Meʼen language
Meʼen (also Mekan, Mieʼen, Mieken, Meqan, Men) is a Nilo-Saharan language (Eastern Sudanic, Surmic, Southeast Surmic[2]) spoken in Ethiopia by the Meʼen people. In recent years, it has been written with the Geʽez alphabet, but in 2007 a decision was made to use the Latin alphabet. Dialects include Bodi (Podi) and Tishena (Teshina, Teshenna).
| Meʼen | |
|---|---|
| Mɛʼɛn | |
| Native to | Ethiopia |
| Region | Eastern Africa |
| Ethnicity | Me'en people |
Native speakers | 150,000 (2007 census)[1] |
Nilo-Saharan?
| |
| Latin | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | mym |
| Glottolog | meen1242 |
Meʼen and Kwegu are unique among Surmic languages in that they have ejective consonants.
Reliable descriptions of some parts of the language have been produced by Hans-Georg Will, often contradicting Carlo Conti Rossini's work, the editing of the extensive language notes of a non-linguist.
Phonology
Consonants are,[3]
| Bilabial | Dental | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stop | p~f, b | t, d | tʃ, dʒ | k, ɡ | (ʔ) |
| ɓ | tʼ, ɗ | tʃʼ | kʼ | ||
| Fricative | s, z | ʃ | h | ||
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | |
| Liquid | ɺ, r | ||||
| Glide | w | j |
Notes
- Ethiopia 2007 Census Archived 2010-11-14 at the Wayback Machine
- Peter Unseth. 1988. The Validity and Unity of the Southeast Surma Language Grouping. Northeast African Studies 10.2/3:151-163
- Will, Hans-Georg (1993) Meʼen phonology
References
- Conti Rossini, Carlo. (1913). "I Mekan o Suro nell'Etiopia meridionale e il loro linguaggio." Rendiconti della Reale Accademia dei Lincei XXII (7-10): 397-463.
- Diehl, Achim and Hans-Georg Will. (2007). "Meˀen language." In Siegbert Uhlig (ed.), Encyclopaedia Aethiopica 3, 907-909. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag.
- Eba Teresa Garoma and Amanuel Raga Yadate. 2015. Sketch [of] Morphology and Syntax of Meʼenit. International Journal Advances in Social Science and Humanities Vol.3, Issue 7, pp. 30–50.
- Will, Hans-Georg. 1989. "Sketch of Meʼen grammar." In M. Lionel Bender (ed.), Topics in Nilo-Saharan linguistics 129-50. Nilo-Saharan, 3. Hamburg: Helmut Buske.
- Will, Hans-Georg. 1998. "The Meʼen verb system: Does Meʼen have tenses?." In Gerrit J. Dimmendaal and Marco Last (eds.), Surmic languages and cultures, 437-58. Nilo-Saharan, 13. Cologne: R. Köppe
External links
- Meʼen basic lexicon at the Global Lexicostatistical Database
- World Atlas of Language Structures information on Meʼen
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