The Kunama language has been included in the proposed Nilo-Saharan language family, though it is distantly related to the other languages, if at all. Kunama is spoken by the Kunama people of the Gash-Barka Region in western Eritrea and just across the Ethiopian border. The language has several dialects including: Barka, Marda, Aimara, Odasa, Tika, Lakatakura, Sokodasa, Takazze-Setit and Tigray. Ilit and Bitama are not mutually intelligible and so may be considered distinct languages.
Kunama | |
---|---|
Baada, Baazayn, Diila | |
Native to | Eritrea, Ethiopia |
Region | western Eritrea, northern Ethiopia |
Ethnicity | Kunama |
Native speakers | 180,000 (2022)[1] |
Nilo-Saharan?
| |
Dialects |
|
Latin | |
Official status | |
Recognised minority language in | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | kun |
Glottolog | kuna1268 |
There have been some use of the Kunama language in publications. "The first Bible translation product in Kunama was the Gospel of Mark prepared by Andersson and published in 1906."[2]
Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Stop | voiceless | t | tʃ | k | ||
voiced | b | d | dʒ | g | ||
Fricative | f | s | ʃ | (h) | ||
Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||
Rhotic | r | |||||
Lateral | l | |||||
Approximant | w | j |
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
Close | i iː | (ɨ) | u uː |
Mid | e eː | (ə) | o oː |
Open | a aː |