ቀርበዋል።

Transcription is made using IPA. However, the mid-central vowel is represented with /ä/ following... more Transcription is made using IPA. However, the mid-central vowel is represented with /ä/ following the norm in the transcription of Ethiopian languages. Furthermore, /c/ and /j/ are used for the palatal fricatives /č/ and /ğ/ respectively, and /q/ for the velar ejective. (2) a. mä-mt'at Nz-come.V 'to come' b. m-a-mt'at Nz-tran-come.V 'to bring' c. m-as-Ø-mät'at Nz-caus-tran-come.V 'to make someone bring (something)' (4) mä-mt'at all-ä-bb-ïh inf-come exist-3mss-Malefactive-2msNSA 'You have/ need to come' (7) a. PRO bɨzu mä-t'ät'at t'iru aydäläm much Nz-drink good is.not

አባይሰሀራዊ እንደአንድ የቋንቋ ዘር ቡድን መውሰዱ ላይ አጥጋቢ መረጃ የለም። ይህ አባባል በኢትዮጵያ የሚገኙትንም የሚመለከት ነው። ለምሳሌ፣ በአባያዊ እና በሱርማዊ ቡድኖችም ሆነ በሌሎቹ፣ ኩናማ፣ ናራ (ኤርትራ)፣ ጉምዝ መሀከል ያለው ግንኙነት የዘር ነው ለማለት የሚያስደፍር አይደለም። ሆኖም በእያንዳንዳቸው ላይ ሰፋ ያለ ጥናት ተደርጎ ወደፊት የተሻለ መረጃ
እስከሚገኝ ድረስ፣ በእዚህ መፅሀፍ የተዳሰሱት በአባይሰሀራዊ ስር ተካተው ነው።

ይህ መፅሀፍ ስለኢትዮጵያ ቋንቋዎችና ቤተሰቦቻቸው የታሪካዊ ስነልሳን ጥናት መውሰድ እስከሚችለው የግዜ ገደብ ድረስ በመጓዝ መሰረታዊ መረጃ ያቀርባል። ቋንቋ... more ይህ መፅሀፍ ስለኢትዮጵያ ቋንቋዎችና ቤተሰቦቻቸው የታሪካዊ ስነልሳን ጥናት መውሰድ እስከሚችለው የግዜ ገደብ ድረስ በመጓዝ መሰረታዊ መረጃ ያቀርባል። ቋንቋና ተናጋሪው የሚለያይ አይደለምና፣ ከቋንቋዎቹ አንፃር በመነሳት የኢትዮጵያን ህዝብ ማንነትና ቅድመታሪክ ይዳስሳል። የኢትዮጵያ ቋንቋዎችና ተናጋሪዎቻቸው ማንነትን እንዲሁም ቅድመታሪካቸው ላይ በዘመናችን ያሉ ጥናቶች የደረሱበትንና አዳዲስ መረጃዎችን በመያዝ መመርመሩ በቀደምት ስራዎች በስፋት ስለቀረበው ስለቋንቋዎቹም ሆነ ስለህዝቦቹ የትመጣ ወቅታዊ ግንዛቤ እንዲኖረን ያስችላል።
የኢትዮጵያ ቋንቋዎች ከተወሰኑ ብቸኛ ቋንቋዎች በስተቀር አፍሮኤሽያቲክና ናይሎሰሀራን ከሚባሉ ታላቅ ቤተሰቦች ይመደባሉ። ከተወሰኑ የናይሎሰሀራን ቋንቋዎች በስተቀር ሌሎቹ ለረጅም ግዜ በኢትዮጵያ የነበሩ ናቸው። መፅሀፉ የአፍሮኤሽያቲክ ቋንቋዎች ከኤሽያ በተለያየ ወቅት ወደኢትዮጵያ ገቡ የሚለውን መላምት በስፋት መርምሮ ይህ ስለመሆኑ አሁን ያለው መረጃ ማረጋገጫ እንደሌለው ያሳያል። ከዚህም በላይ በህብረተሰብ መሀከል ስላለ ውህደትና ልዩነት በስፋት ይዘረዝራል።

በዚህ መፅሀፍ የኢትዮጵያ ዘመን አቆጣጠር እንዲሁም የቀናትና የወራት ስያሜዎች ተቃኝተዋል። በእነዚህ ነጥቦች ዙርያ፣ የተሻላ ግንዛቤና አጥጋቢ መልስ ለማግኘ... more በዚህ መፅሀፍ የኢትዮጵያ ዘመን አቆጣጠር እንዲሁም የቀናትና የወራት ስያሜዎች ተቃኝተዋል። በእነዚህ ነጥቦች ዙርያ፣ የተሻላ ግንዛቤና አጥጋቢ መልስ ለማግኘት የቅርብ ምስራቅ ሀገራትና የግብፅ የዘመን አቆጣጠሮችና የቀናትና የወራት ስያሜዎችም በንፅፅር ቀርበዋል። ኢትዮጵያ ከነዚህ ሀገራት ጋር ከረጅም ግዜ ጀምሮ ግንኙነት ነበራት። በዘመን አቆጣጠር ረገድ የማይታለፉት የአውሮፓዎቹ የጁሊያን አቆጣጠር እና የግሪጎሪያን አቆጣጠርም ተዳሰዋል።
This Amharic book discusses the Ethiopian civil calendar in relation to world major calendars and the calendars of ancient civilations in their hstorical context. It considers a wide varity of issues including the sociocultural situations and socioeconomic factors of the society that created them. The book also examines names of days and months in Ethiopian languages from the perspective of historical linguistics.

Argobba belongs to the South Ethio-Semitic language group and is considered to be in critical end... more Argobba belongs to the South Ethio-Semitic language group and is considered to be in critical endangerment. It has at least four speech varieties which are grouped in this book as North Argobba (NA) and South Argobba (SA). This book is a comparative analysis of the grammar and lexicon of the two groups of Argobba considering one speech variety from each. For a better understanding, data from Amharic, the closest relative of Argobba, is considered and compared against the two groups throughout the book.
An examination of the grammar and lexicon of NA and SA shows differences which go beyond dialect. NA has pharyngeal sounds which do not exist in SA. Whereas SA has the voiced palatal fricative ž, NA does not. The difference that we see between NA and SA on subject agreement markers is not less than the difference that any one of these two has to Amharic. SA and Amharic have identical definite markers, which are developed from the third person singular possessive agreement elements. NA has different definite markers in most constructions. SA and NA have more cognates than either of them has with Amharic in shorter wordlists. In the 1000-item list, SA and Amharic are the closest sharing more cognates that NA and SA have in common.
Considering the grammatical and lexical differences between NA and SA and the complex typological relation that they have to Amharic, this work argues that NA and SA are independent languages and should be treated accordingly. This is in conformity to the native speakers’ claim that they do not understand each other’s variety.

""Non-Semitic features are visible in every aspect of the grammar and lexicon of Ethio-Semitic la... more ""Non-Semitic features are visible in every aspect of the grammar and lexicon of Ethio-Semitic languages (ES). Some scholars attribute this to pidginazation, a hypothesis which posits that ES originated from a Cushitic substratum and a Semitic suprastratum. The latter is assumed to have been brought by a Semitic group (or a wave of groups) who migrated from South Arabia into Ethiopia around 500 BCE. However, since the Ethio-Semitic group contains the most diversified languages of the Semitic family and has preserved core Semitic features, a counter-proposal which considers ES to be an autochthonous group has become standard these days. The short period of Amharic history does not prove the hypothesis that ES originated from a mixture of Semitic and Cushitic. Most of the non-Semitic features that contemporary Amharic exhibits are recent innovations.
Current Amharic lacks pharyngeal sounds as do the other South Ethio-Semitic languages with the exception of Shonke-Tollaha Argobba. The glottal sounds have also limited distribution in modern Amharic (MA). Old Amharic (OA) has these typical Semitic sounds. Current Amharic seems to be developing postpositions and is characterized by circumpositions. In OA the postpositional elements as relational items did not exist. Neither did circumpositions exist. OA is characterized by a mixed word order. A transitive clause in MA has unmarked SOV order. Relative clauses and adjectives must also follow their head noun. OA was not rigid in this regard. Although structures like those in modern Amharic are attested, we find a VSO order in OA. Relative clauses and adjectives may also follow the noun that they modify.
Because Amharic has been serving as a language of administration for over a millennium, it has developed unique polite forms for second and third persons. These polite forms underwent a number of fascinating changes throughout history. Except for third person, Amharic has preserved the Semitic personal pronouns. This book describes the historical grammar of Amharic which furthers our understanding of the changes that Ethio-Semitic languages underwent. The research is based on ancient manuscripts and grammatical works of different periods.
""

This is a bilingual Argobba-Amharic dictionary (pp.543). In the front matters, besides the usage ... more This is a bilingual Argobba-Amharic dictionary (pp.543). In the front matters, besides the usage guide, a brief comparison of the two major dialects of Argobba is provided. The back matters also contains some information on the two dialects (basic lexical items and verb inflections), and a sample of an earlier Argobba text, Ajem, written with Arabic script, along with other information.

Bender and Fulass (1978) and Bender (1983) propose that Amharic might have originated as a pidgin... more Bender and Fulass (1978) and Bender (1983) propose that Amharic might have originated as a pidgin. This proposal, which has its roots in oral traditions, has recently become quite popular even entering Amharic textbooks despite its lacking proper research. The book thoroughly examines this hypothesis and argues instead that Amharic is not a language created through pidgin-induced change, but a clear descendant of Semitic. Taking into consideration, historical, linguistic, cultural and chronological issues this book also demonstrates that the Semitic languages of the Horn are spoken in their home of origin.
In this new edition, each chapter has been revised in light of recent scholarship and a new chapter has been added pertaining to the diachronic grammar of Amharic. This new chapter examines the grammar of Old Amharic based on pre-17th century manuscripts. Old Amharic exhibits VSO order and has gutturals. Adjectives and relative clauses may also follow the noun that they modify. These typical Semitic features, though lost in modern Amharic, are strong additional proof for Amharic’s Semitic origin.

Argobba is a South Ethio-Semitic language. Its closest relative is Amharic. Once a vibrant langua... more Argobba is a South Ethio-Semitic language. Its closest relative is Amharic. Once a vibrant language, it is now considered endangered, with only a few thousand speakers. According to the latest national census of Ethiopia, the number of ethnic Argobba are 140,134. UNESCO considers Argobba a critically endangered language, estimating the number of Argobba speakers at 8,000. In
response to this situation, the Argobba Development Association in collaboration with the Argobba community and the present author is currently undertaking a revitalization project. This dictionary is part of the revitalization efort.
This bilingual dictionary gives Argobba equivalent translations to Amharic entries. It is prepared mostly based on the previously published Argobba-Amharic dictionary by the same author. Argobba has four varieties which can be categorized into two
broad dialects: Shonke-T’ollaha and Aliyu Amba-Shoa Robit. e former dialect includes the varieties spoken in Wollo province, especially in villages such as Shonke, T’ollaha and Asyniya. e latter includes all the varieties spoken in the other Argobba inhabited lands mainly in the following villages and their surrounding areas: Gacheni, Aliyu Amba, and Shoa Robit. In this dictionary the Shonke-T’ollaha dialect is abbreviated as Shonke and the Aliyu Amba- Shoa Robit as Aliyu. All the varieties within the Aliyu Amba-Shoa Robit dialect entered under Aliyu and the Shonke-Tollaha dialect under Shonke.

Infinitives in Amharic are nominal in category and are two types: bare and clausal where the latt... more Infinitives in Amharic are nominal in category and are two types: bare and clausal where the latter show internal sentential structure but not the former. Unlike the English gerund and event nominal constructions the Amharic infinitival clauses have more in common with their counterpart tensed clauses. Double object constructions, A-and A'-extractions are possible in infinitival clauses. Infinitives however lack tense and aspectual features and take the constituent negative marker rather than the clausal negative marker although the negative marker has scope over the whole infinitival clause. I have argued that Amharic infinitival clauses are nominalized vPs, i.e. nP = TP where the nominalizer (Nz) head takes vP as its complement as in [nP[vP]]. Based on the morphological facts and syntactic evidence of the language, I have further argued that nP is distinct from DP. Spec, D is where the genitive Case of the subject licensed. I have suggested that Case projects on its own as KP and selects DP. Spec, K has the same operator property like Spec, C and KP in general can be seen parallel to CP. It is due to this fact that whextraction, topicalization and focus are possible in Amharic infinitival clauses.

Prepositions, complementizers and Case markers are relational items. It has been in the literatur... more Prepositions, complementizers and Case markers are relational items. It has been in the literature for a while that prepositions and complementizers belong to the same category. Although there are common properties between Case markers and prepositions, generative linguistics makes a clear distinction between the two. Like verbs, prepositions are assumed to assign Case to their complement and not by themselves Case markers. The Amharic clitic yä-, which has been a subject of discussion in many works (see, for instance Fulass 1972, Mullen 1986, Ouhalla 2004, den Dikken 2007, Kramer 2009), is a challenge to this assumption as it appears as a genitive Case marker, a preposition and a complementizer. I have argued that its various functions can be accounted if we consider relational items as belonging to a single category. Extending Emonds (1985) I have argued that not only CP and PP are the same, KP too. I have presented syntactic evidence where Spec, K and Spec, P show the same operator property like Spec, C. The clitic yä- in Amharic is, therefore, understood as heading a single projection namely RP, a projection dedicated for relational items, where RP shall be understood as PP, KP or CP depending on its complement. This analysis will solve the controversy that lies on the treatment of not only yä- but also the other relational items which function as complementizers, prepositions and Case markers in the language.

Keywords: Prepositions, Case markers, complementizers, relative clauses, cleft constructions, nominal clauses, A-bar movement

The paper examines pre-17 th century Amharic manuscripts with regard to the diachronic grammar of... more The paper examines pre-17 th century Amharic manuscripts with regard to the diachronic grammar of Amharic. It examines particularly the imperial songs of Amdetsion Getatchew Haile (1970) which can all safely be dated back to the 16 th and pre-16 th centuries. It focuses mainly on the peculiar grammatical features of that period which are not observable in modern Amharic. Pre-17 th century Amharic exhibits all the pharyngeal and glottal phonemes typical of Semitic languages. Modern Amharic has rigid SOV. Relative clauses and adjectives must also follow their head noun. However, pre-17 th century Amharic was not rigid in this regard. Although structures like those in modern Amharic are also attested, we find a VSO order in pre-17 th century Amharic. Relative clauses and adjectives also follow the noun they modify. Pre-17th century Amharic in general shows more Semitic features than present-day Amharic. This is, in fact, expected if Amharic is seen as a descendant of a Semitic language; not as one created through a pidgin-induced process.