There are conflicting claims about how widely Wolaytta is spoken. Some hold that Melo, Oyda, and Gamo-Gofa-Dawro are also dialects, but most authorities, including Ethnologue and ISO 639-3 now list these as separate languages. The different communities of speakers also recognize them as separate languages.[2] A variety called Laha is said to be 'close' to Wolaytta in Hayward (1990) but listed as a distinct language by Blench; however, it is not included in Ethnologue.
Wolaytta has existed in written form since the 1940s, when the Sudan Interior Mission first devised a system for writing it. The writing system was later revised by a team led by Dr. Bruce Adams. They finished the New Testament in 1981 and the entire Bible in 2002. It was one of the first languages the Derg selected for their literacy campaign (1979–1991), before any other southern languages. Welaytta pride in their written language led to a fiercely hostile response in 1998 when the Ethiopian government distributed textbooks written in Wegagoda – an artificial language based on amalgamating Wolaytta with several closely related languages. As a result the textbooks in Wegagoda were withdrawn and teachers returned to ones in Wolaytta.[3]
In speaking their language, the Wolaytta people use many proverbs. A large collection of them, in Ethiopian script, was published in 1987 (Ethiopian calendar)[A] by the Academy of Ethiopian Languages.[5] Fikre Alemayehu's 2012 MA thesis from Addis Ababa University provides an analysis of Wolaytta proverbs and their functions.[6]
The language is the official language in the Wolayita Zone of Ethiopia. Portions of the Bible were produced in 1934, the New Testament in 1981, and the entire Bible in 2002.
Phonology
Consonants
Wakasa (2008) gives the following consonant phonemes for Wolaytta. (He also has mˀ, nˀ, lˀ, but these are consonant clusters, ⟨m7, n7, l7⟩.) Items in ⟨angle brackets⟩ show the Latin alphabet, where this differs from the IPA:
Two consonants require further discussion. The sound written ⟨nh⟩ is described by Wakasa (2008:44) as a 'nasalized glottal fricative'; it is said to be extremely rare, occurring in only one common noun, an interjection, and two proper names. The status of the sound written ⟨D⟩ is apparently in dispute; Adams (1983:48) and Lamberti and Sottile (1997:23, 25-26) claim that it is implosive, thus presumably [ɗ ]. Wakasa (2008:62) denies that this consonant is implosive, and calls it 'glottalized'. (See implosive for more on such discrepancies.)
Vowels
Wolaytta has five vowels, which appear both long and short:
Like other Omotic languages, the Wolaytta language has the basic word order SOV (subject–object–verb), as shown in the following example (Wakasa 2008:1041):
Adams, Bruce A. 1983. A Tagmemic Analysis of the Wolaitta Language. Unpublished PhD. thesis, University of London.
Adams, Bruce A. 1990. Name nouns in Wolaitta. In Omotic Language Studies ed. by Richard Hayward, 406-412. London: School of Oriental and African Studies.
Amha, Azeb. 2001. Ideophones and compound verbs in Wolaitta. In Ideophones. Typological Studies in Language, ed. by Voeltz, F.K. Erhard and Christa Kilian-Hatz, 49-62. Amsterdam - Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
Amha, Azeb. 2010. Compound verbs and ideophones in Wolaitta revisited. In Complex Predicates: Cross-Linguistic Perspectives on Event Structure, ed. by Mengistu Amberber, Brett Baker and Mark Harvey, 259-290. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Amha, Azeb. 2001. Wolaitta. In Facts about the World Languages, an Encyclopedia of the Worlds Major Languages, Past and Present, ed. by J. Garry and C. Rubino, ed., 809-15. New York - Dublin: H.W. Wilson.
Amha, Azeb, 1996. Tone-accent and prosodic domains in Wolaitta. In Studies in African Linguistics 25(2), pp. 111–138.
Lamberti, Marcello and Roberto Sottile. 1997. "The Wolaytta Language". In Studia Linguarum Africae Orientalis6: pp. 79–86. Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe.
Ohman, Walter and Hailu Fulass. 1976. Welamo. In Language in Ethiopia, ed. by M. L. Bender, C. Bowen, R. Cooper, and C. Ferguson, pp. 155–164. Oxford University Press.
Wakasa, Motomichi. 2008. A Descriptive Study of the Modern Wolaytta Language.[7] Ph.D. thesis. University of Tokyo.
Collection of Wolaytta proverbs with Amharic translations
January 27, 2023
wolaitta, language, wolaitta, wolayttatto, doonaa, north, omotic, language, ometo, group, spoken, wolayita, zone, some, other, parts, southern, nations, nationalities, people, region, ethiopia, native, language, welayta, people, estimates, population, vary, gr. Wolaitta or Wolayttatto Doonaa is a North Omotic language of the Ometo group spoken in the Wolayita Zone and some other parts of the Southern Nations Nationalities and People s Region of Ethiopia It is the native language of the Welayta people 1 The estimates of the population vary greatly because it is not agreed where the boundaries of the language are Wolaita LanguageWolayttatto DoonaaNative toEthiopiaRegionWolaita Zone of Southern Nations Nationalities and People s RegionEthnicityWelaytaNative speakersNative 7 million 2018 1 L2 3 1 Language familyAfro Asiatic OmoticNorth OmoticOmetoNorthWolaita LanguageWriting systemLatin taught in schools 1 and Ethiopic script used by adultsOfficial statusOfficial language inWolaita ZoneLanguage codesISO 639 2 span class plainlinks wal span ISO 639 3 a href https iso639 3 sil org code wal class extiw title iso639 3 wal wal a Glottologwola1242There are conflicting claims about how widely Wolaytta is spoken Some hold that Melo Oyda and Gamo Gofa Dawro are also dialects but most authorities including Ethnologue and ISO 639 3 now list these as separate languages The different communities of speakers also recognize them as separate languages 2 A variety called Laha is said to be close to Wolaytta in Hayward 1990 but listed as a distinct language by Blench however it is not included in Ethnologue Wolaytta has existed in written form since the 1940s when the Sudan Interior Mission first devised a system for writing it The writing system was later revised by a team led by Dr Bruce Adams They finished the New Testament in 1981 and the entire Bible in 2002 It was one of the first languages the Derg selected for their literacy campaign 1979 1991 before any other southern languages Welaytta pride in their written language led to a fiercely hostile response in 1998 when the Ethiopian government distributed textbooks written in Wegagoda an artificial language based on amalgamating Wolaytta with several closely related languages As a result the textbooks in Wegagoda were withdrawn and teachers returned to ones in Wolaytta 3 In speaking their language the Wolaytta people use many proverbs A large collection of them in Ethiopian script was published in 1987 Ethiopian calendar A by the Academy of Ethiopian Languages 5 Fikre Alemayehu s 2012 MA thesis from Addis Ababa University provides an analysis of Wolaytta proverbs and their functions 6 Contents 1 Lexical similarity with 2 Language status 3 Phonology 3 1 Consonants 3 2 Vowels 4 Grammar 4 1 Word order 5 See also 6 Further reading 7 References 8 External linksLexical similarity with EditGamo 79 to 93 1 Gofa 84 1 Dawro 80 1 Kullo 80 citation needed Dorze 80 1 Koorete 48 1 Male 43 1 Language status EditThe language is the official language in the Wolayita Zone of Ethiopia Portions of the Bible were produced in 1934 the New Testament in 1981 and the entire Bible in 2002 Phonology EditConsonants Edit Wakasa 2008 gives the following consonant phonemes for Wolaytta He also has mˀ nˀ lˀ but these are consonant clusters m7 n7 l7 Items in angle brackets show the Latin alphabet where this differs from the IPA Consonants Bilabial Dental Palatal Velar GlottalNasal m nPlosive voiceless p t k ʔ 7 voiced b d ɡejective pʼ ph tʼ x ɗ dh kʼ q Affricate voiceless tʃ ch voiced dʒ j ejective tʃʼ c Fricative voiceless s ʃ sh h h nh voiced z ʒ zh Approximant l j y wRhotic rTwo consonants require further discussion The sound written nh is described by Wakasa 2008 44 as a nasalized glottal fricative it is said to be extremely rare occurring in only one common noun an interjection and two proper names The status of the sound written D is apparently in dispute Adams 1983 48 and Lamberti and Sottile 1997 23 25 26 claim that it is implosive thus presumably ɗ Wakasa 2008 62 denies that this consonant is implosive and calls it glottalized See implosive for more on such discrepancies Vowels Edit Wolaytta has five vowels which appear both long and short Front Central BackHigh i iː u uːMid e eː o oːLow a aːGrammar EditWord order Edit Like other Omotic languages the Wolaytta language has the basic word order SOV subject object verb as shown in the following example Wakasa 2008 1041 ex na7 aichild NOM M SG 7iss ione OBL maxaap aabook ABS M SG shamm iis buy PF 3M SG na7 ai 7iss i maxaap aa shamm iis child NOM M SG one OBL book ABS M SG buy PF 3M SG The boy bought a book It has postpositional phrases which precede the verb Wakasa 2008 1042 ex ta 7ish aimy brother NOM M SG maxaap aabook ABS M SG ba lagg iya ppehis own friend OBL M SG fromtall7 iis borrow PF 3M SG ta 7ish ai maxaap aa ba lagg iya ppe tall7 iis my brother NOM M SG book ABS M SG his own friend OBL M SG from borrow PF 3M SG My brother borrowed a book from his friend Nouns used adjectivally precede the nouns that they modify Wakasa 2008 1044 ex lo77 ogood OBLde7 uwalife ABS M SGde7 ais live IMPF 1SG lo77 o de7 uwa de7 ais good OBL life ABS M SG live IMPF 1SG I live a good life Numerals precede the nouns that they quantify over Wakasa 2008 1045 ex na7 aichild NOM M SGnaa77 utwo OBLmacc afemale OBL7as atapeople ABS PLbe7 iis see PF 3M SG na7 ai naa77 u macc a 7as ata be7 iis child NOM M SG two OBL female OBL people ABS PL see PF 3M SG The boy saw two women See also EditWelayta peopleFurther reading EditAdams Bruce A 1983 A Tagmemic Analysis of the Wolaitta Language Unpublished PhD thesis University of London Adams Bruce A 1990 Name nouns in Wolaitta In Omotic Language Studies ed by Richard Hayward 406 412 London School of Oriental and African Studies Amha Azeb 2001 Ideophones and compound verbs in Wolaitta In Ideophones Typological Studies in Language ed by Voeltz F K Erhard and Christa Kilian Hatz 49 62 Amsterdam Philadelphia John Benjamins Amha Azeb 2010 Compound verbs and ideophones in Wolaitta revisited In Complex Predicates Cross Linguistic Perspectives on Event Structure ed by Mengistu Amberber Brett Baker and Mark Harvey 259 290 Cambridge Cambridge University Press Amha Azeb 2001 Wolaitta In Facts about the World Languages an Encyclopedia of the Worlds Major Languages Past and Present ed by J Garry and C Rubino ed 809 15 New York Dublin H W Wilson Amha Azeb 1996 Tone accent and prosodic domains in Wolaitta In Studies in African Linguistics 25 2 pp 111 138 Lamberti Marcello and Roberto Sottile 1997 The Wolaytta Language In Studia Linguarum Africae Orientalis 6 pp 79 86 Cologne Rudiger Koppe Ohman Walter and Hailu Fulass 1976 Welamo In Language in Ethiopia ed by M L Bender C Bowen R Cooper and C Ferguson pp 155 164 Oxford University Press Wakasa Motomichi 2008 A Descriptive Study of the Modern Wolaytta Language 7 Ph D thesis University of Tokyo References Edit 1994 1995 Gregorian 4 a b c d e f g h i j Wolaita Language at Ethnologue 25th ed 2022 Abebe 2002 Sarah Vaughan Ethnicity and Power in Ethiopia Archived 2011 08 13 at the Wayback Machine University of Edinburgh Ph D Thesis 2003 pp 250 258 Ethiopian Calendar Converter www calendar converter com Retrieved 26 August 2017 Good Amharic Books Welcome Archived from the original on 2013 03 15 Retrieved 2013 02 03 An analysis of Wolayta proverbs Function in focus PDF Retrieved 2019 09 18 Wakasa Motomichi 2008 A Descriptive Study of the Modern Wolaytta Language Authors PDF Doctoral thesis The University of Tokyo Archived from the original PDF on 2012 04 26 Retrieved 2011 12 04 External links Edit Wolaitta language test of Wikipedia at Wikimedia Incubator World Atlas of Language Structures information on Wolaytta Collection of Wolaytta proverbs with Amharic translations Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Wolaitta language amp oldid 1132780137, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
