Xamtanga (also Agawinya, Khamtanga, Simt'anga, Xamir, Xamta) is a Central Cushitic language spoken in Ethiopia by the Xamir people.
Xamtanga | |
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Xamir | |
Pronunciation | [ˈχamtaŋa] |
Native to | Ethiopia |
Region | North Amhara Region |
Native speakers | 210,000 (2007 census)[1] |
Language family | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | xan |
Glottolog | xamt1239 |
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. |
Front | Central | Back | |
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High | i | ɨ | u |
Mid vowel | ə | ||
Low vowel | a |
The central vowels /ɨ ə a/ have fronted and backed allophones, depending on the adjacent consonant(s).
Labial | Coronal | Postalveolar or palatal |
Velar | Uvular | Glottal | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Plain | Labialized | Plain | Labialized | ||||||
Plosives and affricates |
Voiceless | t | t͡ʃ | k | kʷ | q | qʷ | ||
Voiced | b | d | d͡ʒ | ɡ | ɡʷ | ||||
Ejective | tʼ | t͡ʃʼ | kʼ | kʷʼ | |||||
Fricatives | Voiceless | f | s | ʃ | χ | χʷ | h* | ||
Voiced | z | ||||||||
Ejective | sʼ | ||||||||
Nasals | m | n | ŋ | ŋʷ | |||||
Lateral | l | ||||||||
Tap | ɾ | ||||||||
Semivowels | j | w |
In positions other than word-initial, Xamtanga contrasts geminate and non-geminate consonants. With most consonants, the difference between a geminate and a non-geminate is simply one of length, but the cases of /b t q/ are more complex. When not word-initial, non-geminate /b/ is realized as a bilabial [β] or labiodental fricative [v], and /t/ and /q/ are realized as affricates: [tθ qχ]. Their geminate equivalents may be realized as prolonged [bː tː qː], or can simply be short [b t q].
In word-initial position, geminate consonants do not occur, and /b t q/ are realized as plosives.
Languages of Ethiopia | |||||||||
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Official language | |||||||||
Regional languages |
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Immigrant languages | |||||||||
Sign languages |
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North Cushitic | |||||||||||||||
Agaw | |||||||||||||||
Highland East | |||||||||||||||
Lowland East |
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Dullay | |||||||||||||||
South | |||||||||||||||
Italics indicate extinct languages |
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