Konso language
| Konso | |
|---|---|
| አፈ ኾንሶ (äfä honəso) | |
| Native to | Ethiopia |
| Region | South of Lake Chamo in the bend of the Sagan River |
Native speakers | 240,000 (2007)[1][2] |
| Dialects |
|
| Ethiopic script | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | kxc |
| Glottolog | kons1243 |
Konso (Komso, Khonso, also Af Kareti, Afa Karatti, Conso, Gato, Karate, Kareti) is a Lowland East Cushitic language spoken in southwest Ethiopia. Native speakers of Konso number about 200,000 (SIL 2005). Konso is closely related to Dirasha (also known as Gidole), and serves as a "trade language"—or lingua franca—beyond the area of the Konso people. Blench (2006) considers purported dialects Gato and Turo to be separate languages.[3]
The Grammar of Konso was first described by Hellenthal (2004), and later, in more detail, by Ongaye (2013). The New Testament was published in the Konso language in 2002.
Phonology
[edit]Consonants
[edit]Unlike its Oromoid relatives and most East African languages in general, Konso distinguishes neither voiced nor ejective consonants. Instead, it has a series of implosive stops, including the extremely rare uvular implosive /ʛ/.[4]
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ||||
| Plosive | plain | p | t | c | k | ʔ | |
| implosive | ɓ | ɗ | ʄ | ʛ | |||
| Fricative | f | s | ʃ | χ | h | ||
| Lateral | l | ||||||
| Trill | r | ||||||
| Glide | w | j | |||||
Vowels
[edit]Typical of a Cushitic language, Konso distinguishes five short and five long vowels:
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i iː | u uː | |
| Mid | e eː | o oː | |
| Open | a aː |
Numerals in Konso
takka ‘one’
lakki ‘two’
sessaa ‘three’
afur ‘four’
ken ‘five’
leh ‘six’
tappa ‘seven’
setteeʔ ‘eight’
sakal ‘nine’
kuɗan ‘ten’
ɗippa ‘hundred’
kuma ‘thousand
Formation of Numbers:
· 11 to 19: Use "kuɗan" (ten) + "ka" (and) + single-digit number.
· Example: "kuɗan ka takka": eleven.
Kuɗan ka lakki (ten and two) twelve
kuɗan ka sessaa (ten and three)
kuɗan ka afur (ten and four)
kuɗan ka ken (ten and five)
kuɗan ka leh (ten and six)
kuɗan ka tappa (ten and seven)
kuɗan ka setteeʔ (ten and eight)
kuɗan ka sakal (ten and nine)
o Numbers like hundreds, tens, and thousands can combine with single digits to form larger numbers.
Example: "kunɗa afur": forty. (four tens)
“kunɗa lakki : twenty (two tens)
"ɗippa takka": one hundred.
"kuma lakki": two thousand.
Construction of Comparative
A comparative construction is expressed by the postposition ʛara ‘on’ and the
verb root ʛap- ‘to have’ . ʛara ʛap- is a phrase used for ‘to exceed’.
· ʛara - a postposition meaning "on," which functions like "than" in English comparisons.
· ʛap- - a veb root meaning "to have" or "to exceed."
Instead of directly saying "is taller" or "is fatter," the language uses a structure like: Subject + Quality + "than" + Compared Object + "exceeds."
The verb ʛap- ("exceeds") combines with ʛara ("than") to show one thing is more than the other.
Example 1: Apittuɗ ɗerumaak Kappooli ʛara iʛapa.
Literal meaning : "Apittu exceeds Kappooli in tallness."
Simple: "Apittu is taller than Kappooli."
Parts Explained:
o Apittuɗ: "Apittu" (the subject, the one being compared).
o ɗerumaak: "tallness" (the quality being compared).
o Kappooli: "Kappooli" (the person being compared against).
o ʛara: "than."
o iʛapa: "exceeds" (shows Apittu is taller).
Example 2: lahasik kappumaaʛ ʛolpasiʛ ʛara iʛapa
Literal meaning: "The ram exceeds the he-goat in fatness."
Simple: "The ram is fatter than the he-goat."
Parts explained:
o lahasik: "The ram" (the subject, the one being compared).
o kappumaaʛ: "fatness" (the quality being compared).
o ʛolpasiʛ: "the he-goat" (the one being compared against).
o ʛara: "than."
o iʛapa: "exceeds" (shows the ram is fatter).
Do verbs in your language agree with their subject nouns?
Yes, verbs in Konso agree with their subject nouns based on gender (masculine, feminine, or plural). This is shown through the verb suffixes like -ay (masculine), -t (feminine), and -n (plural).
Example 1:
· inantasiʔ ʔiɗeʔti
· inanta-siʔ i=ɗey-t-i
girl-DEF.M/F 3=come-3F-PF
‘The girl came.
Example 2:
okkattasiʔ ʔipiʔay
okkatta-siʔ i=piʔ-ay
cow-DEF.M/F 3=fall-PF[3M]
‘The cow fell.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Ethiopia 2007 Census
- ^ Konso at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024)
- ^ Blench, 2006. The Afro-Asiatic Languages: Classification and Reference List (ms)
- ^ Orkaydo, Ongaye Oda (2013). A Grammar of Konso. p. 11.
Literature on the Konso language
[edit]- Bliese, Loren; Gignarta, Sokka (1986). "Konso Exceptions to SOV (subject–object–verb) Typology". Journal of Ethiopian Studies. 19: 1–40. JSTOR 41965937.
- Hellenthal, Anne-Christie (2004). Some Morphosyntactic Aspects of the Konso Language (MA thesis). Leiden University.
- Orkaydo, Ongaye Oda (2013). A grammar of Konso (PDF) (Ph.D. thesis). Leiden University. hdl:1887/20681.
- Uusitalo, Mirjami (2007). Konso language. in Siegbert Uhlig (ed.), Encyclopaedia Aethiopica 3, 424-425. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag.
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