A Comparative Dictionary of the Agaw Languages 3896454811

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David L. Appleyard A Comparative Dictionary of the Agaw Languages

KUSCHITISCHE SPRACHSTUDIEN CUSHITIC LANGUAGE STUDIES Herausgegeben von Hans-Jurgen Sasse ISSN 0721-4340

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Rudiger KOppe Verlag • Koln

David L. Appleyard

A Comparative Dictionary of the Agaw Languages

Rudiger Koppe Verlag • Koln

The series Kuschitische Sprachstudien I Cushitic Language Studies is a forum for studies of any kind which may enrich our knowledge in the field of Cushitic languages and dialects. Both data-oriented and theory-oriented contributions are welcome: dictionaries, grammatical descriptions, text col­ lections, historical and comparative studies, as well as theoretical works on specific aspects of language structure such as phonology or syntax. The series will appear at irregular intervals and comprises both monographs and collections of papers.

In der Serie Kuschitische Sprachstudien / Cushitic Language Studies werden wissenschaftliche Arbeiten jeglicher Art publiziert, die der Erweiterung der Kenntnisse uber kuschitische Sprachen und Dialekte dienen. In erster Linie sind dies Worterbucher, Grammatiken, Textsammlungen, aber auch sprachhistorische und vergleichende Studien sowie theoretische Arbeiten zu Teilbereichen der Sprache, z.B. Phonologic oder syntaktische Phanomene. Die Serie umfaBt sowohl Monographien als auch Sammelbande und erscheint in unregelmaBigen Abstanden.

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Contents Preface Acknowledgements Abbreviations Introduction 1. The linguistic context 2. The dictionary 3. The basis for reconstructions The Dictionary Appendices: word lists Proto-Agaw and Proto-Northern Agaw reconstructions Awngi Bilin Kemant Xamtanga Bibliography

vii viii ix 1 8 10 21 152 153 158 167 177 187 197

Preface The present Dictionary has arisen out of many years’ study of the Agaw languages, going back to my first encounter with the Kemant people and their language during a period of postgraduate research in Ethiopia in 1973 and early 1974. My interest in the Agaw languages developed from that period along two lines of research simultaneously: firstly, as forming a distinct branch of the Cushitic language family, which is rich in linguistic features to keep more than one linguist replete with material for study throughout a lifetime, and secondly, and more particularly, as a “laboratory” for the study of language contact and language interference in Ethiopia. All of the Agaw languages are currently under heavy pressure from dominant Ethiopian Semitic languages, Amharic in the case of the majority and Tigrinya and Tigre in the case of Bilin, in Eritrea. Equally, Agaw languages form the principal and oldest traceable substratum of these same Semitic languages in their development from the more “orthodox” Semitic type seen in Ge‘ez. In 1973 and 1974 I was working on the history of the vocabulary of Amharic, and this last aspect of the Agaw influence on Amharic was becoming apparent even from the early days of that work. At the same time, the Agaw languages form a useful model within Cushitic for working out “lowlevel” comparison. They are fairly few in number; they are clearly fairly closely related one to another; and they are sufficiently distinct from other members of the Cushitic family. This Dictionary therefore draws together the several streams of linguistic research that have long occupied me: firstly, comparison within a small, “manageable” and yet discrete family of languages, “micro-comparison” rather than the often more glamorous but hazardous “macro-comparison”. Secondly, the Dictionary provides ready illustration of the interaction of Ethiopian Semitic and Agaw languages through a very long period of close contact, in the order of something like two millennia, at least. Thirdly, there is the aspect of examining the Agaw languages within the Cushitic family, to begin to provide a more detailed picture of how they relate in comparative terms to other Cushitic languages from the point of view of lexicon. A major inspiration in the preparation of this Dictionary that should not go without mention has been Grover Hudson’s Etymological Dictionary of Highland East Cushitic, also published within the Kuschitische Sprachstudien series. Yet, I intend that the present Dictionary is not just a dictionary of “word origins”. I hope that it will go some way towards providing a tool for the study of part of the the complex linguistic histories that abound in the Ethiopian-Eritrean region. In the discussions that accompany many of the dictionary entries, more questions are left unanswered than answered, sometimes raising issues about language history that may hopefully supply challenges to, and the impetus for further study.

David Appleyard

viii A comparative dictionary, etc.

Acknowledgements The people who have helped in the almost 30 years of study of the Agaw languages which have led to this Dictionary are obviously too numerous to mention individually. First of all, there have been those speakers of various Agaw languages with whom I have worked both in Ethiopia and in Israel and who have been mentioned in my various published studies on individual languages. A particular mention, however, must go to Kiftemariam Hamde, who generously furnished me with a copy of his Blin Dictionary. Secondly, there are fellow scholars of Cushitic and other Ethiopian and Eritrean languages with whom I have discussed innumerable aspects of Ethiopianist linguistics, often at academic conferences, but also through correspondence, many of whom have generously provided copies of their work, often pre-publication, and sometimes never-to-be-published typescripts of their work. At the risk of inadvertently omitting someone, I should mention Giorgio Banti, Lionel Bender, Vaclav Blazek, Christopher Ehret, Marcello Lamberti, Gabor Takacs, Klaus Wedekind, Andrzej Zaborski, and Zelealem Leyew. Lastly, as the original inspiration for my comparative work on Cushitic languages, a particular mention must go to the late Robert Hetzron, whose genius spanned so many languages, but especially the Semitic and Cushitic languages of Ethiopia. On the practicalities of publication, an obvious word of thanks must go to Rudiger Koppe Verlag and to the editor-in-chief of the Kuschitische Sprachstudien series, Hans-Jurgen Sasse, who also provided many valuable comments during the editing process, but also to the Research Policy Committee of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, for generously agreeing to subvent the publication costs.

Preface ix

Abbreviations A. AA adj. AEg. Amh.

Awngi Afroasiatic adjective Ancient Egyptian Amharic

PBerber PChadic PDullay PEC PLEC

Ap. Awn. B. Bil. caus. CRo. Cush. ECush. EthSem Gz. HEC K. Kail. Kem.

Appleyard Awngi Bilin Bilin causative Conti Rossini Cushitic East Cushitic Ethiopian Semitic Ge‘ez Highland East Cushitic Kemant Kailina Kemant (Kamantonay)

PNA POm postp. Pre-A pron. PSA. PSam PSC Qu. Re. refl.-pass. SCush. Sem. SLLE

Kem.-Qu. KH. LEC n. NAgaw NP Or. PA part.

Kemant-Quara Kiflemariam Hamde Lowland East Cushitic noun Northern Agaw noun phrase Oromo Proto-Agaw particle

Som. Ti. var. vi. VP vt. X. Xam.

Proto-Berber Proto-Chadic Proto-Dullay Proto-East Cushitic Proto-Lowland East Cushitic Proto-Northern Agaw Proto-Omotic postposition Pre-Agaw pronoun Proto-Southern Agaw Proto-Sam Proto-South Cushitic Quarenya (Quara) Reinisch reflexive-passive South Cushitic Semitic Survey of Little-known Languages of Ethiopia Linguistic Reports (Ch. & K. Wedekind, No. 28 “A Survey of Awngi”) Somali Tigre variant verb intransitive verb phrase verb transitive Xamtanga Xamtanga

Transcription conventions Modem language data is rendered in the familiar ethiopianist system, except that the apostrophe is used to mark glottalization instead of the subscript dot familiar from some work on Ethiopian Semitic. The transcription of Ge‘ez data follows an etymologizing principle rather than reflecting the contemporary pronunciation tradition. Material from older sources is reproduced as written as far as possible. Lastly, in P(N)A. reconstructions, the symbol V indicates an indeterminate or variable vowel quality.

Introduction 1

INTRODUCTION 1 The linguistic context 1.1 The Agaw Peoples The Agaw peoples of Eritrea and Ethiopia today represent the remnants of what must have been the original population of much of the highland region of northern and central Ethiopia, from the Marab river in the north to the Jama river in the south. Because of their location, they have been over the centuries in large part absorbed into the Semitic language and culture first of the Aksumite kingdom and then of Christian Ethiopia. Agaw languages thus provide the deepest-level and major linguistic substratum of Tigrinya and Amharic. There are, indeed, already some traces of Agaw linguistic influence in Ge‘ez, mostly lexical but also from the area of morphosyntax.1 The process of assimilation and integration into the dominant Semitic language and Christian culture of late Aksumite Ethiopia began at an early stage, and was certainly advanced by the 6th century, if not before,2 and culminating in the rise of the Zagwe dynasty in the 12th and 13th centuries. The process of integration of all the Agaw peoples was not by any means uniform, or indeed peaceable, and Ethiopian history contains more than one episode of Agaw resistance to the spread of Ethiopian Semitic culture and political dominance, which often went hand-in-hand with Christianization.3 A sense of separateness or “otherness” remains today, most notably of course in the case of the Falasha (Beta Isra’el), or Ethiopian Jews, who were originally speakers of one or more varieties of Agaw, and who have retained their religious and cultural identity. With the rise of the new political systems in Ethiopia and Eritrea which give far more recognition to the countries’ ethnic diversity, Agaw peoples and their languages have for the first time been given a nationally recognized status. The languages of the Bilin in Eritrea, and of the Awi and Xamat’ in Ethiopia are now stated regional or nationality languages in their respective countries. Surviving islands of Agaw speech are to be found today in four main blocks, which may be represented as follows: the Bilin {Balin) in the region formerly known as Bogos, in the area of the town of Karan in Eritrea; in Ethiopia, the Agaw of northern Wag and adjacent areas, who call themselves variously Xamat’, Xamat’, Xamar or Xamar-, the Kemant {Kamanta) of Karkar and C’alga north of Lake T’ana, together with the Falasha, or Beta Isra’el, who preserve their dialect in some of their liturgy, and most of whom now live in Israel following emigration in recent years from Ethiopia; and lastly, the Awi (sg. Awiya) centred on the region known as Agawmadar in Gojjam, together with the little-studied but related Kunfdl of the lowlands to the west of Lake T’ana.

1 See Appleyard [1978] for lexicon. In morphosyntax the development of the gerundive k’atilo, etc., though formally entirely Semitic, may be influenced by the presence of a functionally similar form, the gerundive or converb, in various Agaw languages. It is also interesting that the development of the Agaw vowel system in respect of Proto-Cushitic exactly parallels that of Ge‘ez in respect of Proto-Semitic (a) in the conflation of the two high vowels *i and *u into a single high central vowel represented by a, and (b) in the concomitant loss of distinctive vowel length. 2 The Agaw populations of what was to become the heartland of the Aksumite kingdom must have begun the process of assimilation perhaps as much as a millennium earlier. 3 Taddesse Tamrat [1988] provides an interesting study of just such interaction, focusing on the Agaw of Agawmadar and Matakkal.

2 A comparative dictionary, etc.

The earliest reference to the Agaw comes from the now lost Greek Adulis inscription, or Monumentum Adulitanum copied by Cosmas Indicopleustes in the early 6th century and dating to the second half of the 3rd century, in the form Athagaus (’Adayaovg), which may represent such as *’Ad ’Agaw. The same form, Atagaw is also mentioned in one of the early Ge‘ez inscriptions of ‘Ezana [DAE 9], dating from the 4th century. The name Agaw also occurs in the 6th cent. Christian Topography of Cosmas Indicopleustes where a major gold trade route, perhaps heading to the Sudan, was said to pass through the territory of the governor or archon of Agau. The region referred to probably lay to the east of the Takkaze river and just to the south of the Somen massif. By this time, the Agaw of this region who had earlier lived on the frontiers of the Aksumite kingdom were beginning to be drawn into the Aksumite sphere as the state expanded southwards, and the centre of Agaw resistance seems to have moved to the regions of Wag and Lasta,4 which were to become so important to the Agaw in later history. The name “Agaw” is still borne in its modem form by the Awi (aw-i < *ayw-i), the speakers of Awngi, living in the former Gojjam province. Other Agaw groups use a variety of names, such as are mentioned above. In Amharic usage, the term Agaw (h7O>) generally refers only to the Awi of Gojjam as inhabitants of the region known as Agaw Modor, i.e. “Agaw Land”. In later history, from the mediaeval period, the Agaw-speaking people of Wag and Lasta are intimately connected with the Zagwe dynasty, whose name is usually explained as meaning “of the Agaw”, and who ruled Ethiopia for at least 130 years before the rise of the Solomonic dynasty in 1269/70. Not unsurprisingly, the Zagwe dynasty and the Zagwe period occupy a special position in the folk memory and oral history of the Christian Agaw peoples. It is indeed interesting that until the recent resurgence of ethnicity-based consciousness, the Agaw peoples had lost any sense of unity, of forming a group of culturally and linguistically related peoples, except in respect of the memory of the Zagwe dynasty. All the Agaw peoples whose oral traditions have been investigated (except of course the non­ Christian Beta Isra’el and the originally “pagan-hebraic” Kemant) include in their origins migration from Wag-Lasta, often following the fall of the Zagwe dynasty. On the other hand, some Christian Agaw even today are reluctant to concede an ethnic relationship with the Beta Isra’el or the Kemant, as non-Christian “outsiders”. The Bilin in Eritrea have a tradition that they migrated northwards from Lasta first at the end of the 10th cent., and were later followed by a second migration following the fall of the Zagwe dynasty. The Awi also trace their original migration to Gojjam to the end of the Zagwe period. One suspects that the prestige of the Zagwe dynasty has much to play in these traditions, as the Awi at least are linguistically quite apart from the other Agaw groups and in linguistic terms must have been a distinct group for very much longer than a few centuries. On the other hand, Bilin is linguistically very close to Xamtanga, the Agaw language of the Xamot’, and it is not unfeasible that the two diverged as little as a millenium ago or less. In terms of economy all the Agaw peoples are today virtually indistinguishable from their neighbours, being predominantly peasant farmers practising mixed farming subsistence agriculture. The Beta Isra’el were traditionally associated with certain crafts, such as pottery, weaving or iron-working, and as a specialist caste-group were for the most part dispersed throughout the Amhara region as a result of their being prohibited from holding land in the 17th cent. Similarly, the Kemant were traditionally associated with certain occupations, such 4

Taddesse Tamrat [1972: 28-9].

Introduction 3

as wood-working and wood-carrying. Aside from the latter two groups, the various Agaw peoples are mostly Orthodox Christians except for the Bilin, who are predominantly either Roman Catholics or Muslims. The Beta Isra’el are, of course, famous for their Jewish religion, whilst a small proportion of their erstwhile neighbours and linguistic cousins, the Kemant, retain a traditional religion which shows marked Hebraic features.5

1.2 The Agaw languages The Agaw languages, also referred to in the literature as Central Cushitic, constitute one of the families or branches of the Cushitic macro-family. Identification of Agaw as a separate branch of Cushitic and its inclusion within the macro-family have never seriously been in question, though there has been a small amount of discussion on the relative closeness of Agaw to other branches such as Highland and Lowland East Cushitic. Hetzron [1980], working primarily on establishing a set of morphological criteria for the identification of Cushitic languages, wondered whether Agaw and Highland East Cushitic (his ‘Rift Valley Cushitic’) might be more closely related than was the usual opinion, on the basis of the apparent presence of a number of common morphological features. Examining the features that Hetzron discussed, Appleyard [1996b], however, came to the conclusion that there is no really sound evidence to suggest a special genetic link between Agaw and Highland East Cushitic. Indeed, Agaw stands further apart from both Highland and Lowland East Cushitic (to use the normally accepted terminology) than they do from one another. The traditional picture of Agaw as a discrete branch of Cushitic with no specially close connection with any other branch therefore remains.6 Within Agaw there are today four or five dialect clusters, depending on how varieties such as Kunfal and Kailina are classified. The four principal languages are those of the peoples listed earlier: Bilin, Xamtanga, Kemant and Awngi.7 In addition to these a number of other dialects or varieties are mentioned in the older literature: Khamta and Chamir beside Xamtanga, Quara, Falashan and Dembiya beside Kemant, Damot, Awiya and Agaumidir beside Awngi, with which cluster we would also include the little-known Kunfal. There is no difficulty in assigning these varieties to one of the four dialect clusters identified by their “lead” languages. The only exception is a dialect recorded by Faitlovitch and named by him as “Kailina” (i.e. Kaylajijia, or the language of the Kayla, a term formerly applied to the Beta Isra’el), which appears to be intermediate between the Xamtanga and the Kemant groups [Appleyard 1996a]. The Agaw languages form a close family that can be divided into two branches, the one comprising the Bilin, Xamtanga and Kemant clusters, and the other consisting of Awngi together with Kunfal. The internal relationship of the Agaw languages

5 The question of the origin(s) of Judaizing observance in Ethiopia is a complex and contentious one, and this introduction is obviously not the place to pursue the subject. The emerging scholarly picture seems to suggest that reaction to and resistance against official Christianization amongst these originally frontier populations have more to do with the origin of ‘Judaism’ amongst the Falasha and their neighbours than supposed retention of ancient, pre-Christian practices. 6 Tosco [2000] gives the most recent picture of the Cushitic macro-family. 7 These are the conventional versions of the names that will be used in the discussion in this dictionary.

4 A comparative dictionary, etc.

[Chart 1] can be established firstly on the basis of shared phonological and morphological innovation, and is also corroborated by lexical comparison [Appleyard 1988].

Bilin

Xamtanga (Chamir) Komantonay (Kemant), Khamta Quara, “Falashan”, Kunfal “Dembiya”

Awngi,

Chart 1: the Agaw languages 1.3 The individual languages and dialect clusters89 Bilin (balin, or balina gab ‘language of the Bilin’; Bilen, which is sometimes used in the literature, is the Tigrinya and Tigre term) is spoken by between 90,000 and maybe 120,000 people in Senhit province in Eritrea, focusing on the towns of Karan and Halhal. There are two dialects, Ta’ak’wor (or Tak’wor) and Tark’ek’wor, more usually called Senhit today, which are mutually intelligible and differ mostly in details of vocabulary, though there is some small morpholological variation. The name Balin is used for both the language and the people.9 The majority of Christian Bilin speakers are bilingual in Tigrinya, and many Muslim speakers are also bilingual in Tigre. Xamtanga (xamtarja, also spelled Khamtanga in the literature, and the same as Reinisch’s Chamir) is spoken in the northern part of the Wag region in the former province of Wallo as far south as the town of Sak’wat’a, and spilling over into Samern Statistics for numbers of speakers vary from as little as 5,000 to “at least 80,000 - but possibly more than 100,000” [Berhanu Hailu et al. 1995]. The 1998 Ethiopian census, however, recorded 93,889 monolinguals with a total of 143,369 “mother tongue speakers”. The dialect recorded by Conti Rossini [1904] as Khamta and spoken in the region around Abargalle also belongs here, and indeed, there are probably other dialects in the Xamtanga cluster [Appleyard 1987: 2434]. The people call themselves xamat’ or xamat’ (sg. xamra, xamra). Many speakers of Xamtanga are bilingual in Amharic or Tigrinya according to where they live, perhaps more than the 1998 census suggests. A variety of Agaw mentioned as being (formerly ?) spoken in Somen10 probably also belongs here, unless this is the same as the “Kailina” recorded by Faitlovitch, and which is evidently intermediate between Xamtanga and Kemant. 8 Hetzron [1976: 32-5] also gives a comprehensive list of Agaw languages and varieties. 9 The Latin orthography now in use does not normally represent the high central vowel, indicated in the Ethiopic script by the 6th order (thus 41KY), hence the name of the language and people is written Blin. 10 See Simoons [1960:42] where he describes the Agaw of Sdhalla, along the western side of the Takkaze, as “the last remainder group of Agow-speaking people in the northern part of Begemder and Semyen.” Some Xamtanga speakers I worked with spoke of Agaw speaking

Introduction 5

Kailina is the name given by Jacques Faitlovitch to a variety of Agaw recorded by him probably during one or the other of his visits to Ethiopia in 1904-5 and 1908-9. The name Kailina is an Amharic derivative [i.e. of Kayla, a term applied to the Ethiopian Jews from as far back as the 17th century. Faitlovitch’s notes unfortunately give no indication where the material was collected, but it is likely that this was somewhere in the Samen. This may well, therefore, be the variety alluded to by Simoons. If so, it is sufficiently distinct from other members of the Xamtanga cluster and seems to form a link between this and the Kemant cluster.11 Kemant, or Kemantney12 (kamantanay, properly the language of the Kamanto, also Amharicized as Qemant, and often spelled in the literature Kemant or Kimant) now spoken by just 1,650 people in the regions of C’alga and Karkar, north and north-west of the town of Gondar. All speakers of Kemant are bilingual in Amharic, and the majority of people who identify themselves as Kemant no longer speak the language; the 1998 census identifies 172,327 people in the ethnic group. In the 19th cent, a dialect called Dambiya (Dembiya, Dembia) was also spoken in the region of that name along the northern shore of Lake T’ana. The Agaw speech of the Beta Isra’el also belongs to the same dialect cluster, and differs from Kemant only in a small percentage of vocabulary and some morphology. This dialect, called variously “Falashan” by Flad [1866] or “Quara/Quarenya/Qwarenya” in the literature (or Qwarasa, i.e. the language of Qwara, known as ICarili wana gamarya ‘the language which is in Qwara’ to the few remnant speakers) is moribund today, spoken by a mere handful of elderly people now living in Israel, though it is still used in Beta Isra’el liturgy [Appleyard 1994 & 1998]. Prior to their move to Israel, these speakers lived to the north-west and west of Lake T’ana. Awngi (awyi, i.e. the language of the Awi (or Awiya), also called Awiya and “Southern Agaw” in the literature) is spoken in the Agawmadar and eastern Matakkal districts of the former province of Gojjam by “about 100,000 people” [Wedekind 1995:3], many of whom are monolinguals. A much higher figure of 356,980 is provided by the 1998 census, 279,326 of whom are identified as monolinguals. Formerly, Awngi was also spoken further to the east in the district of Damot, and the name “Damot” also appears in the older literature for this language. There is some slight differentiation between the dialects of Agawmadar and Matakkal. The regional name “Agaumidir” is also applied to the local variety of Awngi in some older material. The variety known as Kunfal, spoken perhaps by no more than 2,000 people in the lowlands west of Lake T’ana, is apparently also a dialect of Awngi, though the imperfect nature of the data available to date makes any positive statement difficult. The only material is provided by Cowley et al. [1971], and no figures are given for numbers of speakers. Within Ethiopia today, Xamtanga and Awngi have regional language status, as does Bilin in Eritrea. Of the four main languages, only Kemant can be truly described as severely endangered, and of course the variety spoken by the Beta Isra’el is in an even worse people still living in the southern part of the Somen as far as Balasa [Appleyard 1987:242-4], This situation is also confirmed by Tubiana [1957:299 and 301]. 11 See Appleyard [1996] for a full discussion of the Kailina material. 12 Properly speaking Kemantney should be the term used to denote the language, and this is the practice adopted by Zelealem [2003]. However, I prefer to keep to Kemant as the name of both the language and the people, being the much more familiar nomenclature.

6 A comparative dictionary, etc.

condition, and probably by now dead. Xamtanga and Awngi are, of course, in a happier position, though throughout the twentieth century they were under increasing pressure from Amharic, and their spread has certainly been curtailed with the concomitant loss of associated varieties or dialects, as for instance witnessed by earlier remarks in this introduction about the shrinkage of varieties of Xamtanga from the Somen region. Bilin seems to have been less under threat during the same period, and its recognized status in Eritrea may well be a positive sign for the future.

1.4 A brieftypology of the Agaw languages13 Phonologically the Agaw languages are fairly similar to one another, and have a number of distinctive phonemes that set them apart from the Ethiopian Semitic languages, which are their neighbours and which constitute the dominant languages in their linguistic environment. The most obvious of these is the velar nasal y (together with its rarer labialized pair y which is a full phoneme in all the Agaw languages. The uvular stop and fricative, transcribed respectively as q and y (with their labialized pairs qw and y*), are also very distinctive of Awngi and Xamtanga. In Kemant, only the fricative occurs, and in Bilin the older voiceless q is now frequently realized as a glottalized velar [£*], presumably under the influence of the dominant Semitic languages.14 Glottalized consonants occur in Kemant only in obvious, recent borrowings from Amharic. In Xamtanga, however, glottalized t’, k\ k’w, s’ and c’ all occur in lexemes of indisputable Agaw origin (see section 3.2.7 for further discussion). Bilin and Awngi, and probably Xamtanga, are stress-accent languages, “tone languages” in the common sense of the Ethiopian language area. The situation in Kemant is less clear. All the Agaw languages are marked by extremely complex morphologies, typical of many Cushitic languages. Inflectional morphology is particularly well developed. Nouns indicate case (with seven forms in most languages, and twelve in Awngi) and number (singular and plural). In addition, some languages occasionally show further categories, more especially a “singulative”: Bil. dammu ‘cats’ (generic/collective) - dammura ‘[one] cat’ (singulative) dammut ‘cats’ (plural); Xam. xwar ‘child/children’ (number unspecified) - x^alla ‘several children’ (plural) - oq^ar ‘[a group of] children* (collective) - xwara ‘[one] child’ (singulative). In Bilin and Xamtanga, especially, noun plural formation is very heterogeneous, often involving a modification to one or more of the consonants of the singular stem: Bil. kiday ‘field’ - kisay ‘fields’; ?axwina ‘woman’ - ?akwin ‘women’; Xam. s ’amra ‘friend’ -s’amat’ ‘friends’. Only a handful of examples of these “ablauting” plurals survive in Kemant, and other plurals are formed by suffixation, as is exclusively the case in Awngi. There is only a comparatively small category of “true” adjectives, most equivalents of adjectives in English being relative verb forms or modifying nouns, formally derivatives of the genitive case. All three types show number and generally also gender concord with the head noun: Bil. garwa kaxin ‘a clever man’ - ?axwina kaxini ‘a clever woman’ - garaw/?akwin kakin ‘clever men/women’; garwa balinixw ‘a Bilin man’ (lit. ‘a man of the Bilin’) - ?axwina baliniri ‘a Bilin woman’ - garaw baliniw ‘Bilin men’. Verbs inflect for person, tense-moodaspect (TMA), and affirmative and negative polarities, as well as a large number of 13 A much more comprehensive description can be found in Hetzron [1976]. The purpose of the brief account here is essentially to place the citations in the Dictionary in context. 14 Reinisch, however, writing in the late 19th century, records a uvular stop articulation as a variant of k’ [1882:592], and some speakers to day still use the same [q].

Introduction 7

subordinate forms distinct from main-clause forms, including different paradigms for relative verbs according to whether the subject of the latter is identical to the head noun of the clause or not. Verb derivation is also well developed, marking such categories as passive, causative, reciprocal, etc. Inflection is by means of suffixation, though not strictly speaking agglutinative in a one-to-one category-morpheme relationship: so in Bil. k’wal-ast-dg-dan-dxar ‘you (pl.) who are not seen’, the imperfective aspect is multiply marked in the negative morpheme -ag- and the person marker -dan-, and the subject-relative marker -axar is the allomorph used with 1st and 2nd persons only. Several Agaw languages show more than one type of verbal inflection, or conjugation, with differences revolving around variabilities in stem shape rather than the markers for person and TMA: Awn. ayoyt-e ‘I am laughing’ - aydy-i ‘he is laughing’ - aydy-ti ‘you are laughing’, alongside a different class such as sep-e I am fighting' - seb-e 'he is fighting' - seb-te 'you are fighting'. In Bilin, the major inflectional variation concerns a prosodic feature affecting the quality of the TMA vowel in some forms: gab-a-xw ‘he refused’ - kab-i-xw ‘he helped’, gab-r-a-ri ‘she who refused’ - kab-r-e-ri ‘she who helped’, but gab-a-kwan ‘I refuse’, kab-a-kwan ‘I help’. In addition, Awngi has a small set of verbs that show person marking through a combination of prefixes and the usual TMA suffixes. These are the only survival in Agaw of the old prefix-conjugation found in other Cushitic languages, most notably in Beja and Saho-Afar, as well as in Somali. The five verbs in Awngi that belong to this class retain the old personal prefixes of the 2nd and 3rd persons only, and most also use the original 3rd person prefix in the 1st singular, as well: aq-e/yaq-e ‘I know’, t-aq-e ‘you (sg.) know, she knows’, yaq-e ‘he knows’, aq-ne ‘we know’, t-aq-ana ‘you (pk.) know’, y-dq-ana. ‘they know’.

1.4.1 Morphology and the citation of language material in the Dictionary In the Dictionary nouns are cited in the singular, absolutive case, the form given in response to the question, “what is this?” Where separate singulative forms occur, these are generally used as the citation form; so, under ‘cat’ the Bilin entry is dammura, not dammu, though the function of the -ra suffix is noted in the discussion. Under adjective headings, the masculine form of primary (non-derivative) adjectives is given; with secondary (derived) adjectives, again the masculine form is given, but with the stem separated from the gender marker; so, Bil. kaxin ‘clever’,jiba ‘bad’, but nasir-axw ‘black’. Otherwise, where an “adjectival verb” exists, this is cited in the same way as other verbs, namely by the stem alone: Jamak’ar- ‘be dirty’. Verbs are cited by the stem, and thus without any person or TMA markers: Bil. kwarit‘flow’, Kem. sab- ‘do’, Xam. gawt- ‘fear’, Awn. anzey- ‘walk’. In the case of especially relevant or interesting stem variation, this is mentioned in the discussion, as for example the ?ak-/?ax- aspectual variation in the Bilin verb ‘to be’, or the fay-ffat- stem variation in the Kemant verb ‘to go’ according to person. In instances like the latter, where the variation or ablaut is person-related, the main entry is the stem of the 3rd person masculine, i.e. fay-, in this case. No special observation is, however, made in the case of Awngi verbs which are subject to the voice-rule, such as seb- ‘fight’ discussed above, where the 1st sing, stem variant sep- is entirely predictable. Several classes of Awngi verbs show vowel-fronting in certain forms, in the infinitive ending for instance, which surfaces as -iy instead of the usual -ay. In the Dictionary, the symboly is used after the stem-final consonant to indicate this type: kicP‘thresh’ - inf. kidiy. Lastly, Awngi prefix-inflecting verbs are cited in the 1st sing, and 3rd person stems: e.g. ant-/yint- ‘come’.

8 A comparative dictionary, etc.

2 The Dictionary 2.1 Layout and format The layout of the main body of the Dictionary proceeds first from an English gloss, with around 720 entries. The format of each entry thus comprises an English heading, which is followed by glosses in each of the four principal Agaw languages where data are available, in the sequence Bilin - Xamtanga - Kemant - Awngi. If more than one gloss can be provided for a particular language, these are given underneath the main entry, separated by a comma. Thus:

beautiful

saxar-axw

sagga, malkasa

sar-ay, k’onjo

melkami, cankut

Where variants occur of what is evidently a single base form, these are separated by a slash and are listed on the same line if space allows. Thus: day

gark/garga

garya

garka/garga gerki/gerka.

The sources for these primary data are not, however, always complete and there are therefore occasional gaps, in which case a blank space is left. Thus:

dig

balakw-

gwaryw-

gas-

In most cases, additional data are available from other, older published sources, and these are listed in the discussion that is set out beneath the initial listings. These “secondary” or additional data are only given where they differ from the primary material and have something to contribute to the discussion. As far as possible the secondary material is quoted in the original transcription used in the sources from which it is taken,15 and these sources are cited by simple author-abbreviations. For Bilin, the obvious major additional source is Reinisch’s Worterbuch der Bilin-Sprache, and this is indicated simply by Re., as the abbreviation for Reinisch. Here and in the subsequent discussion, page references are given only where there is a particular issue relevant to that discussion. Similarly for Xamtanga, or rather the Xamtanga cluster, additional sources are typically Reinisch again, this time from the dictionary accompanying his Die Chamirsprache in Abessinien, in which case the material is labelled Chamir and again marked as sourced from Re. If there are any data from Conti Rossini’s ‘Appunti sulla lingua khamta dell’Averghelle’ this is noted as Khamta and labelled CRo., as the abbreviation for Conti Rossini. Occasionally, there is also a citation from Faitlovitch’s notes on “Kailina,” published by Appleyard [1996a], and any such material is simply labelled Kailina. There then follow any additional data that need to be cited for the Kemant-Quara cluster, from Conti Rossini’s La langue des Kemant en Abyssinie, again simply referenced as CRo., or from Reinisch’s Die Quarasprache in Abessinien, referenced as Re., or sometimes from my own unpublished short word-list of Qwarenya, referenced as Ap. Following the sequence of the main language citations, the data section of the discussion may contain data from Conti Rossini’s ‘Appunti sulla lingua awiya del Danghela’, again referenced 15 For typographical reasons, a is used for what appears in these older sources as a barred a, n for n with a superscript dot, and , is used under other consonants for a subscript dot.

Introduction 9

simply as CRo., or sometimes from the only extant short word-list of Kunfal [Cowley et al., 1971], referenced in this case as Kunfal. Very occasionally there is also cited material from other Agaw varieties, such as Flad’s “Falashan”, or “Dembiya”, quoted by older authors. So, for example, illustrating some of these, the discussion on the entry ‘belly’: belly gwadagw gizu gwazgw3 guzag PA *gwazgw- /gwazgw-. CRo. Awiya guezgui'[= gwazg”i\ maintains the labialization

of the second -g-. Kailina has guzu, showing the same loss of the medial -g- as X. (and Khamta gizu, glossed as ‘cuore, fegato’). Kunfal has wezgi [= wazgi] with loss of initial g-. As can be seen from the entry on ‘belly’, in addition to simple citation of additional material, the discussion of particular entries in the Dictionary may also contain debate on the forms themselves. This happens not infrequently where the older material appears to contradict the primary material in such features as, for instance, the quality of vowels, the presence or absence of glottalized consonants or some other variation in the consonants, or the appearance of a marginally different morphological structure, or even a quite different lexeme or some variation in semantics. Such an instance is, under ‘beard’, where corresponding to Xam. xam (i.e. the “primary” citation from my own data), Reinisch has him, with a difference both in the initial consonant and the vowel. Or, under ‘come’, Reinisch’s Chamir form etet-/eter- is cited as it retains the older initial syllable lost in Xam. tar-, in addition to the slight difference of vowel in the second syllable. Or again, under ‘beget, bear children’, reference is made to Reinisch’s Bil. kaban-, which is cognate with Kemant-Quara as well as Awngi forms, but is not recorded in the primary data, either from my own word-list or Kiflemariam Hamde and Paulos Zeremariam’s Blin Dictionary. Lastly, by way of illustration, under ‘dirty’ Reinisch’s Quara saman- is cited not because there is anything unusual about the form, but because my own recording of this root in Quara only has the meaning ‘black’, the same as Kem. samana. Lastly, again as can be seen from the entry on ‘belly’, if possible the discussion is headed by a reconstruction, Proto-Agaw (PA) or Proto-Northern Agaw (PNA), as appropriate. The basis for these reconstructions is discussed in detail below [section 3]. Proto-Agaw reconstructions are proposed where there are reflexes in Awngi and at least one of the other branches; if reflexes only occur in two or more of the Bilin, Xamtanga and Kemant-Quara branches, but not in Awngi, then only a Proto-Northern Agaw reconstruction can be made. Following the section giving additional Agaw data, there is frequently discussion on the wider Cushitic cognates of specific forms. Although the initial purpose of the Dictionary was not to be an etymological dictionary as such, it is not inappropriate, I think, to look at the wider conspectus where this can usefully be done. In spite of pioneering work by Ehret and more recently Blazek, there remain some uncertainties about the details of correspondences between Agaw and other Cushitic families. Some of these questions were raised in Appleyard [1996c], which is a report of work-in-progress on the present Dictionary. Reinisch’s Agaw dictionaries, of course, usually contain sometimes extensive etymological discussion, of course without the benefit of modem comparative method, as well as without the vast range of newer data that have become available since his day. It is sometimes therefore necessary to re-examine what he has said, and sometimes to contradict it.

10 A comparative dictionary, etc.

2.2 The primary sources The language data in the principal citations, that is, following the English entry-heading, are drawn from the most recent sources. In the case of Bilin, this is a combination of my own word-list, collected in Ethiopia in 1987 from a speaker resident in Addis Ababa, and entries in Kiflemariam Hamde and Paulos Zeremariam’s dictionary [1992]. The latter is used, although there are difficulties with it, because it is the largest source of contemporary Bilin language lexicon, far more extensive than my own material. The principal “difficulties” lie in the data’s being entirely in Ethiopic script (and thus neither consonant length nor the vocalic status of the 6th order are indicated), and in the occasional lack of consistency in noting vowels, especially those represented by the 1st and 6th orders of the script. The ordering of entries is also sometimes haphazard, and the same item as an entry is sometimes noted differently when it occurs in a gloss. The dictionary remains, however, an extremely valuable source for contemporary Bilin lexicon. The Xamtanga data are my own, collected in Ethiopia in 1983, a large part of which appears as the vocabulary list at the end of Appleyard [1987]. The speakers from whom this material was collected were at the time either resident in Addis Ababa or in nearby Nazret. The Kemant material is also my own, collected in Ethiopia, in Kemant speaking areas around Gondar, in 1973 and 1974. These data have not hitherto been published separately, although some lexical material does appear passim in Appleyard [1975]. Incidentally, the Qwarenya material that appears occasionally in the discussion was collected in Israel during work with the few surviving speakers in 1994, and has also not hitherto been published.16 Lastly, the Awngi material is predominantly drawn from Hetzron [1969 & 1978], with some corroboration from word-lists collected by myself in Addis Ababa in 1987. 2.3 The secondary sources The major secondary sources from where data are drawn that figure in the discussion paragraphs have already been alluded to in the section on layout and format. These are typically the various older studies by Reinisch and Conti Rossini. Some more recent material on Bilin, however, comes from Lamberti & Tonelli [1997], and the reports of the Survey of Little-known Languages of Ethiopia (S.L.L.E.) dealing with Agaw provide some interesting new data.17 3 The basis for reconstructions 3.1 Regular correspondences: vowels Table 1 shows the regular vowel correspondences insofar as these can be established. By and large, there is no problem as there is little variation in vowel reflexes especially between Bilin and Kemant, on the one hand, and these two and Awngi, on the other. However, the data seem to suggest a somewhat more complex situation as regards Xamtanga, even allowing for variation or ablaut in the original underlying proto-forms. So, for instance, the commonest

16 Appleyard [1998] provides a discussion of the material collected focusing on signs of language decay. 17 Berahu Hailu, Sisay Dereje & K. Wedekind [1995] on Xamtanga, Ch. & K. Wedekind [1995] on Awngi, and Zelealem Leyew [1995] on Kemant.

Introduction 11

Bilin a a a i u

Xamtanga i/a/a a a/a i u

Kemant a a a i u

Awngi e a a i u

Proto-Agaw *a *a *a *i *u

Table 1 : regular vowel correspondences

corresponding vowel to a in Bilin and Kemant, and thence the usual reflex of P(N)A *a is Xam. i: kiba ‘cold’ - Kem. kamba; dib- ‘bury’ - Bil., Kem. dab-', gim- ‘go down’ - Bit, Kem. gam-, bila ‘door’ - Bil. bala; wirba ‘river’ - Bil. waraba ‘river valley’; wigna ‘family’ -Kem. wagan; liya ‘fire’ - Bil. laxa; fir- ‘go’ - Bil.ySr-, Kem.yay-; siza ‘four’ - Bil. saja. Occasionally, however, Xamtanga shows a corresponding to Bilin and Kemant a : ban ‘debt’ - Bil. bdna-, sag ‘upper back, ridge’ - Bil. sag ‘upper back, rear’. Sometimes, however, P(N)A *a appears to remain in Xamtanga: kwaz- ‘add’ - Bil. k^ad-, Kem. kwdss-; tak‘appear, seem’ - Bil., Kem. tak-; baw ‘forehead’ - Kem. baw.13 In word-initial position, i.e. following an original stop *?, the Xamtanga reflex of P(N)A *a is sometimes a, and sometimes a: amqwa ‘dirt’ -Bil. ?amak’; adaws- 'lend’ - Bil. ?addaxad-, Kem. adays-, but ar ‘grain’ - Bil. ?ar, Kem. ar, aban ‘guest, stranger’ - Bil. laban, Kem. aban; arfa ‘month’ Bil. ?arba, Kem. arfa. This latter context, however, is complicated by the facts that (a) Bilin itself shows some variation between a and a after initial ? (e.g. ?an or Jan ‘I’) and (b) the other languages only have a in this position as the reflex of PA *a and *a. There is a similar variation in Xamtanga between a. and a as the reflex of P(N)A *a in non-initial position: nan or nan ‘hand, arm’ - Bil., Kem. nan; s’ab ‘milk’ - Bil., Kem. sab;s’ar- ‘swear an oath’ Bil., Kem. sar-; qal- ‘see’ - Bil. k’^al-, Kem. xal-; bara ‘slave’ - Kem. bara; gab- ‘speak’ Bil. gab-. A possible factor that may contribute to this apparently untidy situation is variation in vocalism at the PA and/or PNA levels. Sometimes, therefore, variant forms are reconstructed. There are, for instance, unquestioned cognate sets which show different vowels, such as Bil. gay- ‘run’ alongside Kem. and Awn. giy-, as well as “Awiya” gian- (= gey-} [CRo], or Xam. s ’ab- ‘do’ alongside Bil. hab-, Kem. sab- and Awn. cew-. Table 1 also shows reconstructed PA *u, which remains unchanged in all languages. This is included in the table essentially for completeness, but is largely a matter of conjecture as there are no certain instances where *u can be reconstructed; the only instance in the Dictionary is *?us-ati ‘female’ which is based on Bil. ?usari, but also to account for Xam. wasray and Keim, yusay, and thus has more than the usual amount of conjecture about it for a reconstructed form. In a similar vein is the question whether the vowel system reconstructed in the chart is indeed complete, whether, for instance, an additional vowel *e needs to be reconstructed for Proto-Agaw. The mid front vowel e of course exists in Awngi as a phoneme, but this is the regular outcome of PA central *a, whilst in the other languages e, as far as it occurs at all, is demonstrably found only in borrowings from Ethiopian Semitic. The question of a possible PA *e revolves around a small handful of apparent correspondences between i and a: Bil. lix, 18 Contrast Xam. yu PA *a, PC *i and *u > PA *3, the latter typically with labialization on a preceding velar/uvular; PC *aa > PA *a, PC *« > PA *i, and presumably PC *uu > *PA *«. The correspondences of PC *e[e] and *o[o] in Proto-Agaw are, however, much less certain as so few possible cognates can be established. 3. 2 Regular correspondences: consonants

Table 2 (opposite) shows the regular or most frequent sets of correspondences across the Agaw languages. The correspondences of most consonant phonemes are straightforward and show little variation across languages, as for instance can be seen in the case of the labials, the lateral, or the semivowels. The table does not take into account, however, reflexes of the morphophonemic process of consonantal ablaut, still very much active in Bilin and Awngi, though showing traces in the other languages, as well, for a discussion of which see section 3.2.10, below. Nor are the results of such secondary processes as palatalization shown, for which see section 3.2.9.

3.2.1 Bilabials There is generally no variation in the reflexes of PA *f, *b and *m across the board. Note that fricative *f, as in a number of other Cushitic languages, functions as the voiceless pair of *b. A rare voiceless bilabial stop p occurs only in Awngi and in some older recorded material from the Kemant-Quara cluster, where it generally corresponds to /in other languages and dialects. For instance, Re. Qu.peleya ‘flea’ alongside K. fiildy and B.foluta, or Awngi qap ‘bark (of a tree) alongside B. k’af and X. qaf. These rare instances are not enough to propose the reconstruction of *p for the PA inventory.

3.2.2 Dental-alveolars Again, the correspondences across the various languages of PA *t (in initial position) *d, *n, *s and *z are fairly straightforward, showing no change19 aside from the regular reflex of PA *z in Bilin as d, with the merger of PA *d and *z, and in Awngi as *s, with the merger of PA *5 and *z. The only complexity arises from the reflexes of PA *t in medial and final position. The table shows the usual reflex of PA medial *t when preceded by a vowel: e.g. Bil. ?amdra ‘year’, Xam. amra, Kem. amay[a], Awn. amet < PA *?amat-. There are, however, some contrary examples, such as the ‘tens’ formative: Bil. -rayon, Xam. -ryon, Kem. -iy/-yoy, Awn. -ryd (‘twenty’ only), where the Awngi reflex is -r and not -t, and which is cognate with PEC *tam[m]an/tamn- ‘ten’. 19 There are, however, two unexplained instances where PA initial *y- becomes h in Bilin: hdb- ‘do’ and homb- ‘remain, live, stay’.

Introduction 13

Bilin f b m t-rd n s d s

j s k g n-v-Xkw gw vw -xwk’

-Xk’w

-xwI -rw y ?

Awngi f b m t-

*t

d n s s c z/dz c k

*d *n *s *z *c *3 *c *k

g V

*g *U

-ykw/k

*x *kw *gw *xw *q

-yxw

-ywy-q-yyw-

w

-ywi -rw

-ywi -rw

y 0

y 0

y 0

Xamtanga f b m t-rd n s z s’ z c’ k/q/k'

g V 0 kw gw vw -wX-q0 xw-g"-w/

Kemant f b m t-yd n s z s

J s k g n-v0 kw gw vw -wX-

Proto-Agaw */ *b

*y *qw

*yw

*r *w h__________ *2

Table 2 : regular consonant correspondences Another more complex example is provided by the personal formative of the 2nd person in the suffix conjugation of verbs (see Table 3 overleaf). On comparative evidence this is readily reconstructable as *-t- (+ extension - Vn for the plural). It is worthwhile to take a moment to look at the various reflexes here, because they usefully demonstrate the different outcomes in different contexts.

14 A comparative dictionary, etc.

Bilin Xamtanga Kemant Awngi

2sg. -r-/-d-/-t-r-/-d[r]-/-t-y-/-t-t-

2pl. -dVn-/-tVn-m-/-dam-/-tam-yVn-/-tVn-tVn-

Table 3 : 2nd person markers

The Bilin 2sg variant -d- and Xamtanga -d- (free variant -dr-) occur on stems ending in r, 7 or n, and Xamtanga 2pl -darn- occurs after the same consonants, whereas Bil. 2pl. -dVn- is the default form and occurs after other consonants, too. The Bilin -t- and -tVn- variants occur in a number of tense forms such as the future, the stem of which, on comparative evidence, incorporates a dental-alveolar element between the stem and person marker, corresponding to the Xamtanga future and purposive tenses, which also show the -t- variants. The Kemant -tallomorphs also occur in conjunction with an original preceding dental-alveolar element, but in this case simply a stem-final consonant. In some instances, this may have been the old passive-reflexive formative, PA *-t~, though, on the one hand, there are stems that do incorporate this element that do not use the r-allomorphs, and, on the other, the pattern has spread to a few stems that never included this formative. The original stem final *-t and the personal marker fuse in certain parts of the verbal paradigm to surface as apparent 2nd person forms in t-: fdyakw ‘I go’ but Jatakw ‘you (sg) go^fatak^an ‘you (pl) go’. The symbol R is used in PNA reconstructions to indicate the result of PA *t subject to these alternations. When medial t follows another consonant it otherwise remains unchanged in all languages: Bil. ?anta ‘you (sg.)’, Xam. kat, Kem. anta, Awn. ant[i]\ Bil., Xam. kant- ‘learn’, Kem. kint-, Awn. kant- ‘see’; Bil., Kem. walta ‘six’, Xam. walta, Awn. woltw, Bil. sagwarti ‘onion’, Xam. sawrt’a, Kem. sawrta', perhaps also Bil. ?ak’wtaw ‘few’, Xam. witu, Kem. [CRo] yit‘be small’ if this derives from a PNA *?aq'vt~. In cases where on the surface a post-vocalic *t remains, we are probably dealing with an original geminate *tt Bil., Kem. bata ‘louse’, Xam. batta (Kailina bit’a Kharnta bit), Bil., Kem. layata ‘seven’, Xam. layta, Awn. Idrjeta. In Xamtanga, the nasal *n (or indeed *m) is regularly lost as the first component of a cluster: fac’ara ‘goat’ -RiX.fant’ira', akwa ‘five’ - Bil. ?ankwa\ k-at ‘you’ (sg) - Bil. ?anti\ aba ‘mountain - cf. Amh. amba’, ak-s- ‘undo, untie’ - Bil. ?ank-\ afara ‘boy’ - Kem. amfara ‘servant’.

3.2.3 Alveolar affricates A pair of alveolar affricates *c [ts] and *j [dz] can be reconstructed for PA. The reflexes of *c are demonstrated by Bil., Kem. sansa ‘fly’, Xam. s’as’a, Awn. canca. This example shows that PA *c does remains in Awngi as an affricate [ts]. The normal reflex of the voiced pair *j is, however, z in Awngi: Bil.ya?- ‘drink’, Xam. ziy-, Kem. jar-, Awn. zaq-, except in the numeral ‘four’ where the affricate articulation survives intact: sedza, in contrast to zaq‘drink’. No other examples of an Awngi reflex of medial *j occur in the Dictionary. However, the cluster (or better, phoneme) dz does not occur in Awngi other than in the numeral ‘four’ and its derivatives. It is just possible, therefore, that the affricate dz in Awn. sedza reflects an original geminate *-35-: PA *sa^-a.

Introduction 15

A third affricate *c [tf] can be reconstructed for PA on the strength of a few sets of cognates which do not follow the pattern of developments for *c: Bil. sax ‘urine’, Xam. c’a, Kem. say, Awn. cayv, Bil., Kem. sawa ‘salt’, Xam. c’awa, Awn. ciwi. There is no clear evidence for a voiced pair *j [dg] at the Proto-Agaw level.

3.2.4 Velars and labiovelars There is little to say about the velars *k, *g, and their labiovelar pairs *kw, *gw, *yw. The stops remain unchanged in all languages except where subject to palatalization. The nasal has been replaced in Bilin and Kemant by the dento-alveolar nasal in word-initial position, but otherwise remains. The labiovelar nasal is reconstructed both on the strength of a single set of Northern Agaw cognates: Bil., Xam., Kem. say^ ‘name’, and partly to complete the set. Its status is perhaps therefore debatable. A velar fricative *x and its labiovelar pair *xw can be reconstructed on the strength of a separate reflex (> 0, w, resp.) only in Kemant, as elsewhere the outcome of PA *x and *xw merges with that of uvular *y and *yw, respectively: Bil. 7axwina ‘woman’, Xam. awna, Kem. yawina, Awn. yuna\ PA ^lax^ina/lax^ana. Between vowels, PA *x usually gives rise to a glide: Bil. saxa ‘meat’, Xam. siya, Kem. sayaJsiya. The velar fricatives seem to occur only in medial position and not word-initially, with the possible exception of two roots: PA *xac-a ‘leaf and PNA *xay- ‘big’, the reconstruction of neither of which is without its problems. The first reconstruction rests on the apparent cognate set: Bil. ?asa, Xam. has ’a, Kem. asa, Awn. yaci, to which may be compared a handful of possible cognates in Cushitic and Omotic with initial h-. The second term rests on Xamtanga and Kemant forms only: Xam. xay-aw, Kem. xay-ay, with similar terms in the varieties, Khamta, Kailina and Quara.

3.2.5 Uvulars and labio-uvulars Two uvulars and their corresponding labio-uvular pairs can be reconstructed for Proto-Agaw: PA *q, *qw, *y, *yw. The last two do not seem to occur in word-initial position, but only medially. The reflexes of these in the various languages present the most complex picture, and there are some details that remain unclear. Only in Awngi do all four remain as phonemes: the voiceless uvular stop q and its labialized pair qw, and the voiced counterparts y [g] and yw [gw]; Hetzron [1969:4] remarks that the last two are lax plosives and not fricatives. In Bilin, the reflexes of the voiceless pair are usually glottalized velars k’ and k’w, though some speakers still use a uvular plosive articulation. This was noted by Reinisch [1882:592] and has also recently been remarked on by Lamberti and Tonelli [1997:91]. The speakers I worked with only used the glottalized velar, and, of course, in Kiflemariam Hamde and Paulos Zeremariam’s dictionary, it is impossible to tell as Ethiopian script is used throughout. Reinisch [op.cit.] further remarks on an optional more lax or even fricative pronunciation in postvocalic medial position,20 similar to the allophone of k’ found in Tigrinya in the same context and represented by the letter ¥. The Bilin reflexes of the voiced pair *y and *yw merge with those of PA *x and *xw. In Xamtanga, on the other hand, the reflexes of *q and *qw differ according to whether the consonant is in word-initial or medial position: initially, a fricative (phonetically uvular [%],

20 The sound is described as a “Reibungslaute von q ... ein gequetschtes, dem £ sich nahemdes q.”

16 A comparative dictionary, etc.

[Xw]) is commonest reflex, though there are some instances where a uvular stop occurs: so, corresponding to Bil. k'ir ‘night’ is Xam. xar [/ar], but corresponding to Bil. k’wal- ‘see’ is Xam. qal- [qal-/q’al-]. In medial position, however, the usual reflex is a stop:21 Bil. ?ak,'7fak’w, Xam. aqw‘water’; Bil. ?ar?-22 ‘know’, Xam. arq-; Bil. ?ansak‘- ‘send’, Xam. as’aq-, Bil. ?ank’as- ‘wash’, Xam. qas-. As in Bilin, the Xamtanga reflexes of PA *y, *yw merge with those of PA *x, *xw: Bil. sax ‘urine’, Xam. c’a‘, Bil. laxla ‘bee’, Xam. lala, Bil. saxwata ‘eight’, Xam. sawta. Kemant keeps the distinction between the two sets of Proto-Agaw uvulars and labiouvulars, but the original plosive articulation is reflected in Kemant by fricatives x and xw, and y and yw, respectively. For most speakers these are velars, or slightly backed velars, though others produced clear uvular articulations [%] and [xw], [k] and [kw], and the voiced fricative is sometimes lost altogether, especially in final position: faray ‘big’ [feray]/[fBraK]/[fura]. In the variety of Quara recorded by myself, y and yw only occur medially, and are frequently reduced: aywe / awe ‘head’ [Kem. aywdy], adaynaw / adanaw remained’ [Kem. adaynay*}. In Awngi, whilst both uvulars and both labio-uvulars are retained as stops: q, q^, y [g], yw [gw], they do not seem always to correspond directly to the Proto-Agaw phonemes. Thus, initial PA *q and *qw show both voiceless and voiced reflexes in Awngi: PA *qaf ‘bark’, Awn. qap-, PA *qwat-t- ‘small’, Awn. qutt- ‘be thin’; PA *qacan- ‘steal’, “Agaumeder” kasen-', but PA *qir/qar ‘night’, Awn. yar; PA *qw- ‘eat’, Awn. yu-/yw-, PA *qwamb-/qamb- ‘nose’, Awn. yambi ‘mouth’. In medial position, there is also variation in the Awngi reflexes of PA *q, *qw, though in verb forms the influence of consonantal ablaut obscures the picture somewhat: PA *-aq23 ‘know’, Awn. aq-/yaq-24 PA *caqw- ‘cook’, Awn. cuq-', PA *?aqw ‘water’, Awn. ayu’, PA *caqw ‘rainy season’, Awn. cay, but after another consonant mostly q, qw occur: PA *caqwan- ‘thirst’, PA canquna; PA *basq-/bacq‘saliva’, Awn. basqi. On the other hand, PA medial *y, *yw are always reflected by y, yw in Awngi: PA *?ayay- ‘ice, hail’, Awn. ayayi-, PA *dayr- ‘defecate’, Awn. dayr-, PA *layan‘wound’, Awn. layen; PA *saywa ‘three’, Awn. suya. The operation of consonantal ablaut in Awngi can be plainly seen in the verb stem allomorphs cay- / caq ‘urinate’ reflecting PA *cay-, on the one hand, and Awn. ancay- / ancaq ‘send’ from PA *?ancaq-, on the other. 3.2.6 Other consonants There is little to say about the remaining members of the consonant inventory: PA *r, *1, *w and *y. All remain unchanged, except for an occasional shift of PA *r to / in Xamtanga: galwa ‘man, male’ - Bil., Kem. garwa-, zala ‘intestines’ - Bil. jar, Kem. jir, s’aglawa ‘star’ - Bil., Kem. sangarwa. One or two examples of other, irregular shifts of the lateral occur: Kem. naydn ‘wound’ - Bil. laxan, Kem. laxan. Also to be noted is a small number of examples where Kemant-Quara y corresponds to r in the other languages, but is evidently not from PA *t (see section 3.2.2): Kem. sayaya ‘honey’ - Bil. saxara, Xam. sara, Awn. cayari 21 Medially, Xam. q has a freely occurring affricate allophone [qxHQX*]22 In Bilin, k’/q may freely interchange with ? in medial and final position. 23 Originally a prefix-inflecting verb. 24 The root is one of the few remaining prefix-conjugated verbs in Awngi: aqe/yaqe ‘I know’, tdqte ‘you know, she knows’, ydqe ‘he knows’, aqne ‘we know’, taqana ‘you (pl.) know’, yaqdna ‘they know’.

Introduction 17

‘bee’; Quara angaya ‘behind’ - Bil. ?angara (Re.) ‘back, rear part’, Xam. [a]gra ‘behind’, Awn. angar (S.L.L.E.). Lastly, in a couple of instances, non-initial PA *w appears in Awngi asy: ay- ‘give’ - Bil. ?aw~, Xam., Kem. yaw-; ay ‘who’ - Bil. ?awi, Xam., Kem. aw. Both of these could be explained as palatalizations due to the influence of a following vowel (see the Dictionary for details). 3.2.7 Glottalized consonants Consonants with glottalized articulation occur in all the Northern Agaw languages. Glottalized consonants are, of course, a feature of the Ethiopian Semitic languages with which all the Agaw languages are in contact. It is clear that most of the occurrences of glottalized consonants in Agaw languages can be explained as contact features, most obviously because they occur in borrowings: Bil. bit’a / bac’a ‘yellow’, sat’at’i ‘ribs’, k’at’k’at’- ‘pound’, c’alam- ‘become dark’; Xam. malat’ ‘bald’, k’arc’ata ‘basket’, c’wara ‘hoe’, k’as’a‘punish’; Kem. k’at’- ‘punish’, c’amma ‘shoe’, tak’ayam y- ‘quarrel’. However, the situation is not as simple as this in Bilin and Xamtanga, where glottalized consonants occur in lexemes of indubitable Agaw origin. In Bilin k’ is the normal reflex of PNA *q, and the glottalized articulation is evidently a comparatively recent development. Reinisch [1882:592], as has already been noted, remarked that the original articulation as a uvular stop was still used as a variant, and Lamberti & Tonelli [1997:91] record a similar free variation: [mak’cla] / [maqela] ‘female friend’ = mak’ala in the Dictionary. In Bilin medial and final k’ also alternate freely (according to Lamberti & Tonelli) with glottal ?, both in borrowed and indigenous Agaw lexemes: [Ink’lnk’-] / [1b?1b?-] ‘paint’, [fek’w-] / [fe?w-] ‘have sexual intercourse’, [sok’wana] / [so?wana] ‘thirst’. A few instances are noted in the present Dictionary as in Kiflemariam Hamde & Paulos Zeremariam’s Blin Dictionary. In some dialects a free variation with pharyngeal f also occurs: ?ak’i / ?a?i / ?afi ‘girl’. Bilin c ’ and/’also occur in a small number of Agaw lexemes: bac’ak’ ‘saliva’, ?anc’a ‘that’, fant’ira ‘goat’, though the majority of occurrences are in obvious borrowings. In Xamtanga there is a much greater occurrence of glottalized consonants in Agaw lexemes. Firstly, glottalized 5 ’ is the regular reflex of PA *c, which was probably a plain affricate [ts], as its reflexes in the other languages suggest. Not all occurrences of s \ however, derive from earlier *c\ bas ’qan ‘saliva’ (cf. Bil. bac ’ak') where Kem. bazaxw and Awn. basqi indicate a PA *basq-/basqw~; s ’ab- ‘live, dwell’25 where Kem. samb- and Bil. hamb- indicate PNA *samb~. In addition, variations between glottalized 5 ’ and plain s occur when the Xamtanga material is compared with Reinisch’s Chamir data: s ’agw- ‘steal’ but Re. sun- (i.e. sayw~). Variations of this kind (and s ’ab-/sab[b]- ‘live’) are seemingly not entirely free, as there are counter-examples where the phonemic contrast between s ’ and s is maintained: s’abra ‘ashes’ as against sabra ‘snake’. Secondly, there are many other instances of apparently free variation between glottalized and non-glottalized consonants, again especially when Reinisch’s data are included: t’aw-/taw- ‘enter’, t’aya/taya ‘smoke’, k’aw-/kuw- [Re] ‘kill’, c’-/c- [Re] ‘spend the night’, rjac’ar/nicir [Re] ‘black’, k’ana/kana, qana [Re] ‘wood’, s’ab-/sab~, zab- [Re] ‘do’, to cite but a few. Here, too, however, there are instances where glottalization is contrastive: k’ab- ‘cut’ but kab- ‘help’, c’arj- ‘call’ but cag- ‘find’, etc. In addition the phoneme /q/ shows free allophonic variation between unglottalized [q], [qx] and

25

One or two occurrences of this root as sab- (or sabb- ?) also occur in my data.

18 A comparative dictionary, etc.

globalized [q’], [qx’J articulation, where there are no instances in which the globalized and unglottalized realizations are contrastive. It is clear that the feature globalization is due to the influence of Ethiopian Semitic, and globalized consonants do not need to be reconstructed for Proto-Agaw. The reasons why globalization seems to be not only sporadic but also uncontroled or unconditioned are not at the moment apparent. There would be less of a problem if there were only variants of the t’aw-/taw- type, where there is no differentiation of meaning, in which instance the feature would be sub-phonemic. The existence of contrasting pairs like k’ab- and kab-, or s ’abra and sabra, however, does require that both the globalized and the unglottalized consonants be ranked as phonemic. Of course, globalized consonants do form part of the reconstructable Proto-Cushitic phoneme inventory and thus at some point in the prehistory of Agaw must have been present. The data we have for Kailina suggest that we have a similar situation as in Xamtanga: s’abara ‘ashes’ (Xam. s ’abra/s ’abra), s ’abu [Rib] ‘he did’ (Xam. s’abu), bit'a [fl'n] ‘louse’ (Xam. batta), k’alu/x’alu ‘he saw’ (Xam. qalu), etc. 3.2.8 Pharyngeals h and T A similar question of the influence of Ethiopian Semitic concerns the presence of the pharyngeals h and f in Bilin. Both occur in lexemes that are almost exclusively obvious borrowings from Ethiopian Semitic: hamda ‘dew’, hagay ‘dry season’, farah- ‘be happy’, dahna ‘well, healthy’, barrah ‘bald’, mahar- ‘forgive’, halit ‘aunt’; Tatar ‘chickpeas’, Tastar ‘sky’, Ter- ‘return’, c’aTan- ‘load’, c’abaT ‘finger, toe’, Tant’at’iT ‘linseed’, sasiT- ‘dance’, marTawira ‘bridegroom’, and so forth. There are additionally a few lexemes containing h or T, the source of which is uncertain. Some items, like Tarat ‘bed’, waTaga ‘Vervet monkey’, Tadaga ‘market’, or haw-s- ‘bum’ do have regional cognates, both in Ethiopian Semitic and sometimes Cushitic languages, but their precise origin is difficult to determine. Particularly interesting, however, are the handful of Bilin lexemes like Tai ‘eye, spring’ and Tak’w ‘water’, which are of unquestionable Agaw origin, but which contain T. Comparison with cognates in Cushitic does not suggest in the former of these items the reconstruction of PC *r,26 and the presence of a pharyngeal here in Bilin is a puzzle, and probably to be explained in the first case by interference from such as Ti. Tin, and in the second case by the adjacent globalized stop. A variant ?ak’w ‘water’ also occurs, beside the free variation between glottal ? and pharyngeal T in word-medial and final position noted by Lamberti and Tonelli [1997:88-89]; a similar variation in word-initial position is found in ?amak7Tamdk’ ‘dirt, dirty’. Similarly glottal [h] and pharyngeal [h] articulations also seem to be in free variation, as is the case in Xamtanga. There are a few instances of Bilin (and Xamtanga) borrowings from Ethiopian Semitic where this confusion results in “un-etymological” forms, such as hagar, hagar ‘country’, resp., where the source form is of course hagar [W7C]. Also, again in both Bilin and Xamtanga, h sometimes seems to reflect an original voiced T in the source form: Bil. sahan- ‘load’ (an “older” reflex than c’aTan- cited above of EthSem. s’Tri), Xam. haza ‘fish’, alongside Bil. ?asa/Tasa and EthSem., e.g. Gz. Tasa.

26 The PEC cognate of the former is *?il. In the case of ‘water’, a possible PEC cognate is the root *-TVg ‘drink’, which does of course contain PEC *T, but elsewhere this is reflected in PA by *? or occasionally in medial position *x.

Introduction 19

There is no reason to reconstruct either pharyngeal as a phoneme in PA, and the presence of one or both in the phonemic inventories of Bilin and Xamtanga is indubitably due to the influence of Ethiopian Semitic.

3.2.9 Palatalization Sporadic instances of palatalization occur across the Agaw languages, where an expected s surfaces as s, t as c, d and g as j, and k as c or s. The context is usually an adjacent vowel i or a, though there are a couple of examples where the trigger seems to be a labial or rounded vowel: Awn. ju-/jw- ‘get up’ < PA *gw[o]-. Palatalization is especially common in Xamtanga: ji ‘horn’ < PNA *gix, cimta ‘bullock’ < PNA *timt-a,fac’ara ‘goat’ < PNA *fdntir-a, sola ‘beer’ < PA *sala.y-,jirwa ‘chicken’ < PA *dirw-a. 3.2.10 Consonantal ablaut Alternation between defined sets of consonants functions as a morphophonemic process especially in Bilin and Awngi, and to a lesser degree in Xamtanga and Kemant. Consonantal alternation, mutation or ablaut occurs in Bilin chiefly in the formation of noun plurals: ?aban ‘guest’ ?afan ‘guests’, gwddagw ‘belly’ gwasakw ‘bellies’, laxan ‘wound’ lakan ‘wounds’, ?axwina ‘woman’ ?akwin ‘women’, etc. A handful of verbs use consonantal ablaut in the formation of different aspect stems: sak- ‘take’ (imperfective) sax- (perfective), ?ak- ‘be’ (imperfective) ?ax- (perfective). In Xamtanga, consonantal ablaut is used also in noun plural formation, though to a somewhat smaller degree than in Bilin: biga ‘sheep’ bik’ ‘sheep’ (pL), gazag ‘dog’ gas’ag ‘dogs’,daxwara ‘donkey’ daqwal ‘donkeys’, galwa ‘man’ golok’^ ‘men’. It is also used in a small number of verbs, though in a different way to that observed in Bilin. In Xamtanga, what we may call the stem variant occurs in certain 1st singular forms, and also in the singular imperative, and in the first case involves the shift of stem final -y- to -q-, -s- to -c-, and -r- to -t-, sometimes with further palatalization of the ablauted form in the imperative singular; so, for instance: zay-u ‘he drank’, zaq-un ‘I drank’, zac ’ ‘drink! ’, or kar-u ‘he crossed’, kat-un ‘I crossed’, kac’ ‘cross!’, or was-u ‘he heard’, wac-un ‘I heard’, wac’ ‘hear!’. The number of verbs that show ablaut in Xamtanga is very small, and not all verbs whose stems end in y, s or r observe ablaut. In Kemant a small number of nouns use consonantal ablaut in the formation of their plurals, in a way that can readily be related to what is observed in Bilin and Xamtanga: dirwa ‘chicken’ dirakw ‘chickens’, daywara ‘donkey’ daxwalta ‘donkeys’, bira ‘ox’ bilta ‘oxen’. In the inflection of verbs, however, there is only a trace of stem alternation inyt alternations, which is properly speaking not an ablaut feature in the same way as, for instance, in Xamtanga. The latter occurs especially in the 1st singular, as noted, whereas the Kemant /-alternants occur in the 2nd persons and are linked with the developments of PA *t discussed above (see section 3.2.2). Lastly, in Awngi, consonantal ablaut occurs only in the inflection of the verb, and as in Xamtanga, occurs primarily in the 1st singular: ankoy-e ‘he hears’ akoq-e ‘I hear’, seb-e ‘he fights’ sep-e ‘I fight’, cew-e ‘he does’ cep-e ‘I do’, fey-e ‘he passes’ fet-e ‘I pass’, kay-e ‘he crosses’ kayt-e ‘I cross’, etc. The origins of these different kinds of consonantal ablaut are various. Ablaut in noun plural formation in Northern Agaw probably, in part at least, derives from earlier, Pre-Agaw consonant gemination as a plural marking device, though not all instances can be explained in this way. Bilin seems to have expanded the scope of ablaut far beyond either what occurs in Xamtanga and Kemant, or what can be understood historically as a gemination or

20 A comparative dictionary, etc.

“strengthening” feature. The systems in the three languages do, however, clearly have a common origin: Bil. daxwara - ddk’wal, Xam. daxwara - dsqwal, Kem. daywara - daxwdl-ta all go back to a PNA stem-pair *daywa/ar- - *ddqwa/al- where the medial ablaut, at least, could conceivably be explained as deriving from Pre-Agaw *-qw- - *-qqw-^ A similar origin in consonantal gemination might explain the Bilin verb aspect pairs in x (perfective) - k (imperfective), and there are traces of the same in the stem of the verb ‘to be’ in other Agaw languages. The ablaut focusing around the 1st singular of the finite verb in Xamtanga and Awngi has a different origin, deriving from a juncture feature with the original 1st sing, person marker *?-: Xam. zay-u ‘he drank’ < PA *3aq-ayw, but zaq-un ‘I drank’ < PA *3aq-?ayw+; Awn. seb-e ‘he fights’ < PA *sab-a, but sep-e ‘I fight’ < PA *sdb-?a. This is a slight simplification, and there are details that require explanation, possibly as an expansion of an original morphophonemic alternation, but in essence this would seem to be the origin of this particular ablaut. From the point of view of the Dictionary, the most relevant factor is that traces of old ablauting sets crop up in the lexicon where the feature is no longer productive, and so in relating forms in different languages sometimes account has to be taken of an obsolete ablaut pair, as for instance in the need to reconstruct both PNA *wak- and *wax- ‘hyena’ to explain existing forms, or both PNA *dakw- and *daxw- ‘pass’.

27 The possible origin of the system in noun plural marking is discussed in Appleyard [1988:585-6]. See also Zaborski 1976.

Dictionary 21

A

BiL

Xam.

Kem.

Awn.

abandon, leave, vt. barisbarsbaybayccaus. of ‘leave, go away’ [bar-, bar-, bay-, bay-] - K. bay- both trans, and intrans. PA *ba-t-, in which the final t is originally a verbal extension if the root is to be compared with PEC *bah- ‘go out’. (See ‘leave’ for detailed discussion.)

able, be garascalgarskal>X. cal- and A. kaly- are from EthSem khl. X. cal- directly from Amh. cal-; A. kalyfrom an earlier form preserving initial k-, as Gz. kahla or Tna. ka?ala. Re. also records kahal- for B. B. garas- [Re. B. garas-], Kem-Qu. gars- (also in Kailina, gars-) are caus. derivations from the root PNA *gar~, which has a meaning ‘strong, powerful’, from which also comes B. gdrixw/garaxw ‘much’ [see under ‘many, much’]. The Bil. form garas- is somewhat problematical on account of the vowel a before the derivational ending, which is absent from Kem.-Qu. Re. [1887:157] also sees B. garar- ‘tire o.s.’ [q.v.] as an extension of this root. dag, dig daga, amp ?away, kwaza kwada As postpositions: B. bari ?away(si), bari dag/dagal ‘on earth’, farat dag ‘on the bed’, etc; X. gabatayz digal ‘on the table’; K. kana dagala, kana kwazaz ‘up in the tree’; A. terepezi ampada ‘on the table’. For B. ?away [Re. also records awa ‘oberseite’] cf. Qu. awa ‘upper part, top’, awas ‘up, upwards’. [See the discussion on ‘head’]. PNA *dag-/dag-, also (as a loan?) in Afar daga ‘height, top’, EthSem Amh. daga ‘highlands’. For B. kwada, K. kwaza cf. PNA *kwaz- ‘add’ [q.v.]. A. amp it is tempting to connect with X. aba ‘mountain’ (< amba), which is borrowed into EthSem. (Amh. amba, etc.), particularly in the light of CRo. Awiya ambe ‘mountain’, Waldmeyer ampeta ‘Hoch’.

above, [upper part]

accuse, claim kasaskassFrom EthSem kss, Amh. kassasa, etc.

kasas-

accustomed, be (see learn, get used) add

kwadkwazkwassdemekPNA *kwaz-. K. kwass- is a causative derivative [cf. CRo. kuasis-, the vocalism of which is difficult to explain]. Re. records the simple stem in Qu. kwaz-. Ap. records a different root in Qu. damas- ‘add’ (also Re. Qu. damas-), for which cf. perhaps Re. B. dam- ‘repeat’, damas- ‘cause to repeat’, which Re. unconvincingly relates to EthSemdgm ‘repeat’. Kailina has s ’amdr- from EthSem. 5 ’mr (Amh. c ’dmmard ‘add’).

22 A comparative dictionary, etc.

advise

mdxwaxwmaxarmakarkusaycX. maxar- and K. makar- from EthSem., Tna. maxdr-, Amh. makkar-. gws?it-, gawtgwayantjafattantPNA *gway-/*gway- (?). Cf. B. noun gwa?i ‘fear’ [q.v.]. The medial 2 of B. gwa?it- is irregular [but see also ‘drink’]. Both B. and X. share the refl.-pass, extension in -t. Re. Chamir has guat-. Perhaps the X. root gaw- is for gwa- as in Chamir. K. gwayantis built on a verbal noun base gwayan~: cf. Re. Qu. guagine ‘Furcht’, K. gwayina ‘coward, fearful’, CRo. K. guagina ‘timide’. Ap. Qu. has gwayan- as a verb. Possibly cognate is Yaaku -ge?- ‘be afraid’. Ehret [1987:69] also cites a pair of SCush., Ma’a cognates. K.jafist- is also a denominative form, cf. jafi ‘fearful’ (CRo. gift).

afraid, be

after, behind dambi gra, gra gatawa falenga As postpositions: B. mad dambi ‘after food’, ?a?ir dambi ‘behind the girl’; X. yan gra ‘behind the house’, saqwa garkas gra ‘after three days’; K. narja gatawa ‘behind the house’; A.. Qu. uses angaya\ walta gargili angaya ‘after six days’, also angaz (= angayaz), which is cognate with X. gra and with B. ?angara ‘back’ [q.v.]. CRo. records A. engera ‘parte posteriore’ which is also used as a postposition: nien engerd's ‘behind the house’, allowing reconstruction of PA *?angara ‘rear, back’ [q.v. under ‘back (of body)’]. K. gatawa is likewise from the noun gat ‘rear, backside’ [q.v.]. B. dambi, from which a number of derived forms come: dambara ‘the last’, dambit‘come last’, is cognate with Som. dambe ‘afterwards, behind’, Bayso dambe, Or. duubaa, Sidamo dumbaa-ni, and perhaps also Beja dambe ‘thigh’. There are also Omotic cognates in Kafa damboo ‘back, rear’, Kullo domba ‘thigh’, Hozo domba ‘buttocks’. all

nawak, ank’, niki/nayak, wulld, -ak -ak’ / -k’a -ak -gi As an independent word in B., X. and K. the suffix -k, -ki (cognate with A. -gi) is added to the pronominal base of the 3rd person pronouns: B. nawak = ‘all of them’, similarly K. nayak (niki ‘all of it’) In B. the same suffix may be (freely ?) added directly to nouns: ?axirak ‘every man’, kawak ‘the whole people’. In X. invariable ank’ is normally placed after the noun [k’and ank’ ‘all the wood’], as is niki or nayak in K. \jelak nayak ‘all the birds’], though in both languages the suffix is added directly to pronouns and very occasionally directly to nouns: X. yank’a ‘all of us’, K. andiwak. Awngi independent wulla is of Omotic origin: cf. Kafa bulla, Mocha bullo, Shekko bullo, Gimirra bul, Dach’e wuri, Dorze wuri, Shinasha unnd. [See Lamberti 1993a:268 for some Omotic correspondences.]

Dictionary 23

PA *-k[i] (the voicing in A. -gi is irregular) - cf. Beja suffix -ka ‘each, all’. Within AA and outside Cushitic, perhaps PBerber *hakkw ‘each; totality’ [NBerber akkw, aggw, Northern Twareg ak, Southern Twareg hak} is connected [Prasse 1972:212, 213], alone, only -tu -lla/-lla baxay -ywici/-ywica/-ywic[ka] The B., X. and A. forms are clitics that are added to the oblique personal pronouns: exx. B. kwa-tu, X. ka-lla, A. ka-ywici, ‘you alone’. K. baxay similarly combines with the possessive pronouns: ki baxay ‘you alone’. K. baxay, and cognate Qu. baxya, also Kailina baqya [O^/*] are of EthSem origin, cf. Gz. bahtitu ‘alone’ - indeed the a vowel and the medial x of these two forms are suggestive of an origin in an older EthSem form than, for instance, the cognate modem Amh. bacca or Tna. bahtu, perhaps something such as *bahtiya. Corresponding to B. -tu Re. also notes Chamir -ti: ni fit ‘he alone, he on his own’ = Ap. X. yi ga-lla. X. -Ila / -Ila is perhaps connected with the numeral base la- ‘one’ [q.v.], PA *la~.

always

and

dima witrak’ watra X. witrak’ [= witr- + ak’ ‘all’] and K. watra (also Re. B. warfik, CRo. Khamta wifir) are from EthSem., Gz. watra. Qu. has sinki = ‘all times’ [sin ‘time’], for which cf. CRo. K. sanki. CRo. records both wullata (from wulld) ‘all’ and mingi in Awiya. B. dima is from Tigre dima, and ultimately Arabic da ’ima.

-di, -zma, -ra/-r, -sta, -xar -am -kwa -ki B. -di is the comitative case suffix ‘together with’ and only conjoins nouns: nidi ni-?axwinadi ni-k’wardi ‘he, his wife and his children’; B. -xar conjoins both VPs and NPs: diwa ganja-xar ‘stay and sleep!’, nat-xar nira-xar ‘both here and there’. X. -zma conjoins NPs (usually with -z added to the second NP): sanazma s ’abaz jab ‘buy butter and milk’. The element -z is the relational case marker, used in the same way as B. -di, and -ma is from EthSem. Re. records -m, -me used in the same way in Chamir. For joining both NPs and VPs ~(a)m (from EthSem., Amh. -(a)mm) is used: mizam salam ‘mead and beer’, x^ayam zic ’am ‘eat and drink! ’. K. -ra / -r is used used to conjoin both NPs and VPs: ya-gana-r y-aba-r ‘(both) my mother and my father’, tayw-ra yayw ‘he came and said’. Qu. has -ri in the same contexts: ni-(a)wina-ri ni-xwar ‘his wife and his children’, antaw anan[d]ri wasnaw ‘he came and we heard him’. K. -kwa (and Qu. -k^a) are only used to conjoin NPs: kamantanayskwa bdlaynays garsdkw ‘I speak both Kemant and Amharic’. A. uses -sta for conjoining NPs: yuna-sta rjarji ‘a woman and a man’. Other items, including whole sentences, are conjoined by -ki: art basdni-ki ‘and when the rain stopped’.

24 A comparative dictionary, etc.

A number of these coordinating particles are identical to topicalizing particles in the individual languages: for the latter cf. B. -xar, X. -z, Qu. -ri / -dri, A. -ki.

k’ahark’ar y-, karaysmaqec-, ndddrzasnendedRe. has B. wagit- (KH. glosses waxit- as ‘quarrel’) and magag- [= mac’ac -] the latter being Ti. mas’a (ms’s’ ‘be tormented’) B. k’ahar- is also EthSem., k’hr ‘bum’ (Tna. also ‘feel rancour’). B. ndddr- is from Tna. naddara ‘become anniyed, inflamed’. X. k’ar y- : Re. also records Chamir kuar-/kar- ‘be angry’. K. karays- has a cognate in Qu. karays- and probably in Awiya kalin- ‘get angry’ recorded by Waldmeyer; Re. also notes “Agaumidir” kual-. lf*kar-/kwar-, etc., is then the underlying root, the K. and Qu. form karays- must be a verbal derivative in -s of the verbal noun karay ‘anger’. Tentatively, therefore, PA *kar-/kwar- (allowing for *r > I in Southern Agaw.) Alternatively these could simply be developments of the EthSem. root k’hr. See Orel & Stolbova [1995:324] for some AA comparisons, and cf. also Mocha kaaro ‘anger’, Kafa kaar- ‘get angry’. A. nended- (variant tended-) is obviously linked with Amh. tanaddad- [ndd],

angry, be

animal (wild) wanin arawi awre X., K. are from EthSem., Gz. ?arwe, Tna. ?arawit, Amh. awre. B. wanin is Ti. wanin coll, of sg. wanan. animal (general) ?ansus ansasa ansasa ansasi Of EthSem. origin, Gz. ?ansasd, etc. B. ?ansus is the Tigre plural or collective.

anoint, smear k’wasqasxwassankanoint o.s. k’warqastPNA *qwa- [+ *-s caus., *-t refl.-pass.]. In X. qas- is taken as the base form to give refl. qast-. answer, vt. wantaswiswantarszurcPNA *wantar- + caus. *-s ‘give back’; whilst in Bil. the intr. wantar- was presumably reinterpreted as wanta + refl.-pass, -r [Sasse p.c.]. [See also discussion under ‘return’]. X. wis- Re. compares with a B. variant wdnz- [= wans-] of wantas-, i.e. via *wants- ? A form such as *wans- would give X. wis-. He also records the regular caus. watrsmeaning both ‘zuriickfuhren’ and ‘antworten’ - Ap. X. watars- is only ‘bring back’ and wis- ‘answer, reply’. Re. [1887:358] unconvincingly relates the NAgaw root *want- to EthSem., myt’ ‘return’ (Gz. met’a). A. zurc- is caus. of zur- from EthSem.. Amh. zor- ‘turn’.

Dictionary 25

ant (black)

sansuta, sansa

t’azk’a

kawa

ayi

appear, seem taktaktak-/takymeselPA *tak-/tak~. The vocalism of X. tak- points also to a variant *tak-, for which see A. taks- [= ? tak-s-] ‘think’ [q.v.]. Re. however suggests a loan from Amh. takka- ‘be substituted, take the place of, which seems unlikely. A. mesel- is from EthSem., Amh. massal-.

taqr-, taytdigaltPNA *tax-/tax- + *-t refl.-pass. (Re. records a root noun taga [=tdxa] ‘side, vicinity’ and vb. tagat- ‘draw near’ in Bilin). The medial q in X. taqr- is irregular (Re. Chamir has takr- ‘be near’, and takat ‘vicinity’). An obviously cognate form, presumably a loan, appears in EthSem., Gz. t’ak’a, t’ak’a and Tna. t’ax’a ‘near’. Elsewhere in AA: perhaps AEg. tkn ‘be near’, PChadic *duk- ‘near’ [see Takacs 1999:221].

approach, draw near taxat-

arrive

?ataytagtambB. ?dtay- is from EthSem., Gz. ?atawa, Ti. ?ata ‘come, return’. K. tag- ‘find’ [q.v.] is also used in the meaning ‘arrive’, cf. Qu. ar- meaning both ‘find’ and ‘arrive’.

ashes

sabar, s ’abra/ waza wiisi barah s ’abra 1. PNA *cVbVr-, also in Kaflina s’abara. Also occurs as a loan in EthSem., Gz. s’abal ‘dust, powder’, Ti. c’abal ‘ashes’, Tna. cablay ‘ashen’. 2. PA *waz- . CRo. glosses Awiya west as ‘charcoal’, and records hawa§i as ‘ashes, dust’. The latter looks like Gz. hos ’a, meaning ‘sand, dust’. Perhaps K. wazat] ‘fire’ [q.v.] is also from the root *wVz-? B. barah is of EthSem. origin, brh ‘be light, bright’.

ask (a question) wank’arwaqrwanxarkasyPNA *wanqar~. Khamta has tayq- from Amh. t’dyyak’a. CRo. has Awiya kast- (kastogoa ‘he asked), with the 3rd pers. form of the stem ka^-. Perhaps of Omotic origin: Lamberti & Sottile [1997:426] reconstruct “West Cushitic” *koos- ‘want, look for’. ask for, beg siwc ’awsawyimPNA *ciw-/caw-. Re. [1887:331] suggests an origin in EthSem. s 'wf, Gz. s’awwa?a/s’awwa?a ‘call, shout, proclaim’, which does however have cognates

26 A comparative dictionary, etc.

elsewhere in Semitic: Arabic sa?d ‘shout’, Hebrew sawah ‘cry aloud’, Aramaic sawah. aunt [MoSi] halit ayazin tir -aksta aunt [FaSi] taxri -tayar tir -aksta B. halit is from Ti. hal[t], hal, the indigenous Agaw term probably not distinguishing maternal from paternal - X. ayazin is lit. ‘mother’s sister’. PNA *t-axar/-axar, a fem. derivative with prefixed t- from PNA *?axar ‘father’ [q.v.]. Re. Qu. has tayri, Ap. Qu. tayar, Kailina t’ayrv, vocalization in a is therefore not restricted to the northernmost languages. A. -aksta is plainly the same as Amh. akast ‘aunt [paternal or maternal]’. The Amh. term, which has cognates in EthSem only in Argobba, Harari and Gafat (in all three meaning ‘maternal aunt’ only), is itself almost certainly ultimately of Agaw origin. See discussion under ‘uncle ’. sank^ata, sak,wata, sarabanta makay fas bos’ PNA *sankwat-a. Re. Qu. also has sankwata. K. sarabanta is lit. ‘chopper’, agent n. fromsarab- (cf. Amh. t’arrabf B.fas, X. bas ’ are from EthSem., Ti., Tna./as.

axe

B

Bit.

Xam.

Kem.

Awn.

baboon

jaggira/ zajra jagara zagri jaggura PA *yagg Vr-/ydgg Vr-. Re. Chamir has ziagira, Re. Qu.jdgara, Ap. Qu. jagira, Kailina zagira, CRo. Awiya zegri, Kunfal zagari. PEC *zaa[n]keer- [Lamberti & Haberland 1988:87 PLEC *zaa[n]kweer~, PC *zaa[n]gweer~] ‘monkey’ (LEC: Som. daayeer, Maay daar^eer, Ashraaf daajteer, Rendille laceer, Boni daseer, Bayso daa?eer, Arbore deer-it, Elmolo derri-c; HEC: Hadiyya daagera', Yaaku de?£re. The Agaw item is borrowed into EthSem., Amh. zanjaro, etc.

baby, infant balata lalama The absence of recorded forms in other Agaw languages makes comparison difficult; in Qu. sagwa xwara ‘little child’ is used in this sense, and in “Damot” CRo. records simply engay [= A. ancay ‘child’]. However, K. lalama is reminiscent of the widespread ECush, root *il- ‘bear children’ and in particular its nominal derivatives (Som. ilmo ‘children’, Afar ilmu ‘illegitimate children’, Or. Uma ‘son’, ilmoo ‘young animals’, Dhaasanac ummo ‘children’, Bayso ilato ‘baby’, Elmolo hele ‘children’).

back (of body)

gabra

kasar, angar PNA *garb-a. Re. records B. girba [= ^3rha]‘ruken-, lendenstiik vom fleisch’ and gurbat [= gwarbat\ ‘riiken’, which is from Ti. gurbat (Munzinger). Chamir has jirbd, yaw

jarba

Dictionary 27

Qu. gabra. Cf. Som. (various dialects) garab ‘shoulder blade’, Af-Garre, Boni karab,

D’irayta karap0, Bayso garab ‘upper arm’. The item is also borrowed into EthSem., kmh.jarba, and also Ti. gurbat, which has been borrowed back into Bilin. For B. yaw see below under ‘back, lower’. Re. quotes another term in B. ingera. [= ?angara} ‘riiken, riikteil’, cognate with X. gra ‘behind’ (Re. Chamir egra), Qu. angaya, Awngi [SLLE] angar, CRo. Awiya engera ‘parte posteriore’. PA *?angar-a. If this latter is to be compared with Beja [n]ga? ‘back, rear part’, then -ra would be in origin a (singulative?) suffix in Agaw. [See Blazek 1994:12.] A. kasdr is perhaps connected with PA *kas ‘shoulder’ [q.v.].

back [upper] sag sag sag seg In B., X. and K. this item also means ‘mountain ridge, plateau’, and B. sag also means ‘rear, rear side’. Thus, PA *sag, which Re. connects with Beja sinkwa, var. sankwa, sunka, sinka ‘shoulder’, to which Afar-Saho sunku ‘shoulder, shoulder joint’ would, however, seem a closer cognate. Cf. perhaps also Som. sanaag ‘highlands’, and Yaaku sang ‘mane’. An alternative etymology [Ehret 1987:141] connects PA *sag with Or. sagoo ‘back of the head’. Note also Dhaasanac sugu ‘back’ without a nasal: PEC *sV[n]g- 2

back [lower] yaw yu yaw PA *ydw. Kunfal also has yewi ‘hips’. [For discussion see under ‘hips’]

backside, anus makwa jat’ gat tagu Corresponding to X.jat’ and K. gat Re. records B. git, qit ‘vulva’, Chamir yudd, and CRo. has Khamta gid. Lamberti & Tonelli [1997:91] gloss B. gat’ as ‘vagina’. Amh. k’it’ with the same meaning is obviously connected, as a loan from Agaw? Thus PNA *gat, which Ehret [1987:159] connects with Proto-Somali *gid’- \Sova.jid’ ‘body’, Daarood Som. cir, Af-Garreyer, Rendillejid ‘flesh’], though the semantics are weak. B. ma^a ([Lamberti & Haberland 1988:50] makkwa ‘buttock’) is probably cognate with Afar makuh ‘spine’, Boni mukka ‘buttocks’, Yaaku muk ‘lower part of the body’. bad

jiba, c’aqa yazag, dakki mak,wla, sak-ay tida (evil) B.jiba, mak’wla and tida are all given as synonyms by KH., the last item not being recorded in Re. CRo. records K. yiv- [=yab~] which may be cognate with B. jiba, though &j:y correspondence is not regular. X. c ’aqa (and Kailina c ’aqa are probably cognate with A. dakki (also Qu. daka, Kunfal daki) if we allow for devoicing and palatalization. Thus, perhaps, PA *dak[k]-.

28 A comparative dictionary, etc.

Corresponding to K. yazarj Re. records Qu. izim ‘evil’. bag (leather)

mar, sant’at

mar

may, salsa

win

fay-

anjic-

PNA *mar. K. salsa is from Amh. sallacca.

bake, vt. (bread)

sansiT-,

fiy-

gisB. sansi^- is a denominative from sansaTa, sansafa ‘bread’ [q.v.]. B. gis- is the causative of gi- ‘be cooked, ripe’ and is cognate with A. anjic- < PA *gi+ old prefix extension an- and caus. suffix -c. [See under ‘cook’ for a fuller discussion.] X-fiy- and K./ay- (Qu. also fay-) suggest PNA *fay~, which may be cognate with Afarfah- ‘boil, ferment’, fahiyya ‘dough, batter’. bald

barrah malat’ bdra bay^ B. barrah and K. bdra are of EthSem. origin, cf. Gz. barrah, barrah, Ti. barrah, Amh. bdra ‘bald spot’. X. malat’ is also of Amharic origin, viz. malat’a. A. baywi (cf. CRo. Awiya bohu) is cognate with Re. B. bauq [= bak,wYemptiness’, bdqus- ‘pull out (hair, grass)’, bak’was- ‘empty’ [q.v.], Qu. bohuz- [= baxwaz-], permitting the reconstruction of PA *baqw- / *baqw- / *baqw- ‘empty, bald’. Cf. Afar booka ‘thinness, sparseness (hair)’, bookaakit- ‘be patchy, sparse’, Saho boka ‘bald head’, Or. buk’k’a?- ‘be uprooted’ (buk’k’is- ‘uproot, pull out’).

bark [of tree] 1. 2. barley

k’af

qaf, sankwa qap saqwa PA *qaf. The final p of A. qap suggestsf:p ablaut. SLLE has metathesized paq. PNA *sankw-a.

sakam/sakam sak’ma gabara sumki sakma [singul.] PA *sakm-, allowing for a metathesis -km- > -mk- in A. Re. Qu. has samo / samu, which appears to derive from a similar metathesized form together with further loss of k. Also CRo. Khamta seqma. The same item occurs in EthSem., Gz. sagam, sagam, Ti. Tna. sagam. The absence of Sem. cognates (aside perhaps for Soqotri skimoh ‘grain of millet’) leads Leslau [1991:491] to suggest the EthSem. term is of Cushitic origin. K. gabara (also Qu. gabra) is clearly related to Or. garbuu ‘barley’, Buiji jibaaroo, Kailina has baliya, which may be cognate with Dullay porto ‘barley (hordeum nutans)’ [Ambom, Minker & Sasse 1980:218].

Dictionary 29

basket

jambil k’arc’ata zambil kac B.jdmbil is from Tna. idem, and K. zambil from Amh. idem, ‘palm-leaf basket’. X. k’arc’ata is from Amh. k’arc’at ‘basket made from cane or bamboo strips’.

be

aq-/ay-/aay-/ayayakwPA *?ak-/?ax-. B. ?ak-:?dx- are aspectual ablaut stem variants (?ak- Aspect B or imperfective) ?ax- (Aspect B or perfective), reflecting ultimately something such as Pre-Agaw ^akk- (imperfective) : *7uk- (perfective), though the vocalization as reconstructed shows traces only in the use of the root as the “auxiliary” in main verb paradigms. [For details see Appleyard 1988:588-9,1992:143-5]. X. akw- occurs only as a locative verb, ‘be (in a place)’ with present meaning, though from underlying PreAgaw *7uk[k]- with “perfective” vocalization. Except for X. akw-, therefore, the rest of NAgaw has systematized the non-labialized velar in the independent root, maintaining the labialized velar reflex only in the “auxiliary” incl. in the imperfective: PNA *-akw:-ayw, but PSA *-ay-:-ayw~. A. yay- is prefix-inflecting, hence the initial ?a.k-/?ax-

y-Cf. PEC *-ik[k] / -ak[k] (Saho-Afar -ekk- stative, ki- copula, Konso, Gidole ki‘exist’, Hadiyya ik- ‘become’, Sidamo ik-, ikk-, Buiji ih-. Perhaps also common OmoTana *-ah-/-eh- ‘be’ [Sasse 1982:103]. Also Beja -k-y ‘be’. Ehret [1980:289] also reconstructs a PSC *?eex- ‘be’.

be 2, become wanwinwanasy- (= spend the day) PNA * wan-/* wan-. Ehret [1987: 135, 1995:467] seeks to relate this to PEC *wayn‘big’ (Som. weyn, Rend, ween, Boni wiin, Elmolo wanyi, Arbore wannya ‘old’ Yaaku ein\, cf. also Beja win ‘big’ and Dahalo win- ‘grow’. [See Lamberti & Haberland 1988:112 for a different analysis.] With regard to the Agaw root being cognate, the semantics seem problematical. Could A. wena ‘pregnant animal’ be connected to the Cushitic root, however? Elsewhere within AA a more likely cognate is AEg. wnn ‘be, exist’, Coptic won ‘there is’.

beans

?ddangwal adagwar bak’ela mull B. ?ddangwal, X. adagwar have cognates in EthSem., Ti. ?ddangal, Tna. ?adangura. K. bak 'ela is from Amh., idem.

beard (see also chin) sakwdm xam riz sadadi B. sakwdm [KH. ‘beard’] is the same as Re. sekum, nwc. of cehum [= c’ahum], glossed as ‘kinn, bart’, which he considers a borrowing from EthSem. Ti. s ’aham, var. c’aham ‘beard, jaw, chin’ (cf. Gz. s’ahm ‘beard’, Tna. c’ahmi, Amh. t’im). The same item occurs in Re. Khamta qehem [= c’aham]. The conflation of ‘beard’ and ‘chin’ is common in many Ethiopian languages.

30 A comparative dictionary, etc.

X. xam, with variant him recorded by Re. (Chamir), which he considers a borrowing from a Tna. dialect form kahma. K. riz is Amh., idem.

beautiful

saxar-ax”

sar-ay, melkami, k’onjo cankut B. saxar- provides a number of derived forms: saxar ‘beauty’, saxard- ‘beautify’, saxart- ‘be beautiful’, etc. Re. Chamir records three items glossed as ‘schon’: qasau [= k’asaw ‘good’], zardu [= saraw ‘red’] and tikyau, which is cognate with B. takyaxw ‘good’ [q.v.]. The item sagga is perhaps cognate with Qu. saya ‘beautiful’ [Re. Qu. saga is glossed as ‘junges Madchen’.] Like K. sdray, Qu. also uses sara ‘red’ [q.v.] to mean ‘beautiful’. X. malkasa and A. melkami are from Amh. malk ‘(good) looks’, malkam ‘beautiful, fine’. K. k’onjo is Amh., idem. Kailina has mars ’a which is Amh. mart’ ‘choice, select, best’. sagga, malkasa

bed

Tarat, arat arga yag ?arg B. farat and ?arg appear to be synonyms (Re. has arga and arat, var. ‘arat). X. and K. each exhibit only one or other item. CRo. Khamta has ‘irat, Qu. has arga. Both items also occur variously in EthSem.: Gz. farat, ?arat, Ti. Tarat, Tna. Tarat, Amh. alga. The terms are obviously areal to the north-central Ethiopian region, also occurring in Saho ?arat. It is debatable whether A. yag (CRo. Awiya hagi, qdgi ) is connected with ?arg, arga.

bedbug

tax^ana daxwana taywana taywdnd PA *taywan- (X. initial d- is irregular; Re. Chamir has tuyuan [coll.]). The item also occurs in EthSem. as a borrowing: Gz. takwan, Ti. takan, Tna. taxman, Amh. tah^an, etc. Cf. also Saho tukwdn ‘fleas’, Or. tukaanii.

bee

laxla lala layla cayari PNA *layl-a. A. cayari is probably cognate with PNA *sayar-a ‘honey’ [B. saxara, X. sara, K. sayaya] [q.v.]. CRo. Awiya has the same root: Regard as does Kunfal: sahar. Re. Qu. has lanla [= layla} (sic. Flad’s Falashan langla) beside lagla. Kailina and Ap. Qu. both have lala. CRo. Khamta is the same as Chamir-Xamtanga: laid. The Agaw root is possibly connected with SCushitic, Dahalo ndla ‘honey’, Asax nada ‘bee’.

beer

salax

sala

salay/salaya salyi

Dictionary 31

PA *salay- / salay-. In B. Re. records a different vocalic pattern: salaqabeside salaqa [= salaxa, salaxa}. Re. Qu has selana [= salaqa}, as does Flad’s Falashan selagna. X. sala [cf. Khamta sila and Kailina salqa} show palatalization of the initial due to the following a. The item has been borrowed into EthSem., Ti. salk’a, Tna. c’alk’a, Amh. t’alla. beget, have children ?axwaraxwarkabankamenbe bom ?axwarsax^arskabdnskamenast1. PNA *?aywVr~. The B. and X. verbal root are related to the noun ‘child’ [q.v.] and the PNA root *[?a]qwar~. Khamta also has ohr- ‘bear, beget’, ehurd- ‘be bom’, beside the noun eher ‘son’. The western languages have the root only as a noun: K. Qu. xwara ‘child’. For a connection with a possible PHEC *k'al- see below under ‘child’. 2. PA *kaban- / kaman-: Re. also records B. kaban- ‘gebaren’, which he notes is rarely used. Note, however, the regular noun kabani ‘newly delivered mother’. Dogopolskiy [1973:65] unconvicingly compares Beja ?amna ‘newly delivered mother’. Ehret [1987:64] compares Beja kab- ‘copulate’ and Proto-Rift *xab‘marry’, based inter alia on Iraqw, Kw’adza xab-.

begin, vt. tarskirmjamarjemerB. tars- is denominative from tar ‘beginning’. X. kirm- is not recorded by Re. Instead, Chamir has a derivative of qidm- ‘be first’, which is of EthSem. origin. It is probable that kirm- also represents a development of the same EthSem root. K. jamar-, K.jemer- are from Ardn.jdmmar-. CRo. Khamta also has gamr-, as does Qu.: jamar-, though Re. Qu. has in addition kawint-, from the root kaw- ‘lead’ [q.v.]. believe

?am[a]namnamanamnPA *?amn-, from EthSem. ?mn, Gz. ?amna, etc. The vocalization of K. aman- shows the further influence of Amh., amman-.

belly

gwadagw gizu g^azg^a guzag PA *gwdzgw- /gwazgw~. CRo. Awiya guezgtii [= gwazgwi\ maintains the labialization of the second -g-. Kailina has guzu, showing the same loss of the medial -g- as X. (and Khamta gizu, glossed as ‘cuore, fegato’). Kunfal has wezgi [= wazgi] with loss of initial g-. Comparison with PHEC *godob- ‘belly’ and Beja gwadaab ‘chest’ has to be rejected, as these reflect a PC *gwVdVb- [Blazek 1994:16]. Orel & Stolbova [1995:223] propose a connexion with Afar gude ‘waist’ and Som. gudo ‘insides’ if these are from a PEC *guz~.

32 A comparative dictionary, etc.

below, underneath

sak’wa/sak’way

sa/say

sdywa-, sar

kukra

PNA *saqw- /saqw-. As a postposition: B. ?astar sak’wdysi ‘under heaven’, adverb mal sdk’wat gamti ‘the cattle have gone down’; X. nayaz sa, narjaz sayal ‘below the house’, Chamir ardt suga ‘under the bed’; K. adv. saywaldz ‘down below’, as a postp. only sar: arga saral ‘under the bed’; A. yagdes kukra ‘under the bed’ (directional), yagdes kukrida ‘under the bed’ (locative). The X. reflex is irregular; Re. Chamir has suga, zuga. Waldmeyer records Awiya sokita ‘down’ and Re. cites “Agaumidir” sakita ‘nider, nidrig’. Ap. Qu. has sdywa, sawa, Re. Qu. saxuay. K. sar is the noun ‘root’ [q.v.]. Beside sdywa, CRo. notes the form sagwa, the medial g of which agrees with Chamir suga [= sagwa]. Like Hetzron’s Awngi, CRo. Awiya has a different item: kokras, huokras: nien huokras ‘under the house’.

belt [leather]

dabla

bend, vt.

lum ?as-

k ’amsana

dabi/dabya

dungicci, cefar

gwabats-

cizkiz-/kazbetter, be kidkesPNA *kiz~. A. kes- is not an exact correspondence, and suggests a proto-form *kaz-, or perhaps *kez~, though the palatalization of the final s needs explaining. CRo. Khamta kas-, qas- also has a different vocalization. Reinisch [1887:213], followed by Conti Rossini, seeks to derive the Agaw root from EthSem. xys with the same meaning: Gz. xayasa, Ti. hesa, haysa, Tna. hayasd, hesd, and adds Beja hayis-, Saho as- and Afar ays- (= Parker & Hayward eyse) to the list of cognates. Dolgopolsky [1973:86], on the other hand, sees the EthSem. forms as “borrowed from Cushitic”, adding further cognates from ECushitic: Gidole isum, Gawada heez61 (actually heesa ‘good’); andOmotic: Basketo kose and Male kuci.

big

bahar

xdy-aw

xdy-ay, danguli, far-ay/far-ay wodel

B. bahar [Re. bahar & bahar], also ‘elder’. PNA *xay-, [X.,K. xay-, also Khamta hay-ow, Kai'lina xay-aq, Re. Qu. hiy-au]. Initial *x- is extremely rare in Agaw roots [see ‘leaf] and more often suggests a borrowing from EthSem., and indeed Re. seeks to derive the Chamir and Quara forms from EthSem., ^by: Gz. fabiyy, etc., with x ■ f and loss of b via *w > y, which does however seem rather forced. Qu. also has wa, waddra, where -dara may be the noun dara ‘thing’.

Dictionary 33

K.faray /foray appears to have a cognate in Chamirfarag- ‘be wide, large, big’ which Re. derives from EthSem. frq (e.g. Tm. forax’a ‘divide, separate’) - \.Q.for-ay is for *foray-ay = Chamirfarag-au, App X.foraq-aw ‘wide’. If this is correct, then the K. term is not to be connected with Re. B.fera ‘the best’ which occurs in KH. only in the gloss fara ?asna forfaris- ‘multiply’ (Re. ‘select, choose’), which Re. describes as a verbal derivative offera. A. danguli, cf. Kunfal dunguri, SLLE Awngi dunguri, CRo. Awiya dengueri. A. wodel is from Amh. wadal ‘big and fat’. jaxala zila jela/fola caya PNA *foxal-a. (fo.jela, Kailina zayla. If the A form is cognate (as seems likely, and cf. also Kunfal cagi) then PNA *foxdl- must be an extended form: PA ^axfoax+ -al-. A connexion with Sidamo c’e?a ‘birds’, Hadiyya c’i?a, c’z-cco‘bird’; Kamb c’ii?-eta ‘bird’, Bur c’iidd’da is tempting (= PHEC *c’iid’a), but the correspondence would be irregular (PA *x # PHEC *d’). Sasse (1982: 47) thinks the HEC item is of onomatopoeic origin and ‘has no cognates outside HEC’, but note also Or. c’irrii, sp. of bird, Iraqw c Wi (Whitely) and Ehret’s PSC (Rift) *dzi?a ‘chick, young bird’. Ehret [1987:72] reconstructs a PC *zax- on the evidence of the Agaw item and ProtoWestern Rift *dadax- ‘tremble’, but this must be highly speculative.

bird

nakas-, ayyayB. nakat-, K. nakas- are from EthSem. (cf. Ti. naksa, Tna. naxasa, Amh. nakkasa the Gz. form is nasakd). The final t of B. nakat- is difficult to explain. X. s’aq- is from Amh. t’ak’k’a ‘bite’. PA *?ay-, with reflexes in K. yay- (Qu. yiy-) and A. ay-. PEC *-fum/-fam ‘eat’ (Som. Sun-, Jiddu Som. -aam-, Bayso aam-, Elmolo aam-; Konso d’am- < ^t-Samfo note also Beja ?am- ‘eat’. There is also a PEC root *-k’m-/-k’aam~, to which inter alia Bayso aam-, Elmolo aam- may more properly belong; cf. also Boni -uhuy-/-ahay-, Rendille -hum-/-ham-, Arbore -ohom- with weakening of original *k’). Sasse (1982: 122) suggests that it is not now necessary to reconstruct a PEC *-£Vm-, but if PA *?ay- is a genuine cognate then it would restore the PC root *-S-m. [See further below under ‘eat’.]

bite, vt.

nakat-

s ’aq-

bitter

marar-axw marr-dw marara EthSem., mrr. B. and X. are adjectival derivatives from verb bases. The K. form is directly relatable to Amh. marara adj. ‘bitter, sour’.

black

nasir-axw yac’ar samana carlo. B. and X. point to PNA *yacir~, cf. also CRo. Khamta necir, Kailina nac ’ar ‘black’ and Re. Qu. niser ‘darkness’.

34 A comparative dictionary, etc.

K. samana (also Qu. samana) is a derivative of PA *cam-: B. sama ‘shadow’, X. sama, A. cami‘dirt’ [q.v.].

blacksmith k’adana labam X. labam is apparently from Amh. labbam ‘clever’.

tambiti

bless

gawr-, giwrgdwtdaqerbaraxB. barax- is from EthSem., Ti. baraka. CRo. also records biarak- in Awiya. CRo. Khamta has marq- from Tna. marrak’d. PNA *gawt~. The reconstruction of a final *t extension is confirmed by the stem alternation in X. giwtun ‘I blessed’: giwru ‘he blessed’. In B. stem-final r, and in K., Qu. (got-) stem-final t are generalized throughout. The final *t is possibly originally a verbal extension, if the basic root is represented by Re. B. gaw- [= gaw-) ‘freundlich zureden, gutliche vorstellungen machen’. Dolgopolsky [1973:61-2] proposes a PC *gA[?]w-, glossed as ‘be good’, connecting the Agaw forms with a number of Cushitic (Bayso, Dullay) and Omotic (Kafa) items. However, the Bayso form ka-iida must be removed, as the ka- is the masculine associative particle. The Dullay forms are actually Harso k’dayya, Dobase k’aayy- / qaayy-, S’aamakko q’ay?-, which presuppose a Proto-Dullay *q ’ay?-. Of Dolgopolsky’s supposed cognates, therefore, only Kafa gawoo ‘beautiful, good’ remains.

blind

?arab harba tawars-ay difini B. ?arab, X. harba: the initial ?/h suggests a borrowing from EthSem., and Re.

[1887:66] does indeed attempt to derive this from EthSem. ?wr. Khamta has cewrdn (pl.?) clearly from EthSem., Tna. Tawur, pl. ?awuran. K. tawars-ay (vb. tawars- ‘be blind’) is from the Amh. vb. tawwara ‘become blind’ with the K. passive ext. -s-. Re. Qu. has mar. A. difini is from Amh. daffan ‘closed, stopped’ - dafana ‘half-shut, closed (eyes)’. CRo. cites Waldmeyer’s Awiya berni in the meaning of ‘cieco’. blood

bar bar bar bari PA *bar. Cognates are Saho biilo ‘blood’, bil- ‘bleed’ and Afar biilu ‘blood-price’. It has been suggested these are borrowings from Agaw, though this is far from certain. The presence of a cognate in Beja boy ‘blood’ is indicative of an inherited Cushitic root, which appears in PEC as *bur- / *bor- ‘(dark) red’, cf. Or. booruu ‘dark­ coloured, dull’, Som. bora ‘grey’, Arbore burri ‘red’, Dhaasanac bur, Konso poor‘black’, etc. An apparently isolate Omotic cognate (or loan ?) occurs in Kafa buroo ‘blood-price’; Shinasha bird ‘red’ is perhaps also cognate. There are also Chadic cognates: PChad. *bar- ‘blood’ [Newman 1977:22],

blow, vb.

?ufy-

afy-

afy-

mayur-

Dictionary 35

PNA *?afy— there is an element of onomatopoeia involved here, cf. also Amh. aff ala.. Similar forms occur across Cushitic: Beja fuuf- ‘blow’, Afar ufuy ‘air, breath’, Saho ufu- ‘breathe’, Or. uffi jed’- ‘blow’, Konso uff- ‘inflate’, Bayso ufuuf- ‘breathe’, Had. uff- ‘blow’, Burji ufuf-, etc., representing a variety of PEC roots: *?uff-, *?ufuf[see Sasse 1982:183-4],

blow [of wind] wasnafasK. nafas- and A, nefes- are from Amh. naffasa.

nefes-

body

garob akal akal akalat B. garob (Re. gerob, grab) is from Ti. garob. The latter is probably from Beja garo ‘body’, which in the accusative indefinite form is garoo-b. X., K., and A. are all from Amh. akal (pl. akalat).

boil, vi.

balkwbalqbalu ygeferPNA *balkw-/balxw- (?). The correspondence in both X. balq- and K. balu- is irregular. Flad’s Falashan belweow clearly belongs here, too. Re. Chamir has bil- [= bal-] and Quara bod- [= bal-], which suggest an alternative PNA root *bal~. [See also ‘hot, warm, be’.] Khamta hasfal[i]h- from 1a&.fdlaha.

bone

nas gas’ nas, gas gac PA *gac. Attempts are usually made [e.g. Sasse 1981:145, and recently Orel & Stolbova 1995:333] to connect this with the widespread AA root *k’Vs (AEg. ks, Coptic kas, Berber i-yas, POm. *k’us~, PChad. *’ga§-) via *n V-k’Vs. Such a linkage, however, would require irregular correspondences in both consonants: *g *k’ (or even *nkr), *s # *c. A much nearer fit, however, would be PEC *moc'- ‘bone’ [Arvanites 1991:240] with reflexes in Yaaku moc’o ‘bone’ and Som. majin ‘limb’. It would also seem likely that Beja miikwa Tong bone (femur, humerus, tibia)’ is connected. However, Beja miitaat ‘bone’, which is sometimes cited [Lamberti 1993a: 352] and is cognate with Or. mita ‘joint’, Arbore mitta ‘joint’, Elmolo motolac ‘ankle’ and Burji mittaa ‘wrist’ (the last item probably being a borrowing from Oromo), represents a different root. Similarly problematic as a cognate is the root *mik’~ / mek’- ‘bone’, which occurs in various Omotic and HEC languages [Lamberti op.cit],

borrow

?addaxradut-/adawt- adaytgustPNA *?addax-t- (?) [Cf. the causative derivatives B. laddaxd-, X. adus-, K. adaysall meaning ‘lend’ [q.v.]]. The root is of EthSem. origin: Gz. tadaya ‘pay back’, n. Tada ‘debt’ [See Leslau 1991:57 for Sem. cognates: *?dy, *?dw]. The final *x of the PNA root is an unusual reflex for a semivowel in the original, however. The noun derivatives B. ?addaxo [Re.], X. adu, K. adu ‘loan, debt’ also show a labial element not present in the immediate EthSem. cognates: Gz. Tada, Ti. Taday, Tna. Tada.

36 A comparative dictionary, etc.

boy

brain

branch

k’wara afara xwara ancay PNA *qwar-a ‘child’ [q.v.] - X. also has (a)xwar in the general sense ‘child, son’; Khamta eher [= axar] ‘son’, Kailina xur ‘child’. Kemant and Quara use x^ara in a range of senses equivalent to Amh. lajj = ‘child, son, daughter, boy , girl’, using concord to specify sex. The Agaw term is borrowed into Tna., k’wal?a ‘child’. PNA *?anfar-a, *?anfar-a. The X. reflexes show gender distinction by accent placement: afara ‘boy’: afara ‘girl’. Khamta has far, fera ‘boy’. Cognates in other languages have a slightly different meaning: B. lanfa ‘hey you! boy!’, cf. Chamir ieffa ibid, (vocative only), K. amfara ‘servant, serving boy’ * Amh. askar [also in Quara], The Bilin and Chamir vocative forms suggest that the -ra is a singulative suffix. A. ancay is for *ancayi, cf. ancaya ‘girl’, ancayari ‘children’. hang^dl

angwal, nali nara B. hangwal, K. angwal (also CRo. Awiya anguodi) are from EthSem. The initial h in Bilin indicates a borrowing. The root in EthSem. (Ti. hangal, Tna. hangwal, Amh. angwal, Har. hangulla) is, however, itself usually described as being of Cushitic origin, and beside the Agaw forms, Som. hanguile ‘spinal fluid’ and Afar hangal ‘brains’ are cited. Possibly PA *i]at-a, with (irregular) reflexes in K. nara and A. rjari ‘head’ [q.v.]; A. nali and Khamta nila with initial n and medial I must be borrowings from or be influenced by EthSem., Tna., Amh. nala ‘brain, skull’ [see below]. The tentative reconstruction with initial *rj and medial *t is made on the grounds that the PA root could be a cognate of PEC *math- ‘head’ - Ehret [1987:110] has a different explanation [see under ‘head’]. The picture is further complicated by the borrowing of this item into EthSem., Tna., Amh. nala, which may have influenced in turn some of the Agaw originals. falak’

balbala

gabwa

cafi,

j^r B. falak’ [^e.fildq] is Ti. falak’, falak’. Re. Qu. has jab (karii jab ‘branch of a tree’) - homophonous with jab ‘front’ - is this connected with A. cafi ? [see below]? A. cafi is from Amh. c ’af, which besides meaning ‘summit’ can also mean ‘branch of a tree’, which is usually k’aranc’af. The item occurs in several (especially southern) EthSem. and some HEC languages, and would therefore seem to have a geographical focus. bread [h7EZ] sansaTa mi ara anki " [other kinds] ?dmja amza gira masi, tusi B. sansafa, var. sansafa, is associated with the verb sans IT- ‘bake’ [q.v.]. X. mi also occurs in Khamta, idem, and CRo. [1904:221] records “Agaumeder” me.

Dictionary 3 7

K. ara (Qu. ara, Kailina ara) is a derivative of ar ‘grain’ [q.v.]. Of the remaining terms, B. ?amja [KH. glosses as sansafa ?akik ‘thick bread’] and X. amza are clearly cognate and are equivalent to Amh. ambassa - there is also Amh. amza ‘a kind of layered bread’. K. gira [also in Quara] is equivalent to Amh. dabbo, and would appear to be cognate with the root that appears in EthSem., Tna. langera, Amh. anjara, etc. There is also Amh. gura ‘a kind of thick bread’. The Awngi terms masi and tusi are not defined further by Hetzron than ‘kinds of bread’. CRo. also records Awiya diaraql as equivalent to Amh. ambassa. The imprecision of extant definitions and the wide variety of roots make further discussion impossible.

break, vt. kdrkilkdlduncPNA *kar-/*kal-. Khamta kill-, Qu. kal- [Ap.] or kdl- [Re.] and Kailina also kdl-. Possibly cognate with PEC *k’ar-/*k’er-/*k’ur- ‘cut’ [Som. jar- ‘cut’, Boni c’ar-, Rendillexar-ad-ic- ‘cutup’, Gedeo kar- ‘cut down trees’, Arbore k’uur- ‘cut down’, Elmolo ?ur~, Konso quur- ‘cut up’]. A. dune- is the causative of the root dunt- ‘be broken’ recorded by CRo., citing Beke’s duntsuga ‘he broke’: duntuga ‘it was broken’ [Also active: duntegi ‘rompere’]. CRo. records another root pag-s- not noted by Hetzron.

breast

?angwi aqw angwa angw PA *?angw- / *?angw-. The X. reflex with qw is irregular (also in Chamir oq [= aq"])-, Khamta has erdqu( [= araq^ ?] which is also problematical, as is Kailina nuqu [^]. These Central Agaw forms suggest a common proto-form *anqwvar. *anaqw. The vocalization of A. aw^w(CRo. angui) is shared by Kunfal angukK Common Cushitic: Afar angu, Saho angu [the form of these suggests borrowing from Agaw], Jiddu ?eneg, Beja nugw ‘nipple, breast (female)’ - and if the PLEC vb. root *nuug- is connected, as would seem likely: Som. nuug- ‘suck’, Arbore nuug-, Or. (Bale) luug-, Konso luuk-.

fawt/fawt’, fiwa tanfas tanfasi breathe facwattanfas-, feiwt- fiwJiywPA *fiyw- / *fayw-. The vocalization of X. faw-t-, Chamir faiit-, fat- ‘breathe’ suggests *fayw-. K.fava (Re. Qu.fihwa) also means ‘soul’ [cf. B.fixwat ‘soul’]. The simple, non-extended verbal root in Bilin and Chamir also occurs: B. fixw- ‘breathe out; take a rest’, Chamirfaw- ‘take a rest’. PEC *fug ’- [Ehret 1995:102]: Konso fakk- ‘blow’, Hadiyyafug-am- ‘blow on a fire’, Kambaata fuc’- ‘pant’, Gedeo faugg-is- ‘blow through a reed’, Dobaace fug- ‘blow’, Goll, fuk-am- ‘break wind’; also in Omotic: Mocha $uggi(ye)~ ‘blow’, Shinasha fugg-, Yzmsa. fug-, Kafa hug-. [See Lamberti 1993a:301 for more possible cognates.] Given the extension of the meaning of K./zwa to ‘soul’ it is tempting to wonder breath

fad'd

38 A comparative dictionary, etc.

whether Afar figu ‘God’ is somehow connected. Elsewhere in AA: perhaps PSem. *pwf‘blow’, PChad. *fiqu- ‘blow (wind)’ [Stolbova 1996:129]. X. tanfas-, etc., A. tanfasi are from Amh. tanfas (n.), tanaffasa (vb.).

bride sargwi sari sargwa ciya bridegroom mar^awira sari sargwa ciyard PNA *sargw- from EthSem. srgw/srgw, cf. Amh. sarg ‘wedding’ - the Gz. noun sargw means ‘adornment, beauty’ and the meaning ‘wedding’ is an Amh. development [Leslau 1991:512]. CRo. also has siargl ‘wedding’ in Awiya. B. marTawira is from Ti. mar^awi with the Bil. singul. suffix. Re. also records in this sense ran, which is properly ‘husband’ [q.v.].

naxsnaslasPNA *nax-s~, cans, of *nak- / *nax- ‘give here’ [q.v.].

bring

ag-/yeg-

dan zina/-zin zan sen, -ce PA *zan / *zan. The B. form requires the reconstruction of the variant *zan, as in the derivative sani ‘sister’ [q.v.] from *t-zan-i. In X. zina is the independent form, -zin the bound form occuring with pron. poss. proclitics: ya-zin ‘my brother’, etc. A. has a similar pair of forms, though the bound -ce has no formal cognates elsewhere in Agaw. CRo. lists only isi = A. ya-ce ‘my brother’. This is probably of Omotic origin, cf. Shinasha eessuwa ‘brother, cousin’, Yemsa is ‘uncle’, Wolaytta isa ‘brother’, Koyra icce ‘brother, uncle’. [See Lamberti 1993a:278.] The other languages only have *zan < PC *-san bound form with pronominal proclitic: Chamir zin, Khamta isen, izzen, Kailina zan, Qu. zan. Cognate within Cushitic is Beja san. Elsewhere within AA: AEg. sn, Coptic son; PChad. *sin [Jungraithmayr & Shimizu 1981: no. 54B; Stolbova 1996:39]. Ehret [1995:265] also makes Omotic comparisons (Mocha simo, Bench ic3), but see Lamberti op.cit. The voiced initial of PA is unexpected; forms with a voiced initial also occur in some Chadic languages (e.g. Angas ^an ‘twin boys’, Bachama zino-gi ‘my brothers’).

brother

jama hamasa ansin [Bo-in-law] [Bo/Fa-in-law] [Fa/Bo/So-in-law] B.jama, cf. Ti., Tna. zdma ‘brother-in-law’, and Afar damay ‘in-laws’. X. hamasa (Khamta hamasd) is from EthSem., cf. Amh. amac, Arg. hamac, Har. hamaci ‘father-in-law’ beside hamat ‘mother-in-law’ (cf. Gz. hamat idem). The form of X. hamasa suggests borrowing from a putative Old Amh. *hamac. K. Qu. ansin is variously glossed as ‘father-, brother-, son-in-law’ (K. also arisiij [Sasse p.c.]) and is cognate with Re. B. ?ansin ‘father-in-law’, tansini ‘mother-in-law’; cf. perhaps also CRo. Awiya yesanse ‘father-in-law’. See below under ‘father-inlaw’.

brother-in-law

Dictionary 39

buffalo

kabga gwdsa gwas B. kabga is compared by Re. [1887:211] on the one hand with Qu. kuwd [= kawa] and “Agaumeder” kiwa (cf. CRo. Awiya kiwi), and on the other hand with Beja agaba (also in Saho and Tigre) and Kunama gabga. Whilst the Quara and Awiya data would permit the reconstruction of a PA *kaw-a, a connexion between this and B. kabga, etc., would not be regular. There is certainly the probability of a number of crosslinguistic, areal items here: cf. also Kafa, Anfillo gaahoo, Mocha gaahe, and the cognates of Amh. gos, etc.: Yemsa gesa ‘rhinoceros’ beside goosi ‘buffalo’, Chara gaasaa. X. gwasa and K. gwas are from Amh. gos.

gabar-, wik’rsaraysgabitbanayB. gabar- (meaning both ‘work’ and ‘build’) and bandy- are both from Sem., (1) Gz., Ti. gabra ‘do, make’, (2) Arabic bny. X. wik’r- is from Amh. wak’k’ara ‘cut, shape stones’. K. sarays- is a cans. ext. of saray- (CRo. ‘gouvemer’); the origin is EthSem., but there are two originally separate roots conflated here (as in Amharic sarra) sr?, Gz. sar?a ‘establish, regulate’, and srh, Gz. sarha ‘toil, work’ The final y suggests a borrowing from an older stage than modem Amh. sarra. Qu. sar- ‘build’ is directly from Amharic. A. gabit-, cf. Margub ‘permanent residence’, Dullay: Harso gup-, Golango g’up-ad’‘build’.

build (a house)

bull [see under ‘ox’] bullock

timta cimta timta PNA *timt-a. Ehret [1987:28] compares PSC *tiib- ‘male of large herbivore’.

haw y-, k’at’alslabaldbdagust-, barbarbdbrtakwad-, bum, vt. haws-, k’at’alsday™k’amadB. haw y-, haw-s-, cf. EthSem., Gz., Ti. haw ‘fire’, Tna. hawi. Also in Chamir hau y-, Khamta haws- ‘heat’ v.tr. The lack of Semitic cognates has usually led to this item’s being considered a borrowing from Agaw into EthSem. The presence of h however would suggest that the item is a borrowing in Agaw. X. k’at’dl-s-Z-s- is from Amh. tak’aft’ala (v.intr.), ak’k’at’t’ala (v.tr.), cf. also Kunfal kansdls- [= kancelc- ?], with Agaw extensions replacing Amh. td- and aC-. PA *barbar~, probably a reduplication of *bar- ‘be hot’ [q.v.] - thus Re. [1887:83] : B. barbar-, Qu. babar- (also v.tr. babars-), A. babr-.

bum, vi.

40 A comparative dictionary, etc.

K. labalab- is from Amh. laballaba ‘bum, singe’. CRo. also records a non­ reduplicated lab-as-, leb-es- ‘put s.th. on the fire, heat, cook’, again a borrowing from Amh. labd ‘be warm’ [EthSem. root Ihb]. A. daijw-, dayust- is cognate with B.,K. dayw- ‘finish’ [q.v.]. bury

dabdibdabdewPA *dab~. Cf. PEC *d’ib- ‘bury, cover’ [Sasse 1979:61] [Golango d’ap-ad’‘disappear’, Yaaku dep-ih- ‘cover’, and maybe Arbore tib- ‘fill in a hole’], cf. also perhaps Beja -c[bib ‘wrap, enshroud’ (n. c[ibba ‘shroud’). Sasse [1982:60] reconstructs another root PEC *d’ab- ‘miss’ with a much wider range of reflexes, to which Golango d'ap-ad’- more properly belongs,pace Ehret [1987:81].

butter

sana sana sana sani PA *san-a. Cf. Som. sihin ‘purified butter’, Rendille sihim(e) ‘butter’. Takacs [1999:192] compares this tentatively with PSem. samn- ‘oil, fat’, AEg. smj ‘creamy milk, cream’, Beja simum [Ro.] ‘suet’, etc.

buttocks (see backside) buy

jabjabwaytjewAlso in Khamta giw-, Re. Qu. jib-, Kunfaljaba (imper. pl. ?). The initial j- in each of the four branches of Agaw is unusual and suggests some sub-phonemic variant such as a palatalized *dy or *gy. If Saho-Afar d’aam- ‘buy’ is cognate, then PA *dyab- / *dyab- might be reconstructed. Conversely, if POm. *kem- ‘buy, sell’ [Shinasha kem‘sell’, kew- ‘buy’, Shekko kem-, kemm- resp., Kafa kem(m)~, Zayse sam- ‘buy’, Ari seen- ‘buy, sell’] is cognate [see Lamberti 1993a:326], then perhaps PA *gyab- / *gydb- can be reconstructed. However, neither the Saho-Afar nor the Omotic items are especially convincing cognates. K. wayt-, also Kailina, Quara wayt-, is a denominative derivative from way ‘price, value’ [q.v.] from Amh. waga idem.

C

BiL

Xam.

Kem.

Awn.

cabbage hamla xamra ambara amli From EthSem., Gz. hand ‘vegetation, herbs’. The more northern languages [B. hamla, X. xamra, Chamir hamra] retain the initial pharyngeal of NEthSem., whilst it is absent from the remaining languages [K. ambara, Kailina abara, Qu. ambara, amli\. cactus (euphorbia) k’walank’wal kwakwala kulkuli Also in EthSem., Ti. k’alank’al, Tna. k^alk’^al, Amh. k’ulk’wal, etc.

calf (animal)

gar

niw

gar

new

Dictionary 41

1. PNA *gar. B., K., also in Qu. gar. Within Cushitic cf. Buiji gare ‘young calf, and elswhere in AA modem EthSem., Tna. galgdl ‘young horse or donkey’, Amh. galgdl ‘young domestic animal’, Har. gigi, etc. These modem EthSem. forms are usually explained as reduplications of the common Sem. root *Sgl seen in Gz. ?agwl, ‘young animal’, ?dgwalt, ?agwalt ‘calf, etc., Ti. ?agal ‘calf [see Leslau 1991:11 for Sem. cognates]. 2. PA *naw. X., A., also in Khamta niw, Kailina naw, CRo. Awiya nawi, Kunfal nawi. call

sagc’agkasagaq^PNA *cag-, based on B. and X., Chamirjin- [=jag-], Kailina c’ag-. K. kasag-, also in Qu. kasag-.

carpet, rug

handaka

salin

wasaya

bid

carry

max^armdwr-/mdwt- maywt-/maywt-bwPNA *mayw-/ *mayw+t-. Also in Chamir mur/t-, Qu. mawt-/mot-. The origin of the final t as an extension is maintained in X. mdwru ‘he carried’ : mawtun ‘I carried’, and is confirmed by other derived stems: maws- ‘let carry’, i.e. maw-s-. In K. amd Qu. the final t has become fixed. A. bw-, cf. Chamir baw- [= baw-] ‘carry on the back’, permitting the reconstruction of PA *baw-/ *baw-.

cat

awcana/ damaya angucca gawcana PNA *dVmm V-ra, where -ra [< PA *-ta] is the singulative suffix, K. -ya [CRo. K. damT], cf. B. dammu ‘cats’. The word is common to the North Ethiopian area: Ti., Tna. dammu, Amh. dammat, Saho-Afar dummu. X. awcana (var. gawcana with unexplained initial g), cf. Chamir aucana, Khamta awcu, Kailina awsana, may be cognate with A. angucca, if -ana is a suffix as the Khamta form might seem to suggest: awe- a angucc-. The latter is one of a number of similar-looking forms to be found across the southern half of the Ethiopian region: e.g. Gurage angacca, Yemsa agaca, Mocha agdtgge, Anfilo agaco.

dammura

cattle was, k’am, kama kami " (livestock) mal kibt B. mal if not an indigenous Agaw root, is probably from Saho-Afar maal ‘money’ i.e. ‘pecunia’, which has cognates in E.Cush. (Som. maal ‘livestock that provide milk’, Sidamo maala ‘meat’, etc.). The same root may also be in K. malt- ‘look after cattle’, A. mandy- [q.v.]. B. was functions as the plural of lawi ‘cow’. PA *kam-, cf. also B. kam- ‘possess, receive’, kam ‘possessions’ [Re. 1887:220 ‘spez. vih, rindvih, rinderherde’]. Kunfal kama ‘cow’. The vocalization of K. kama

42 A comparative dictionary, etc.

also occurs in Qu. idem. Cf. PSC *kam- ~ *kom- ‘hold, possess’ [Ehret 1980:241, 1995:198], based on Iraqw koom-, Asa kom- ‘have’, Dahalo kam-. Also elsewhere in AA: AEg. xm? ‘seize, grasp’ [Takacs 1999:163], Chadic, Hausa kaama ‘seize hold’, Angas kam, Gidar gama ‘take’, etc. For the semantics cf. Gz. habt ‘wealth’ > Amh. kabt ‘cattle’. Alternatively, it is worth noting that a form *komu has been reconstructed for ProtoChadic [Stolbova 1996:59] with the meanings ‘cow, meat’ (Jungraithmayr & Ibriszimow [1993] have *kum ‘meat’). X. kibt is from Amh. kabt.

cave

gaxa wasa gway wos PNA *gay-/gvay-. Re. Qu. records gega [= gaga] ‘pit, hole’ (Grube) along with v. gag-az- ‘dig a pit’ which Re. [1887:146] considers cognate and to which he compares Saho gonga (not in Weimers). X. wasa, A. wos (Awiya wasi, wasi, also Qu. wasa) are from Amh. wasa.

chair

kursira, gwayyana, wambar womber wanbar wabir B. wanbar, X. wabir, K. wambar, A. womber are all from Amh. wambar. Re. also records B. manbar from Ti. mambar, Tna. manbar, the cognate of Amh. wambar. B. kursira is from Arabic kursi with the B. singulative suffix -ra. X. gwdyyana is a nominal derivative of g^ayy- ‘sit’ [q.v.].

change, vt. lawatlawt’lawatkisB., X., andK. are from EthSem., Iwt’: Gz. lot’a, Ti., Tna., Amh. lawwat’a, etc. Qu. laway- shows the regular Western Agaw development *t > y / V#[V], whereas K. lawat- has clearly been influenced by Amh. in retaining the t.

charcoal k’waham xahma/xaxma kami The correspondence between the B., X. and K. forms [initial k’w - x - £] is anomalous and does not permit the reconstruction of a common proto-form though it would seem more than likely that the various forms are in some way cognate. Qu. has kasal from Amh. kasal, cf. also Khamta kesal and CRo. Awiya kiasali, beside west [see under ‘ashes’].

cheek (side of the face) k’wamas/ taqwa karsa k’wamsas, k’as Re. records B. qas and qumis [= k’as, k’wamas]. Re. Qu. has enjo which does not seem to have any cognates elsewhere in Agaw. Re. Chamir has qakud, which is also glossed as ‘jawbone’. Khamta magurt (= Tna. maTgurtiy, CRo. Awiya gunci Amh. gunc'); “Damot” kuos and Kunfal kusi, allowing for the uncertainty of the transcription, may be cognate with B. k’as and could reflect a PA *qac or *qac.

Dictionary 43

cheese (curd) ajdb ayb X. ajab, K. ayb are from Amh. ayb. Kailina has salaq^.

kampi

chew, bite [q.v.] kwaywyayayRe. also has B. kuan- [= k^ay-]. Perhaps PEC ‘eat’ [impf. stem of *-k’m-}\ Buiji k’aam- ‘eat, chew’ [if not from Amh. k’ama ‘eat by pulling with the mouth’], Konso qom- ‘chew’, Golango qan-. [See Sasse 1982:121-2 for a fuller list of cognates for *-k’m-}. PA *?ay-> cf. PEC *-Tum I *-(iam ‘eat’ [see under ‘bite’]. chick

c’ak’uta sasuna Khamta cacutan-, Qu. sasuna, CRo. Awiya diarkua [= derkwa\. Aside from the last, all of these are cognate with EthSem., Ti. c’ac’ut, Tna. c’ax’wat, Amh. c’ac’ut. Similar forms occur elsewhere in Cushitic: Saho c’aac’utta, Or. c’uc’oo, c’uc’ii, Hadiyya c’iic’oola, Sidamo c’aac’c’urre, Gidole c’aac’uutet. Sasse [1982:50] suggests the word is probably of an onomatopoeic nature.

chicken dirwa jirwa dirwa dura/duri PA *dirw-a. A. dura, duri represents a metathesized variant *dVwr- (cf. Kem. variant diwra [Sasse p.c.]). Chamir has both giruwa and giruwa, and Khamta has girwa. which shows depalatalization of expected initial j- : CRo. further records Khamta girwa (queried) with the meaning ‘francolino’, which is more probably however the expected Khamta reflex of PA *dirwa. Kailina darwa, Qu. dirwa, CRo. Awiya din, Kunfal diri. The word occurs across the North Ethiopian area: Afar dorrahi, Saho dooro, Beja ?andiirho, Gz. dorho, Ti. derho, Tna. darho, Amh. doro. chickpea Tatar adra/adar azar sambri The formal correspondence between B., X., and K. is not exact [medial -t- : -d- : -z-] Chamir has adir, Kailina adara (sgt.), Khamta ater, Qu. azar, and CRo. records Awiya atieri meaning ‘peas’ - all ultimately from EthSem., Gz. Tatar / Tatar ‘peas’ Ti. Tatar, Tna. Tatar, Amh. atar, etc. The item occurs as a borrowing in other Cush, languages: Afar Tatar, Or. atarii, Sidamo atara, etc. The meaning of the NA term is specifically ‘chickpea’ - though there may be some confusion (Tna. Tatar is both ‘chickpea’ and ‘pea’). A. sambri is from Amh. sambara ‘chickpea’, which also occurs across a range of Ethiopian languages: Or. shumburaa, Sidamo shimbura, etc.

44 A comparative dictionary, etc.

child

k’wara [m],

axwar/xwar

xwara

ancay [m], jer, -ya ?a?i [f] ancaya [f], -ja children ?ak’war aqwar xwarla ancayari, -yiri PNA *[?a]qwar~, associated with the vb. PNA *?aywVr- ‘beget, have children’ [q.v.]. Given the range of nominal forms (cf. also Chamir/ura, uqra \^xwara, axwra]: pl. yur, uqur, qiir [= xwar, aqwar, q^ar], Khamta eher [= axar] ‘son’ : pl. ahuer [= axwar\), Kailina xur ‘child’, Qu. xwara], it is possible that *qwar- is the original root structure and the initial *?a- belongs to the verbal derivative; also, the plural in B., and X. suggests a protoform *?aqwar, or maybe even *?aqqwar, to which the initial *?a- may properly belong. The item as borrowed into EthSem., Tna. k^tUfe ‘child’ further shows the lack of the initial syllable. The Tna. item is also used in B. It is tempting to compare PHEC *k’al- ‘give birth’ [Sasse 1982:123], which Sasse however regards as an irregular development from the common PEC *d’al- via If Dullay, Harso, Dobaace hal-ho ‘husband’, and Golango haal-ho, are to be included here [Ehret 1987:92 however proposes a Proto-Dullay *xel- of different origin] then *k’al- might not be just a PHEC innovation. B. ?a?i ‘girl’ [Re. has a 7] is probably a development of ?ank’i / ?ank’i ‘girl’ [q.v.] via *?Vk’i as suggested by the reduplicating plural form lank’ak’ ‘girls’ corresponding to both singulars, and is cognate with Qu. anx ‘girl, daughter’, hence PNA *?anq-. A. independent base is ancay- (m. ancay < *ancayi\, the plural ancayari shows an archaic form with the suffix -ri. Cognate with jer ‘offspring’ [also SLLE ‘child’] note Kunfal jar ‘child’. Bound forms occurring with possessive pron. prefixes are -ya ‘son’, -ja ‘daughter’ and ~[y]iri ‘children’. The origin of these bound forms, as with other bound kinship terms, is somewhat obscure. However, -yiri ‘children’ is clearly the same as CRo. Awiya ira ‘son’ and is probably cognate with B. ?ar-t- ‘be pregnant (of animals)’ i.e. root PA *?ar~. This in turn is cognate with Afar urru ‘children’, Saho irro, PHEC *ar-e ‘wife’ (Hadiyya, Gedeo, Sidamo are, Kambaata arita), Beja Poor ‘son’ (pl. Par) and indeed AEg. jwr, Coptic do, ‘become pregnant’. Lamberti & Haberland [1988:71] suggest a few more Cushitic and Omotic cognates, including Bayso ere ‘children’ and Som. Paruur idem, though die initial f of the latter might suggest a different root. chin

choose

wajham mik’ak’ kartakarta kockoc Re. lists only B. sekum with the meaning ‘chin’ as well as ‘beard’ [q.v.]. CRo. Khamta has minkis from Tna. mankas. For Quara Re. records sangabat, which also occurs in CRo. K. sangobat, and in Awiya sanguevT.fi, which are all the same as Amh. sangwabat ‘chin, goatee beard’ (idem in Kem. [Sasse p.c.]). X. mik’ak’ is perhaps connected with the root for ‘mouth’ in some Agaw languages incl. X. maja (Re. Chamir mlka) [q.v.]. gwalal-

mars’-

marat’-

wogen-

Dictionary 45

B. is from Ti. gwdlldld [Re.] X., K. are from Tna. maras’d (or an older Amh. form with 5’) and Amh. marrat’d, resp. CRo. Awiya also has miarat-. A. wogen- is probably connected with the Amh. n. wagan ‘side’, cf. the derivative aswaggana ‘put on one side, set apart’. Waldmeyer records gold-, which is clearly cognate with B. gwalal-. circumcise samatargardzgerezB. samatar- (vb.) and derived n. somotra ‘circumcision’ are obscure; Re. [1887:305] connects with Gz. matara ‘cut ofP, which however leaves the initial s V- unexplained. K. and A. are from Amh. garraza, also Khamta gazr- from Tna. gazdra.

c’offor

axor, larjala yig xoc ’ala B. c’dffor is from Ti. 5’ofor, cf. Khamta sefr (cf. Tna. s ’ofri) and Re. Qu. teffer (from Amh. t’dfor). X. axor, cf. Qu. ayar, xoc ’ola, cf. Chamir xtcda and Kailina oc da. K. lagala, cf. CRo. lam idem, Awiya lanati ‘finger’ [q.v.], A. layet. PA *lay- is cognate with Beja (Reinisch) lumi ‘finger’, and perhaps Or. elema ‘index finger’ (da Thiene), Gedeo lumoka k’ubicco idem. A. yig, cf. Kunfalyenj?, alsoyengi ‘finger’, SLLE K.yoyg.

claw, finger-nail

clay

darak’wa raqwa soxa coqi PNA *[daJdaq^-a. X. raqwa (Chamir roqua) has lost the initial reduplicated syllable, hence initial r. K. soxa and A. coqi are from Amh. c’dk’a ‘mud clay’, and cannot be directly from the PA form, unlike Qu. dakwa, daxwa (Rein, daxua, Flad dachwa). CRo. records Awiya sehti, which is from Amh. sakla. Cf. PEC *d’ookk’- (Som. d’ooqo, Or. d’okk’ee, Konso d’oqqetd) and *c’ookk’(Gidole c’okk’a, Gawada c’ooqqo / k’ooqo, Yaaku c’oqon ‘wet’). The initial consonant of the second PEC root is probably influenced by the verb root *c’ok’~ ‘drip, ooze’, which also lies behind such as Sidamo c’o?-a ‘rain’ (n.). The PNA root relates directly to PEC *d’ookk’~. Perhaps also elsewhere in AA: Proto-Central Chadic *cVq’wa ‘earth’ [Stolbova 1996:129].

clever

ldbbakit-axw bolox bolhi bolh koxin B. ldbbakitaxw is a derivative of the n. labbaka ‘heart’ [q.v.] > labbakit- ‘be clever’. X., K., and A. are all from Amh. boloh.

cliff, precipice

hos

kazoy

qoya, karta Also Qu. gaya [Re. gara ]; CRo. K. has gaga [= yaya].

46 A comparative dictionary, etc.

close, shut, vt. ?dbbadqwilflamlamX. qwilf- (Chamir qiiilef-) is from Amh. k’wdllqfa ‘lock, shut’. Khamta has %a§[uJw-, from Tna. Tas ’awa. For K., A. lam- cf. B. lam- ‘cover up, thatch’, Qu. lam-, which suggest PA *lam- / *lam-. [see below ‘cover’].

cloth

tawina xatara cerk Also Qu. xwantara, which is clearly cognate with K. xatara. Re. also records Qu. tawina, as in B. A. is from Amh. c’ark’.

clothes

sardna

saray, sayay sey alba B. sarana, X. saray, K. sayay, A. sey [also Qu. sayay, Kailina sat’ay, A. (SLLE) sz] are all derivatives of the vb. ‘dress, wear’ [q.v.]. X. alba [also Chamir aleba, Khamta alaba, Kailina alba, CRo. K. alvd ‘toga’] is from Tna. falaba ‘cloth’, which also occurs in Gz. Talaba, ?alaba ‘linen, cloth’.

cloud

bakwana damana damana dammini B. bakwana, also Re. Qu. bekana. Re. [1887:74] suggests a connexion inter alia with Or. bokkaa ‘rain’; hence perhaps PNA *bakw-ana/-ana. X., K., A. [also Qu. damana} are all cognate with the EthSem. term, Gz. dammand, etc. The word is originally Agaw, having the common nominal formative -ana, though the root *dVm[m]- does not otherwise occur (but see under ‘darkness’ below). The proposed PA *dVm[m]- would be cognate with PEC *dum- ‘become dark’, and for nominal cognates with the sense of ‘cloud’ cf. Or. duumessa, Butji dummansi, dummanci, Gedeo duumanca, Hadiyya duuba, duubanco, Bayso dumbo. [See Lamberti & Haberland 1988:90 for a wider list of suggested cognates of this root.] The SLLE Awngi wordlist has in addition two different items under ‘cloud’: wul [cf. Kunfal wel\ and gunkini [ cf. CRo. Awiya gumkirii'fog, mist’].

coffee

bun bun buna bun Common to most Ethiopian languages. The word is generally assumed to be ultimately of Arabic origin [Arabic bunn ‘coffee (beans)’], but could equally well be an indigenous (Cushitic ?) root.

cold kanba, kiba, kamba, symi, " (cool) k’ask’as qazqaz-aw xasds-ay kezkazzi 1. PNA *kamb- / *kamb~. The B. form kanba (var. kamba) requires the reconstruction of the alternative vocalization. Chamir kiba', Khamta keb- ‘be cold’,

Kailina kdb- idem, Qu. kamba. Cf. PEC *k’ab[b]~ ‘cold’ - Or. k’abbanaaw‘become cold’, Konso qappannaaw-, Gidole k’appanaw-, Elmolo -apan-, Som. qabow-, Rendille xobob ‘cold’, Arbore k’abbat, Buiji kabb- ‘become cold’. The

Dictionary 4 7

correspondence PEC *k’: PA *Hs irregular, however. Elsewhere in AA, cf. AEg. kb ‘cold’ (n.), kbb ‘cool’ (vb.), Coptic kbob. A. aymi, cf. Kunfal ome (?) and Awngi vb. ayamt- ‘feel cold’, CRo. Awiya agomi [Lamberti 1993a:263 also cites an Awngi form oqumi] might be cognate with Omotic, Gonga *ak’k’~: Kafa, Sheko ak'k’o, Shinasha ak'k’a, though the final -m clearly is part of the Awngi root. 2. B. k’ask’as, X. qazqaz-, K. xdsas- (CRo. has hashas-), A. kezkazz- are all clearly cognate though the variation in the sibilants especially prevents reduction to a common proto-form. The root occurs in Amh. k’dzdk’k’dza, etc., and there has evidently been some cross interference; only A. and X. are obviously directly from Amh. kalal, mida mido sukat falana comb, vb. falsukat1. PNA *fal- / *fal- [Re. B. has fed- ‘comb’ distinct from fal- ‘omen’; KH. has only fal- meaning both ‘comb’ and ‘misfortune, bad omen’], cf. also Qu. falana ‘comb’. Cf. PEC *fil- ‘separate, comb’ - Afar fil-, Saho fill-, Or. fil-, Konso fil-, etc. [See Sasse 1979:19 for a fuller list of cognates.] X. mida, K. mido are from Amh. mido.

comb, n.

come

?antartarto[y]-/taw- ant-/yintPA *?ant-[at]-, originally prefixing *-Vnt-. One of the five remaining prefix­ conjugation verbs in Awngi with stem variation ant- [Is], yint- [3m, 3p], tint- [2s, 3f, 2p] and antn- [Ip], selecting either ant- oxyint- for the infinitive stem. In the other languages, which do not have prefix-conjugations, the original stem *?ant- is augmented by what looks like the pass.-refl. extension. In B. the extended ?antar- is used for Aspect B (generally imperfective) forms, whilst the simple ?ant- is maintained for Aspect A (generally perfective) forms. On the other hand, in X. tar(originally pass.-refl.) is the only stem [Chamir etet-/eter- keeps the original initial syllable], whereas in CRo. K. and in Qu. only the simple stem occurs: K. ent-, Qu. ant-. In Ap. K. the usual stem varies between t-, ta- and tay-, the latter being somewhat obscure but probably a reflex of the extended imperfective stem (cf. tayw ‘he came’ v. tayak” ‘he comes’). Often a different verb taw- ‘enter’ [q.v.] is substituted. Cf. PEC *-m Vt (prefix-conjugating) - Afar -emeet, Som. -imaad-/-imi[d]-, Rend, -imit, Dhaasanac -imez-, Buiji intay-, Bayso eemet-, etc. PEC and Pre-Agaw *-m Vt- [> PA *-Vnt~] is an extension of a stem *m V?- which occurs in some imperative forms: PHEC *am~, also Beja m?a ‘come!’, and elsewhere in AA AEg. mj, my ‘come!’, Coptic amou (m), ame (f) [See also Lamberti & Haberland 1988:69 for some Omotic cognates.]

48 A comparative dictionary, etc.

laxw/laxwa ldwa/laqwtan lay/laya dw/awdn PNA *lay[w]-. A suppletive stem for the imperative of ‘come’ is found in many languages of the Ethiopian area. PNA *lay[w]- may be connected with EthSem., Gz. naTa, Tna. na^a, Amh. na, etc. [Leslau 1991:382 however proposes Semitic cognates for this.]

come! [sg/pl]

sak’w-, [5 ’aqw ‘stew’] sayw-, cuq-, gisjasgisanjic1. PA *caqw- / *caqw~. Chamir has the vb. §aqu(- [=s’aqw-] ‘cook, prepare food’ not recorded in X.; Qu. say-/sayw~. Possibly cognate with Beja -tkwii ‘cook’, though a c: t correspondence would not be regular. 2. PA *gi-s~, caus. ext. of *gi- ‘be ripe, cooked’ [q.v.]. A. anjic- incorporates both an archaic derivation prefix ?an- and the caus. suffix -c.

cook, vt.

corpse

rasa/resa risa resa B., X., K. from EthSem., Tna., Amh. resa.

cotton

tat, fit’ taya tati gwafan PA *tat- from EthSEm., Tna. t’uf, Amh. fat’, etc., with later re-borrowing in X. B. gwat’an is from Arabic qutun.

cough

?uhu?y~, aqwakw yyaxwawart?ank’wa (n). a cough PNA *?a[n]qw+ (?). It is impossible to reconstruct a common proto-form; X. aq wakw appears to contain reduplication, and K. yaxw- [CRo. K. yihwa (n.)] lacks the nasal of the B. form and has unexpected vocalization. Re. also records the verb base as B. unq- (= ?ank’w-). A. awart- appears to have no cognates elsewhere in Agaw; CRo. records a different root in Awiya gudni.

count

sibagzsabcefPA *cab- / *cib- (?). The correspondence between B. sib- and K. sab- (also Qu. sab-) is irregular, as is the finalfof A. cef-. In the case of K-Qu., perhaps there has been interference from Amh. assaba ‘calculate’, rather than borrowing as CR [1912:240] suggests.

pip

country bara hagar agar ager, -dfa B. bara, cf. PA *bat- ‘land’ [q.v.], the cognates of which in X. [bat'], K. [baya] and A. [bati] are restricted to the sense of ‘earth’ [q.v.] or ‘soil’ [q.v.]. Re. Qu. biyd, however, is glossed as ‘Land’. The other languages use an EthSem. borrowing, Tna. hagar, Amh. agar. Note also Khamta hagar. Qu. uses ko, kaw ‘village’ [q.v.] in this sense.

Dictionary 49

cover

?amam-, safankatamhmkutB. ?amam- is from Ti. ?amma. Re. also records lam- ‘cover over, thatch a house’ [see above, ‘close’] and kut-/kut-/kus- ‘cover up, veil’, for which cf. Re. Qu. kut- ‘cover up’. X. safan- (also in Re. Chamir) is from Amh. saffana. K. katam- also occurs in Qu., cf. kdtdmana ‘lid, cover’. PA *lam- / *lam~; PNA *kut-, ? *kwat~.

cow

lawi lawa kama allwa PA *law~. The geminate I in A. allwa is puzzling; the SLLE wordlist has only a single I, alwa, as does CRo. Awiya elod, in each case with metathesis from lawa to alwa, etc. Kailina also has lawa. Cf. PEC *lo?~ - Afar Ida ‘cattle, cows’, Or. loon, Som. Io? ‘cattle’, Boni loy, Buiji lali, Sidamo laalo, Hadiyya laro, Gedeo lalo ‘cow’ [PHEC *laal-}. Also PSC *lee - Iraqw hie, K’wadza hleko, Ma’a hlige. The root is common AA PSem. *li?-1 *lay?-: Akkadian lu ‘wild bull’, littu ‘cow’ Arabic la?ah ‘cow’, Hebrew le?a (as a proper name), Soqotri le?e. NEg.jw? ‘ox’. There are also cognates in Berber and Chadic. Ehret [1995:428] however links the Cushitic root [his PC *low/?-\ with a different set of cognates in Semitic and Egyptian on account of the initial lateral fricative. K. and related dialects [Qu. kama} use the root which also means ‘cattle’ [q.v.]: X. k’am, A. kami; but note that ‘cow’ in Kunfal is also kama.

crocodile hargac ’ aqsa azo azo B. hargac’ is from Ti. hargds K. and A. [SLLE list has azwa] are from Amh. azzo. It is probable that X. aqsa is somehow cognate with azzo [Chamir has arjan, which is not a true crocodile but an acquatic monitor - Amh. arjanno}.

cross, vi. karkarkaykdyPA *ka+t~. The final element would appear to be the pass-refl. extension, with the predicted stem variants in X. kat-/kar- and K. kat-fkay-, though there are problems with its reflex in the Awngi stem variants: kayt-/kay-/kayit where the semivowel is maintained throughout, and in some Kemant dialects (Ap.) the stem has become fixed as kay-. Cf. perhaps PEC *ka?~ ‘get up, rise’ - Afar ukku?- ‘pick up’, Saho uyku?(both with caus. prefix ext., cf. Som. ki?iy- idem), Or. ka?-, Konso xa-, Som. ka?-, Boni ka?-, Dhaasanac ke[?]-, Buiji ka?-/kaa~, Sidamo ka?-, Hadiyya ki?-, Gawada xa?- ‘fly’, Golango, Dobaace ha?-. Lamberti & Haberland [1988:51] add some Omotic cognates, but regarding the inclusion of the PA root *gw- see below under ‘get up’.

50 A comparative dictionary, etc.

k’ura, qura xwaray Re. derives B. kwaxwara from kwa + k’wara “son of the cry” [kwa y- ‘cry, screach, roar’]. K. k’ura and A. qura are from Amh. k’ura. CRo. also records qura. in Khamta. K. xwaray (also recorded by CR) is presumably an “original” Agaw form. CRo. records Awiya sarqi guagl lit.‘black hawk/bird of prey’, corresponding to Waldmeyer’s guari = gwayi. All of these items have a certain element of onomatopoea in their form, as do many corresponding forms in other languages of the region, both Semitic (e.g. Amh. k’ura), Cushitic (e.g. Beja kwiikwaay, Afar kuraanu, Buij. k’urraanco, Or. k’urruu) and Omotic (e.g. Yemsa kura, Wolaytta k ’uuruwa, Shinasha ak’ok’ord) which makes the reconstruction of a common form impossible.

crow, raven

kwaxwara

cry, weep

way y-, lizfawassyliky-, ?arugwarB. ?aruywar- is a derivative of ?arurjw ‘tears’ [q.v.]. With X. liz- (Chamir tis-) compare Khamta loz-, though the vowel o is unusual. Re. regards this as from EthSem lk’s\ Gz. ?alak’asa ‘console’, Ti. lak’sa ‘lament’, Amh. alak ’k ’asa ‘ weep ’. Qu. also has faw-, as in Kemant. In Awiya CR records esiaw-, and Damot esi- (= Aw. assy-).

9W y~, away nkawyThere is obviously a certain amount of onomatopoeia in B. waf y-, K. aw y- and A. away y- that defies reconstruction of a common form, and similar forms are found across the Ethiopian region: e.g. Beja waw-, Saho wef-, Som. wa£~, Or. waww-ad’d’-, etc. Sasse [1979:42] reconstructs PEC *wa$~. Re. Chamir also has wag-, (though he connects this with Gz. wakha) and in Qu. there is waw- (Re. wag- / wan-). CRo. Khamta has naqew- which is Tna nak’awa ‘cry’ (esp. of animals).

cry, shout

waf y-

Qayy~

bak’wba [curds] mansPNA *baqw-. Re. also records a verb in Chamir baq- / ba-. The correspondence is not exact as B. k’w± X. x, 0. For B. mans- ‘turn sour, ferment (dough)’ cf. Qu. mas- and CRo. Khamta mas- ‘turn sour’ which are probably cognate with Re. Chamir mica (= mica) ‘dough’, which suggest PNA *ma[n]c-.

curdle, go sour

curse, vb.

?as-

as ’-

daws-

ayayer-

Dictionary 51

curse, n. ?asa as ’a dawan aydyeri PNA *?ac-. Re. Qu. also has is- [but Ap. baj-]. Perhaps PNA *?ac- is cognate with PEC *hid’~ ‘tie, bind’. CRo. [1912:189] treats K. daws- as a causative derivative of daw- ‘speak’ [q.v.], which the noun derivative without s: dawan, would seem to support. This might just suggest a caique on Amh. abbala ‘perjure, promise falsely’ as if it were a causative of *bala ‘say’ (Amh. ala). Khamta has ragem- from EthSem., Tna ragama. CRo. records Awiya gagar- (= yayar-) without initial a. custom

cut

kani kin lamad Re. has B. kin, sgl. kena, and he also records Qu. kin. The same root probably appears in the pan-Agaw verb B. kan-t- ‘learn’, X. kan-t-, K. kin-t-, A kan-t- ‘see’ [q.v. under ‘learn’]. The latter is perhaps cognate with PEC *-k’iin-/-k’aan- 'know', Beja kaan- ‘know’. Note, however, Gz. kin ‘art, skill, fashion’ which Leslau [1987:286] relates to the Semitic root^yn [Arabic qayn ‘blacksmith’, etc.], but which is more likely to be from Agaw. K. lamad is from Amh. lammada. For Awiya Waldmeyer records desini, from the root des- ‘study, learn’.

kabk’abkabkewPA *kab-/kab~. Only K. kab- necessitates the reconstruction of the alternative vocalization; Qu. has kab-. Cf. Beja -kwbib ‘cut a slice’. Note also Ehret’s PSC *xab-/hab- ‘split firewood’ ( 1980: 304).

D

Bit.

dance (and sing)

Xam.

Kem.

Awn.

sasi^-, jimzalaljamkaskastB. sdsdi- also occurs in Ti. tasassaf- [root ssf] ‘dance ( of women)’, kaskast- also refers to a particular kind of dance. Unlike the other Agaw languages, B. seems to have separte items for ‘dance’ and ‘sing’ [q.v.]. X. jim- and A. jam- also have the meaning ‘sing’ (cf. Amh. zaffana for the semantics) and point to a PA *jam-. Also in Kailina jam-. CRo. records Awiya gam- (= jem-) in the sense of ‘cantare in danza’, and Khamta gim- ‘sing’ with an apparently depalatalized initial. Perhaps connected with EthSem., Gz. zema ‘religious chant’, which has cognates elsewhere in Semitic: Arabic zamzama ‘hum’, Hebrew zamam ‘buzz, murmur’, etc. K. zalal- is Amh. zallala ‘leap, dance’.

52 A comparative dictionary, etc.

dark, become c’cilamtamtoyaydarkness c 'alam tama tama lalay B. c ’alam-, etc., is from EthSem., Gz. 5 ’alma, Tna. s ’dllama (v), though interestingly the shift s’ > c’ occurs only in SEthSem., e.g. Amh. c’dllama. Similarly, Khamta callama. X. tama (cf. also Chamir tema) and K. tam-, tama it is tempting to see as a variant of PA *dVm[m]-, the root of ‘cloud’ [q.v.] which is cognate with PEC *dum-/d’um‘become dark’, though the initial t = d is not without its problems. A cognate form tam also occurs in Quara. In support of the proposed PEC *dum-/d’um- are Saho d’um- ‘become dark’, Sidamo dimma ‘darkness’, Konso d’um- ‘set (of the sun)’, and perhaps Som. dum- in the sense of ‘become night’. Lamberti & Haberland [1988:90] give a far wider list of supposed cognates in support of his reconstruction of a “Common Cushitic stem *dukkw-”. Elsewhere in AA: perhaps PChad. *cum- ‘dark’, *cama ‘night’ [Stolbova 1996:47].

dawn barkasya qasana kasarja/kasaya dawn, become barkas-/kas- qaskasPNA *kas~. B. barkas- derives from the lexicalization of the phrase bara kasaxw ‘the earth dawned’ (Re. still has kesna, kesna, kesa ‘morning’ and kes- ‘become morning’; KH. only has barkasrja). Re. regards qas- ‘spend the morning’ (= k’as ‘morning’) [q.v.] as a variant form of this root. X. qas- and Khamta qas ‘morning’ also appear to show the same initial, whilst Chamir has kes- (kesin ‘morning’). However, the K. verbs kas- ‘dawn’ (< PNA *kas-) and xas- ‘spend the morning’ (< PNA *qas~) are clearly separate roots. Incidentally, K. uses the same idiom as B: bi kasayw ‘it dawned’, lit. ‘the earth dawned’. CRo. records Awiya cd as the noun and cag- as the verb. day

gark/garga garya garka/garga gerki/gerka PA *gark- / *garg-. The variation in the final consonant is anomalous. Chamir has girka, Kailina gariya, and Qua. garki (Re. Qu. girga}. It is possible that *gark- is the original nominal form, and that *garg- is transferred from the verbal root [see below]. The absence of any ^-final stem in Awngi, which uses a different item for the associated verb (there is no data for Kunfal), might be evidence for the originality of *gark- as the noun stem, with *garg- as a noun being a PNA innovation. The two northernmost languages show ablauting (g/k) plurals based on the singular stem ending in g-: B. garkak, X. garak, whereas K. has garga (an -a : -0 plural based on garga).

day, spend the ?argg^rygzrgasyPNA *garg-; Re. suggests that B. ?arg- represents a shortening of this. PNA *gargwould appear to be a derivation of the PA noun stem *gark-, though the alternation in the final consonant would be anomalous as a derivational device.

Dictionary 53

deaf

c’dmam

dank’oro/ cangur dankuro B. c’dmam is from Tna. s’amam (Re. has cumum from Ti. s’amum ‘deaf.) Re. also records an alternative item dira ‘deaf, dumb’ (cf. K. dada, idem in Amh.) The remaining items (inch Chamir donqur, Khamta dinquer, dinguer) are clearly related to EthSem. Tna., Amh. ddnk’waro, dank’oro. The EthSem. item (cf. also Gz. dank’awa ‘be deaf, stupid’, Har. donk’a, etc.) has no secure Semitic etymology, but cf. Or. donk’o ‘stupid’, Som. doqon ‘foolish person’, Kafa dik’k’o, etc. A. cangur suggests a variant consonantism: *tangwar : *dankwVr. Also A. conger- ‘be deaf. The word is clearly an Ethiopian areal item and may also be cognate with the Agaw word for ‘donkey’ [q.v.] PA *daywar-. [See further Cohen, “Une denomination commune de 1’ane et de la surdite en chamito-semitique”, GLECS 6 (1951-4): 15-16.]

death (see die)

debt

dankwar

kara karga kiga PA *kat- ‘die’ [q.v.]. X., K. -ga is the normal verbal noun formative.

bana ban ban PA *ban- ‘divide’ [q.v.]. The B. noun bana is glossed by Re. as both ‘halfte, teil’ and ‘Ion fur getane arbeit’; KH. glosses only as ‘division or share’.

defecate daxardaxrdayar ydayrPA *dayr-. PNA *dayr- (hence K. dayar y-) is the associated nominal form: B. daxra besides daxra, X. daxra, K. dayra, but A. dayri [see under ‘excrement’].

descend, go down gamgimgamgemPA *gam~. Also Chamir, Khamta gim-, Kailina, Quara gam-, CR Awiya giam-. desert, wilderness

?aw

destroy, demolish

bards-

baraxa, baraxa, bereyi dada jaba K.X. baraxa, A. bereyi, etc., are cognate with Tna. baraxa, Amh. baraha; the Bilin cognate recorded by Re., baraga, baraga, like Gz. bark’d, is the name of the Barka region. Beside X. dada, Khamta has bida ‘wilderness, uncultivated land’ from Tna. bada. IL. jaba (CRo. jiba, Qu. jaba, jiba) has the same meaning, and is compared by CRo. [1912:204] to Saho dibo, Afar dubii (not in Parker & Hayward). [See, however ‘mountain’].

firs-

dam-, dasdaz-,

destroyed, be, daddazdas- (get lost) disappear, be finished, lost PA *daz~. Re. regards the underlying root as *dih- [= *dah-] because of the extant Bilin forms, causative dihis- and passive dihist-, dist-. As the other languages provide

54 A comparative dictionary, etc.

no evidence for such a form, I wonder rather whether these Bilin forms derive from a stem variant *das- with assimilation of voicing to the verbal extensions, then showing the sporadic Bilin *s > h sound change. Kem. and Qu. have the causative derivative das- ‘destroy’ with loss of the final sibilant of the stem before the extension -s. X.firs- ‘destroy’ is from hn^/arrasa.

dew

hamda awla teza B. hamda is from Ti. hamda ‘dew that has already fallen, hoar frost’. Chamir has tizd, which like K. teza is from Amh. t ’eza. CRo. Awiya records canqul.

die

ki-/kidaz-, karfiwPA *kat~. K. kidaz- is a compound of ki- < *kat- and daz- ‘disappear’ [q.v.]. K. fiw(var.J&w-) is also ‘rest’; for the semantics cf. Amh. arrafa. Qu. has kiy-, Kail. ki(y)~. Stem-final alternation is preserved only in X. kar-/kat- and A. kat-/kar-/kat, identical to that of the passive-reflexive extension, which led Re. to propose an underlying root *ki- [= *ka-} followed by this extension. However, in all derivational forms *kat~, etc., provides the base. Cognates occur in Omotic: Kafa kit-, Yemsa kit-, Shinasha kito ‘death’ but k’ira [Lamberti 1993a: 341], Mocha qiti(ye), which further suggest that *kat- and not **ka- is the basic root shape.

kar-

kar-

difficult, be tak ’sagarsChamir has siqaw- (and “Dembiya” seg-). A possible cognate is recorded for “Damot Agaw” by Waldmeyer: suki ‘difficult’, though CRo. prefers to relate this to Awiya cenki ‘difficulty’ from Amh. c’ank’. The K. root sagar- is from Amh. caggara.

dig

balakwgwarywgasRe. Qu. has fart- (idem Flad) and Ap. Qu. has fdntar-; for Chamir Re. lists gtiid-, which, in spite of what would be an irregular correspondence in the final consonant, he connects with Chamir guiz- ‘plough’ [q.v.]. CRo. Awiya has gias- with different vocalization (= ges-}. This gas-/ges- is probably cognate with PNA *gwaz- ‘till the earth, plough’ [q.v.] which in turn has cognates elsewhere in Cushitic and Omotic: HEC: Hadiyya gos- 'dig up'; Dar. gos-, but principally in Omotic (which may be the source of the HEC items): POm *goss~. If the s of A. gas-/ges- is not directly due to Omotic influence but represents the palatalization of s < PA *z following a/e, then for PA the pair *gwdz-l*gaz-/*gazmay be reconstructed.

dirt, dirty dirty, be

?amak’Karnak’ amqwa ?amak’ar-/ amqwat^amdk’ar-

gam

cami camit-

Dictionary 55

PNA *?amaq- (B. and X. only), which Re. connects both with Gz. hamaga ‘disturb, make turbid’ and with Gz. habk’ak’a ‘stain, make dirty’. Perhaps the initial f of B. Tamak’, etc., is due to the influence of the k’. K. gam is from Amh. gam ‘rotten’. A. carni and the verbal derivative camit- are clearly from the PA root *cam- [B. sama 'shade, shadow' [q.v.], X. 5 ’ama, also K. sam-ana 'black']. Re. Qu. has the same root in the sense of‘dirt, dirty’: vb. samant- ‘become dirty’, saman- ‘be dirty’.

saywza, qunzi dawi PNA *caywVz-, cf. verbal root *cay"Vs- ‘be sick’ [q.v.]. Re. Qu. has siuza (but Ap. Qu. xanja), [but Lamberti & Tonelli 1997:91 sak’wada]. Chamir zusa [= s’awza]; CRo. Khamta has the form sowitu, which though from the same root (in Khamta sus-) represents a different derivation. Beside Qu. siuza, Re. also records guza. K. dawi is from EthSem. Gz. dawe. Re. also records Chamir duwi, ‘sick’. A. qunzi is probably connected with the verbal form qundast- ‘be sick’. Also in Kunfal, kunzi. An interesting reversal of the functions of the qunz- and qundast- stems is noted in Beke’s kilndassi ‘sickness, disease’ but gunzini ‘be sick’. Dolgopolsky [1973:124] connects PA ^cay^Vs/z- with Or. d’ukkuba ‘sickness’, which does not seem likely.

disease, sickness

divide

saxwada/saxuda s ’awza

banbinkafalbenPA *ban-. Also in Chamir bin-, Qu. ban-, CRo. Aw. bion-. K. has the noun ban ‘payment’ reflecting the same semantic range as Amh. kaffala ‘divide, pay’. K. kafal- (also CRo. Aw. kiqfal-) is from EthSem. Amh. kaffala. Cf. perhaps PEC *ban- ‘open’ (Or. ban-, Som. ban, bannaan ‘open country’,

divorce, vb. dak’drdaqrdaxarPNA *daqar~. Also in Re. Qu. dagar-, dahar-. Chamir also has diker- (beside daqar-} with different vocalization and medial consonant. Re. sees a loan from EthSem. Gz. dahara ‘divorce, dismiss’, but Cerulli [1951:433] prefers to see a Cushitic root with cognates inter alia in Afar da^aar- ‘leave’ and Som. dayri- ‘banish, expel’, and in Omotic, Kafa dar- ‘divorce’, which on formal grounds seems less probable.

do, make

hab-, s ’absabcew?as1. PA *sdb- and *cab- / *cab- < *t-sab-. B. hab- derives from *sab~; (for another instance of B. h- from earlier s- see hamb- ‘dwell, live’ [q.v.]). Re. records Chamir variants sab-/sab- alongside ^ab- [= sab-/s’ab-]; Khamta only has the ejective initial: §aw~, as does Kailina: ’ab-. Qu. like K. has sab- (Re. records also the other root es-).

56 A comparative dictionary, etc.

These latter all derive from a form with an initial affricate *c- presumably from *t-sab- and incorporating an old prefixed extension. 2. PA *?as-. Also occurring in Chamir ies- / es-, Re. Qu. es-, “Dembiya” es-, Flad “Falashan” yesh-, the palatalization being due to the preceding a PHEC *ass- / *iss(Sidamo, Kambaata ass-; Hadiyya, Buiji iss-); cf. also Saho (Re.) is- / is-, Boni as‘prepare’. Hence, PEC *?is- / *?as-. Outside Cushitic, cf. perhaps Sem. *?sy ‘do’.

dog

gaday gazavj gazay gaseg PA *gazag, *gazarj. The second vocalization pattern is required to explain the Awngi form, cf. also CRo. Awiya gesani, gesan, and Kunfal kassarj (?). As a probable cognate (or loan ?) into Egyptian compare AEg. tsm ‘hound’. Perhaps the root is A A if Berber (Tirifit-Iznasn) a-qzin ‘young dog’ is also related. [See Takacs 1999:186].

donkey daxwara daxwara daywara daywari PA *daywar~. Ehret [1987:96] connects this with Proto-Rift *dak’wayi [Iraqw, Burungi daqway, Alagwa daqwi, K’wadza dakw?akw?ayiko], [See also discussion under ‘deaf.] door

bala, bila/biza/bir bala/bar lamci, ?ad sank PNA *bal-a. Also in Kailina bala. Re. records a variant Chamir form mira, beside bua, which is cognate with Qu. maya. The latter also occurs in the compound form maykana, makana, cf. Ap. Qu. mdkana [kana = ‘wood’], perhaps suggesting PNA *mar-a, from which B. mara ‘open space by the gate’ also comes. The alternative X. form, biza, [Khamta biza] is from the vb. biz- ‘open’ [q.v.]. It is perhaps debatable whether PNA *bal-a (and *mara?) is itself from EthSem. barr [see below]. K. bar and X. bir are either from or influenced by Amh. barr ‘door, gate’. Kunfal has bara, which probably belongs here rather than with bala, etc. CRo. Awiya lists aft, probably from Amh. af ‘mouth, opening’ (cf. ddjj-af ‘doorway’). For lamci cf. A. lam- ‘close’ [q.v.].

(wooden door)

dove, pigeon kwatra agrab argab bddbaday B. kwatra, also in Ti. katra. X. agrab [Chamir egrib, rigib] and K. argab are from Amh. argab, ragab. warad-, qadax"dday-/ telekk 'adax wxadayB. wdrdd-, glossed by Re. as ‘hinabsteigen zum fluss um wasser zu holen’ is from the common EthSem. root wrd ‘descend’. The second root, k’adaxw-, glossed by Re. as ‘schopfen, eingiessen’, and its cognates [X. qada-, Chamir qada[q]-, K. xwaday-/xaday-, Qu. xada-] are from EthSem. k'dh : Gz. k'adha, Amh. k’adda, etc. A. telek- is from Amh. t’allak’a in the sense ‘ladle out, scoop up water’.

draw water

Dictionary 5 7

ndbaxi nibi abar tiywa dream, n. nabaxarnibittiytdream, vb. PNA *nabdx/y- (B. and X. only). K. abar, cf. also Qu. abari. CRo. Awiya emberi (vb. embart-) is possibly also related. dress, wear, vi. sarsirsayseyPA *sa + -t-. Only X. and A. maintain the usual alternations of the extension: X. sit-/sir~; A. set-/sey-/sit. The nature of the final *t as an extension is confirmed by the transitive B. sas- ‘clothe, dress’, X. sis-, Qu. sas-; but note A. seyc- built directly on the intransitive sey-, and K. says- alongside sas-. The underlying root is therefore *sa-, which has been connected with Eg. sj3-t, sjw-t ‘fringed garment’, and thence in Sem. with Hebrew sut, Phoenician swt (if the latter represent borrowings from Eg.). However, as Eg. 3 generally equates with r or I elsewhere in AA this etymology must be abandoned.

drink

ja?ziyjaxzaqPA *3dq- / *3aq-. The final ? in B.ja?- is irregular if from PA *q\ Kailina has zaqand thus the vocalization in a is restricted to Kemant-Quara. Perhaps cognate with PEC *d’ug- ‘drink’ (Rendilledug-, Or. dug-, Buiji d’uw-/d’ug-), though the match is imperfect and this is most likely from *t-fug- (cf. Konso uk-, Gidole uk-, Dhaasanac ?ik~, etc.). Alternatively, cf. Som. d’uuq-, var d’uug- ‘suck’, also NSom. jaq- ‘suck’ (but perhaps this is rather cognate with PA *caqw- ‘suck, swallow’ [q.v.]). Also note here Beja dug- ‘suck’, digw- (R). samt ’a? y-, tatyKailina ha s sam-, Chamir sam-, Qu. sam-.

drive animals

ast-

?ida, dark’ yizan dark Tabdr yiz-aw kaga ?id-axw kdgi 1. PNA *?iz- (B. and X. only). B. Tabar is from Ti. Tabar. 2. PA *kag~. Re. also records B. haguag- vb. ‘dry (esp. of durra)’ which is also found in Ti. hagwaga-, this is apparently a borrowing from Saho -ohgog. PEC *-(h)geg-/-(h)gog- (Szho-ohgog, Som. engeg-, Boni aneg-, Rendille angag-; perhaps also Dullay: Harso-Golango hah-ay- ‘dry’, Gawada xahaww-; a stative and nominal derivative *gog- also occurs: Som. gog ‘half a camel hide’, Or. gogaa ‘skin’, Konso koka, kok- ‘become dry’, Buiji gogaa, Dhaasanac gog-oyy- ‘dry up’, Elmolo g 'og ’id’a ‘dry’). K. dark’ and A. dark ‘drought’ are from Amh. dark’.

drought

dry

wala y-

58 A comparative dictionary, etc.

dry season hagay hiya masi sanu B. hagay and X. hiya (Re. records a Chamir variant aya; Khamta hagay) are from EthSem. Gz., Tna. hagay. K. masi (CRo. maswa), Ap. Qu. masa, are from EthSem. Gz., Amh. mas’aw ‘season after the summer rains, harvest time’. dung (wet) sak’wa cawa saywa PNA *caqwa/*caqw-a. Qu. has sawa. Cf. perhaps PEC *c’ookk’- ‘mud’ [see however under ‘mud’]. The medial w of Xam., is irregular. For the semantics compare Burji c’okk’ee ‘horse excrement’ and d’okk’ee ‘mud’ [see Sasse 1982:49 & 65, resp.].

dung (dried) ?axwara axwla ax'"dr Also in Tna. Tax”dr. The medial xwin each NA language precludes the regular reconstruction of a single protoform. bat’, bi, tatri awara abwara PA *bat-a ‘earth, dust’ [see under ‘earth’]. The B. reflex bata ‘dust’ v. bara ‘earth’ is anomalous, as only the latter would be the expected outcome of PA *bat-a. It is probable that two different roots are concerned [see discussion under ‘earth’]. Khamta has zeba, zeva, glossed as ‘polvere’, to which X. zaba ‘soil’ may be compared. X. awara, K. abwara are from Amh. abwara. CRo. records Awiya hawasi, and west, both glossed as ‘polvere, sabbia’. The latter is the same as A. wusi ‘ashes’ [q.v.].

dust (dry earth)

bata

hambs ’absamb-/ cinymandartsam[b]yPNA *samb~. The Bilin initial h- is one of the few instances of PA *5 > h. Reflexes in the other NA languages and dialects are all predictable: Chamir sib-, zib- [= s ’ab-], Khamta seb- [= sab-], Kailina sam-, Qu. samb-. KH. glosses B. hamb- only as ‘remain absent’, though its use in compound tenses such as waso hambakw ‘he is listening’ continues the sense of ‘live, stay’ and thence ‘remain’. B. mandart- is denominative from mandar (Re.) ‘dwelling place’, which is from Tna. mandar ‘village’.

dwell, live

E ear

BiL

Xam.

Kem.

Awn.

?ank’wa qaraz anxwa ankoyi PA root *?anqw-, partially reduplicated in A. (also as a verb ankoy-, ankoq, var. ankway- ‘hear’ [q.v.]), also Kunfal gwahi, which like eg^aw ‘hear’, appears to have lost the initial nasal syllable. It is tempting to try and connect this Agaw root with PEC *maql- (Som. maql- ‘hear’, Das maal-), especially if HEC *macc’~ (Sidamo

Dictionary 59

macc ’e, macc ’o 'ear', Hadiyya macc ’a) without I, is to be included here. Similarly, a connexion with Beja ?angwiil ‘ear’ has also frequently been proposed (but Ehret 1987: 97 proposes to relate this to *maql- < PC *-mk’w-l, anyway), and thence with AEg. fox-wy ‘the two ears’ (dual). This last is probably not related, however. Cognate with X. qdraz, Khamta has qaras, and Kailina qardz. A form kazar also occurs in Beta Israel Qu. texts alongside anxu.

bara ‘ground’ bat’, baya bad bata ‘soil’ zaba ‘land’ PA *bat-a (X. bat’, Kail, bat’a, K. bi ‘soil’ and baya, Qu. baya, A. bati). Probably cognate with PEC *biy- (Burji biya, Arbore,Dhaasanac bii, Or. biyya, Konso pii-ta, Hadiyya beyo, Golango piye), i.e. Pre-Agaw *bi- + -t-. Other superficially similar roots occur in Cush: Afar baad’o ‘land, country, earth’, Saho baad’o, Sidamo baado ‘country, region’, Kambaata, Alaba badu. So also Beja buur ‘earth’ [see discussion below]. However, the Agaw forms can only really reflect a PC *bi[y]~ + individualizing suffix *-t-. The root is probably Common AA: AEg. bw ‘place’, PChad. *ba. It is probable that there are two separate PA roots *bat-a and *bar-a, which are distinguished only in B: bata ‘soil, sand, tilth’ and bara ‘earth, land, field’, though B. medial t for PA *-t- would be an anomalous development. In the other languages only the former occurs, though also with the meaning of the latter: in X. bat’, which is the etymological equivalent only of the former (i.e. *bat~) is used in both senses. K. bi and baya also can both only derive from the root *bat~, though bi usually has the meaning ‘soil, earth’ and baya ‘ground’. A. bati continues the same root and seems to have both meanings (insofar as it is glossed by Amh. mdref). If the assumption of a separate PA root *bar-a behind B. bara is correct, then perhaps Beja buur ‘earth, land, the world’ is cognate with this. X. zaba, if representing a PA root *zab-, may possibly be cognate with such EC. forms as Or. dibu / dipu ‘valley, gully’, Rendilley/7? ‘uninhabited land’ [Blazek p.c.].

earth, ground

eat

k’wxwxwyu-/ywPA *qw~. Probably cognate with PEC *-k’m-/-k’aam- (Afar -okm-, Burji k’aam-, Dhaasanac kom (imperative), Konso k’om- 'chew', Rendille -aham-/-uhum-, Golango qan- 'chew' [Sasse 1982:121-2]). The loss of the m may be explained if PA *qwderives from the same asyllabic stem variant as seen in PEC *-k’m~.

egg

kaxala/ qaluna xwdraywina ankwlal kdxaluna The NA. items (also Kailina qulqwana, Qua. xarawina [Re. has xagawina]) are clearly cognate with one another, though it is difficult to reconstruct a single proto-form: ? *qayal- [+ - Vna} (with an irregular shift of *q > k in Bilin), var. *q wdrdy- + - Vna (in

60 A comparative dictionary, etc.

Kem-Qua.). Some Kem. speakers have a var. fdrdy"ina, and also xaraywina [Sasse p.c.]. A. ankwlal, CRo. Awiya enqualati, and Kunfal kulal, also Khamta enquldl, are from Amh. dnk’wdlal. eight eighty

saxwata sawta saywata soyeta sdxwatarayan sawtaryan saywatiy suyitickd PA *saywatta ‘eight’; PA *sdywdttV+tdyan/saywattV+tdyan ‘eighty’. The unit numeral *sa/aywatta is derived from *saywa!saywa ‘three’ [q.v.] by means of the suffix -tta which constructs the numerals ‘six’ to ‘nine’ on bases meaning ‘one’ to ‘four’, respectively. The Xamtanga/Chamir languages show similar differentiation in the stems of the simplex ‘three’ (initial s and medial stop) and its derivative ‘eight’ (initial 5 and reduced medial [e.g. fricative]): X. saqwa : saxwata, Chamir sakua : sohuata, Khamta soqa : sowta, Kailina seqwa : soqat’a, and Awngi shows different vocalization: suya : soyeta [< *saywa : *saywattd\‘, but Kunfal sawa : sawata. It is difficult to relate the PA numeral *saywa, etc. ‘three’ to any other Cushitic forms [see discussion under ‘three’]. ‘Eighty’ is formed by the addition of the usual tens formative *-tayan, which is cognate with PEC *tam[m]an-/tamn- ‘ten’ (Sa. taman, tanna and tomon/-ton in tens, Afar taban, Som. toban, Rendille tomon, Boni taman, Bay. toman/tomon, Arbore, Elmolo tomon, Dhaasanac tommon, Or. -tama in tens, Sidamo tonne, Gedeo tomne, Hadiyya tama, tomo (Hudson). Burji tanna). Also Beja tamin. Awngi has substituted -ckd from cakka ‘ten’ except in layarya ‘twenty’ (similarly Kunfal -§ekd)-, note that CRo. “Dangela” maintains the older formative (as -ren) throughout, so so ’ataren ‘eighty’.

elbow

tankal middla kwama karyi CRo. Kem. has kiml, which is closer in form to A. karyi. All are probably, however, from Amh. kam. Qua. tangal is clearly cognate with B. tankal, which is also borrowed into Ti. tankal. Re. Chamir records girb ‘knee’ in the sense of ‘elbow’. Khamta has kiurmcf, which CRo. derives from Tna. kwarma£.

elder, n. samagalara samir samagale samagela Also in CRo. Awiya sumagala, Khamta samgel- ‘grow old’. The word occurs in Amh., Tna. samagalle and is clearly a regional North-Central Ethiopian term, and is often assumed to be of Agaw origin. The current Agaw forms do not permit the reconstruction of a common proto-form, however. elephant jana zahon jana anni PNA *san-a (B. and K.). X. zahon (Chamir zohon) is from Amh. zahon. The Amharic term (with immediate cognates in Argobba, Muher, Soddo and Chaha) is itself of Cushitic origin, though precisely from what language it is difficult to say (but

Dictionary 61

without the change *z > d). Other southern EthSem. languages (Harari, Silt’i, Walane) have forms in initial d- which must come from a separate Cushitic source. Cushitic cognates include, on the one hand, and closest to the Agaw, PHEC *dzaane (Sidamo daanicco, Hadiyya daanecco, Kambaata zanee[ccu], and on the other, Afar dakanu and Ogaden Somali (recorded by Re.) dagon. The presence of similar forms in some Omotic languages (Kafa dangiyoo, Mocha daygao, Wolaytta dangarsa, etc.) suggests an areal word perhaps rather than Cerulli’s PC *zakwan. The Agaw term *^an-a > jana passed into Amharic separately as the royal epithet jan, jan-hoy. A. anni also in Kunfal, eni.

embers

ga?a xaxma ? xamura aremec Re. Chamir lists fehma, xehma as ‘Gluthkohle’ (from Tna. faham), but Ap. X. xaxma corresponds to Amh. k’asal ‘charcoal’ [q.v.] not fam ‘embers’. Terms for ‘charcoal’ and ‘embers’ are confused in a number of Ethiopian languages, cf. Sidamo kashilo with both meanings [Gasparini 1983:190].

?ang-axw, aj-aw bado nayisi kaya (also naked) gana empty, vt. bak’wasB. derived stem bak’w-as- (buk’was~) is glossed [KH. 1992;162] as ‘to remove or empty something - water, grain or other things’. Re. glosses as ‘to tear out, rip away’. The simple root does not occur in KH., but Re. has bauq [= Z>a£’w]‘emptiness’, to which CRo. K. boh y- ‘be spilt, poured out’. This is perhaps the same root as A. bay”! ‘bald’ [q.v.]: PA *bVqw~. B. ?angaxw ‘empty’ is probably formally the same as X. aj- (ajaw ‘empty, emptiness, nothing’): PNA *?ang~. Re. suggests that ?ang- is formally the negative in -g- of a verbal root *?an- ‘be’ which only occurs (a) in the alternative (main-verb) negative form ?alla ‘is not’ ( *[?a]nsay**-t-mVg- > *[?a]ntay- ? A. woyc- [intrans. way-] may possibly reflect a development of the same root: **-mag- > PA *way- > woy-.

find, get 7ar-/7drdrcaytayagc-/yegcB. ?ar- is ‘find’ and ?drar- (“refl-pass.” derivative) ‘get, possess, i.e. as a result of having found’. The same distinction is probably found in Re. Qu. ar- and art-. X. cay-, K. tay-, Kail, tay-, Flad’s “Falashan” entegn- (?), presuppose PNA *tay-. This latter is possibly connected with POmeto *dem- ‘find, get’ (Wolaytta, Gamo demm-, Zayse dem-) and Yemsa, Kafa dan-, Shinasha daan- Team, understand’.

finger (also toe) c’aba?/cab7at zafama t’at layet B. c’aba7/c’db7at is from EthSem., Ti. cab^it, as is its plural, 7ac’aba7. X. zafarna (Chamir sefir, sefir, Khamta zafer, also Re. Qu jarfa) are probably from EthSem., Gz. s’afr, Tna. s’afri, Amh. t’afar, etc. The somewhat anomalous initial jof the Qu.fonn has a parallel perhaps injafa ‘tree’ alongside K. zaf. K. t’at is Amh. idem. Re. Qu. also has sat alongside jarfa. Flad records “Falashan” nanazat (i.e. ‘finger’ - zat - ‘of the hand’ - nana). A. layet is probably cognate with K. layala ‘finger nail, claw’ with a different suffix. CRo. also records K. lam ‘nail’ and Awiya lanati ‘hand’. PA *lay- (for discussion see above under ‘claw’). Kunfalyengi is the same as A.yiy ‘finger-nail, claw’ [q.v.].

duyw-/dayw-

cars-. dayw-, widabzc’arasPA *dayw- : cf. also A. dayw- ‘bum’ vi. [q.v.]. PLEC *d’am-/d’im-/d’um- ‘come to an end’ (Saho d’am- ‘dissolve’, Afar d’am-s- ‘dissolve’ (tr.), Som. d’im-ad- ‘die’, Or. d’um- ‘end’, d’um-ad’- ‘perish, come to an end’, and perhaps Konso d’um- ‘set (of the sun)’ if not connected with roots meaning ‘dark’) and perhaps also PSam *d’ammay- ‘finish’ (Som. d’ammee-). X. cars- and K. c ’aras- are from Amh. c ’drrasa. X. abz- cf. also Kail. abaz-.

finish, vt.

68 A comparative dictionary, etc.

A. wid- (CRo. Awiya wad- and wild-) CRo. compares with EthSem., Gz. waddd?a ‘finish’. fire

laxa liya wazag leg PA *lax- : also Kail, liya, Qu. liya / leya (CRo. Qu. and K. laya), Khamta lid, Kunfal leg. The final g in A. and Kunfal g are anomalous. Perhaps PC *la?~ (Saho la?- ‘be hot’, lafina ‘hot’, la?ana ‘heat’, lelle? ‘day’, Afar la?- ‘become warm’, la?na ‘heat’, lo?o ‘daytime’; perhaps also Beja n?e ‘fire’). Also SC. West-Rift *lo?-/ *le?~ (Iraqw ld?a ‘sun, god’, etc.) Elsewhere in AA, perhaps also Sem., Arabic l?l? ‘flash, gleam’; AEg. rf‘sun’ [see Takacs 1999:141]. K. wazag is probably connected with the PA root waz- ‘ashes’ [q.v.].

first

jabara, lawantama, jamariy-ay fantini ?awal lawad B.jabara is derived from the rootjab- ‘front’ [q.v.], as is Re. Qu.jabesd. B. ?awal is from Ar. ?awwal. X. lawantama, lawad (Chamir laudin) are built on the numeral base law ‘one’ [q.v.]. Khamta has aflema from Tna., cf. falamay. K. jamariyay is built on the root jamar- ‘begin’ (from Amh.) - cf. Amh. majammariya. A.fantini is probably derived from fan ‘face, front’.

first-born baxar bawr Also in Re. Qu. bager. All from EthSem., Tna. baxwar, Amh. also bahar.

fish

?asa/?asa haza asa asi The root occurs throughout EthSem: Gz. ?dsa, Tna., Ti. ?asa, Amh. asa, etc., and is clearly of non-Semitic, and probably Agaw origin. However, B. ?asa and X. haza appear to show the influence of North Ethiopic, as neither ? nor h occur in purely Agaw roots (i.e. PA *?as-a). The term also occurs in Beja ?aaso and Saho ?aasa, and if these are not borrowings would suggest a North Ethiopian areal word. It is also found, probably as a borrowing, in Kafa haasoo, Mocha haso.

five

?ankwa akwa ankwa ankwa PA *?ankwa. Similarly in other languages: Khamta akua, Kailina ankwa/akwa, Kunfal ankwa. Perhaps the Agaw root may be related (by metathesis: PC *CVN > *NVC > PA *VNC) to PLEC *ken-/kon- ’five' (Afar konoy, Saho koon, Or. san, Konso kenji], Som. san, Rendille can, Bayso ken, Dhaasanac cen, etc.); also PSC *ko?an- [Ehret 1980:245].

flame

bagbag lank’a abrag K. lank’a is from Amh. idem, ‘palate; tongue of flame’. The Amh. item is itself of Agaw origin: see under ‘tongue’.

Dictionary 69

Re. Qu. and CRo. Khamta both have items of Amh. origin: nabalbal, ndvalva'l, resp. In addition to the nominal form bagbag, B. also has verb roots lablab- and balbal(balbal y-) with the meaning ‘flare up, burst into flames’, cf. K. labalab- ‘bum’ [q.v.] from Amh. A. abray is evidently a nominal deriv. of babr- ‘bum’ [q.v.] with loss of initial b-. Roots of the shapes l-b, b-l, b-r, often reduplicated, occur in various Cushitic languages with the meanings ‘flame’ or ‘bum’ (cf. PA *ba[r]bar- ‘bum’ [q.v.], Hadiyya labana ‘flame’, Buiji labbu i- ‘blaze’, Saho bola ‘flame’, Som. belbel, Beja balol) as well as in EthSem., e.g. Gz. ?anbalbala ‘blaze, nabalbal ‘flame’, also lahaba, lahba ‘bum’, of which only the root shape Ihb has cognates elsewhere in Semitic. flax (linseed) ?ant’at’i? tarba tarba/tarba PA *tarb-l*talb-a. Borrowed into Amh., talba. B. ?ant’at’ff is from Ti. or Tna. idem.

flea

tilbi

faluta falta falay PNA *fVlVt-a : a form with initial p- is recorded by Re. in Qu. peleya (also Flad’s “Falashan” petea}, p is otherwise not a common phoneme (cf. ‘fly’ vb.) and cannot be reconstructed for PA, and as such its occurrence in Quara alongside f elsewhere cannot be explained. The vocalism of the second syllable is uncertain. Cushitic, cf. D’irayta fillet, Dullay: Harso fillayye, Gawada filldye. Also Omotic: Kafa pillo ‘bed bug’. Elsewhere in AA cf. perhaps PSem. *paryuuO-/baryuu0(Akkadian pursu?u, Hebrew parfos, Aramaic purta^no, Arabic buryud, etc.); AEg. py, Coptic pei. Orel & Stolbova [1995:423] also mention a Proto-Central Chadic *pilu- ‘mosquito’, but Stolbova [1996:18] has PChad. *-pirac-, which makes the comparison less appealing. CRo. Khamta has qunc from Amh. k’unacc’a, or Tna. k’wans‘i; cf. also Ap. Qu. k’unac’a and CRo. Awiya quenici (Beke’s kunici).

flour, meal lax gazan lay attini PNA *lay- : also in Re. Qu. lay. X. gazan also in Khamta gezan. A. attini, cf. CRo. Awiya tierii /etierii, which he compares with EthSem., Gz. t’ahan. Re., however, notes “Agaumeder” lag ‘feines mel’ flow, vb. kwaritk’abrfaz-, kaby[see spill, spilled] baywtB. kwarit- is a denominative from the PNA root *kwar- ‘river, stream’ [q.v.]. K. baywt- is a refl-pass, derivative of the root seen in B. bak’ws-/buk’ws- ‘pour, spill’ vt. Re. records this root apparently with a different vocalization: boq-s- ‘pour (out)’ (? = bak’w-s-). The same root doubtless occurs in Qu. bunt- ‘flow’ (Re. Qu. bogii-; Flad‘s “Falashan” bo-ont-) though the -nt- extension is obscure unless this is another

70 A comparative dictionary, etc.

instance of the sporadic Kem-Quara shift y>g and thence n before t. A k’w : yw correspondence between B. and Kem-Qu. is as such irregular; the Kem-Q. form must represent an ablauted pair *bayw~. Perhaps, then, PNA *baqw- / *baqw~. There is another PNA root *baqw- (B. bak’w- ‘curdle, go sour (milk)’ [q.v.]. K. faz- may be from the Amh. root fss ‘flow’; the K. root has an irregular transitive/causative derivativefas- ‘pour, spill’ vt. flower

Tamboba ababa ababa abibi From EthSem: for B. cf. Ti. famboba, and for the others cf. Amh. ababa. CRo. Khamta imbab is closest to Tna. ^ambaba. An alternative term is recorded by Re. in Chamir siyaand Qu. cegd/sega, also from EthSEm., Gz. s ’agge.

fly, n.

sinsa s ’as ’a sinsa caned PA *canc-a. Similar forms occur in all dialects: Khamta sasra (with singulative ending ?), Kailina s’as’a, Ap. Qu. c’anc’a / sansa, Kunfal zinzi. The term also occurs as a borrowing in NEthSem. (Gz. 5 ’ans ’anya, Tna. 5 ’ans ’aya, Ti. c ’ancay).

fly, vb.

wmvbir-/birybararbererRe. B. also has fir y-, which is evidently related to the other Agaw forms (cf. also Chamir bir-f App, Qu. has parr- alongside barr-, another example of the rare p phoneme. Re. Qu. barig- (cf. Flad’s barig-) has unexplained final g (but curiously cf. Beja bir?iik-[Roper], birrik- [Hudson]). Khamta nafer- is from Tna. nafara. The form of K. barar- and A. berer- suggests borrowings from Amh. barrara. X. bir-, etc., may therefore also be from EthSem. However, forms of the same root in initial b- also occur in other Cushitic languages: Saho -ibrir, Or. barar-, Bu. burr-, Kambaata burri y-, Gedeo birret-. Whilst some of these may be borrowed from or be influenced by EthSem., others may represent an original Cushitic form of this AA root. In Semitic other than EthSem., the cognates of this root have initial *p- : MSA., hb.ferr, Meh. far meaning both ‘fly’ and ‘flee’; Ugaritic prr (pirru ‘flight’), fa.farra ‘flee’. Elsewhere in AA: POmotic */V7- ~ *fVr-, NE,%.p3 ‘fly’, Chadic (Hausa fira ‘flutter’, Buduma fer, Margi val, etc.)

follow

talaytayataltankenB. talay- is from Ti. tala. K. tayatal- (CRo. takated-) is from Amh. takattala. (Re. Qu. also has both katal- and tagatal-; Ap. Qu. tayatal-).

food

k’una/k’wana xwanaw x^ana/x^aysa kelleb The NAgaw terms are all the respective verbal nouns of the verb ‘eat’ [q.v.], except for K. xwaysa which is apparently from the passive stem of the same root. Ap. Qu. has xwaya, also from the same root. A. kelleb is from Amh. k’allab ‘nourishment, food, provisions’.

Dictionary 71

fool, imbecile, stupid bah, xar) mor) bambi X. xarj, ibid. Re. Chamir, also in CRo. Khamta han. K. mot) is from Amh. mojt. foot, leg lakw lakw lakw lakw PA *lakw. Kunfal lugwi, if correctly transcribed, has an unexpected voiced final gw. PEC *luk-/lik-/lak- (Saho-Afar lak, Som. lug, Rendille luh, Bayso luki, Arbore Iuka, Or. Iuka ‘thigh’, Konso loq-ta, Gid lukk-et, Sidamo lekka, Hadiyya lokko, Buiji lukka, Gawada lux-te, etc.). An AA cognate of this Cushitic root may be PSem. *hlk ‘walk, go’ (Akkadian ?alaku, Ugaritic hlk, Hebrew halak, Aramaic hlk, etc.) forbid

kalkalkaldkalgewB. and K. are from EthSem., Tna. kdlkdld, Amh. kalakkala. A. gew- is perhaps cognate with B. gab- ‘refuse’ [q.v.], cf. also Re. Chamir gigb‘refuse, prevent, forbid’ as a partially reduplicated form. So, PA *gab-. Cf. PEC *gib[b]- (Qr.jibb- ‘hate, detest’, Sidamo gib- ‘refuse, avoid’, Hadiyya gibb- ‘run away’, Burji jib- ‘run, run away’ [Sasse 1982;! 10]).

forearm kwarad kwaraz kwazar yindifi PNA *kwaraz-, metathesized in Kem-Qu., cf, also Re. Qu. kuazar, Flad’s “Falashan” koser. Ap. Qu. has tangal (also recorded by Re. as tangal). A. yindifi may be the same item as recorded by Murray as ninduf, Beke nindifi: - ni yindifi ‘his forearm’. CRo. Awiya has kufzay. gambar, gambar, baw baw B. basot is from Ti., idem. X., K. gambar, gambar are from Amh. gambar. gambar. (cf. Tna. gambara). PNA *baw: cf. also Re. Chamir bau, bo, Qu. bo. A. fan is also ‘face’ [q.v.].

forehead

basot

fan

Re. also records B. gdnbar,

ddnsa, dor kdbana kdwen gadad Re. B. dansa. Lamberti and Tonelli also record day and dabak ’ in this sense. X. dar (idem Chamir; Khamta dur) is from Amh. dur.

forest, woodland

72 A comparative dictionary, etc.

K. kabana, also Qu. kabana (Re. Qu kebtna), and A. kdwen (CRo. Awiya kawan) presuppose a common form *kVbVn-, though it is difficult to reconcile the various vocalizations. forget

maxir-, mirmay-/mays- zenegnasdyPNA *max-[iR- < -Vt-] : B. and X. only have forms with the refl-pass, extension, whilst K. may- (CRo. also may- with unexplained vocalization) and Re. Qu. meyappear to be the simple stem, though CRo. miyyog ‘il oublia’ with geminate medial yy may indicate a trace of the old refl-pass, extension. K. and Qu. also employ the derived stems may-s-, mi-s-, resp., in the same sense, with the productive pass, extension. Cf. perhaps Yaaku -me?£ ‘get lost (of animals)’, and elsewhere in AA, AEg. mhj ‘be forgetful’ [Takacs 1999:122]. A. zeneg- (also CRo. Awiya zianag-) is from Amh. zanagga.

forgive

maharsdywB. mahar- is from Ti. mahra. Re. records bar- in the sense of ‘forgive’ as well as ‘leave’ [q.v.].

forty

?arbiya, arba, arba sidzicka sajararjan sizaryan Compound of PA *-tagan and the numeral ‘four’ [q.v.]. Other dialects: Chamir sisarinin, Qu. sajiy. See under ‘eighty’ for a discussion on *-tayan. Note also CRo. Awiya siedzaren, where A. has replaced -ray < *-tai]an with -ckd from cakka ‘ten’. The EthSem. numeral ‘forty’ (Gz. ?arba?a, Amh. arba, etc.) alone amongst the tens is also used in all Agaw languages except for Awngi.

four

saja siza saja sedza PA *saja. Also Kailina saza, Khamta siza); also K. sajja [Sasse p.c.]; A. sedza (also Awiya siedza, but Kunfal seza) exceptionally preserves the presumed original affricate value of PA *3 rather than the expected z; perhaps, therefore, the PA root is to be reconstructed as ^sd^-a 2 The numeral ‘four’ also provides the base of ‘nine’ [q.v.]. Ehret (1987:57) tries to relate PA *sdj[3]- to PEC ‘three’: *sizh- I *sazih~, though it is not explained why ‘three’ should become ‘four’ or vice versa. The other Cushitic roots for ‘four’ are quite heterogeneous: PLEC *?afar-/?afur-; PHEC *soole and PDullay *salah; PSC *haxa/haaka; Beja fad’ig.

Friday

?arb From EthSem., Gz. ?arb.

friend

arb

mada, s ’amra mak’ala [girl]

arba

arb

yakalanta, maxala

wudaj

Dictionary 73

B. mada (also Re. Chamir maza ‘bridegroom’s companion’) is from EthSem., Gz. mahaza, Ti. mazay, etc., which has the specific meaning still found in the Chamir form. B. mak’ala (Lamberti mak’ala, Re. mdPkala ?) is glossed by KH. as ‘friend (girls)’, but K. (and Qu.) maxdla is the general word for ‘friend’ of either sex. The form recorded by Re. is less adapted from its EthSem. source, cf. Gz. ma?kalay. ¥^.yakalanta is the agent noun of the verb ‘love’ [q.v.], and as such is an exact caique on Amh. wadaj, which is also the origin of A. wudaj (also Chamir weddy, waday). X. s ’amra (idem Chamir, Khamta ‘companion’) is from the root s ’amr- ‘join’ from EthSem., Gz. s’amada, etc.

frog

k’^drffra daqsa dawsa angwra B. k^ariSra (coll. k^ari?) is from Ti., Tna. k^araf. X. daqsa (Chamir also daqiisa) and K. dawsa (also Qu. axwd-dasa, Re. ahodausa) presuppose PNA *daq[w]s-a.

front

jaba baw jab fan (= face) PNA *3ab~. Cf. perhaps Som. d’ab ‘lap’. PSC (West-Rift) *da£ab- ‘chest’ [Ehret 1987:120]. Also Beja daba ‘chest, breast’.

fruit

fora fora fori/for kuppi PNA *for-. K.fori is perhaps influenced by Amh. fore. Although without cognates elsewhere in Cushitic (aside from obvious loans from EthSem.), the Agaw root could possibly be a reflex of the Common AA root rather than be borrowing from EthSem. (PSem. *piry-: Akkadian pir?u, Hebrew pari, Gz. fore, etc.); AEg.pr-t, Copticp^e; perhaps also Beja/bar ‘flower’.

full, be

?antaxcaqwtaywoyPNA *?antay~. See above under ‘fill’ for discussion and the suggestion that the PNA root may be related to PEC *-mg- ‘fill’ via **-t-mVg- > *[?a]ntay- .

G game

Bil.

Xam.

Kem.

Awn.

maSab warda waray B. maSab (thus also vb. root ‘play’) has a variant wafab. Re. also records da’ald (dafala) which is glossed ‘joke’ by KH. X. warda is clearly a derivative of the same root seen in K. (also Qu.) war-ay; Re. Chamir has war- / ewar- and wart- / ewart- ‘play’ (cf. Kem-Qu. wart-). Re. Qu. records also wagar-, which suggests PNA * waxdr-. [See also ‘play’].

gather, assemble dibit-, sibsabkucy[vi.] ?akabsB. dibit- is denominative from dib[b]a in the sense of ‘assembly’ [see discussion under ‘mountain’]. B. ?akab-s- is the pass, of ?akab- ‘gather’ [vt.], which is

74 A comparative dictionary, etc.

homophonous with another root meaning ‘look after, keep’ [q.v.]. The two Bilin roots are borrowed from separate EthSem. sources: (1) Ti. ?akba, Tna. ?akdbd\ (2) Ti. Tak’ba. Also in Re. Chamir ak[e]b- [vt.], akebs- [vi.] ‘gather’, Re. Qu. akeb-, akebt-. X. sibsab- is from Amh. sabassaba. A. ku^- is from Omotic: Kafa kic’-, Mocha kic ’i- ‘gather’.

gather, pick up kamarliqmlakamlekem-, [vt.] kupcB. kamar- is from EthSem., Ti. kamra. X., K., A. (lekem-) [also Re. B. laqam-] are from EthSem., Amh. lak’k’dma. A. kupc- is perhaps a denom. [with caus. extension -c] from kuppi ‘fruit’, i.e. ‘gather fruit’. get up, stand up gwgwgwju-/jwPA *gw~. The palatalization of g- to j- in Awngi is unexpected here. PEC *heg-/hog- ‘be erect, stand’ (Som. hinj-i- ‘lift’, Or. [h]ej-, Afar ug-ut- ‘arise’, Saho og-us- ‘lift’, og-ut- ‘get up’).

girl

lank’i, afard seya ancaya ?a?i B. lank’i (pl. lank‘ak’), cf. CRo. K. anh, anha ‘maidservant’, Re. Qu. any ‘daughter, girl’, “Dembiya” an^a. B. also has the by-form lali, which has the same plural as ?ank’i and is from *lak’~i. X. is from PNA *lanfar-a. The X. reflexes show gender distinction by accent placement: afara ‘boy’ : afard ‘girl’. Khamta has far, fera ‘boy’. [For discussion see under ‘boy’]. K. seya, cf. Qu. saya, idem. A. ancaya, cf. ancay ‘boy’, ancayari ‘children’.

give

lawyawyawayPA *law~. Initial y- also appears in Kailina and Qu. For A. medial y, cf. also ay ‘who’ as against aw, etc., in the rest of Agaw, in this instance perhaps arising from the imperative form *law-i > ay [cf. ay ‘who’ [q.v.] from *law-i for a similar development.] PEC *-hiw-/-huw- (or *-hiw-/-huw-) (Saho -ohoy-/-uhoy-/-ahay-, Afar -ehee-, ahuw, ahuy [imperative], common HEC uw[w]~: Sidamo uw-, Hadiyya uww-, Buiji uuww-, etc.) Cf. also Beja -hii[w]/-he.

gjve2 (give here) naxnaylayB. has aspect stem variants nak- : nax-/nax-, cf. X. imperative ndk’. PNA *nay\*nak~] < **naak- : **naakk-. The shift of initial n- > I- occurs only in Kem-Qu. Kail, has nay-, Khamta naq-/nay~. Causative derivatives commonly have the meaning ‘bring’: B. naxs-, X. nas-, K. las-. The meaning of the base form is typically ‘give [to the speaker], give here’.

Dictionary 75

give birth (see beget, have children)

go

farfirfaykasPA *fdt-. Also in Kailina fay-. The A. cognate fey- means ‘pass’; for ‘andare, passare’ CRo. gives Awiya fa- [see ‘go out’ below]). In each language, except B. where the stem is regularised as jar-, the stem final consonant alternates with -t before endings originally beginning in t- in the same way as the passive-reflexive verbal extension: ^.fir-fit-, jay-fat-, A. fey-/fet-. Note also imperatives: X. fit’, A. fet ‘pass’, but K..jay. Hence PA *fat~. PA *fat- is probably cognate with AEg. ptpt ‘tread, trample’ and PChad. *patu ‘go out, go in’ [Stolbova 1996:17]. For A. kas- cf. Kunfal gaz-. The SAgaw root is perhaps a borrowing from the common Omotic root *kes- meaning ‘come/go out, come/go up’: Gamu kez-, Wolaytta kiy-, Zayse kes-, Shinasha kes-, Yemsa kes-/kas~, etc.

go down (see descend) go in (see enter) go out, up

f.

f

f

ma&- [go up] PA *f-. There do not appear to be any Cushitic cognates for PA f-; Re. compared the Agaw root with Or. bah- ‘go out’ [1887:116], but this is from PEC *bah-, which has a cognate in PA *ba-t- ‘leave, go away’ [q.v.]. Perhaps PA *f- is cognate with AEg.^x ‘loosen, lose, leave; depart’, PBerb. *f-y ‘go out, go away’ (Kabyle e-ffey, etc.), Omotic (Mochapok- ‘throw away’) [Takacs 1999:114]. go round jdlawjalwjalwzurPNA *jalaw~. The X. reflex of initialj- is irregular. Re.[1884:52] suggests that this is from EthSem. zwr, presumably via metathesis and the change r > I. A. zur- is from EthSem., Amh. zora. goat

fant’ira fac’ara fantara fiyeli PNA *fantVr-a. The vocalization of the 2nd syllable is uncertain: X. fac’ara may derive from the same form as B. (with ejective t *), but CRo. Khamta has fiqra with an unexpected medial q{=kr) without palatalization. K. and Q., on the other hand, have a non-palatal vowel: fantara, fantara, resp. A. fiyeli is probably a borrowing from Amh. fayal, the origin of which is itself obscure. Kunfal is f[a]lay, which appears to be the result of a metathesis. Similar forms occur in HEC: Hadiyya fillak-icco (pl. filla?a), Kambaata felle-ccu (pl. fellelu).

76 A comparative dictionary, etc.

God

jar yadara yadara daban B.jar presupposes PNA *jar, which is the origin of the term zar ‘a spirit which inhabits lakes, wilderness areas or trees and which possesses people’ [Kane 1990:1624] in Amharic and other EthSem. languages, and is presumably the original name of the pre-Christian Agaw sky-god. In the other Northern Agaw languages God is called by a term originally meaning ‘my lord’ [from *?adara, see under ‘master’], but cf. Khamta adara‘Dio, cielo’ without a pronominal clitic. The appellation is clearly a fairly ancient one as the fusion of the possessive proclitic ya- ‘my’ and *?adara is complete and produces a form different from the NP ‘my master’ (e.g. K. y-adara). In Kailina Faitlovitch also recordedyigwaya alongside yadara, also meaning ‘my lord’ (cf. K. gwaya ‘master, lord’). A. daban is also the common noun for ‘sky’ [q.v.], which also suggests a link with pre-Christian Agaw and Cushitic religious beliefs. Similar linkings of the ‘God’ and ‘sky’ occur in other Cushitic languages: Or. waak’a, Gedeo magano, etc.

good

tak y-axw k’as-aw sar-ay gud B. tak also occurs as a noun ‘well-being, prosperity, rightness’. Re. also records ker (from Ti. ker) in the sense of ‘good’, which KH. lists only as a noun, synonymous with tak. X. k’asaw also in Khamta kasow, qasow. CRo. records Awiya qasi-t- ‘be good’ from qasi ‘good, rich, respected’ which is clearly cognate, and further compares this with Qu. kiz- [see however ‘better, be’, A. kes-]. K. sdray, also Qu. sara, may also be from *ker- [thus Re. 1887:225] via palatalization. If so, then perhaps B. ker is not directly from Ti. but represents an older Agaw borrowing from EthSem., Gz. xer, etc. A. gud may be connected with Amh. gud ‘wonderful, marvellous’ [see Conti Rossini 1905:158]. Kunfal has malkame from Amh. malkam ‘excellent’.

wara, jiga ware aban kabar B. wara, K. ware are from EthSem., Amh., Tna. ware. X-jiga (cf. verb jig- ‘tell, relate’) has a cognate in Qu. jaga ‘story, tale’, B. jiga ‘conversation’, presupposing perhaps PNA *3ig-.

gossip, news, story

gourd, sp. hamham bawa biywa kab (bitter, inedible gourd) B. hamham is from EthSem., Tna., Ti. idem. X. bawa, K. biywa may be cognate, supposing a PNA *bVyw-a. CRo. compares Khamta bod with the same meaning. Perhaps this is bo (= X. baw, coll./pl. of bawa) with a suffix -d ? PNA *bVyw-a is probably cognate with PHEC *bukkee ‘gourd’ [see Hudson 1989:72], via Pre-A **b[u]k-aa. A. kab, cf. CRo. Awiya kavi.

Dictionary 77

grain, cereal ?dra/?ar ar ar art PA *?ar~. In K., Qu., Kailina the singulative ara has the sense ‘bread’ [q.v.]. Cf. Beja harro ‘millet’.

grain (still green) sura sura sawi ear of ripening grain PNA *saw[a]r-a < *sawat-a, if indeed, as Re. [1887:309-10] suggests, this is from EthSem., Gz. sawit, Tna. sawwit / sawwit, etc., the same as Amh. asat, KemQu. sawi also belongs here deriving from a collective/plural form *saw[a]t > *saway > sawi.

grandchild k’warad k’wara xwaraz xwara xwaray xwara A composite of ‘child’ [q.v.], lit. ‘child of child’.

jerjera

grandfather ?an -inna an grandmother tani -tan tan PNA *?an, *t-an. Note the rare feminine prefix t-, for which see also ‘sister’. Probably cognate with PHEC *anna ‘father’ (so in Gedeo, Hadiyya, Kambaata, Sidamo, also Buiji anda ‘husband, father of a family, owner’). For Awiya CRo. records composite italas tala. lit. ‘father’s father’. grass

sanka s’ak’a sanka PNA *cank-a. Khamta has seqa, saqa, saqa', sa‘qa.

sigwi

A. sigwi is probably not related, particularly in light of CRo. Awiya ekki as a variant of “Danghela” sekki, sekki.

grave

?arb mak’abar mak’abar mekabiri B. ?arb has a cognate in Qu. arpa (Re. arp), also in Kailina arpa, the final p of which is unexpected. Ap. Qu. also has dabana from dab- ‘bury [q.v.]. The other forms are from EthSem., Amh. mak’abar.

green

k’wat’ana lilma aragwina lemlem B. k’wat’ana is glossed by KH. only as ‘unripe’ and is clearly derived from the root k’wat’- ‘wet’ [q.v.]. X. lilma and A. lemlem also mean ‘fertile’ [q.v.], cf. also Re. Qu. lalcuna. ‘griin’. K. aragwina is connected with Amh. arangwade ‘green’.

grey hair ?akara ak’at akiki PNA *?ak-at-, PA *?ak-, of which the Awngi form is a reduplication. This is probably cognate with the PEC root *?aak[k]~ meaning ‘old man’, PSC *?ako ‘old man’, and elsewhere in AA, AEg. jk ‘old, elderly’. The Cushitic cognates all refer to a person and translate variously as ‘grandfather’, ‘grandmother’, ‘old man’, etc. A different Agaw cognate, reflecting a variant form of this root, may therefore be PA *?ag- ‘uncle’ [q.v. for a detailed discussion] in spite of the voiced medial consonant.

78 A comparative dictionary, etc.

grind (flour) ta?anzaqtaxanfacB. (Re. ta’an-), K. (also Qu. taxan-) are from EthSem, Ti. t’ahnd/t’d?na, Tna. t’ahana. The root is also borrowed into Saho -d’hen ‘grind’. Corresponding to X. zaq- Re. Chamir has sig-. K.fac- is from Amh./ac'c ’a. grow, vi.

lagad-, ligzgaskwagPA *lagaz- (for discussion see under ‘long’).

leges-

guest, stranger ?aban aban aban PNA *?aban. CRo. Awiya records vb. avan- ‘portare notizie dal di fuori’ and n. avni ‘informazione’, which he connects with this NAgaw root. Cf. Afar fibina ‘guest’, Beja ?amna. In the sense of ‘stranger’ CRo. Awiya has tingidi, which he derives from Amh. angada, leaving the initial I- unexplained.

guinea fowl

jaxrina/ jarqana/ jarana, zagrana jaxrana jaryana zagra PA *sayr Vn-a. with metathesis of the medial *ry cluster in X. (Re. Chamir jiriyana) Khamta has giraqan with unexpected depalatalized initial g. Ap. Qu. has “shortened” jara. The K. form zagra, alongside jarana, looks like a re-borrowing from Amh., where the term zagra/jagra is perhaps of Agaw origin. The word occurs across the Ethiopian region: Tna. zagra, Harari zigra/zikra, Som. digiiran / digirin, Hadiyya sigire?e, Kambaata sigree-ta, Yemsa ziriga, etc., and it is difficult to identify an original source language.

gum (of mouth) saya K. dad is from Amh., idem.

H hail

Bit.

dad

Xam.

Kem.

Awn.

?axaxa barad yayaya aymi PA *?ayay- (for discussion see under ‘ice’). Probably Kailina aqa [h^] ‘hail’ also belongs here. X. (also meaning ‘ice’) is from EthSem, Amh. barad.

hair (of head) sabka s’abk’a sabka cicifi PNA *cabk-a. Also in Khamta sevqa, sefqa, cefqa, (Re. Chamir also has ^efqa, cefqa.) and Kailina 5 ‘abk’a. If the A. form is related (i.e. partially reduplicated ?), then the underlying PA root may be *cab- / *caf-; however, a supposed nominal derivational suffix -k is otherwise unknown. Dolgopolsky [1973:121] proposes a connection with Beja sambehani, simbehani ‘eyebrow’, which however seems unlikely; a probable Agaw cognate of the latter is A. subdn ‘eyebrow’ [q.v.].

Dictionary 79

Kunfal has the seemingly unrelated zargi. half

gaf

gabar

sis, kindi PNA *gVb- /*gaf-: B. gaf also has the meaning ‘side; region’ [q.v.] (var. gaba), to which cf. X. gaba, gwa postp. ‘near, by the side of, K. gab-al, Qu. gaba, g[a]ba, suggesting that the form gabar[a] (also Qu. gabar) is a derivative in -r[a]. PEC *gab- ‘side’: Afar gabbe ‘side of the back’, Som. gebi ‘side, riverbank’, Konso kapa ‘next to’, Or. gama ‘side, direction’, Dobase kape ‘side’, Butji gdba etc. Also Beja geeb postp. ‘with, near’. gabara

hand, arm nan nan/nan nan taf PNA *nan. Orel-Stolbova [1995:401] suggest a cognate in West Chadic *niwan‘fingemail’, and less convincely AEg. Zn idem. A. taf (Kunfal tav) is probably connected with Amh. t’affi ‘palm of the hand’, t’ajfa vb. ‘slap, clap the hands’. karkar-, kakarkekersdk’alPA * karkar- > *kakar-, also Qu. kakar-, Re. [1887:226] suggests Gz. root kwrkwr ‘roll, revolve’ as a possible origin, which seems unlikely. B. sdk’al- is also from EthSem, Gz. sak’ala, etc.

hang, v.tr.

happy, be farahdis ydas ydessy-Zdess nB.farah- is from Ti.farha. The other forms are also connected with EthSem, cf. Amh. dass ala. The type of particle + ‘say’ verbs found in all modem EthSem and most Cushitic languages is of Cushitic origin, and as such non-derived particles such as Amh. dass are also likely for the most part to be either of Cushitic origin or “regional”. A cognate of dass, etc., occurs for instance in Afar as tassa ‘joy’ and also as a particle + ‘say’ vb., tassa ed’he ‘be happy’. hard, tough tabbaxw t’ank’ara bdratay B. tabb- is from EthSem, Tna. tab^e ‘be strong, virile’ var. tab?e (also Ti. tabTa ‘be courageous’). X. t’ank’ara is from EthSem, Amh. t’ankarra. CRo. records K. tungaca ‘dur, acide’. K. barat- (also in Qu.) is from EthSem, Amh. baratta. hare, rabbit mantalara bitla bantara sintiliZsentela PNA *bantal/r-: B. mantalara shows nasal assimilation of the initial, and also has the singulative suffix -ra. Khamta also has bitla, as in X;, regularly from *bantal-a. It is difficult to see how A. sintili, senteld might be related to the northern form. It is

80 A comparative dictionary, etc.

possible that Amh. t’ancal is also somehow connected here; a metathesized * cant’al would be expected to give A. sintil-Usentel-a after vowel harmony. harm, injure Paddygad ylayensB. Paddy- is from Ti. Pada, idem. K. gady- (? gady-) is from Amh., cf. gadd ala ‘harass’. A. layens- is from the same root as ‘wound’ [q.v.].

harvest, n.

mahar,

mas ’wa

makar

azmer

masu (— harvest time)

B. mahar and K. makar (also in Qu.) are from EthSem, the former probably Ti. mahar ‘threshing floor’ and the latter certainly the cognate Amh. makar, var. mahar, resp. CRo. records K. azmara, which like A. azmer is from Amh. azmara. B. masu and X. mas 'wa (Re. also notes Qu. masi) are also from EthSem, cf. Gz. mas ’aw.

hate, dislike Pant’drsiktdirfacyB. Pant ’ar- has a cognate in Qu. antar-. The ejective t ’ in B. would normally be indicative of a loan. K. dir- (not in CRo., who records only the Amh. loan qim n., taqdyam y- vb. ) has a cognate in Kailina di-/dit~.

have (= take, hold) sak-/saxs ’ay-/s ’aysaycayPA *cak-/*cax- (originally perhaps aspectual variants): B. sak- (imperfective) ~ sax(perfective) is one of the six verbs in the language which show stem variation for aspect. Other languages show some stem variation, but essentially in respect of person and not aspect: thus X. s’ay- ~ s’ak’- (1st sg.) ~ s’ac’ (imperative sg.) ~ s ’ak’- (imperative pl.) - with vocalization in a as a free variant. Similarly, A. cay— cak- (1st sg.) ~ cdk- (imperative). K. and Qu. have say- ~ sat- (2nd persons + 3rd fem.). These latter variants all arise from juncture features with the person markers (1st sg. *-P, 2nd, 3 fem. *-t), except for the imperative stems in X. and A., which may maintain the old imperfective stem *cak~. Otherwise, the perfective stem *cax- (> *cax- in PNA) has been selected (X. s ’ay- etc. retains the vocalization of the imperfective, var. 5 ’ay- etc., of the perfective). he

ni gag ni gi PA *g V- 3rd person pronoun base. The northern languages have a three-term system (masculine, feminine, plural): B. ni, nari, naw; X. gag, gar, gay[tay] (Chamir ien, nir, nay[tayJ); Kailina ag, ni, naytay; K. ni, niy, naydiw (Ap. Qu. ni, ni, niyaw; Re. Qu. rii, rii, nay, both with neutralization of gender in the subject-case form due to attrition of the final semivowel); Khamta has a somewhat divergent set: nu, nine, nu, which is difficult to explain in comparison with the forms in other Agaw languages. Southern Agaw, on the other hand, shows no trace of gender distinction in the

Dictionary 81

singular: A. yi, yaji (pl.) - there are no 3rd person pronouns in the available Kunfal data. It would seem that the earliest recoverable form of the singular was *yi, or without the subject case marker *ya. To the latter NAgaw added *-ti to form a separate feminine pronoun. The original plural would have been *ya, to which the various languages added further plural markers. The original plural survives in some languages: as a 3rd polite in Awngi, as the possessive and oblique case stem in Bilin and Kemant, etc. PA *y V may be related to the “M-nominalizer” -[i]m in Afar, which is added to a pronoun, genitive noun or relative verb as a dummy NP head. This may be the same as the element -ma- in the intermediate demonstratives amah, tamah ‘that (near you)’. Possibly also related is PSC *mi- ‘people’ [Ehret 1980:160]: Iraqw mu, K’wadza mmu, and PSC *?umu- indefinite 3rd person pronoun [ibid:294]. The inherited AA *[?V]s- 3rd person pronouns preserved in East and South Cushitic are absent from Agaw. head

?axwar awr ayway yari PNA *?aywaR < earlier *?aywat', also Khamta awur, Kailina awi, Qu. aywe, awe. The existance of forms such as Qu. awa ‘top, summit’, CRo. Awiya aga‘top, chief, superior’ and maybe Chamir uga, egua ‘top’ (though the g is irregular) suggest that *?aywat is a derived form from some such as PA *?ay[w]-a. B. ?awa ‘top, upper part’ (?awat adv. ‘upwards’) may also be connected though again the form is unexpected. CRo. records a Kemant ablauting pl. ahwat (also Sasse p.c., axwaf) which confirms that the added element goes back to PA *-t > PNA *-R. A. yari (Kunfal ykhuri ?) may possibly reflect PA *yat-a, cognate with PEC *math‘head’ and Beja mat ‘crown of the head’ though r is not the usual reflex of PA *t medially in Awngi. The situation is further complicated by the existence of the item nara ‘brain’ [q.v.] in K., nali in A., which is probably a loan from Amh. nala. Perhaps, therefore, PA *yat-a, with a reflex in K. nara and A. yari ‘head’ [q.v.]; A. nali and Khamta nila with initial n and medial I must be borrowings from or be influenced by EthSem., Tna., Amh. nala ‘brain, skull’ [see below]. The reconstruction with initial *y and medial *t is made on the grounds that the PA root is cognate with PEC *math- ‘head’ - Ehret [1987:110] has a different explanation [see under ‘head’]. The picture is further complicated by the borrowing of this item into EthSem., Tna., Amh. nala, which may have influenced in turn some of the Agaw originals.

health nago taxna t’ena tin healthy, well dahna daxna danga dikiti B. nago, vb. stem nagay-, is probably from Ti. naga ‘be clean, free, sound’. Re. records n. ibtrna [= ?abirna ‘to get better, recover’] and di’na [from vb. da?an- ‘to save’]. The EthSem root dxn is clearly the source of B. adj. dahna, X. adj. daxna (both of which also mean ‘safe’ [q.v.]) and also K. dan- ‘save, cure’ [cf. Amh. dana\. More problematical is X. n. taxna with voiceless initial [perhaps influenced by Amh. t’ena], and K., Qu. adj. danga.

82 A comparative dictionary, etc.

A. tin [cf. CRo. Awiya tienl] and K. t’ena are from Amh. t’ena. hear

waswaswasankoy-/ankwayPNA *was- : the final s of X. (also Khamta and Kailina was-; Re. Chamir has waz[= waz-], var. waj-) is somewhat problematical. Cf. Omotic: Koyra waase ‘ear’, Shinasha waaza, Mocha waaggi, Zayse waye, Yemsa wees- ‘hear’, Kafa waay-, etc. [see Lamberti 1993a:407]. Perhaps also Beja -maasiw ‘hear’. A. ankoy- / ankway- is from the same root as ankoyi ‘ear’ [q.v.]; cf. perhaps also Kunfal egwa-w.

heart

labbaka azan labaka asew PNA *lVb[b]ak-a : also Qu. labaka and K. labbaka [Sasse p.c.]. Cf. PEC *lubb‘heart, soul’ [the suffix element -ak- in PNA is unexplained] : Afar litbbi ‘heart, soul’, Or. lubbuu ‘soul’ (a loan ?) also lapp ’e ‘breast, chest’, Konso luppoota, Rend, rubey ‘heart beat’, Elmolo rupai? ‘heart’, Buiji lubboo ‘soul’, etc. Perhaps also Beja luu ‘first stomach of ruminants’. Also in Omotic with initial n-: Kafa nibbo ‘heart’, Yemsa niba ‘heart, chest’, Shinasha nibba ‘heart’, etc. There are also some Agaw forms in n- [B. nabaka ‘middle’ [q.v.], K. nabay] which are evidently variant forms of the same root. Common AA, PSem. *libb-> AEg. jb, PBerber *wilih [Prasse 1974:128], PChadic *[ha]lub- ‘heart, liver’ [Stolbova 1996:90]. X. azan, also Kailina azan, may be connected with Re. Bilin wadan [= wadari] ‘bauch, herz; der innere raum des hauses’, which KH. [1992:268] glosses only as ‘room of the house where the beds and the hearth are’. Assuming this latter meaning to be secondary, this item may be compared with PEC * wazana ‘heart’ (Som. wad[aJne, Saho wadana ‘abdomen’, Baiso wodana, Or. onnee, etc., PHEC *wadzana ‘heart’ (Sidamo wadana, Hadiyya wadano, Buiji wodana, etc.). A. asew (CRo. Awiya sawi), Kunfal sew. This may be cognate with the clitic -su meaning ‘self [q.v.] found in Bilin, Chamir and Quara.

hearth

kanjala qamta madaja Re. records B. variant langela [= kangala} which he associates with kagal [KH. kaxala} ‘hearth-stone’. K. madaja is from Amh. mandaja.

heavy, be tak’zak’awjakaw yyizakwtX. zak’aw- and K. jakaw [y-] presuppose PNA *^akaw~. Re.[l887:338] attempts to connect B. tak’-, which is unlikely. He also compares “Agaumeder” suk- [= CRo. Awiya ezuq-, A. yizakw-t-]. B. tak - may possibly be related to Beja dig- ‘be heavy’. heel

tekas s ’abbanaw tarakaz kum X. s ’abbanaw is probably a derivative of 5 ’abb ‘sole of the foot’ [q.v.], though the ending -andw/-dnaw usually forms verbal nouns and a verb root *s ’abb- is not recorded.

Dictionary 83

K. tarakaz is from Amh. idem, as is CRo. Awiya tirikisi.

help

mayan

?aldla

heifer

kabkabPNA *kab~, (also in Kailina kab-). A. agez- is from EthSem., Amh. aggaza.

kab-

agez-

hen (see chicken) herd

mal, law

k ’am

morecc

B. law is evidently from the same root as lawi ‘cow’ [q.v.]. B. mal is from Ti. mal ‘property’ or Tna. mal ‘herd, livestock, property’.

herdsman, shepherd maxaxa maqa lad abalami PBil-Xam. *maq[aq]- (Re. Chamir rniqa, also CRo. Khamta meqS). Qu. has mdltanta, agent n. from malt- ‘look after (cattle)’ [q.v.], for which Re. records led, as in K. (CRo. led, Ap. lad). A. abalami is from Amh., abalam, abelam ‘royal herdsman’ (obsolete). here

nara/nat/nil anal/anil alla/alli anda All forms are built on the near demonstrative base *[?a]n~: the endings -ra and -t of B. are also found on some other adverbs: ?andara ‘there’, ?anc’adat ‘there’, ?dwat ‘where’, ?awat ‘upwards’, etc. The other languages add the locative case ending -I (A. -da)‘, K. alla/i < anli as still in Qu., and B. also has nil ‘here’.

hide, v.tr. tabscibstafs-/tassbefcPNA *tab-s- (causative): also Kailina t’abs-, Qu. tabs-. Re. B. also has dib-s- with voiced initial. The corresponding intransitive generally has the old passive -t formative: B. tabt-, X. cibt-, Qu. tabt-. Cf. PEC *c’uf- ‘close’ (Som. juf-[ey-], Or. c’uf-, Dobase c’up-, Gollango k’up-), PHEC *t’uf- ‘close’, *t’up’-d’- ‘close with a lid’ (Hadiyya t’uf-, Gedeo c’uf-, t’up’-, Sidamo c’uf-, t’u?-). Probably also elsewhere in AA: PChadic *t’ub- > *tub ’- ‘cover’ [Stolbova 1996:103], AEg. dbb ‘stop up, block’.

hide, leather, skin ganora qarbi/qabri kwarbay (as clothing) dabala dabalo (for sleeping on) wasaxa was ’a wasaya 1. B. ganora (pl-coll, gano) is from EthSem, Ti. gd.no, cf. also Beja galo ‘animal skin’. X. qarbi, etc., (also CRo. Khamta qarvbt) and K. kwarbay (also Re. Qu. karbe, qdrbe) are also used in the sense of ‘skin of the body’[q.v.]. 2. B. dabala, K. dabalo are from EthSem. 3. PNA *wVcay-a, also in Re. Qu. wusana [= wasarja].

84 A comparative dictionary, etc.

hill

k’um, aba daba kur g^araS', ?arora B. k’um (KH. ‘small hili’) is from EthSem, perhaps Gz. k’om ‘height’, but not particularly Tna. kwama, kuma ‘hill’ with non-ejective initial. B. larora is probably cognate with Ti. ?arori, var. ?arera ‘slope’ (‘Felshang’). For discussion of other items see ‘mountain’.

hips

yaw yu yaw tafi PA *yaw ‘hips, lower back’ [q.v.]. Cf. also Kunfal yewi ‘hips’. Elsewhere in AA: AEg.jw ‘hump-back’, PBerb. *ta-wuhi ‘camel’s hump, back’, Chadic (Ron *wuy ‘back’) [Takacs 1999:99].

hit

t’afambtaz-/t’aztaytasPA *tax-[s-/z-] : the K. (also Re. Qu tay-) form suggests a simple stem *tax-, whilst X. (also Kailina t ’az- and Khamta taz-) and A. would appear to be extended stems in origin (cf. the Sidamo form below). If this analysis is correct, cf. PEC *-tak’ / -tuk’ ‘touch, push, strike’ (Afar -ootok- ‘strike’, Or. tuk’- ‘touch’, Rend, tax- ‘push’, Dhaasanac ta?-, Sidamo ta?-is-, taay-s- ‘break’. Also Beja toA- ‘touch’. B. t’d'lamb- has cognates in Re. Chamir tab-/tab~, Qu. tamb-.

hoe honey

dabat

c’wara

goryi

saxara sara sayaya ydrgi PA *sayar- : also Kailina saqaya, Qu. sayya; also in A. cayari ‘bee’ (with unexpected initial c-), also CRo. Awiya Regard, but Kunfal sahar with s-

honey-wine, mead mid miz PNA *miz, from EthSem., Gz. mes.

hoof

doma

miz

saxwana saxwana daddy B. saxwana (Re. has zaguana with voiced initial) and X. saxwana are clearly related (also Re. Qu. sakand) though the correspondences s:s and x:x are not regular (but cf. the Amh. form which has the same s:s alternation). The term also appears elsewhere in EthSem, Gz. sakwana, Tna. sakwdna, Amh. sakwana ~ sakwana, Harari saxana, and is usually explained as being of Agaw origin. The root is also found in various languages of the Northern Ethiopian-Eritrean region as well as Northern Agaw and the EthSem languages of the area: Beja (Ro) sikwina, Afar duk’ano (Re., not in Parker & Hayward). Elsewhere in AA: if - Vna is a suffix in Cush., PChad. *sak- ‘leg’ [Stolbova 1996:124]. K. daday is from the root dad- ‘step, tread’ [q.v.].

Dictionary 85

horn

horse

gix ji PNA *gix : also CRo. Khamta gyi. K.jenj, cf. also Kunfaljanji.

gi

jenj

farda firza farza/Jarza firisi PNA *farz-a/farz-a : the term is ultimately of Sem. origin (PSem. *paras- > EthSem. faras, though Har. and many of the Gur. languages have faraz with a voiced final), Cognates are widespread throughout the Ethiopian language area: Som., Afar faras (perhaps directly from Arabic ?), Ox. farda, Konso farta, Arbore faraw, Dhaasanac faric, Harso paraso, Bayso farad, Sidamo farasso (pl. farado), Gamu fara, Koyra farazi, Yemsafaza, etc., all suggesting a proto-form *faraz- with final z like PNA and some EthSem. K. firisi appears rather to be directly from Amh. Jaras with regressive vowel harmony due to the A. nom. case suffix -i.

hot, warm, be barbartakwazbarPA *bar-: cf. perhaps also Ap. Qu. bula adj. ‘hot’. The latter is reminiscent of Re. Chamir bil- [= bal-] and Quara bal- [= bal-], meaning ‘boil’ [q.v.]. If these are cognate (i.e. *bVr- ~ *bVl-), cf. Saho bola ‘flame’, bolol- ‘boil, bum’, Som. belbel ~ belel ‘flame’, Beja balol ‘flame’. Note also PA *barbar- ~ *babar- ‘bum’ [q.v.]. K. takwaz- (also Ap. Qu. takwaz-, Re. takas-, and Re. B. takuad-) are from EthSem, Gz. takwasa, etc. Kailina has qaw y-; Re. Qu. also has wan y- and embelaw-.

house

lagan pan nag gan, -yo PA *gan : partially reduplicated in B., with I- replacing initial n-, for which cf. Kailina lag (Re. also records B. lin [= lag]). Kunfal geni (sic.) is probably misheard for *gani. PEC *min-/man- ‘house’ (Som. min ‘house’, Elmolo min, Rendille min, Or. mana, Konso mana, Sidamo, Hadiyya, Gedeo mine, Gawada mano, etc.). PSC *min- ‘house’ [Ehret 1980:158]. The Cushitic root may be cognate with AEg. mn ‘remain, stand firm’, PSem. *?mn ‘be firm’, Chadic (Ron mun ‘sit down, settle, live’, Sha mun ‘place’, Ngizim manu ‘wait’, Musgu mine ‘stay, be located’, etc.). Alternatively, cf. AEg.y>nn ‘create’ [Takacs 1999:395]. The A. bound form -yo is perhaps cognate with PNA *kdw ‘people, village’ [q.v.].

how

?dwaxa/ away/awas way wata/wotga ?dwaxra Formed on the interrogative bases *?aw- ~ *wV- [see ‘who’, ‘what’], to which the non-productive suffix *-y[a] is added in B., X. (*-y > -y) and K. (> -y). Ap. Qu. has waga ~ waraga, lit. ‘like what?’ with the old comparative case suffix, as in A, wot-ga. Kailina wigi probably has the same suffix. The variant wdta has the regular Awngi comparative case suffix -ta.

86 A comparative dictionary, etc.

warikaw/ waqa/waqa waxa/wax wuya warikawt Formed on the interrogative base *w V- [see ‘how’ above], to which is added the non­ productive suffix *-qa in X., K., and A. B. wari-kaw is lit. ‘what crowd? [Re. ‘von was menge?’ 1887:231]; for kaw see under ‘people’.

how much, many

hump (cattle) sana Sana Sana Re. B. has zana and Chamir zana. The word also occurs in Amh. as Sanna ~ Sanna.

hundred lix la liy liy PA *liy ~ *lay: also CRo. Khamta la, Ap. Qu. Hay ~ liay (Re. Qu. Hen, Hn), Kunfal

liy. hungry, be

tagart-, gadarzdakartmaraktka?artIt is impossible to reconstruct a common PNA form, though B. tagar-t-, X. gadar-zand K. dakar-t- (also Khamta gidir-, Qu. dakar-S-) are obviously related to one another, and to Amh. caggar ‘difficulty, distress’ / caggar ‘famine, deprivation’ which is clearly a loan from Agaw. Re. also records “Agaumidir” texri. In light of the latter and the loan in Amh., perhaps tagar- is the original form of the root, as in B., with metathesis and voicing to gadar- in X. and Khamta, and transposition of voicing in K. and Qu. dakar-. A. marakt- is a deriv. of maria ‘famine, hunger’ [q.v].

hunt

?dddan-, addanadanka&k’ayB., X., and K. are from EthSem, Amh. addana. The B. form with initial ? is interesting, as cognates in both Ti. hadna and Tna. hadana, the normal EthSem sources for B., have initial h and a non-geminate medial.

husband rag gwarya gwdya -ara B. ray is unusual as initial r- is normally confined to loanwords from EthSem., yet there is no obvious EthSem source for the term, and the final -y is also odd for a loan from EthSem. Re. relates it to EthSem, Gz. rafawa ‘join, yoke’, which seems somewhat forced. X. gwarya (Khamta guri ‘signore’), K. gwaya are from EthSem, Old Amh. gweta ‘master, lord’ (Mod. Amh. geta). See also under ‘master’. A. -ara (bound form with pronoun prefixes) cf. Som. arad ‘married woman’ with a fem. suffix, and perhaps also Rendille eera ‘father’s brother’, and with a change of gender HEC *ar-e ‘wife’ and Beja aar ‘female relatives’. [Blazek 2003: 310-311],

Dictionary 87

hyena

waka wik’a PNA *wak-a ~ *wax-a - *wax-a :

waya/waya aywi Re. also notes B. wa'ka with different

vocalization. Also in Kailina wdqa. Cf. perhaps Afar wakri ‘jackal’, Saho wakari, wakkari (according to dialect), if -r is a suffix. A. aywi (also in CRo. Awiya egtii), cf. Kunfal ewey.

I I

ice

Kem. /Iwm. an/yan an an/ani [oblique] yayaay-/yiy^~ PA *?an!?an : *ya- [obi.]: X. yan appears to have the oblique form of the pronoun prefixed, as also occurs on ‘you’ [q.v.]; A. ani has the subject case suffix added. PEC *?ani - *?anu, Beja ?ane, [see Appleyard 1986:203-4 and passim for discussion] and common AA: PSem. *?ana, alongside longer form *?anaaku, which has cognates in NEg.jnk, PBerb. *anakkw.

Bil.

Xam.

?dn/?an

?axaxa barad yayaya syayi PA *?ayay-. Kailina has aqa, i.e. without the first syllable. X. barad (idem in Re.) is from Amh. or Tna. barad.

ill (see sick) inherit

law-, (= a wife) wirswarasB.X.K.A. from EthSem. Gz. warasa, etc.

inside

?ank’ay aqa luda ay PA *?anq~, if A. ay is cognate with B.X.Qu., though the loss of the nasal would be irregular. Qu. anxali with locative suffix -li, and CRo. Qu. anye besides lud, as in K. For A. ay cf. Awiya agas, used as a postposition, versus agasi ‘inside’ with a different suffix, which CRo. connects [1905:141] to the root meaning ‘top’ [cf. ‘head’].

wards-

wores-

jax-, zaqjays~ lay'ybajalPNA *^dq-/^dy-. IL. jays- appears to have a pass.-ref. extension. But note Qu. jay(similarly CRo. Kemant). B. bajal- [also ‘spoil, go bad’] (Re. has baddal-) also CRo. K. badal-, is from EthSem, Tna., Amh. badddla.

insult, vb.

intestines jar zala jir zar PA *^ar-. Also in Khamta zila, Qu. jar. Re. records a Bilin variant with velar stop initial, gir (= gar), which he sees as the original form as he compares it with Or. garaa ‘stomach’. However, palatalization is not a pan-Agaw process, but occurs

88 A comparative dictionary, etc.

sporadically in individual languages. The other Agaw forms all point quite regularly to a PA *jar~, and so the B. form gir must be an isolated “hypercorrection”. Perhaps PEC *zir--. Saho diro ‘hip’, Dhaasanac zir ‘rib’, Burji dirri ‘backbone’, though the semantic link is a little weak. Elsewhere in AA perhaps also AEg. z3.wt ‘loins’ [Takacs 1997:228]. iron (or metal) saxa barat saya ber B. and K. have close cognates in Qu., but without reflexes elsewhere it is difficult to reconstruct the initial, s < PNA *c ? Re. [1887:320] sees the B. noun as a derivation of the root sak-/sax- (his saq-/saq~) ‘hold, take’ [see discussion under ‘have’], with the semantic sequence ‘possessions’ > ‘weapon’ > ‘iron’, citing a parallel in Quara. However, evidence from Amh., suggests the semantic chain is more likely the reverse: ‘iron’ > ‘metal’ > ‘anything made of metal, esp. rifle, fetters, etc.’. X. barat is from Amh. barat; A. ber (cf. Awiya biari) is interesting as all the EthSem forms have a third radical consonant t. Besides X. barat, Re. also records Chamir acin [= ac’an] from Tna. has’in-, note also Khamta aqina/akina with an unexpected medial. itch, vb.

J jackal

yakwas-

sisBiL

Xam.

Kem.

Awn.

taxwla bit’la takwla wugli Re. B. has a variant with different vocalization tagla = taxwla, which with K. is cognate with EthSem. Gz.Tna.Amh. takwla, Ti. takla. Khamta has takula, and similarly Awiya takuelt, both glossed as ‘lupo’, and Re. Qu. taxula ‘Wolf, i.e. the Ethiopian “wolf’ or jackal.

jar (large) jan gan gan gan The common source is obviously Amh. gan. The palatalization of the initial in B. is unexplained. The word also occurs elsewhere in Cushitic: Or. gaanii.

jaw

ndkak magaga mangaga halk’wam B. nakakis from Ti. The second B. term [KH. 1992:51] is glossed by Re. \halqum, 1887; 193] as ‘throat’ and is compared to Ti. halk’am. The X. and K. items are from Amh. mangaga. The term occurs fairly widely across the Ethiopian area (e.g. Or. mangaagaa, Saho mingaaga, Burji mangaagaa, Gamo mangaagille, Wolaytta mangaaga, etc.).

jump (leap)

bangwar-

bagur-

bart-

kungy-, parryB. bangwar- is denom. from bangwa ‘leap’ with the refl.-pass, extension in -r; X. is obviously cognate, though the simple noun is not recorded.

Dictionary 89

K. bart- (not in Qu., for which Re. records fansar-) may also be a fossilized refl.pass. form {-t preserved after r), and be cognate with A. par^-, allowing for the unusual b/p correspondence. If so, these look like reflexes of the Cush, and AA roots for ‘fly’ (v.) [q.v.].

K

Bit.

Xam.

Kem.

Awn.

kidney

baskwi kulalit B. baskwi var. basakw. K. kulalit (also in Qu.) is from Amh. kulalit.

kill

kawk’awku-, kumal- ku-, kwPA *kaw-. The K. variant kumal- is a compound with mal- ‘throw (down)’. The unexpected glottalized £’ in X. has a parallel in Kailina k’waw-/k’uw- (1** *gawr. PEC *gilb-/gulb- (Afar gulub, Bayso gilib, Som. jilib, Oromo jilba, Boni silub, Konso kilpa, Sidamo gulucco { *?aq-. Kunfal ah- may represent a misheard *aq- or *ay-. Cf. Som. -aq (prefix verb). Comparison with another Som. root, eeg- ‘look at’ [e.g. Lamberti & Haberland 1988:59] and its widespread EC cognates [PEC *?eeg-] is sometimes made, cf. especially Sidamo extended form egenn- ‘know’, Note also Som. og-aad- (imp. ogow) ‘know’. It seems unlikely that these EC roots in -g are connected to the PA root and Som. -aq in spite of the semantic similarity, though ‘see’ and ‘know’ do constitute a single semantic range across many Cushitic languages. The Agaw root is probably the origin of EthSem ?wk’ ‘know’ (Gz. Tok’a, Amh. awwak’a, Harari ak’a.)

L

BiL

Xam.

Kem.

Awn.

lack, not have bbbai?PNA *b~. Cf. PEC *ba?~ ‘be destroyed, lost’ (Som. ba?- ‘be wretched, wrong’, Bayso ba- ‘be lost, spoilt’, Sidamo ba?-, Hadiyya bi?-, Buiji bay-, etc.). Perhaps also Hadiyya -be? ‘not’, be?e ‘is not’; also Beja baa ‘not’. Elsewhere in AA, cf. perhaps AEg. bw ‘not’, and the widespread Chadic negative marker in b/w (Hausa ba). A. at?- is from Amh. at’t’a Tack, not have’. lake, sea bahar bahar, bar bar bar All from EthSem: B. bahar from Ti., Tna. bahar, the others from Amh. bahar, bar.

lame (see limp) land, country bara zaba baya bati (1) PA *bar-a, (2) PA *bat-a. A set of similar words occurs in all Agaw languages with the meaning ‘earth, soil’ [q.v.].: B. bata, X. bat’, K. bi beside baya/biya. To some extent the senses of ‘earth’ = (1) ‘land’ and (2) ‘soil’ seem to be confused, except in B. where bara (1) and bata (2) are kept distinct. A. bati can only derive from PA *bat-[a], as can X. bat’ (also Kailina bat’a glossed as Amh. maret) and K. baya (also in Qu.) and bi. B. bara could derive from PA *bar-a or *bat-a, but probably continues the former directly, whilst bata is from the latter with the medial -t- unusually preserved perhaps to maintain the semantic distinction that is blurred elsewhere in Agaw. For X. zaba see discussion under ‘earth’. For Cushitic and other cognates also see discussion under ‘earth’.

language gaba gaba kwankwa kwankwi B. gaba, X. gaba (also Qu. gab) are from the vb. root ‘speak’ [q.v.]. K kwankwa, A. kwankwi (also Khamta quanqua) are from Amh. k’wank’wa.

Dictionary 91

late, be dambitdayyaddysay[= stay behind] B. dambit- is a denominal formation from dambi ‘after, behind’ [q.v.]. X. dayy- may be a variant form of what Re. records as [i]edag- ‘stay behind’ with stem variant ieda- before the causative extension \iedas-) and thus cognate with K. aday-, Re. Qu. aday- and from EthSem. xdg, Amh. addaga in the sense of‘leave behind’. laugh

?ank’waraqwaryaxwyayoyyPA *?aqwa/a- > PNA *?aqwa/a-t- (with refl.-pass, extension), though if so, the nasal in B. is unexplained, as is the loss of a/a in K. (the same in Qu.); Kem. also yaxway[Sasse p.c.]. Khamta has aquor-. A. ayo^- (also with old refl.-pass, extension) looks like a reduplicated form, *?aqwaqw[aJ-t-.

lead, guide marhk’awkawgusB. is from Ti. marha. X., K (also in Qu.) suggest PNA *kaw-. Cf. Beja kiw- ‘lead’. leaf

?asa has ’a asa yaci PA *xac- (?). The initial is uncertain; A. y- usually corresponds to B k ’-, and x- in X and K., and h- is usually indicative of an EthSem loan. Possibly cognate from ECush is Konso haassa. This may however ultimately be a borrowing, as other languages at the northern end of the Konsoid dialect chain have a different term, e.g. D’irayta laappa. One might also note Gedeo hoc-co ‘ensete leaf. Vaguely similar items meaning ‘leaf and/or ‘ear’ also occur in a number of Omotic languages: Wolaytta haytta, Basketo ayca, Gofa ayc-ce, Gamo hayc-ce.

leam, kantkantkintcinis-, [become accustomed] desPA *kin- (var. *kan-) + -t-. The variant vocalization is required to explain A. kant‘see’, if this is cognate as seems likely. The same vocalic alternation is seen in the probable ECush, cognate [PEC *-k’iin/-k’aan\ Som. -qaan/-qiin (prefix vb.) ‘know’, reflecting different aspectual stems. Also in Beja -kaan ‘know’. The -t suffix is the refl.-pass, extension as can be seen from the corresponding causative forms: B. kans-, X. kans-, K. kins-. In A the stem has become fixed as kant-, and the causative meaning ‘show’ is built on it, kancacc-. Also in Kailina kind-, but note Khamta kanest- apparently built on the causative stem. A. des- is also ‘study’ and is probably cognate with X. das-rj- ‘get used to’ [q.v.]. leave, abandon, v.tr. barisbarsbaybaycleave, go away, v.intr. barbarbaybdyPA *bat-. The final consonant is evidently an old root extension (ref.-pass.) if the EC cognates proposed below are correct, that has become lexicalized, hence the causative/transitive forms built on the base incorporating the final consonant. The regular A. stem allomorphs bat-/bay-/bat confirm that the original final consonant was

92 A comparative dictionary, etc.

-t, as does the Khamta form bat-. PEC *bah- ‘go out’ (Som. bah-, Boni bah-, Bayso be-, Elmolo pe-, Or. bah-/ba?~, Konsopa-ss- ‘rescue’, D’iraytapa-ss-ad’- ‘escape’, Burji ba-) Cf. also Beja -baay ‘go’. Also in Omotic: Wolaytta, Gamo b- ‘go’, Zayse bay‘migrate’, Yemsa bey- ‘leave’. leech

?anka/?anka ak’k’a anka PNA *?ank~. The alternative B form Panka is recorded in KH. Re Chamir has egga, iegga with unexplained voicing k>g. Also in Afar and Saho inka? ‘louse’, perhaps as a loan from Agaw?

sangab, cangeyd gari PNA *cangab-, in A with a different final consonant. Also in Kailina 5 ’agab and in Qu. sangaba. K. gari is from Amh. gara, though the different final vowel is difficult to explain.

left, left side

sangab

s ’agab

leg (see foot) lend

PaddaxadadawsaddysgusThe B, X and K forms (also Qu ade-z-) are clearly cognate, though reconstruction of the final consonant [variously x-w-y] of the underlying root is difficult. To the stem with the causative extension meaning ‘lend’ corresponds the stem with the refl.passive extension [Paddaxar-, adawt-, adayt- also A. gust- meaning ‘borrow’ [q.v.]]. Evidently from EthSem, Gz. Todaya. For A gus- cf. Shinasha guss-.

leopard yaba bajwa yaba canay PNA *yab~. Also in Qu. yaba (Re. Qu. [y]iba). X. bajwa = Re Chamir becewa. Khamta has a further term, lagua. For Awiya CRo. records kuerdida. lick

IanslaslancPA *lanc~. The loss of -n- in K is unexpected, and the form may be influenced by Amh. lasa ‘lick’. An EthSem origin is certainly behind Khamta lahs-, cf. Tna. lahasa. In some Cushitic languages the verb ‘lick’ is a denominative formation from ‘tongue’ (e.g. in Oromo and many HEC languages), and indeed Re. compares B. Ians- [his lanz-] with lank’i [his Idnqi} ‘tongue [q.v.]. The two roots cannot however be immediately related.

lie down lam ygadam ydimdtyuryB. lam y-, Re. has lum y-. X. gadam y- is from Amh. gaddamm ala from tagaddama lie down’.

Dictionary 93

lie, deceive

barjwit-

assut-, wos?lie, n. barj hasat waraya assu B. bay, etc., looks to have a cognate in PSam *been ‘lie’ (Som., Arbore been, Rendille been, Boni bee). X hasaw-, etc., (Khamta hasuw-, Kailina xasut- ^A-i;) and A. assu, etc., (also Re. Qu. asu) are from EthSem hsw (Gz. hasawa and n. hasat). A. wot?- is from Amh. wassa. hasaw-

wary-

life

lankara Jawt' nans For B ?ankara see under ‘soul’, and for X.fawt’ see under ‘breath’. Re. B [1887:118] also glosses B.fixwat [hisfiugut\as ‘life’ as well as ‘soul’, ‘spirit’ and ‘breath’. Re. Qu. has enkera (cf. B.) and nafes, the latter from EthSem, Amh. nafs ‘soul’. The otherwise unexplained K. nans may be an unusual development of the latter, as well.

light, n.

tixwa saka barxan PNA *tixw-. Also in Qu. tawa, Re Qu. flu, tthii. K. barxan (also Re. Qu. berhari) is from Amh. barhan.

light, be (not heavy) k’alalqallk’alal ystzser [adj.] B, X and K are from EthSem, k’ll (Gz. k’alala, Ti. k’alla, Amh. k’allald, adj. k’allal).

lightning

marak

mark, mebraki mabrak’ PNA *mark--. B. marak [pl.], (also Re. B. barq, Chamir mirqa, berqa), K. mark (also Re. Qu. merk), from EthSem. brk’, and hence originally with initial b- *bark- as in Re. Bilin and Chamir. The same variant appears in B. barak’- ‘flash’. K. mabrak’, A. mebraki are directly from Amh. mabrak’. marqa

limp, be lame hankashakasankassinqyB. hankas-, X. hakas- from Ti., Tna. hankasa, K. ankas- from Amh. anakkasa. Qu. has wans- [nom. wansa ‘lame (person)’] (also in Re.). lion

gdmana abza gamana wuji PNA *gaman-. Cf. PEC *ga[a]mm- ‘mane’ (Som. gammaan ‘maned animal’, Arbore gamm ‘neck (of cattle)’, Or. gaammaa ‘mane (horse)’, Sidamo gaamma, etc.) Also borrowed into Amh. gamma, which is the origin of X. gama ‘lion’s mane’. The root is very widespread within Ethiopia, occurring also in Omotic: Wolaytta gaamma ‘mane’, gaammuwa ‘lion’, etc. [see Lamberti & Sottile 1997:372-3 formore details]. X. abza (also Khamta aviya, Kailina abaza) is from EthSem., Tna. ?anbasa, Amh. anbasa.

94 A comparative dictionary, etc.

lip

kanfar kifar kamfar kinfiri PA *kanfar~, from EthSem., Gz. kanfar, etc. The Semitic origin of the latter is contested, the only reasonable Sem. cognate being Arabic kinfira ‘tip of the nose’ [see Leslau 1991:287 for discussion, where he rejects comparison with Akkadian kipru ‘edge, shore’ and Mehri karfif^vp'].

little, small [q.v.] ganay at’ag daraytajy] calli B. ganay is from Ti. ganay ‘small child’ [Littmann & Hd&er 1962:589]. X. at’ar} (Chamir [iJefn, [i]eqin, ieqin, also Khamta dtni), also Re. Qu. iyen,is compared by Re. with EthSem. Ti k’dt’in, Amh. k’ac’c’an ‘thin’, which seems unlikely. The Xamtanga, etc., and Quara items suggest a PNA *?atan. How, or if X. ajar} ‘short’ is related to this root is not clear. K. daragtajy] (subjectival rel. of vb. daragt- ‘be little’) is also used in the sense of ‘short’ [q.v.], to which cf. B. daragax” (yb. darag- ‘shorten’) and A. deden ‘short’.

live, exist, be alive sagwin- (= be) wan- (= be) B. sag- is also glossed by KH. as mandart- ‘live, dwell, inhabit’, and Re. glosses sanas ‘bleiben’, and compares Chamir sinek- ‘rest, stay’, which he derives from Tna. s ’anaxa ‘wait’. For X win-, K. wan-, etc., see ‘be2’. live, dwell [ q.v.]

sank’i

liver

saq

sanxi, dolet gubat X. saq suggests a different vocalization,

PNA *sanq~. Also in Kailina, saq. *sanq-/sanq~. K. gubat is from Amh. gubbat', CRo. Awiya also has gubbati. Re. Qu. has hebsa, which is also recorded by Flad as hebsha.

c’aTan-/ s’ansancariysahanB. c’aTan- andsahan- (both in KH., qa‘an-/ca’an- in Re.) represent different reflexes of EthSem. s ’Tn, Gz. s ’aTana, Ti. s ’aTna, Tna. 5 ’aland. The other languages better reflect an origin in Amh. c’ana.

load, vb.

locust

lanbat’a abta ambaya anbiti All from EthSem., Gz lanbat’a, Tna. lanbat’a, Amh. anbat’a. The development t’ > t >y in K. (Qu. idem) suggests an ancient borrowing.

long, tall, be PA *lagaz-.

lagad-

ligz-

lagaz-

leges-

Dictionary 95

look after (cattle, fields) ?akabhayymaltmandyB. ?akab- (Re. akab-) is from EthSem. Wb: Ti. Tak’ba, Tna. Tak’k’aba. X. hayy- (Chamir xay-). K. malt- (Qu. malt-/melt-), cf. B. maxalt- ‘watch, look at’. CRo. [1912:228] regards the K.Qu. forms as refl-pass, extensions of underlying *mel~, to which he compares a Saho-Afar bal- Took at’ (? = -uble ‘see’). Aside from the inaccurate citation of the Saho-Afar, the existence of B. maxalt- renders this impossible. It seems likely that A. mane?- is cognate, but if this is correct it makes reconstructing a common proto-form difficult.

lose

TaggardasdaccB. ?aggar- is from Ti. Taggara. Kem. and Aw. are causative derivatives of the root ‘be lost, be destroyed’ [see under ‘destroy’].

lost, be (see destroyed) louse

bata batta bata yinti PNA *batt~. The geminate -tt- is required not only to explain the same in Xam., but also to account for the absence of the change t > y in Kem. (also Qu. bata, Kailina bit ’a. Khamta bit). A. yinti, also Awiya inti; CRo. [1905:146] attempts to relate this to the Northern Agaw term, which seems highly unlikely.

love, like ?ankdlk’anyakalankanPA *?ankan-, with shift n > I in Bilin and Kemant-Quara. Kailina has ak’an- [M*>], Chamir eqan-/ekan-/iekan- (= ak’dn-/akan-). Cf. Afar kihin- Tove, be loving, happy’, also Beja -khan ‘love’. The Agaw root contains an old refl.-passive prefix *?an- [see ‘put, place’ for a similar instance.] lung(s)

M

sambi sib samba samb PA *samb-/samb~. Re. Chamir has sibba. PC *somb-/samb- (Som. sambab, Rend. sombob, Arbore sombot, Or. somba, Sidamo sombo, etc.). The item is also borrowed into EthSem., Gz. sanbuT/sanbu?, Tna. samba?, Amh. samba, etc. Elsewhere in AA: Beja sambut ‘lung’; Ometo senfo ‘heart’; PSem. *sinb/p(Akkadian sinibtu ‘skin around the lungs’, Hebrew simpbn ‘bronchial tubes’; AEg. snb.t ‘breast, chest’ [see Takacs 1999:107-8 for further details.] Bil.

Xam.

Kem.

Awn.

mad, possessed gann-uxw/gann-ax” gwaxdy goyiti B. gannuxw (yb. gannit- ‘be mad, possessed’) [Re. gann-uy, gann-lt-] is from ganan ‘spirit, demon’, itself from EthSem., Gz. ganen, etc.

96 A comparative dictionary, etc.

K. g"dxdy (also Qu. gwaxe, Re. Qu. guhe) and A. goyiti (also Awiya guoqifi) suggest PA *gwayat-.

^afan taz/t’az arfa Also in EthSem., Ti. Tafun, Tna. faffun. K. arfa cf. also Qu. arfa.

maize

make (see under ‘do’) malaria

male

sama wiba/waba waba nadad B. sama is glossed by Re. [1887:324] as ‘exertion, sickness’ and not specifically ‘malaria’, as in KH. Re. compares it with Chamir ^am-t- ‘toil, exert o.s.’ [= s’amt-] (also $dma ‘exertion, hardship’) [see X. 5 ’amr- ‘work, toil’]. Both are from EthSem., Gz. s ’ama. X. wiba, K. waba are from Amh. waba. A. nadad is from Amh. nadad ‘fever’. nas-axw

as-dw (human),nasaya, ysrji, c ’an (animal) kin can (1) PNA *nas[a]~ ‘male (of humans)’: the Xam. form is surely related, but the absence of the initial nasal is difficult to explain. Perhaps *nasa- > *ansa- > asa.-. Kem. nasaya, pl. ndsak, seems to have an additional suffix, but cf. Qu. ndsa. Elsewhere in AA possibly PSem. *[?V]nas- ‘man’ (Arabic ?ins, ?unas (coll.), Hebrew Fnos, Akkadian nisi, etc.) (2) PA *kin- ‘male (of animals)’. For A. yarji see ‘man, male’.

?axir, ajara ir/yir aqi ?addam PNA *?axir, with irregular pl. *?ak (B. ?ak, X. ak’, K. iyya/iyyari), suggesting that the root is PA *?ax- < Pre-Agaw **?ik-, pl. **?ikk~, to which a singulative or individualizing suffix is added in the singular. Xam. ajara shows strengthening of the medial (cf. also Khamta agir, pl agiru) and subsequent palatalization. Kailina has ayir with the same development *x > 0/y as in Kem-Qu. The root *?ax- is perhaps the same as PA *?Vx- ‘be’ [q.v.]. B. ?addam is from Ti. ?addam. A. aqi (regular pl. aqka) is perhaps from the same root as [y]aq- ‘know’ [q.v.].

man, person

man, male garwa galwa garwa garji PNA *garw~. The shift r > I occurs in Xam. and Khamta. Cf. perhaps PEC *gor-/ger- ‘people’ (Or. jara, Buiji joora ‘family’, Elmolo gura, Dobace koro, etc.) A. rjarji is not recorded either in Kunfal or in Awiya.

Dictionary 97

many, much gari-w [pl] bac’ak’ [pl] aj-u [pl] menc many, be bajaxbajmincy(1) B. gari-w (m.sg. gari-xw ‘much’) is probably connected with the PNA root *gar‘be strong, powerful, capable’ [see under ‘able, be’]. Re. also records bajagaux [=bajdxaxw\ from the vb. root, which is not in KH. as an adjective. (2) PNA *bdjax- : Xam. bac’ak’ is a nominal form meaning ‘multitude, large quantity’ [= Re. Chamir bifiq pl. of bijeqa ‘crowd’] and not an adjectival form [as is Chamir bijeqau}', the same usage is noted by Re. The PNA root is from EthSem. bzx, Gz. bazxa ‘be many’. K. aju (also in Qu. q/aw) is glossed by CRo. [1912:162] as a substantive, where he also notes a vb. stem aji-t- ‘be too much’ and compares the equally unexplained Khamta eksat ‘many’.

market

Zadaga araya ayya The NAgaw terms are all related, though it is not possible to reconstruct a common form in accordance with regular sound changes. B. Tadaga [Re. has adaga = ?adaga] conforms with other Eritrean/North Ethiopian terms: Ti. fadaga, Tna. Zadaga, Afar Tadaaga, Saho ?adaaga. Xam. araya (also Chamir araya, Khamta aryd) and Kem. ayya (also Qu., Kailina aya) all suggest a common form *ar[a]ya, which is evidently a development of the more archaic form seen in Bilin. In Awiya CRo. records giavati, to which he compares “Dambiya” gabod. The word is clearly cognate with Amh. gabaya, which is a reflex of the Southern Ethiopian areal term (Or. gabayaa, gabaa, Som. gabaye, Yemsa gaba, Shinasha gawiya, Kafa gabiyo, etc.), though the I of the Awiya/Dambiya forms is puzzling. kaxan k’ayan/qaydn kayan kaxant-Zkaxans- t’aws-Zt’aws- kayant-,

tutr/i tuty-, faymicPNA *kaxan-. B. kaxant- ‘get married (of a man)’, kaxans- ‘get married (of a woman)’. Re. Chamir also records a vb. form, kiyan-t- (Xam. t’aws-Zt’aws- is the caus. of‘enter’ [q.v.], a caique on Amh. agabba ‘marry’. Qu. (Ap. and Re.) has a similar form, taws- ‘get married (of a man)’, taws- ‘get married (of a woman)’. CRo. Khamta has a different root: sir- (vb.) [seri ‘bridegroom’, serya ‘bride’] ultimately from EthSem. srgw[for discussion see under ‘bride’]. Ap. Kem./by- is apparently the same as CRo. Kem. [yiwind] Jaw- ‘get married (of a man)’, which he contrasts with kiyant- ‘get married (of a woman, or of both parties)’.

marriage, wedding marry

master, lord ?adara adara adara adri The term exists as a more or less common form across Agaw (A. adri shows the expected vowel harmony *ader- + -i > *adiri and syllable reduction > adri.) Re. Chamir also records iedera [= adara} with the expected change a > a. The term is also used in Xam/Chamir (and in Kem-Qu. with Isg. poss. (yadara) in the meaning

98 A comparative dictionary, etc.

‘God’. B. has a fem. derivative with prefixed t-\ tadara ‘mistress, lady’. Re. [1887:15] wonders whether the origin is EthSem., and compares especially Tna. hadari as noted by Ludolf in the meaning ‘dominus’. measure, vb. makarlikmawrlityB. is from EthSem., mkr, Gz. makara, as is Kem-Qu. mawr- which suggests an earlier *mdxwar- (as CRo. Kem. ma.qua.r-) with labialization perhaps influenced by Amh. mokkara ‘try, test’, itself a specific development of the roor mkr, which also has the sense of ‘test, try out’.

Xam. lik- (Re. Chamir has likk-) and A. lik?- are from Amh. lakka ‘measure’. meat, flesh saxa siya saya/siya assi PNA *sax~. A. assi (also Kunfal es) rather than being the direct continuation of the PA root is more likely borrowed from, or better, influenced by an Omotic source (cf. Yemsa asa, Gamo aso, Mocha ?acco, etc.). The PA root would at first sight appear to be connected with PEC *so?~ ‘meat’ (e.g. Som. so?, Bayso soo, Dhaasanac su, Or. fooni, D’irayta soha, etc.) though a corrpespondence *x : *? would be unexpected. Perhaps another PEC root, *sa£- ‘cow’ (as the provider of meat par excellence?) is involved here. (Cf. Som. sa?, Rendille sax, Arbore se?, Or. sa?a, Sidamo saa, etc.) There is some evidence for a sporadic *x : correspondence [see ‘fire’]. Cf. also BejasPa ‘cow’ and sa ‘meat’. The Agaw root *sax-a is perhaps the origin of EthSem., Gz. saga ‘meat’, etc., though the medial g is unexpected; perhaps Pre-Agaw **sa?a > Gz. saga. Note, however, Afar/Saho saga ‘cow’ with medial g, as the reflex of PEC *sa?-.

medicine tala tala tala PNA *tal-a. CRo. Khamta has tala with different vocalization. Re. [1887:338] compares Afar dayla ‘medical treatment’, to which Buiji dalee ‘medicine’ may in turn be compared. CRo. Awiya records eju ‘medicine’. diw-, dimqassaranttamtarj?ararsB. diw- also has the meaning ‘wait for, stay’; and ?arars- is the reciprocal derived form of ?ar- ‘find’ [q.v.]. In addition to the diverse forms above, Qu. has angalant-.

meet, v.intr.

mercy, have saxantsaqsaxwayCRo has Kem. sahue- [= saxwe~] with different vocalization in the first syllable. middle

nabaka

nabay

kac

Dictionary 99

PNA *ndbak-/*nabdx-. Chamir uses gebar [= Xam. gsbdr ‘half [q.v.]] in the sense of ‘middle’. Re. [1887:280] suggests a borrowing from EthSem. nfk’, Gz. nafk’ ‘middle’.

milk, n.

sab s’ab sab ayosi PNA *cab-/cab-. Also in Kailina s ’ab. Cerulli [1951:491] also records Awiya sa. The term may be Cush., if Beja -sfii ‘drink milk’ is cognate. There are also similar forms in Sem., Modem South Arabian: Soqotri shof ‘milk’, Mehri saxaf ‘drink milk’, saxof ‘milk’. The resemblance may be a coincidence, as the Agaw affricate *c would not be the usual correspondence of Beja s - or indeed the MSA lateral s. There are further similar forms in Omotic, in Kafa languages: Kafa sab[b]~ ‘milk’ vb., Mocha saabbi-, also Yemsa saabo ‘milk’ n., Shinasha Saab- ‘milk’ vb. The NAgaw term is borrowed into Tna. s ’aba ‘milk’.

milk, vb. ?angasqwastabaygoryB. ?angas-, pass, langar-, indicate that the underlying root is ?ang~. Re. also notes a different term bas-d-, which KH. (under the variant form basar-) glosses as ‘sip milk from the hand as soon as it is milked’. He further suggests a connection between the former root and ?angwi ‘breast, nipple, udder’, though the absence of labialization would be unexpected. Kem. tabay- is the same as CRo. Kem. taba ’- (also Re. Qu. tabarar- [sic]). With A. gor^- cf. CRo. Awiya guar-.

millet [m»¥] t ’qf tab taba/tab tafi [poa abyssinica] ^\*tab-/taf~. Also in Re. Chamir as tab/tab/dab', Kailina fate; Kunfal tavi. The term is also borrowed into EthSem., Tna. t’af, Amh. t’ef.

millet ["TiTA] madil mayl mayla [sorgum vulgare] The Bil. term appears cognate, but if so must proceed from *mazil, whilst Xam. mayl and Kem. mayla (also Qu. mela, CRo. Kem. mayla) probably represent a development of Amh. masalla. Kunfal has subi. millet (finger) [OTO] dagus dawsa dawsa [eleusine tocusso] The Bil. term is the same as Ti., Tna. dagusa, whereas the others show a weakening of the medial g. Also in Kunfal, dagusi', Amh. dagusa.

millstone kaxana damana mayan wufci With Kem. mayan cf. Ap. Qu. mayan, mayan, Re. Qa.magln, mahin. Khamta has madid, which is from Tna., idem. A. wufti is from Amh. waft ’o.

Dictionary 101

k’as, garaba gwab, sagal gwarab kasag/kasaga morning, spend the k’ask’asxas(1) PNA *kas-/kas-\ *qas~. Re. has kas-/kes- as well as qas-, but KH. has only k’as-. Kailina has k’asagi ‘morning’, Chamir kesin, Khamta qas, Qu. kasag ‘dawn’ as in Kem. Also problematical is Kem. xas- as the verb root, which further suggests that *qas- needs to be reconstructed as well as *kas-/kas-, such a form would also be the origin of the Bil. root in k’. See discussion under ‘dawn’ for this root. (2) PNA *gwarab-/gwarab~: Re. records B. gudrab. Also in Khamta gerdva. KemQu. gwab (Qu. gweb) shows medial r>y> 0. Re [1887:160] compares inter alia Beja krum [= Roper kirum ‘the period immediately preceding dawn’] but the semantics aside, the fit is far from exact. morning

mother

gana

-jana, gana/kwdna cwa, -cu -anya PNA *gan-a: the Xam. form -jana (always bound with a poss. pron.) shows palatalization of g > j. Without palatalization, but with the change a>i> a is Kailina gina, and Khamta -gna (yigna in CRo. = ‘my mother’.) The Kem. variant kwana is probably a back-formation from the irregular pl. kon recorded by CRo., and has a parallel in Flad’s “Falashan”: kona. It is possible that these forms in A'7/t+rounded vowel derive from the Agaw root meaning ‘woman’ [q.v.] rather than the root ‘mother’ discussed here. The PNA root *gan- cannot be related to any other Cushitic term for ‘mother’. There are formally similar items in S’aamakko, gaan-te ‘woman, wife’ and perhaps Boraana Oromo k’enaa ‘mistress, queen’, but given the narrow geographical distribution these are probably of Omotic origin: Ometo genne ‘queen’, Kafa genne ‘titolo del Re caffino’, Mocha ganne ‘woman, lady’, Shinasha genna (in Beke), Chara gents. Xam. -anya, also Chamir ina [= aga] seems part of a range of similar items in several North Ethiopian languages: Tna. ?anno, Afar ina (also Saho), as well as Amh. annat. A. cwa (bound form -cu), also Kunfal cewa. CRo. Awiyayicu is ya-cu ‘my mother’.

mother-in-law [HuMo] naxwaxwi hamasa tansin B. naxwaxwi (also ‘sister/daughter-in-law’ according to Re., but ‘husband’s mother’ only in KH.) is paralleled by naxwaxw ‘father-in-law’ [q.v. for discussion]. X. hamasa is also ‘male-in-law’ [see under ‘brother-in-law’ and ‘father-in-law’ for discussion]. K. tansin, var. tansig [Sasse p.c.] is a fem. derivative in prefixed t- from ansin ‘male­ in-law’ [q.v. for discussion].

102 A comparative dictionary, etc.

mountain

gira

aba

ddba, kan gwata B. gira is the general word for ‘mountain’; K. daba (the same in Quara and Kailina) is there the general word for ‘mountain’, and has a cognate in B. dabba, which is glossed by Re. as ‘elevated place outside a village where the elders meet’ as well as ‘mountain’ and ‘open, uninhabited country’, and is probably the same as KH. dib[b]a. Also in CRo. Kem. daba ‘hili’. Hence perhaps PNA *dab[b]-a. Cf. Saho dibo, Afar dubu ‘mountain, wilderness’ (both in Re.), Som. dabo ‘little hili’, Sidamo dubbo ‘forest, uninhabited place’; also Beja dabba/dibba ‘mound of earth or sand’ and perhaps r[i]ba ‘mountain, hili’. The semantic link between ‘mountain’ and ‘wooded, uninhabited place’ is common throughout the Ethiopian region. Possibly the otherwise unexplained Gz. preposition diba ‘on top of may be borrowed from a Cushitic source (Agaw or Afar-Saho). X. aba (also in Khamta, aba) is cognate with EthSem., Amh. amba ‘flat-topped mountain’ (i.e. a borrowing from Agaw into EthSem.?); cf. also CRo. Awiya ambe ‘mountain’, Waldmeyer ampeta ‘Hoch’, and A. amp ‘above’ [q.v.]. Re. records Qu. amba ‘Berg’ which may of course be a (re-)borrowing from Amharic.

mouse, rat ?ansawa ac ’awa ansawa yinci PNA *?ancaw-a: also in Kailina ac’awa, Khamta aguwa. The Agaw item has apparent cognates in Afar and Saho Tandawa, which may be a borrowing from Agaw, given that other ECush, languages have different terms, unless Or. hantuuta is related. A. yinci is perhaps of Omotic origin, cf. especially Shinasha tints a; in other Gonga languages (Kafaic’c’o, Shekko iic’c’o, Mocha iic’c’e) there is no nasal; also Yemsa uc’, Bench uts, Chara utsa. In Ometo languages an apparently extended form occurs: Wolaytta eceriya, Gamo ecere, Zayse ec ’ere, etc.

mouth

?ab maja makay yambi (1) B. ?ab (pl. ?afaj) is the sole Agaw reflex of PCush. *?af-, Re. records Qu. af, but this could be a borrowing from Amh. af ‘mouth’, as mak[i]ya (cf. Kem. makay) also occurs. The root is of course common AA. (2) For X. maja, K. makay, cf. Re. Chamir mika ‘Mund und Lippe’, Qu. make, Kailina maki, suggesting PNA *makdy-[a]. (3) A. yambi (Kunfal kumbi) is cognate with items (Bil., Kem.) meaning ‘nose’ [q.v.].

much (see many) mud

darak’wa lilta saxa caqi B. darak’wa is glossed by KH. as ‘black earth from which pots are made’, by Re. as ‘thon, thonerde, lem’. The item is clearly cognate with Re. Chamir roqua and Qu. daxwa. The initial r- in Chamir is unusual as r- is otherwise restricted to borrowings from EthSem. Perhaps it derives from the simplification of a reduplicated form, as in Bilin: *dadaqwa > *daraqwa > raqwa (i.e. roqua) [‘clay’ in Ap. X.]; that the Bil. form

Dictionary 103

(with a slightly different vocalization) is a reduplication would not only allow the equation of Qu. daxwa, but also probable ECush, cognates: PEC *d’ook’k’-lc’ook’k’-. Som. d’ooqo ‘muddy water’, Or. d’ok’k’ee, Konso d’ok’k’eta, D’irayta c’ok’k’a, etc. [See discussion under ‘clay’.] A simple PA *d : PEC *c’ correspondence is not of course regular, but it would seem perverse not to connect the roots. K. saxa and A. caqi clearly look cognate with the latter, but are better explained as borrowings from Amh. c’ak’a, which is itself of Cushitic (but not Agaw) origin if the PA root is indeed *dVqw-. mule

baxla biqla bayla baqli/baqla PA *baql-/baql-: also Khamta biqla, Kailina bak’la [W^A], Awiya beqeli. The term is found across the Ethiopian region: Afar bakli, Som. baqal, Hadiyya bak’ucco (< *bak’ul-co), Kambatta buula, Wolaytta bak’uluwa, Yemsa bu?lo, etc. [see Lamberti 1993a:284 for a fuller list], as well as in EthSem., Gz. baql, Ti. bak’al, Tna. bax’li, Amh. bak’lo. As an areal word with wide currency it is difficult to be precise about the origin. The various Cushitic and Omotic terms are generally described as being loans from EthSem, though the latter has no cognates elsewhere in Semitic (Arabic bayl is usually said to be a loan from EthSem.)

multiply, increase (see be many)

N

Bit.

Xam.

Kem.

Awn.

nail (finger) [see claw] naked

kaya, mat’mat’ basay zabati bast-axw B. bast-axw: bast- vb. ‘be naked’ is a ref.-pass. derivative of the root bad- (< *baz~) ‘open’ [q.v.] and is cognate with K. basay, Qu. base/basa.

name

sayw sayw sayw sam PNA *sayw. Also Re. Chamir zun/zun, Kailina say, Re. Qu. seu (with yw> w), CRo. Awiya sunk A. sam (also Khamta sam) is from or influenced by Amh. sam. The common Sem. root seen in Amh. is of course ultimately cognate with PNA *sayw; there is no reason, however, to see the latter as a loan from EthSem. (replacing EthSem. m by //“'in a borrowing would be anomalous). Cf. PHEC *sum?a: Sidamo su?ma, Hadiyya summa', Beja sim’, also in Omotic (Wolaytta sunta, Gamo suntsi, Gofa sunts ’a, Yemsa suna, Shinasha suutsa, Bench sum.) Elsewhere in AA: PSem. *sim-/sum-; PChad. *sumi [Stolbova 1996:55],

narrow, be sabawas sabab ycabab [adj.] B. sabaw-, K. sabab (also Qu. sababa [adj.]), A. cabab are all from EthSem. 5 ’bb, Gz. s ’abba. Amh. t’abbaba ‘be narrow’.

100 A comparative dictionary, etc.

mistaken, be katk’at’satThe Bil. and Xam. forms (also Re. Qu. kat-) obviously derive from a common source though the derivation proposed by Re. [1887:229] from EthSem. xt’?, Gz. xat’?a. requires the unpredictable substitution of x by k. Kem. sat- is from Amh. sata. mix

habarabar-/abbdrB. habar- and Kem. abar- are both from EthSem., Bil. (also Khamta habr-) from Tna. habar- and Kem. (also in Qu.) from Amh. abbara.

Monday sanu sinu NAgaw from EthSem., Gz. sanuy.

money

san

maci

ginzab

ganzab, ginzibi sama All from EthSem., Amh. ganzab, the original meaning of which was ‘property, possessions’, which is also the meaning of Kem-Qu. sama (also Ap. Qu. saba) also used in the sense of ‘money’ as a caique on Amh. gandab

monkey (Vervet) wafaga c’ac’wa sasawa [cercopithecus aethiops] PA *cacaw-: also in Chamir cicuwd, Quara sasawa, Kunfal cecewa. The Agaw term is probably the origin of Amh. t’ot’a. B. wa^aga has cognates in the Eritrean area: Ti., Tna. wafag, Saho wafaga, Beja (Re.) we ’aga.

month moon

?arba arfa arfa drfi ?arba arba mazbara arfa PA *?arb-/?arf-. Also Re. Qu. arfa meaning both ‘month’ and ‘moon’, Kailina arfa ‘month’, Chamir and Khamta arba ‘month’ and ‘moon’, Kunfal arfa ‘month’. The evidence of Bilin suggests perhaps that ?arb- is the original singular stem and ?atf- the plural [B. ?arfaf\. There are no Cush, cognates, but cf. Omotic: She erf, Bench ?yarp, Dime ?ir^e, Aari arfi, Hamar arpe, arfi, Banna arpi (all South Omotic except for Bench-She.) Kem. mazbara seems an isolated form, but another term exists in Qu. sarka, which has cognates in Kailina 5"ark’ and Re. Qu. zarka, and which are clearly related to Amh. c’arak’a ‘moon’. This last is not of Semitic origin and is normally assumed to be a borrowing from an Agaw source. The 5 ’ reflex in Kailina would fit an Agaw to Amh. direction of borrowing, but s (z) in Kem-Quara is anomalous (s would be expected). Further complicating the picture is what looks like a cognate in Beja tirig ‘moon, month’ with initial t-.

104 A comparative dictionary, etc.

X. as (Chamir ass-) is from Tna. has’s ’a ‘be narrow’.

navel

?atab ulul g^ambara ambarti B. ?atab (Re. eteba) is cognate with a number of EthSem. terms: Ti. ?atab, Amh. atabt ‘umbilical cord’. K. gwambara (also Re. Qu. gumbra) is reminiscent of EthSem., Gz. hanbart, Tna. hambarti, Amh. ambart, etc., though the initial ^wis problematical. Re. records Chamir herbir, which is probably from this EthSem. root. The Amh. term is clearly the origin of A. ambarti. It is difficult to relate the Agaw terms to roots meaning ‘navel’ elsewhere in Cushitic: PEC *hand’ur-/hund’ur- (e.g. Som. hund’ur, Rendille handur, Boni hanuur?, Dhaasanac hojiir, Arbore henc’ur, D’irayta hun?urta) or Afar hundub. Beja tefa (Roper) ‘navel’ might be connected somehow with the former of the two Agaw terms.

tak-, taytalt[For discussion see under ‘approach, be near’]

near, be

taxat-

digi [adj.]

neck

karma, qalma xwam gurgam gwarguma PNA *karm~: also in Khamta kalma/qalma. Chamir has xam and Kailina qam {^9°) which are more like the Kem-Qu. word set (Kem. xwam, Qu. xum/xwam, Re. Qu. hum, kom, xena — the latter with the sporadic shift m> rj (n). For PNA karm- cf. PLEC *kolm-/kalm- (Som. kolon ‘glands hanging from the neck of a goat’, Afar kalma ‘uvula’, Konso xolma ‘neck’, D’irayta holma-ta. A. gurgam: cf. B. gwarguma, which may be from EthSem., Tna. garguma, or may be an Agaw reflex of a common root, found sparsely in Semitic outside the Ethiopian region, and also in Beja girguma and Afar gurdume (both Re.) [See Militarev & Kogan 2000:86-7 for details].

needle

marba mirba marfa mirfi All ultimately from EthSem., Gz. marfa?, Tna. Amh. marfe, though Bil. and Xam. show a shift of/> b. The degree of adaptation to Agaw patterns is indicative of an ancient loan from a form similar to that in Ge‘ez.

neighbour gor gwarbit gorabet wolini neighbourhood gaba gwarbit gorabet wol B. gor is from Ti. gor. The same EthSem. root occurs in the compound form, e.g. Amh gorabet ‘neighbourhood]’, which is the origin of the Xam. and Kem. terms. For B. gaba ‘neighbourhood’ see ‘side’. CRo. Awiya has digi ‘vicino’ [see under ‘village’] = A. digi ‘near’ [q.v.].

new

haddis

ayar

azi

askawi

Dictionary 105

B. haddis is from Ti. Khamta also has haddis. Re. also records B. arid, which is cognate with X. ayar, K. azi (idem Qu.) var. azzi [Sasse p.c.]: PNA * Taraz- > by metathesis *?azar- (hence the Xam. and Kem. forms). This is almost certainly itself from EthSem. hds with the NAgaw shift of d>r and voicing of5 >z. night

k’ir xar xir/xer yar PA *qir-/qar-, or perhaps *qer- (with *e perhaps to account for the variant vocalizations): also in Kailina xira. The peculiar Kunfal kare is probably meant for *yare. A possible cognate occurs in SCush., Iraqw xweera ‘night’. Elsewhere in AA Takacs [1999:56,161] compares AEg. h3wj (a dual form < *hr-wj) ‘evening’.

night, spend the kc k&PA *ki-. CRo. Khamta has the peculiar form tiewn-, which cannot be cognate. For a possible Cush, cognate Ehret [1980:239] reconstructs PSC *gn- ‘sleep’ (the actual form is Iraqw gu?-/gu?ut~, which renders the reconstruction very speculative). The Agaw root has clearer cognates in Omotic (particularly Gonga): Kafa k’ee-, Mocha k’eeyi-, Shinasha k’ey- Tie down, sleep’. nine ninety

sassa s’aye’a sassa sesta sassaragan s’aye'argan sassig sisticka PA *sdj-ta > *sacta ‘nine’ built on the number ‘four’ [q.v.]; PNA *sdcta + -tagan ‘ninety’ a compound with the tens formative -tagan [see under ‘eighty’ for a discussion of this element.]. The Xam. form (also Khamta sayed, Kailina s ’aye ’a) has the unusual medial cluster -yc ’- presumably from earlier *-ct- [*-£#-].

no

?anga, ajaw anga alia ?alla B. Tanga, K. anga are negatives in -ga of an old defective verb stem *Tan- ‘be’, which is also in B. ?alla, A. alia, here with the addition of the negative element -la [see Appleyard 1984 for discussion of negatives in Agaw]. X. ajaw (also ‘nothing, emptiness’ n. [q.v.]) is probably the same as Re. Chamir ayyau, aiyau. Khamta, Re. Qu., and Awiya all have imbi/embl. from Amh. ambi.

nose

k’wamba asag xwamba assan (1) PA *qwamb-/qamb-. also Ap. Qu. xumba, xwamba, Re. Qu. komba, humba, and A. yambi ‘mouth’ [q.v.]. Cf. perhaps Beja ginuuf^ose’. (2) PA *?asVn\ X. asag (also Chamir esin, Kailina asan) < *?asan, Khamta isan, Awiya assan, Kunfal san < *?asan. PEC *san-/sin-/sun- (Som. san, Afar-Saho san, Or. fujijtaan, Konso soona, Buiji suna, Hadiyya sane, Sidamo sano, etc.) Elsewhere in AA: NOmotic *sin-d’- ‘nose’ [see Lamberti & Sottile 1997:498 for examples],

106 A comparative dictionary, etc.

PChad. *-c’in- [Stolbova 1996:113] and as a vb. ‘smell’: AEg. sn/sjn ‘smell, breathe’. ECush, also has derived vbs. from the same root meaning ‘smell’.

now

nan nan nan yasi PNA *nan: also nan in Kailina and all other NAgaw languages. Probably from the demonstrative stem *?ana- and the same ending -n seen on the interrogative adv. ‘when?’ [q.v.]. For A. yasi cf. Awiya hesi.

nug nuhug nawa nangwa [guizotia abyssinica] B. nuhug is from Ti. nuhug/nahug-, Re. records B. lahangwa, which aside from the shift n > I (but cf. Ap. Qu. langwa) is closer to the other Agaw terms: Chamir nuw, nu, Kem. nangwa, Awiya nugT. The last is clearly influenced by Amh. nug, if not a direct borrowing. Whilst it is of course difficult to separate the Agaw terms from their areal context, a possible proto-form *nahangw-a can be reconstructed for NAgaw.

o

Bil

Xam.

Kem.

Awn.

oath mahal s’ara sara mer oath, swear an sars’arsarPNA *car-/car-. Cf. PEC *t’aar- (Som. d’aar ‘oath’, Sidamo t’aar- ‘swear’). Re. notes a Bil. n. sara, corresponding to which KH. records the EthSem. (Ti.) borrowing mahal. The same is in Khamta mahel- ‘swear’, and EthSem. Amh. malla ‘oath’ probably lies behind A. mer, though both e and r are puzzling; CRo. Awiya, however, has unproblematic mal- ‘swear’.

odour, smell

k’ira

xara

xera

yari, sattu PA *qir-/qar-/qer--. a vb. stem meaning ‘smell’ [q.v.] occurs in all languages from the same root. A. sattu is from Amh.

woliji arg-aw, aroge gin-aw wolejold, be gdn-, gdnarg-, balgin(1) PNA *gan- ‘be old, grow old’. Also in Kailina gdn-. (2) B. daxna (pl. dak’ari) is also ‘old man/woman’; borrowed from Arabic diqn ‘old man’ (a secondary meaning of this root, which generally means ‘beard’). (3) X. arg- (also in Khamta) and K. aroge are from EthSem. ?rg'. Gz. ?araga ‘be old’, Tna. ?ardga, etc., Amh. aroge. Quara (Ap. and Re.) has a different root: darat(vb.), darata (n.). (4) B. bal- is from Ti. bala ‘be old’. old

daxna

Dictionary 107

aroge ganita, bald [see previous entry for discussion of ddxna, aroge, and ganita (root gdn-)]. X. somir [also Kailina samdyar] has a cognate in B. simar ‘chief, chieftainship’ [Re. has simgar]-, this term [or rather pl. simagal] is evidently the source of EthSem., Tna., Amh. samagalle. Cf. also Khamta samgel- ‘divenire anziano’, perhaps rather from Tna. samgala. K. balti is from Amh. baltet.

old man old woman

one

doxna Samir ?axwina ddxna

laxw/lari, law/lay, laya/laywa/ldy, ampal/ampla la lawa la layu PA *la-yw, *la-ti: stem *la- + gender clitic. In Bilin “plural” form law is used as an indefinite quantifier ‘some’. In Bilin the unaugmented stem la is used with a following noun: la garwa ‘one man’, la ?axwina ‘one woman’; otherwise the gender-marked forms are used. In Xamtanga lawa is used in counting; otherwise the gender-marked forms are used. In Kemant the situation is more confused, with la, or the extended forms laya/laywa being used in all positions; originally f. lay occurs rarely. Quara similarly has laywa, lawa, la. For Khamta only Iowa, is recorded, similarly for Kailina, lewa (AT) [sic]. A. Idyii is used only in counting, and ampal (m.), ampla (f.) with a following noun. In the Kunfal data only law/lahu is recorded, empel and lagii in CRo. Awiya. The base PA *la- ‘one’ is evidently different from PA *wal- used as the base for ‘six’ [q.v.] and thus originally meaning ‘one’ in accordance with the quinary basis of the Agaw unit numerals. Lamberti in various places [see Lamberti & Sottile 1997:295-6] tries to bring together various disparate terms for the numeral ‘one’ under an “original Old Cushitic” stem *ukwal~, including PA *la- + -yw/yu - apparently regarding the gender suffix as part of the root. Ehret [1987:130], on the other hand, relates PA *la‘one’ to PEC *lah-/lih- ‘six’ on the quinary principal that ‘six’ is the first term in the second set, i.e. 6-9. No single PCush. term for ‘one’ can be reconstructed: Saho-Afar ?inik, PSam (Eastern + Central Omo-Tana) *kow, POromoid (incl. Konso) *tokko, *takka (also Dullay, Western Omo-Tana) PHEC *mitto, PSC *wak~, Beja [n]gaal. Perhaps there is a connection between PA *la- and the indefinite marker in some Sam languages: Som. la [libaah baa la diley ‘a lion was killed’, lit. ‘one killed a lion’], Boni

-n-/-l- [a-n-ku-arke ‘you were seen’, lit. ‘one saw you’], Rendille la [inam a-la-jaha ‘the boy is hit’, lit. ‘one strikes the boy’], also Arbore -na \?edi ma-na k’ala ‘a goat will not be slaughtered’, lit. ‘one will not slaughter a goat’].

onion

sag^’arti, sowrt’a sdwrta songurci basala PNA *sag"'art< with irregular weakening of medial gw> w in Xam. (Re. Chamir sorta as well as sugurt), Kailina s 'awrt’a, Kem-Qu. sawrta. Khamta has segurt. Kunfal has senkurti, evidently influenced by Amh. sankurt. The same term also occurs in

108 A comparative dictionary, etc.

EthSem., Gz. sagward, Tna. sagwarti, Harari sankuurta, etc. The term is ultimately of Greek origin, skordon ‘garlic’, borrowed into Ge'ez and thence into modem languages of the Ethiopian region (cf. also Or. sunkurtaa, Sidamo sunkurta, Saho suqurti, Wolaytta sunkurutuwa, etc. [see Lamberti & Sottile 1997:495-6]). B. basala is from Arabic basal', the term also exists in other languages of the region, e.g. Saho-Afar basal, Som. basal, etc.

open, vt. PA *baz-. or

bad-

baz-

baz-

wanam/way/ wari waym Khamta has way/woy (from Tna. way), Qu. wari (like Kem.). These forms all bear a superficial resemblance to one another, and to EthSem., Gz. wamimma, Tna. way, Amh. wayamm, etc., which is of inherited Sem. origin. B. wdri, K. wari look like caiques, replacing the Sem. coordinating clitic in -m, etc., with Agaw -ri. wdri

order, v. ?adadazzazazPA *?azaz- from EthSem. ?zz: Gz. lazaza, etc. other

outside

bas-

azez-

?ari/?dri-xw

laya/laya, ay-ayw alliw laza/laza PA *?ari-/?dli-/?ali-'. B. ?arixw, K. ayayw(also Qu. ayaw) has the masc. gender suffix attached. Bilin retains gender-number marking: ?dri-xw/?dri-ri/?dri-w (independent head position, and as postposed qualifier), whereas Kem-Qu. appears not to; B. ?ari is used as a preposed qualifier: ?dri garwa ‘another man’. X. laya/laya (Khamta lay) is also invariable (aside from a pl. lat’ ‘others’), but is perhaps rather from Amh. lela (with palatalization of the medial I), though the variant laza/laza is puzzling and makes this comparison less likely. A. alli-w (alli-t, alli-k") is clearly cognate, though with different vocalization and a geminate medial. Cf. PSC *hal- ‘other’ [Ehret 1980:306]. Also, perhaps Beja raw ‘other’ and elsewhere in AA, AEg. jry ‘companion’, Coptic alew, erew.

bara

maya, af wac’a B. bara and K. maya may be cognate (with b>m shift), but the lack of corresponding forms in other languages makes comparison difficult; perhaps *bad- > B. bar-a, K. may-a. Re. [1887:70] records B. bada ‘wilderness, uninhabited land’ (from EthSem., Ti. bada, also in Gz. bada), which may be connected. K. wac’a is directly from Amh. wac’c’. CRo. Awiya glosses aft both as ‘outside’ and as ‘door’ [q.v.], Hetzron af as ‘outside’ only.

Dictionary 109

outsider, foreigner gdbra aban bada Re. [1887:138] suggests that B. gdbra is from the same root as the EthSem. borrowing gabar- ‘do, work’: “nach der dienstbarkeit so genannt, da fremde in der regel nur als skiaven im ausland vorkommen”; cf. Gz. gabr ‘slave’. For X. aban see under ‘guest, stranger’ (also Qu. aban has the same range of meaning). K. bada is from Amh. bada ‘person with whom one has no consanguinal ties’. CRo. records Awiya tingidi ‘forestiero, straniero’ and compares Amh. angada ‘stranger’ despite the unexplained initial 1-. ox, bull

bira bira bira bin PA *bir-a. The Agaw root is often compared with EthSem. bTr: Gz. baVrawi, baTray, bafra, Tna. baTray, Amh. bare, Harari ba?ara, etc., which has Semitic cognates with the meanings ‘cattle’ or ‘camels’ [see Leslau 1991:84-5]. The term is, however, widespread throughout the Ethiopian region: Afar beVra ‘young bull’, Saho be?era ‘ox’, Beja be?ray ‘ox for ploughing’, Kambatta boora ‘ox?, Hadiyya moora, Wolaytta boora, Sheko bariyo ‘calf, etc. [see Lamberti 1993a:355 under miinza-beera ‘kastrierte Bulle, Ochse’]. If the Cushitic and Omotic terms are indeed borrowed from EthSem., the wide range of forms is indicative of a very ancient borrowing.

P

BiL

Xam.

Kem.

Awn.

pass, vb. ddkwdiqwdawfeyPNA *dakw-/daxw--. the second variant is required to explain Kem-Qu. daw-. Chamir has diku-/dik-; Kailina has dak’w-. Cf. perhaps PEC *dak’~ ‘come, go’ [Sasse 1979:49], though there is considerable variation in the actual forms in both the initial and the medial consonant: Som. tag- ‘go’ (if indeed this belongs here), Or. d’ak’-, Sidamo da?- ‘come’, Hadiyya t’a?- ‘go’ (not in Hudson 1989). Khamta has halaf- from Tna. haldfa. k.fey- [< PA *fat-] has cognates in NAgaw in the meaning ‘go’ [q.v.].

pay

banbinkdjcilkeyB. ban-, X. bin- also mean ‘divide’; the coincidence of the meanings ‘pay’ and ‘divide’ is common throughout the Ethiopian area. For B. ban-, X. bin- see under ‘divide’; K. kafal- (also Khamta kafl-) is from Amh. kaffala. A. key- (stem alternation ket-/key-/ken- suggesting < *kat-).

peas (see chickpea)

peel

Tatar

adra/adar

azar

atiri

k’afad-, latqask’alat’B. k’af-ad- is denom. from k’af ‘bark’ [q.v.]; B. k'aldt’- is from EthSem., Ti. k’alt’a. Re. Chamir has qar[e]f- from Amh. k’arrafd. K. lat- is from Amh. lat’a. A. qas- and cognate n. qassi ‘rind, husk’; Lamberti & Sottile [1997:352] propose to derive this

110 A comparative dictionary, etc.

from the same root and process as B. k’af-ad-, but Awngi has this root in qap ‘bark’, which leaves the vocalization unexplained, as well as the unpredictable change p+c (the causative extension) > ss.

mam

penis

xwala

kankli

people (= pl. of man)

?ak, ak’ ayyan/ayya aqaka (CRo.) kaw For the plural forms of ‘man’ see under ‘man’ < PNA *?akk/?ax-. B. kaw has cognates elsewhere in Agaw only in the sense of ‘village’ [q.v.]. CRo. Awiya aqaka is A. aqka ‘men’. Khamta has hezvi from Tna. hazbi.

pick up (see gather) pierce, stab sabsibsabsebPA *sab~. See also under ‘fight’. Elsewhere in AA, cf. AEg. sbj ‘cut’, PSem. *sbb [Orel & Stolbova 1995:471; also Chadic comparisons, e.g. Hausa sabe ‘cut hair’.] Alternatively, perhaps PChad. [Stolbova 1996:50] *sab- ‘beat, strike’.

pig, wild pig wankira c’iba wangiya garmi B. wankira, Kem-Qu. wangiya presuppose PNA *wankir-/wangir-. Re. Qu. glosses wangiya as ‘Schwein’ and gives ereyd as ‘Wildschwein’, which is from Amh. arya. X. c’iba is also recorded by Re. Chamir ciba [= caba], for which cf. Khamta guwa. CRo. records Awiya ^yagand. Kunfal has gerimi, for which cf. A. garmi.

place, n., ?dkan, safra, sabara safri dwelling place maskab s ’iba B. ?akan, maskab are both from Ti. X. s ’iba (Chamir siba) is from the root s ’ab‘dwell, live’ [q.v.]. X. safra, Kem-Qu. sabara (Re. Qu. sebra), A. safri are all from Amh. safra, or in the case of Kem-Qu. from Amh. safar ‘encampment, locality, district’ (Khamta sifra is glossed ‘campo, accampamento’.)

saka

sawa, sawa wala See under ‘field, open country’ for a discussion of these various terms.

plain [Amh. °l*J]

play

mafab-fwafab-, wardwart-/wayart- ankrt’at’ yB. ma^ab- and wafab- are synonyms; the former is glossed by KH. as ‘to rest, sitting down, and mingle conversation and laughter’, the latter as ‘to pass the time in conversation; to be free from work’. (Cf. also. n. ma^ab ‘game, conversation’ with the same semantic range as e.g. Amh. c’awat’a).

Dictionary 111

X. ward- (Re. Chamir [e]war-t-) and K. wart-Zwayart- (CRo. Kem. wager-t- and Qu. war-t-Zwagar-t-) have the same range of meaning, ‘play, converse’ and are denom. vbs. with the refl-pass, extension (cf. K. wayar ‘conversation, game’): PNA *waydr-. plough, n. Zarbana arftina marasa maresi PNA *?arb/fan-a properly ‘ploughshare’: B. ?arbana [pl. ?arfan\, X. arfana (Chamir erbana ‘Pflugschar’, K. arfdna & CRo. Kem. yitjena ‘manche de la charrue’ [1912:271]). Also in EthSem., Gz. ^rf. K. marasa, A. maresi are from Amh., marasa. [Chamir maharza ‘Pflug’]. The parts of the plough in Kemant are: dandaxwa ‘ploughshare’, arfana ‘plough-handle’, salya ‘blade of the plough’.

plough, vb. gwddgwizgwazaresPNA *gwaz- ‘till the earth, plough’: also Khamta guit- (?), Qu. goz-. A. has gas- ‘dig’ [q.v.] which may be related, though the formal correspondence is not exact; indeed A. gas- may be rather of Omotic origin [POm. *goss- ‘dig’]. Re. [1887:139] suggests a link with what is in effect PEC *k’ot- ‘dig’[Som. qod-, Or. k’ot-J, which cannot be supported, even in light of the unexpected final consonant in Khamta guit-. A. ares- is from Amh. arrasa. poor

jaxa daxa daxa dayi The apparent palatalization in B. jaxa is unexpected, if as seems likely all these terms are cognate. However, Re. has jlga [= jixa] with different vocalization, which may explain the shift d > j. He also notes Chamir jig- and Qu. jih- as vbs. ‘be poor’. The root also occurs in EthSem., exemplified by Tna. daxa, Amh. dahaZdaha ‘poor’, as well as in other languages of the region: e.g. Or. deega ‘poor’, Wolaytta daha, probably as borrowings from EthSem. There is also Gz. zega ‘poor’ (with the meaning ‘subject’ in Amh. This appears in CRo. Kem. as je, jiyd ‘dependent, servant’), which together with B. jaxa might suggest an earlier *$ex-a, which could be the source of Gz. zega.

possessions, things ?arakwa gwaz yarawa akyi B. ?arakwa [KH. ‘thing, item, instrument’] is glossed by Re. as erdkila, var. erakua ‘schlauch, sak aus leder’ in the sg., eraukZerauk pl. as ‘habseligkeiten’. K. yarawa (Qu. yarwa, CRo. Kem. yerwa) is equivalent to Amh. ‘possessions, utensils’. Both presuppose PNA *?arakw-. X. gwaz is from Amh. gwaz ‘baggage, belongings, caravan train’.

pot (for cooking)

mank’a

c’an

kartama

gabaci

112 A comparative dictionary, etc.

pray

siw-, c’aw-, sawyim-, taSayabsigdmakwtAll languages use the ordinary vb. ‘ask for’ [q.v.] in the sense of ‘pray’: B. siw-, X. c’aw-, K. saw-, A.yim-. B. taSayab- is from Ti. taSayaba ‘seekprotection’.

pregnant woman gwadgwari gizutray gwazgwatay sera The NAgaw languages use terms derived from the norm ‘belly’ [q.v.]. A. sera, is perhaps cognate with B. sar ‘mating period (of animals)’. prepare

asal-

assagas-

price, value

Sas, waya way woymi Saraxa B. Sas is perhaps connected with Ti. Sass ‘a measure of dry goods’, Tna. Sassi. X. waya (also Khamta wiga), K. way (also Qu. waya) are from Tna., Amh. waga. A. woymi is evidently from the same root, cf. vb. woy- ‘sell’ [q.v.].

saxa, habt saya abt batna B. saxa is homophonous with the noun meaning ‘iron’, which led Re. to connect the two [see discussion under ‘iron’.] However, K. distinguishes saya ‘iron’ from saya ‘wealth’ [Amh. U-fl^], which suggests that the two are different, or have been differentiated [Re. Qu. saga ‘Besitz, Eisen’, however]. B. batna is from the root bat‘be rich’ [q.v.]. X. habt, A. abt are from Amh. habt ‘wealth, property’.

property, wealth

pull

watar-, watargusgawadB., K. watar- (also in Qu.) is from EthSem. wtr\ Amh. wdttara ‘pull tight’. Re. Chamir has giiit- in this sense [cf. Amh. gwattata ].

punish

k’at’?k’as’ak’at’kicyAll from EthSem., k’s’S/?: Gz. k’as’Sa, Tna. k’as’aSa, Amh. k’at’t’a. A. kid1-, however, cannot be directly from, e.g., the modem Amh. form, as the c indicates, but must be from an earlier *k ’as’s ’a; note also the vocalization perhaps due to the palatalizing stem pattern.

push

tankab-, takbsinkydarakB. tankab-, X. takb- are from EthSem., Ti. tankaba. K. has tankab- meaning ‘chum’.

put, place, set down kdf?asaqaranxwarankwr-/ankurPA *?ankwar-\ Re. Chamir has [i]equr-/oqiir- [= ak’war-}-, also Kailina ak’war[h4**4.]. B. ?ankwar-, which is surely formally cognate, has the meaning ‘keep, take

Dictionary 113

care of. The velar fricative x^in K. anxwar- and the ejective in Kailina dk’war- are anomalous. Cf. perhaps PEC *gu[u]r- ‘collect’ (Som. gur- ‘take several things’, Boni kur- ‘pick fruit’, Sidamo gur- ‘gather, collect’, gud'd’- [< gur- + -d’] ‘carry on the shoulders’, Or. guur- ‘collect and take, etc. [see Sasse 1982:86 and Ehret 1991:242 for further discussion, where he proposes PEC *g ’urr- with a glottalized initial]), assuming *?anis an old prefixed verbal extension, < PC reciprocal *m V-. The same is probably also found in PA ‘love’, and the Awngi reflex of PA ‘be cooked, ripe’. There are problems with this comparison, of course: the semantics are not exact, and the ECush, root has a voiced initial. B. kaf ?as- is the causative of kafy- ‘sit down’, from Tna. kaf bala.

Q

Bit.

Xam.

Kem.

Awn.

quarrel, v. waxittak'ayamy- gewsayB. waxit- is also ‘fight’ [q.v.]. K. tak’ayam y- is from Amh. tdk’ayyamd ‘hate o.a., despise’, also in Re. Chamir qayem-t- ‘Groll hegen mit Rachegedanken’. A. gewsagis a reciprocal derivation from gew- ‘forbid’ [q.v.]. quick, be

walayd-, walaycumiy [adj.] ?asasB. wdldyd- corresponds to Re. B. walay-, a composite vb. with ‘say’, as in Kemant. Qu. has wals- [adj. wdlsi, walsa], with the same root but with a passive/stative extension -s. KH. glosses wala y- as ‘swear’. CRo. Awiya has cakual- from Amh. cdkkwdla. As an interjection, ‘hurry up! be quick’ [Amh. AA], Chamir has qasi (Khamta qazi), and K. wala (CRo. walu). Cf. Beja walla ‘haste’ [Roper]; elsewhere in AA: AEg. wnj ‘hasten, hurry’ [Takacs 1999: 132].

quiet, be tarn yzam yzam yqappyNAgaw has items with cognates across the Ethiopian area, all composites with the vb. ‘say’: Ti. tam bala, Amh. zamm ala, Argobba c’am ala, Sidamo sammiy-, Kambatta sa?my-, etc. Note also Beja sim/tim -ka[y] ‘be silent’. [See Appleyard 2001:7-8 for more examples.]

R rain, n.

Bil.

Xam.

Kem.

Awn.

sawa sawa sawa art PNA *saw-a: the same in Chamir, Khamta and Kailina. A. ari (Kunfal rintu ? = *ari yintuy[a] ‘rain has come’) is borrowed from Omotic: Yemsa, Kafa iro, Wolaytta and Ometo generally ira. Formal cognates also occur in LEC, but with a different range of meanings: Som. fiiro ‘fog, dust, smoke’, Or. hurrii

114 A comparative dictionary, etc.

‘cloud’, Konso urraatta, Afar iraawo ‘shade’, but Dhaasanac ?ir ‘rain’, Arbore ?iri, etc. [see Lamberti & Sottile 1997:292 for a full list]. For PNA *saw-a cf. perhaps Beja -siiw ‘spurt’ [Roper], or possibly elsewhere in AA: AEg. sw ‘the air-god Shu’, PBerb. *zwy ‘be windy’, Proto-Mao *SVw- ‘wind, air’ [see Takacs 1999:205], though admittedly the semantics are a little weak. Orel & Stolbova [1995:544] list a number of suggested Chadic cognates (e.g. Tumak haw ‘rain’, Cagu zaw).

rainy season sak’ c’ara sayi cay [Amh. hdJ’0^] PA *caq-/caq-: also Chamirja (the final -ra in Xam. is unexplained, but cf. Khamta gar); Kunfal c ’aqaya, Qu. sayi/saya. Cf. perhaps PEC *c’ak’-/c’ik’- ‘wash’ (NSom., Jiiddu d’aq- ‘wash’, Som. d’aqd’aq‘swill out’, Boni d’a?-, Af May d’iG-, Rendille d’ix-, Konso j’ak’-, D’irayta c’ik’-, etc.) rat (see mouse)

receive, accept kalabarlamrkalabtB. kalab-ar-, K. kdlab-t- (also Qu.) are from EthSem., Gz. tak’abala, etc. X. lam-r(Chamir lam-t-, Khamta lam-t-) has a cognate in Re. B. lam-r-, only the causative of which, lam-s- ‘hand over’ is noted by KH. These presuppose a PNA root *lam~.

red

sar-axw sar-aw sar-ay dammi PNA *sar-/sar~: the latter vocalization is required to account for X. sar-aw (also Chamir zar-au, zar-au, Khamta sar-o), also Kailina sar-aq and Qu. sar-a. A. dammi (Kunfal deme)', cf. a number of terms in ECush.: Or. diimaa ‘red’, Konso tiima, Sidamo duulmo, Gedeo diimmo, Buiji duwwaa, and from SCush: K’wadza dimay- ‘be red’. These are usually taken to be Cush, reflexes of the AA root seen in PSem. *dam- ‘blood’, also in Chadic (Angas, Bolewa, Ngizim, Tera) and Berber. However, PC *m usually appears in Agaw, and thus in Awngi, as rj. If not influenced by EthSem., A. dammi may have retained mm because it is geminate [Sasse p.c.]. The semantic linking of ‘red’ and ‘blood’ is common throughout the Ethiopian area [see above under ‘blood’.]

gus-, amba y-, anga ngabgwartB. gab- also in Re. Qu. gab- ‘abschlagen die Bitte, verbieten’. K. amba y-, A. anga nare lit. ‘say no’. For PA *gab- see under ‘forbid’.

refuse, v.

relative (see family) remain (behind)

kabt-

daq-

addy-

yigw-

Dictionary 115

X. daq- may be the same as Re. Chamir iedag- ‘zuriickbleiben’ [but see also under ‘late, be’ discussion of X. dayy-}. The Chamir item is clearly cognate with K. aday(also in Qu.), and thus from EthSem. xdg ‘stay behind’. Kailina has tabi-. remain (stay put) [see under ‘stay’]

remember ?alab-dhasbtaksX. hasb- is also ‘think’ [q.v.]. CRo. has Awiya ziakar- ‘ricordare’ from Amh. zdkkara which is properly ‘commemorate’. resemble, seem

tak-

tak-

tak-/taky-

ceger-, mesel-

PNA *tak-. A. mesel- is from Amh. massala. For ceger-, cf. CRo. Awiya siagar-. rest, take a rest, vb. fixwfawfiwjuryPA the root also occurs with refl.-pass, extension in the meaning ‘breathe’ in Bil. and Xam., and in the basic form with this meaning in Kem-Qu. and Awn. [For a fuller discussion see under ‘breathe’.]

wdntdr-, watrwantarzurZerretum, v.tr. wdntaswatarswantarszurcPNA *wantar~: in Bil. the pair intr. -wantar- : tr. wantas- suggests that the root was reanalysed as *want[a]- with final -r interpreted as a stem extension. [Sasse p.c.]. [See under ‘answer’ for a fuller discussion]. A. zur- is from Amh. zora. B. Ter- is from Ti. Zera ‘return home’. return, v.intr.

ribs

Idsmat’Z g^idan gwdyy gonn samat ’ The Xam. (var. gwadan), Kem., and Awn.-items are generic terms for ‘side of the body’ [see under ‘side’], as is B. samat’, which is borrowed from Ti., viz. plural ?asmat’.

rich, be

bat-, awtkamantabtami [adj.] saxwarPNA *bat- ‘be rich, sated’: also in Qu. bat-', X. awt- [Re. Chamir iewet-} could be from the same root *bat- > *abt- > awt-, but might also be an irregular development of EthSem. habt ‘wealth’; cf. A. abtami from Amh. habtam ‘rich’ (Kunfal has kabtam). B. saxwar- ‘be fat, rich’ is a denom. vb. from saxwa ‘fat’ [q.v.].

right(-side) law law law PA *law-/law-'. also Qu. lawa, Kailina law.

lewd

116 A comparative dictionary, etc.

ripe, be (cooked)

gi-

j-

gi-

anjy-

PA *gi-. [see also under ‘cook’]. A. an/- incorporates an old prefix extension *?an-. Cf. PSC *gi?~ (Alagwa gi?iri ‘embers’, Iraqw gil?i, where Lamberti & Sottile [1997:407] see the liquid as a formative suffix.) Also in Omotic: PNOm. *ka?~ ‘ripen’ [Lamberti, op.cit. 406, where he cites several Dullay forms, e.g. Gawada xatte ‘fire’, and Dhaasanac/ ’iet-i ‘fire’ (thus in Tosco 2001 and not as given by Lamberti). Most of the Omotic possible cognates occur with a -t/-c suffix, but note Malo (Maale) ka?‘be ripe’ beside kac- ‘cook’. The comparisons outside Omotic are, however, speculative.

rise (see get up) river

kwara wirba kwara bani PNA kwar-a\ also in Khamta quora ‘acqua corrente’, Chamir aqual, Qu. kwara ‘river valley’. Cf. perhaps PEC *gol- ‘valley, slope’ (Som. gol ‘foot of hili’, Afar goto ‘valley’, Or. gola ‘gorge, edge’, Eastern Or. goluu ‘valley’, Burji gdloo ‘slope’, Gawada kolle ‘river’, S’aamako gole ‘river’ [Sasse 1982:83]). Elsewhere in AA: PChad. *guru ‘pond, river’ [Stolbova 1996:67]. X. wirba, cf. B. waraba ‘river-course, valley’.

road

darb, gwidana gwarwa, dad gug gaz B. darb is from Arabic darb. B. gug (also in Khamta gug), cf. Hadiyya googo ‘road’, though this is perhaps coincidence as most likely Hadiyya googo < PHEC *doogo [Hudson 1989:124]. Cf. perhaps also Beja giig- ‘go away’ and as a borrowing into EthSem., Gz. gogawa ‘wander’. X. gwidana is from Amh. gwadana ‘way’. K. gwarwa, cf. Qu. garawa. K. gaz (CRo. gazi) also in Kailina gaz, is probably connected with Amh. guzo ‘journey’, ta-gwaza ‘travel’. A. dad (Kunfal dadi) is from PA *dad- ‘step, tread’ [q.v.] (from the same root cf. Kem. dadag ‘hoof.) Kunfal has maki.

rock (see stone)

roof (thatched) dabba s’arana lamsa B. dabba (pl. dabab) is probably connected with the PNA root *dab[b]~ ‘mountain, elevated place’ [q.v. under ‘mountain’]; note also as a loan (but with a different root pattern) Gz. dabab ‘canopy, roof over a gate’. K. lamsa (and CRo. limanta) are both derived from the vb. root lam- ‘cover’ [q.v.]. root

sar, jabi PA *sar< this clearly looks like a borrowing from EthSem., Gz. sarw, Ti., Tna., Amh. sar, etc. In EthSem. the same root has the meaning ‘nerve’, which fits better sar

sar

sar

Dictionary 117

with its Semitic cognates (Hebrew sor, Arabic surra, etc.); PSem. *surs~, which is perhaps a development of the former, has the meaning ‘root’. Kailina has 5 ’ayk’a.

rope

gdmdr qarba/qabra kabara gemed B. gdmdr (pl. gamat) (also Khamta gimid) and A. gemed are from EthSem., Tna., Amh. garndd. X. qarba/qabra and K. kabara (also Quara) presuppose *kabar-a, and Re. [1887:152] suggests they are cognate with the Bilin form, which does not seem likely.

run

gagwat’ygiggigPA *gag-/gig-: also Qu. gag-. CRo. Awiya has gian- [? = geg-}, suggesting a further vocalization. Perhaps comparable is Gedeo gong- ‘run’, but this is evidently an isolated form. PA X. wat’y- (also in Khamta wot-is- ‘fuggire’; Kailina wit’ y-).

S

Bil.

Xam.

Kem.

Awn.

sacrifice (animal), vb. suksak’wsawPNA *sakw-/sakw-/sdxw--. B. suk- [glossed by KH. as ‘to remember someone who has died by killing a cow’]; X. sawk’- idem. Also Qu. saw-. A single proto-form cannot be reconstructed on the basis of the extant forms. sad, be

gwahay-, hazntakaz yazenhadanB. gwahay- is from Ti. gaha, or denom. from Ti. adj. gahay ‘sad’. B. hadan-, X. hazn-, also Kailina xazan- [^«H and A. azen- are also from EthSem., hzn'. Gz. hazana, Tna. hazana, Amh. azzana, etc. K. takaz y-, also Qu. takaz-, is from Amh. takkaza. Kunfal has ayam ‘sadness’, a root not recorded in Awngi or Awiya.

saddle

kor koraca koraca kur The Agaw terms are all part of the common Ethiopian word family for ‘saddle’, although the individual terms in Agaw may have different immediate origins: B. kor cf. Ti. kor, Saho kor; X. koraca, also Khamta kuoracan, and K. koraca, Re. Qu. koraca, cf. Tna., Amh. koracca; A. kur, also Awiya kuori, is closer in form to languages of the northern region, but cf. also such as Sidamo koora, Or. kooraa, KafaMocha koro.

safe, well, healthy

dahna, daxna danga warka [See also ‘healthy’.] Kem. danga (also Qu. dang, Re. Qu. dan = dag) probably represents a development of the same term as found in Bil., Xam. (also Khamta dahna), which is from EthSem., dxn, etc.

118 A comparative dictionary, etc.

saliva

bac’ak’ bas’qan bazaxw basqi PA *basq-/basqw-\ the extant forms (also Kunfal beske), though clearly related, cannot be derived from a single proto-form. In particular the voiced sibilant in Kem., also Qu. bazxa, is puzzling; CRo. Kemant has btshua, however [= basxwa}. NAgaw [Bil. and Xam.] suggests an intermediate form *bacq~.

salt

sawa c ’awa sawa ciwi PA *caw-: also in Khamta cawad, with unexplained suffix. Borrowed into EthSem., Gz. s’ew, Tna., Amh. caw, etc. Lamberti and Haberland’s attempt [1988:75-6] to relate the Agaw item to such as Som. Tusbo, Afar Tasbo, Bayso esebo, Or. assabo, on the one hand, and Kafa-Moccha hic’iwo [Cerulli Kafa icebo, icewo] and even Yemsa kawo, on the other, seems somewhat forced.

sand

k’usa

Sana

asawi, yabci Kem-Qu. asawa, A. asawi are from Amh. asawa. CRo. Awiya has west, which he compares with Damot hebsi A. yabci. asawa

Saturday sanbar sag^ax” qadamsur sanabta kadami B. = ‘little Sabbath’; Re. Chamir similarly has qeddm sinbit ‘first Sabbath’, which is probably also the origin of X. qadamsur with -sur as a much reduced form of sanbat. Khamta has qdydam (cf. the first element of the Xam. term, and Awngi, below). These terms and K. sanabta (also Quara and Kailina sanbat) is from EthSem., Gz. sanbat, etc. A. kadami is from Amh. k’adame, i.e. ‘first [Sabbath]’. sauce, stew [®T] sak’w s’aqw saxw lasay^ PA *caqw-\ [see discussion under ‘cook’]. A. lasay^l is puzzling; the vb. ‘cook’ is cuq- < *caqw- with expected initial c-, not s-, as here, if indeed the same root as ‘cook’ is contained within the word.

say

yyynPA *y[d]~. the root occurs in A. ast- (< *a-st-) ‘be called’ and tag- ‘say to o.a.’ (< ^a-t-g-}. PC *-iy[y] (Saho iy-, Afar -iy[y], PHEC *y~: Burji i-/iy~, Gedeo hiyy-, Hadiyya, Sidamoy-) [see Sasse 1982:108]; PSC *yo-/?o- [Ehret 1980:318]. Also in Omotic: Yemsa i-. Elsewhere in AA: AEgJj ‘saying’,/ ‘say’ [Takacs 1999:79].

scorpion sik’wa c’awa sixwa PNA *ciqw-a/ciyw-a : Re. Chamir has ecuwa with an initial vowel.

see

k’walqalxalkantPNA *qwal-/qal< Re. Chamir has variants qiial-, qal-, %al~; Khamta qal-, Kailina aqal-/qal-/qal- [h^A, ^A, ^A]; Qu. xwal-/xal~. Dolgopolskiy [1973:81] cites Som. qollaali- ‘look around’ as a possible cognate within Cushitic. Elsewhere in AA Orel &

Dictionary 119

Stolbova [1995:344] compare with a putative EChadic *kwal-, the reconstruction of which seems weakly founded. A. kant- (Kunfal idem.) is from PA *kin-/kan- ‘learn’ [q.v.] (see also under ‘custom’). seed

Jciddna zira fdzan zer PNA *faz- ‘sow’ [q.v.], nominal deriv. in -an-. X. zira (Khamta idem.), also Qvt.jdra ‘progeny, race’, A. zer are from Amh. zar.

seek (see want)

seem (see resemble) self

-su, -qam -labaka -yaryd/-ydra -lawad All the above combine with possessive pron. prefixes: B. ya-lawad ‘I myself, X. yay ya-qam ‘he himself, A.yi-yard ‘I myself, etc. Quara and Chamir have -su, like Bilin: Qu. an ya-su ‘I myself, and the same occurs in Chamir. In the light of the fact that Kem. uses the noun labaka ‘heart’ [q.v.] in this sense, it is possible that this clitic -su is cognate with A. asew ‘heart’ [q.v.]. Similarly, A. -yar[y]a may be the same as the n. ydri ‘head’. The use of a noun denoting a part of the body in the meaning ‘self is common throughout the Ethiopian region: Tna. nass- as the 2nd and 3rd pers. pronoun base from nafsi ‘soul’, Amh. ras ‘head’ (ane ras-e ‘I myself) and also 3rd pers. pronoun base ars-, Argobba kass- from kars ‘belly’, etc. CRo. [1912:48] notes that in Quara various such nouns may be used: enkera ‘soul’, awe ‘head’, besides -su. Similarly, Re. Chamir uses nibis/nifis ‘soul’ and akcd ‘body’ as well as -su.

sell

kadqay-Zk’aykazwoyPNA *kaz-: also Kailina qi[y]~. Khamta has unexplained giaw-. A. woy- is the root also seen in ‘price’ [q.v.] which is cognate with verbs meaning ‘buy’ [q.v.] in Kem-Qu. Kunfal has unexplained waka.

send

ancay-, kiccPA *?ancaq-/?ancay-. Re. derives the vb. from the n. nisqa. [KH. nask’a] ‘message, messenger, servant’. Re. also notes a stem variant insaq- [= Pansax-], which like the K. and A. forms can be derived quite regularly from PA *?ancay-. Khamta, however, has asdns-, which does not look cognate [pace Conti Rossini 1904:207]. Quara and Kailina have bars-, which is a causative deriv. of the root meaning ‘go away, leave’. X. bars- is ‘send away’ (i.e. equivalent of Amh. rather than Ah). A. kicc- is perhaps from Omotic (Gofa kit- ‘send’, Wolaytta kiitt-, Kafa kicc- ‘pull out’). Pansak’-

as’aq-

ansay-

120 A comparative dictionary, etc.

sid-, sid[a]sgwdldylerffahasB. sid- and X. sid[aJs- are clearly cognate, the latter equating with Chamir sidd-es‘vertreiben lassen’, where Re. has sidd- in the sense ‘fortjagen, vertreiben’. B. fahasis the causative offah y- ‘separate, scatter’ vi., which is also in Ti. fah bala. K. gwalay- cf. also Re. Qu. gale-.

separate, v.tr.

servant

kadamanta, kadmata, amfara, nask’a afara lole B. kadamanta and X. kadmata are lit. ‘worker’ from the root ‘work’ [q.v.]. For B. nask’a see under ‘send’. K. amfara (also Qu. anfara, Kailina afara, Xam. afara) are all cognate with B. ?anfa ‘hey you! boy!’ [see under ‘boy’]. K. lole is from Amh. idem.

seven Miyata layta laydta/liyata layeta seventy layatrayan laytdryan layatiy layitickd PA *layd-tta/laya-tta-. formed by means of the suffix *-tta on the base of *laya/laya ‘two’ [q.v.]. For this formation according to a quinary system see discussion under ‘eight’. Other languages: Qu. Uyata, Kailina layat’a, Khamta lanta, Kunfal layata. ‘Seventy’ is built on the base of ‘seven’ by means of the tens formative *-tayan, replaced in Awngi by -ckd from the independent numeral ‘ten’. (Again see discussion under ‘eighty’.) sew, plait saxs ’aqsaysayPA *saq-/say~: Re. records a labialized stem variant saqu-. The vowel a of the Bilin stem is also unexpected. Cf.PHEC *suk’k’~ ‘spin (cotton)’ (Sidamo, Kambaata, Gedeo). Also Dahalo sook’- ‘twist’. Elsewhere in AA: AEg. sq.t ‘woven fish-trap’ [Takacs 1999:212]; PWest-Chadic *sak- ‘weave’ (inch Hausa sadk’a).

shade, shadow sama s ’ama lamda mindi PA *cam~: cf. also Kem. samana ‘black’ [q.v.], Re. Qu. samom- ‘be dirty’, A. cami ‘dirt’ [q.v.]. Cf. PLEC *d’um- ‘dark’ (Saho d’um- ‘become dark’, d’uma ‘sunset’, and probably Or. d’um-/d’um-ad’- ‘come to an end’, Konso d’um- ‘set (of the sun)’, Som. d’im-ad- ‘die’.) Also in Omotic (Wolaytta t’um- ‘become dark’, Gamo d’uma ‘darkness’, Shinasha c’uw- ‘come to an end’, Kafa t’umo ‘darkness, night’, etc. [see Lamberti & Sottile 1997:531-2]). There may well be at least two Cushitic roots involved here that have to some extent become confused in various languages: *d’am-/d’im-/d’um- ‘come to an end, set (of the sun)’ [see discussion under ‘finish’], *dum- ‘become dark, darkness > cloud’ [see discussion under ‘cloud’], and thence *d’um- in the sense of ‘dark’, too. The picture is further complicated by forms with a voiceless initial like Xam., Qu. tama ‘darkness’. PA *cam- (? besides *cam-) of course presupposes PC *d’a[a]mm- with a long vowel and medial consonant. Elsewhere in AA: PChad. *cum- ‘dark’, *cama ‘night’ [Stolbova 1996:47].

Dictionary 121

K. Idmda, also in Qu. lamda.

share, part, n. bana kabal bal B. bana is from the vb. root ban- ‘divide’ [q.v.]. K. kabal is from Amh. kafal ‘share’.

sal-

gab-, zaysdlPNA *gwab-/gab-\ also in Re. Chamirgibband ‘file’, Re. Qu. gub-. X. sal-, Kem-Qu. sal- are from EthSem., Amh. said ‘sharpen’; Re. Chamir also has sahl- which is rather from Tna. sahala.

sharpen

g^ab-

shave, v.tr. Uslas UslancPA *lVc< also Chamir lie- [= lac ’-], Khamta lasas- (?), Qu. las-/las-, Awiya lens-, Kunfal lins-. The variation in the vocalism makes the reconstruction of a common form impossible; the nasal in SAgaw is also problematical. The Agaw root is borrowed from EthSem., Is ’y: Gz. las ’aya, Ti. lac’a, Tna. las ’aya, Amh. lac’d, etc. she

nari yi/y^r niy tji PNA *ya-ti: feminine derivative of *ya- ‘he’ [q.v.]. Awngi-Kunfal does not distinguish a separate masc. and fem. 3rd person pronoun. Khamta has nine, with an unexplained second nasal; Kailina has ni, contrasting with masc. ay.

sheep

baga biga baga tay PNA *bdg-a\ Re. has B. bagga, with long or geminate gg not paralleled elsewhere in Agaw (but cf. EthSem., below). The word also exists in Kunfal, bagi. The term is also found in EthSem., Gz. bagga?, Ti. baggu?, Tna. baggi?, Amh. bag, etc., and CRo. [1912:175] considers the Agaw term as a borrowing from EthSem. However, there are no safe Semitic cognates of the EthSem. word (Arabic baybaya ‘bleeting’ is more likley to be onomatopoeic). Orel & Stolbova [1995:44] compare amongst others Berber (Ahaggar) a-bayuy ‘ram’, Gude (Central Chadic) baga ‘sheep’, which seem more convincing. A. tay (also Awiya to ’i) is probably also froth a different EthSem. term: Harari t ’aay, Chaha t’e, Soddo at’ay, which does have Semitic cognates: PSem. *t’aly- ‘goat’ (Gz. t’ali). The word must, however, have been borrowed into SAgaw from a now lost SEthiopic language, as none of the languages which currently have this root are now adjacent to the SAgaw area.

shepherd (see herdsman) shield

gib gasa gasa PNA *gib~: also in Re. Quara and “Dembiya” gib. Cf. Afar gob, Beja gwibe [Roper]. X. gasa, Khamta gaysd, Kem. gasa (also CRo. Awiya gasi) are from Amh. gassa. The term occurs in various other Ethiopian languages: EOromo gaac[c]ena, Gollango kaasan-ko, Buiji gaazee.

122 A comparative dictionary, etc.

shoe

sanfi s’abb c’amma cam The same word as ‘sole of the foot’ [q.v.], for which Kem-Qu. has samba, however. PA *canb-/canf-\ Re. also notes a rare Bilin form safa, as in “Dembiya”. K. c’amma ‘shoe’ (unlike samba ‘sole’), also Khamta camma and probably A. cam (CRo. Awiya cami ‘piede, pianta del piede’ are, however, directly from Amh. c’amma, which is itself a borrowing from Agaw. Cf. Beja d’ambe ‘sole of the foot/palm of the hand’.

short

daray-axw ajay darayta[y] deden PA ? *daday-/daday--. also Kailina daray, Qu. darya. PNA *daray- is readily reconstructable on the basis of the Bil., Kailina and Kem.-Quara forms, and comparison with A. deden indicates a PA *dVd Vy-, with hesitation over the final nasal. X. ajay probably does not belong here, cf. Chamir [i]etin, [i]ecin and Khamta egin, the latter with unexplained medial g, unless this is a hardening of an earlier j; perhaps *atin > acan > ajan > agan. Re. suggests deriving from EthSem. k’at’in (thus in Ti., Amh. k’ac’c’an), which seems somewhat forced.

shoulder kas kis takasa maq PNA *kas~: also Chamir kesa, Qu. kas, CRo. K. kas, kas. PEC *kas- ‘shoulder, chest’ [Sasse 1982:112] (Rendille kac ‘chest’, Buiji kaccoo ‘shoulder’, Or. kasoo ‘bronchitis’, Gawada xasito ‘shoulder’, etc.), though by relating these to Som. saf ‘chest’, Konso kessa, and Yaaku kehpen ‘shoulder’ he goes on to propose ultimately PEC *kafs-/kefs-. K. takasa is from Amh. idem. Ap. Qu. also has faywaya-, Kailina sagi, for which see under ‘back’. CRo. glosses Khamta giyur both as ‘shoulder’ and ‘knee’. A. maq is the same as CRo. Awiya maqi, for which cf. perhaps Beja m ’age [Roper] ‘neck, nape of the neck’, though Lamberti & Sottile [1997:466] prefer to link this with an “Old Cushitic” root *marg- ‘neck, throat, shoulder’. shout, cry out

waf y-

^aw y-, away naw yB. wa£y-, K. aw y- and A. away n-: several similar forms occur in other languages or dialects (Chamir wag-, Kailina waq- [T^], “Dembiya” wag-, Qu. way-), in all of which there is a certain element of onomatopoea. X. qayy- (? = qay y-) and K. kaw y- are probably cognate; CRo. [1912:218] glosses K. kawy- as ‘mugir’. Qayy~

sick, be saxwasts’awssaywsqundastPNA ? *caywVs~. Re. has suqis-t-, var. suqis-t-, KH. has saxwas-t- ‘be sick’ but saxuda ‘sickness’ [but Lamberti & Tonelli sak’wada]', the latter is from *caywaz-a, for which cf. K. saywza ‘sickness’ and Re. Qu. siuza ‘sick’ [see also under ‘disease’]. Re. Chamir zus- ‘be sick’ [with the construction gizu yit zusauk = X. gizu yat s’awsakw, lit. ‘stomach pains me’] butzuw/7- ‘fall ill’, corresponding to B. saxwast-

Dictionary 123

and paralleling Amh. haoan and ^aoao (similarly Khamta sus- and sowit-). CRo.

Kemant has sogz- ‘etre malade’ and sogza ‘maladie’; also say^- beside sayws- [Sasse p.c.] Ap. Qu. has sams-, which is the same as Re. Qu. sams-, a different root alongside siiiz-t-. The question that arises is whether the final sibilant is part of the underlying root or not. The evidence of Bilin and Kemant-Quara suggests that it is, whilst Xamtanga etc., suggests that it is not. It is possible that in Xamtanga etc., the final -s was interpreted as a causative extension. The absence of a SAgaw cognate (Awiya has kuendast- like Awngi qundast-, and no Kunfal data is recorded), and the lack of any sound Cushitic cognate make it difficult to determine (Dolgopolskiy’s comparison [1973:124] with Or. d’ukkuba ‘sickness’, etc., seems unlikely.) sickle

masar mayar abala B. masar, X. mayar are from EthSem., Gz. mdfs ’ad, Tna. ma?s ’ad. The medial y in X. (also Chamir) is unexpected. K. abala, also in Quara.

side (esp. of the body)

gdba, gwidan gwan gonn gaf B. gdba is glossed by Re. as ‘1) seite des korpers, 1) ufer’; but by KH. as ‘vicinity, what is not far away’; gdf a variant of the latter, is also glossed by Re. as ‘seite, richtung’ as well as ‘halfte’ [see discussion under ‘half where other Agaw cognates of this root are given]. KH. glosses gdfas both ‘half and ‘region’. Cf. PEC *gab- ‘side’. Elsewhere in AA: PSem. *gabb-/ganb- ‘side’ (Arabic janb, Syriac gabba, Gz. gabo, etc.); AEg. gb3 ‘side (of a room); also in Chadic [Takacs 1999:223]. X. g^idan/g^adan [also Re. B. gudum] is clearly cognate with EthSem, Tna. gwadni, Amh. gwadan (also gwann, gonn); the Gz. form is gadm, to which Re. B. form may be compared more directly. K. g*dyy, Qu. g^ey probably also belong here, whilst Ap. K. gwan, A. gonn are from the secondary Amh. form, gwannlgonn. Blazek [1994:56] suggests a PA ^g^ady- [= *gwddr)- in the transcription here] cognate with Som. gooddi ‘side, edge’ and SC. *gwe?ed- (Iraqw gwe?do ‘anus’ = gwe?eedoo ‘buttocks’, Asax. gide?e ‘ribs’, etc.), and Beja gwaad ‘side, edge’.

side, bank, shore day day dar From EthSem. (Ti, Tna, Amh. dar); dar also occurs in Bilin, glossed by Re. as ‘der einem tribus gehorige bezirk; tribus, familie; wirtschaft, der erlebte landbesiz’, and by KH. as ‘living, economic resources’, reflecting only the last of Reinisch’s definitions; Ti. dar has the same meaning, whilst Tna, Amh. dar means only ‘side’ shore, etc.’. sieve

wantaba watab wantab PNA Cantab-: from EthSem, Gz. mant’af[t] (root nt’f) Ti. mant’afi ‘filter, strainer’. The Agaw form must be an ancient borrowing from something like Gz. mant’af, with a shift m- > w-, and b in accordance with the ablaut pair b:f.

124 A comparative dictionary, etc.

silent, be (see be quiet) sinew (see vein)

sing

haldy-, jimbaz-, jamc’affarkalagB. haldy- is from Ti. hald; coffer- is from Tna. caffara; both are given as synonyms by KH. The latter is also in Khamta, cafr-. Re. Chamir has zimer- from EthSem., zmr: Gz. zammara, etc., but in Xam. only jim- ‘sing and dance’ (cf. A. jam-) is recorded [see discussion under ‘dance’]. K. baz- also in Qu. idem.

sister

send, -cuja PNA *t-zan- > *tsan~: a feminine derivative of *zan/zan ‘brother’ [q.v.] - B. sani requires PNA *t-zan-i, with fem. suffix -i and the same variant vocalization of the stem as in ‘brother’. X. zina is a feminine derivative of ‘brother’ with the suffix -a, as is A. send. The bound form -sin shows unexpected devoicing of the initial, cf. Kailina asan, which may be for *ya-san ‘my sister’. But cf. Khamta isen, izzen ‘fratello, sorella’, apparently without any gender distinction? The Awn. bound form -cuja is clearly a compound of-cu ‘mother’ and -ja ‘daughter’.

sit

kafyg^ayytakwdsamanjkwB. kaf y-, also in Ti., Tna. kaf bald. X. gwayy- [also Khamta guoy y- and Kailina gwdqi- (7-iEP)]. K. takwdsdm- (idem Qu.) may conceivably be connected with Amh. tak’dmmdt’d, though the intermediate developments are obscure.

six sixty

walta walta walta wolta waltaraijan waltaryan waltig woltickd PA * walta: [also Re. B. walta, Kailina wait'a, Kunfal walta] derivative in *-[tjta on the base *wal-/wal~. On the evidence of the other numerals 7-9, which are also formed with *-tta on the bases 2-4, resp., in a accordance with a quinary system, this base would originally have meant ‘one’, though it is not identical with the existing Agaw term for ‘one’. [See under ‘eight’ for discussion of the quinary system.] To PA *walcf. PEC *wal-/wil- ‘unity, together, each other’ (Saho wili ‘one’, Afar wile ‘together’, Som. wal ‘all’, walba ‘each one’, Or. woli ‘together’, Konso olli, Buiji wolli ‘each other’, Sidamo wole ‘other’, etc. [see Sasse 1982:189]). ‘Sixty’ is formed by the addition of the usual tens formative *-tayan [replaced by -cka from the numeral ‘ten’ in SAgaw.] [See under ‘eighty’ for discussion.]

skin, n.

?axa, qarbi/qabri kwarbay ay faram PA *?ax-a: B. ?axa [Lamberti & Tonelli ?axa] is glossed by KH. as ‘skin which covers the body’, by Re. as ‘haut, fell, leder’; also perhaps Chamir agdy, agi, var.

sani

zina/-sin

san

Dictionary 125

aggdy (?) ‘Haut, besonders Starke, dicke Haut’. A. ay is from the same root *?ax- + old subj. case reanalysed as masc. ending -i > ay. X. qarbi/qdbri, also Khamta qarvoi, Kem-Qu. kwarbdy are cognate with Tna, Amh. k’warbdt [also in Ti. k’drbat], which has a possible Semitic cognate in Arabic qirba ‘leather bottle for milk’.

sama, samay samay daban Gastar The NAgaw terms are from EthSem., Gz. samay, Ti, Tna, Amh. samay, etc. In Bilin Re. also glosses jar as ‘der himmel’ as well as ‘God’ [q.v.]. B. fastar is from Ti. Gastar. Similarly, A. daban (Kunfal devan) is also ‘God’.

sky

slaughter (an animal) baraxzawardyaredX. zaw- (Chamir zuw-) is derived by Re. from EthSem., Gz. sofa, Amh. sawwa ‘sacrifice’. K. ardy-, (also Qu. ard-), A. ared- (Kunfal art ’a) are from Amh. arrada.

slave

gdnjina bara bara gagri X. bara (also Khamta bara), Kem-Qu. bara are from Amh. barya.

sleep, vb.

ganj-

xar y-

ganj-

saqy-, yuryPNA (?) *gany. also perhaps in Chamir giijra ‘Schlafkammer’. CRo. Khamta has gis-, which allowing for the vagaries of the transcription may also be cognate. Re. records Qu. ganj- with a low vowel a, beside Ap. Qu. ganj-. X. xar y- (also Chamir

yir y-) perhaps like A. yu^-, contains the same root as ‘night’ [q.v.].

small, young sag^-ax™ malwa sagw-ay call! [see also little] PNA *cagw-: also Chamir siqii- ‘be young’[with unexpected medial q^, Kailina 5 ’agwaq ‘small, young’, Qu. sagwa. Chamir also has sisw- in the sense of ‘small, young’. Although the formal fit is not without problems, could PNA ^cag^be connected with PEC *dik’k’-/duk’k’-/d’ik’k’-/d’uk’k’- ‘small’ ? Note also PHEC *t’ik’k’-/t’uk’k’- ‘narrow’ (Burji c’ik’k’d, Hadiyya t’uk’k’a). A better Agaw fit for these is PNA *?aqwt- ‘few, small’ [q.v.]. X. malwa, also in Khamta malwa, maid ‘ragazzo; piccolo, giovane’. A. calli [also in Kunfal seliy] has the range of meanings ‘small, young, few’. Cf. perhaps Bayso ki-ts ’er-ki [masc.], ti-ts 'er-ti [fem.] ‘small, little’.

yari, sattu smell, vi. ?axarxarxeryaryPA *qir-/qar- [*qVr-]: also in Khamta har-. Note the different vocalization in the noun in Bilin k’ira, and the vocalic prefix of the verb stem ?axar- < *?ayar~, where *y is the “weak” or ablaut pair of *q. In all the other languages the noun and verb stems smell, n.

k’ira

xara

xera/fera

126 A comparative dictionary, etc.

are identical. The Kem. variant fera shows the unusual shift x > f, probably influenced by the synonyms xayaylfaray ‘big’ [q.v.]. A. sattu is from Amh. smoke, n. tada taya taxza tisi PA *taz~: also in Chamir tiya-, in Khamta/is as a re-borrowing from Tna. t’is; also in Qu. tis alongside taxaza. The medial x in Kem-Qu. tax[a]za [Re. Qu. ta%sd, CRo. K. tohsd] is unexplained, if indeed this is related to the other Agaw terms. The word is borrowed into EthSem., Gz. Tna. t’is, Amh. c’as, etc. smooth

snake

tdk’wa

lac’-aw

marawa sibra marawa muri PA *marVw~. also in Kailina marawa, “Dembiya” merwa, CRo. Awiya mueri. X. sibra, cf. B. sabara ‘python’ [Re. ‘art von boa’.] Khamta has tarndn from Tna.

bakw-, nit’qmantalX., K. are from Amh. ndt’t’ak’a.

snatch, grab

sneeze

tantala

nat’ak’-

tas-

hat ’si yant’as yndt’asAll from various EthSem., Ti. hat’asa; Tna. hant’asa, Amh. anat’t’asa, etc.

soft, smooth ?at-axw Also Re. Qu. lamta.

lac’-aw

soil, dirt bata bat’ bi PA *bat< [see discussion under ‘earth’, also ‘dust’ and ‘land’].

sole (of the foot) sanfi s ’abb samba cam PA *canb-/canf~: [see discussion under ‘shoe’]. Kem-Qu. samba [note Re. Qu. variant sanpa] but probably not A. cam derives directly from the PA form, unlike ‘shoe’ [q.v.]. A. cam is more likely from Amh. c ’amma, itself a borrowing from Agaw. Kunfal has campi and cabe in the sense of ‘shoe’, which allowing for the usual transcription problems of the data, could be directly from PA *canb~; the initial c might suggest rather PA *canb~, but the s ’ initial in Xamtanga favours the original reconstruction. Cf. Beja d’ambe ‘sole of the foot, palm of the hand.’

soul

rih, nabs/nafs fiwa anka fixwat, ?ankara PA *?ank-[ar-7: B. ?ankara, also in Re. Qu. enkera. A. anka [CRo.. Awiya enkT\ suggests that the -ra is a suffix.

Dictionary 127

B.fixwat, K.fiwa (Re. Qu.fihwa) are from PA *fiyw- ‘breathe’ [q.v.]. B. rih ‘soul, spirit’ is from Arabic ruh', X. nabs/nafs is from Tna. nafsi or Amh. nafs. Re. Qu. also records manfas, which is Amh. manfas ‘spirit’.

sow

fadfizfazzerPNA *faz-: also Re. Qu./oz-, CRo. K.foz-, with unexplained o-vowel. A. zer- (also Khamta zir-) is from EthSem., Amh. zarra, Tna. zdr?e, resp.

speak

gab-, gamar-, dibs-, dag”-, dawdaywwikt(1) PNA *gab< also in Kailina gab-, K. gaba ‘thing’, Qu. gaba ‘word, thing’ [B. gaba idem, gab ‘speech, language’]. For the semantic link between ‘word’ and ‘thing’ cf. Amh. ndgar. (2) PA *dayw-'. also B. daw- ‘tell, relate, explain’, though the correspondence is irregular, *daxw- would be expected. Also Re. Chamir duq-/duk- as a form recorded in Wag. [See also ‘tell’.] X. wikt-, cf. wigas- ‘talk together’, hence the root is wig- [also in Khamta wigs‘speak’, wigsa ‘language’]. A. dibs- is a denom. from dib ‘word, thing’ [q.v.].

spear

fansax ac ’ana samara werem To B. ?ansax cf.perhaps “Dembiya” inkas. Other terms: Re. Chamir sibana from sib- ‘pierce, stab’ [q.v.]. Khamta aginan. Re. Qu. semargina and jaraqa. Awiya waram, worcani.

spider

?asarirora/ sarra sararit sereriti sariro The various forms are all cognate with terms in EthSem., Gz. saret, Ti, Tna. saret, Amh. sararit, etc. NEthSem. saret > *sarir- [B. sariro, etc., X. sarra]', Amh. sararit = the Kemant and Awngi terms. In light of the absence of Semitic cognates Cerulli [1936:237] proposed that the EthSem. term itself is from Cushitic. The word occurs elsewhere in the Ethiopian region (Or. sarariitii, Wolaytta sararitiya, Shinasha sara, Yemsa sayb, etc.)

gab-

spill, flow [q.v.] bak’wk’abrfazFor B. bak’w- see discussion under ‘flow’. The causative derivative bak’ws-/buk’wsmeans ‘pour’, as does K..fas- fromfaz-.

128 A comparative dictionary, etc.

spit

bare ’ak ’ y-, s 'ac ’ y-, atafyt’afy-, trfy-, laqtlak’(1) PNA *taf- etc., cf. similar items across the Ethiopian area: in Cushitic tuf- (Or., Som., HEC, Saho, etc. [see Lamberti & Haberland 1988:143]), EthSem., Amh. taffa, etc. (2) X. s’ac’ is reminiscent of Ometo *c’ud- (Wolaytta c’ucca ‘saliva’, cue’c’- ‘spit’,

Zayse c’ucc1, c’ut- etc. [Lamberti & Sottile 1997:327-8]) but there must be an element of onomatopoea here. (3) B. lak’- is glossed by Re. as ‘speien, anspeien’, but by KH. as ‘vomit’. Cf. X. laq-t- ‘spit’, CRo. K. lahit- ‘vomir’ (Re. Qu. laxet-), suggesting PNA *laq-, for which cf. PEC *lik’-/luk’- ‘swallow’ [See discussion under ‘tongue’, also ‘vomit’.] spread out, vt. bat’ Pasfit’swdzB. bat’ Pas- is the cans, of bat’ y- ‘be spread out’, which also occurs in Ti. bat’ bela, Tna. bat’t’ bald ‘lie down, stretch out’ X. fat’s- is, however, the cans, derivation of a primary stem, *jat’-. Re. Quara has fante-, cf. CRo. Y^.fcmfi-.

spring (of water) Sal aqwat al mane’a ali PA ? *Pal-/Pal-\ [see discussion under ‘eye’.] X. aqwat al is lit. ‘spring of water’ to distinguish from al ‘eye’. The vocalization of the Awngi term is puzzling (‘eye’ is all) unless it is influenced by ayu ‘water’. CRo. Awiya also has ala, ali. Re. B. ‘ela, ‘ala, however, might suggest a different vocalization, cf. Ti., Tna. Sela, which is most probably from Agaw. Elsewhere in Cushitic, cf. Saho Pilla ‘spring’ (but Pinti ‘eye’); PSam *Pil- ‘eye’ and ‘spring’ [Heine 1978:65], but PSomali *£eel- ‘spring’ [Lamberti 1986:209] alongside *?il- ‘eye’. Similarly, PSem. *Sayn- is both ‘eye’ and ‘spring’. K. mane ’a is Amh. mane ’.

stand still, stop v.intr. daw ycibrtambytiryB. daw y- is also ‘stand up’; also Chamir dau y-. PNA *tamb--. X. cibr- < *tamb-[a]t- with old refl-pass, extension. K. tamb y- is conjugated as a composite with ‘say’; Re. Qu. has ten be-, which is probably an incorrect analysis - Ap. Qu. has tamb y- as in Kemant. A. tif- has stem variants tir/tiri-/tiret-/tint-. Also in Kunfal teri-w. CRo. [1905:179] compares B. tor y-, but this is glossed by Re. as ‘sich auf den weg machen; anfangen, beginnen’; also KH. tar n. ‘start, beginning’. stand up [see get up] star

sangarwa

s ’aglawa

sangarwa

bewa

Dictionary 129

PNA *cangarw-a: assuming r > I in Xam. Also in Qu. sangarwa/sangrawa [cf. Re. B. singruwa], Kailina s’aglawa. [Dolgopolskiy 1973:125 compares Ometo forms deriving from POmeto *t ’olint-, which seems unlikely.] Khamta has kuohuab from Tna. koxab. A. bewa, cf. Kunfal biwi.

stay, wait

diw-

s’ab-

sam[b] y-

say-,

ajjyB. diw- also means ‘wait for’. X. s ’ab-, also Chamir sib-, zib- [= 5 ’ab-], Khamta seb[= sab-] are used in the sense of ‘stay, wait’ as well as ‘dwell, live’ [q.v.]. K. sam[b] y- is similarly a derivative of the root samb- ‘dwell’. Ap. Qu. sam-, Re. Qu. also has sem[b]~ ‘bleiben, sich aufhalten’, as well as seky- ‘bleiben, warten’, which may be cognate with A. say-, i.e. PA *sax-/sak- (?). steal

saws’agwxasantdadeyPA ? *qacan-: also Re. Chamir qas[e]n-, Khamta qaz[e]n- [both with s/z instead of the expected *5'], “Dembiya” kasen-, Qu. xasdn-/xasant-, “Agaumeder” kasen[Conti Rossini 1904:227]. Lamberti & Sottile [1997:424-5] relate the Agaw root to PLEC *gaaz- ‘raid, plunder’ and Ometo *kays~, etc., ‘thief, steal’, which seems somewhat forced. Re. [1887:312] compares B. saw- with X.s’agw- [his san-]. Re. Chamir also has luq-. In all languages the term for ‘thief is derived from the respective vb. root ‘steal’: B. sawana, X. s ’ar)wdta [also qas ’ya], Kem-Qu. xasana, A. dadiyi.

step, tread dadc’agdadanqas(= trample) PA *dad~: also Chamir dad-, K. dadag n. ‘hoof [q.v.], A. dad ‘road, path’ [q.v.]. Cf. perhaps Sidamo dod- ‘run’ (unless this is from *dagud- [Hudson 1989:127]). stew (see sauce)

stick, staff gambi gabb kamba gamb PA *gamb-\ the initial k- of Kemant also in Re. Qu. kemb. The term also found in Omotic: Shinasha gumba, Kafa-Mocha gumbo, Gamo guufe. stomach (see belly) stone

karga q^rga karga kdrag PA *karg-/karg~: also in Khamta kema, kerna ‘pietra, sasso’ [and qarna ‘macigno’, i.e. ‘boulder’], Kailina qarga, Kunfal kareg.

stone (large), rock dangura dagwra PA *dangwar-/dangwar-: also Khamta dengur, Chamir digura, Nai. dirgua, CRo. Awiya dengueri. The term is also borrowed into EthSem., Tna. dang walla, Amh. dangiya/dangay, Muher dang'ala, Gafat danga, etc. The SEthSem. forms do not,

130 A comparative dictionary, etc.

however, seem to correspond directly either to an existant Agaw form or to the PAgaw reconstruction, but to something like *dangal-/dangdl~. Cf. Beja dangeer ‘a stone suitable for throwing’. straw

xansa, gilibi gdlbana PNA ? *qanc< also in Re. Chamir qaza. The precise nature of the sibilant is uncertain; Chamir z is not the expected correspondent of B.K. s. The word also occurs in EthSem., Tna. k’anc’a ‘maize stalk’. X. galba, also Khamta galava, and K. gdlbana ‘dry straw’: also in EthSem., Amh. galaba.

strong

bala, haylu kaybrja, yisyen tdb[b]-axw galbdyam B. tab[b]axwalso means ‘virile; tough, hard’; from EthSem., tb?: Gz. tabid, Tna, Ti. tabid. X. haylu, also Khamta hayyal are from EthSem., xyl: Tna. hayyala > X. hayl- ‘be strong’, adj. hayl-u,-wa (Chamir -i), -ak’w; Khamta continues Tna. hayyal directly. K. kayhya is from the Amharic cognate haylajgta. K. galbdyam is from Amh. gulbatam. Re.Qu. has bort- ‘be strong’ from Amh. baratta. Kailina has s ’an-aq (i.e. vb. *5 ’an-) from Amh. s ’anna, t’anna. A. yis- ‘be strong’; forj/^ez? v. Waldmeyer isen, iseni [see CRo. 1905:184] alongside CRo. Awiya yes anti.

suck

nabnibPNA *nab-: also Kailina, Qu. nab-.

sun

kwara kwara kwara awa PNA *kwar-a\ also in Khamta huara, Kailina kwara. This is usually related to Som. qorrah ‘sun’ [e.g. Dolgopolskiy 1973:77; Lamberti & Haberland 1988:72]. Cognate forms in most other Somali dialects and Sam languages have initial 2/0 (Af-Merka ?orrah, Af-Garre ?orrah, Rendille orrah, Boni ora?), which Lamberti & Haberland op.cit. argue is an example of a sporadic change *k’ > 2 in initial position. A different Cush, root meaning ‘sun’ with initial 2 may have influenced the change in this item (cf. Bayso arii-ti, Af-Tunni irra, Af-Jiiddu ariya, Afar-Saho ayro, Arbore urro ‘today’, PHEC *arre etc.) If *k ’orrah- can therefore be reconstructed as a PLEC root, cf. perhaps also Dullay (Harso-Dobace haallikko, S’amaako kaliko). A. awa [also Kunfal awi] is probably from Omotic (Shinasha adwa, Yemsa awa, Kafa abo, Mocha aabe, Shekko aabe ‘sun’, aabo ‘heat of the day’, Bench ab ‘day, time’, etc. [see Lamberti & Haberland 1988:61, also Lamberti & Sottile 1997:302-3 for more Omotic cognates]).

k’ansa

galba

nab-

cayw-

Dictionary 131

Sunday sanbar k’addaxw xayaw sanbat ad adg”! B. sanbar k'dddax" = ‘first Sabbath’, X. xayaw sanbat = ‘big Sabbath’. See discussion under ‘Saturday’. K. ad [idem in Qu., Kailina; CRo. K. ad’i] is presumably from EthSem., Gz. ?ahud lit. ‘first [day]’, though the development from the latter to ad is a little opaque, unless the numeral ‘one’ [Gz. lahadu, etc.] has influenced the Agaw form. How A. adgwi [Waldmeyer adugwr, CRo. Awiya has sian vad] fits here is uncertain.

swallow, vb. saywsagw~, sayw- saijwPA *sagw-: also Re. Qu. segu- with denasalization of the medial (cf. Kem. var. sayw-). Re. Chamir has wat- from Amh. wat’a.

swear an oath

sar-, s ’arsarmerd cewmahalPA *car-/car--. also “Agaumeder” sir-. Cf. PEC *t’aar- (Som. d’aar ‘oath’, Sidamo t ’aar- ‘swear’). B. mahal- is from EthSem., Ti. mahla, Tna. mahala, CRo. Awiya has mal-, which is from the Amh. cognate mala. A. merd cew- is lit. ‘make an oath’. [See also under ‘oath’.]

sweat, n. sadak ’ saza sasxa sasqi PA *sazq-. Re. Chamir has muza, vb. waz-, from Amh. wazza; the noun looks as if it is borrowed from a verbal n. *maw[a]z. Khamta has zan. sweep, wipe

c’drag-, jazgazcereggdsdsB. c’arag-, A. cereg- are from EthSem., s’rg Gz. s’araga, Ti. s’arga, Tna. s’araga, Amh. t’arraga, etc. The Agaw forms are perhaps indicative of an old borrowing. B. gasas-, X. jaz- [Chamir gis- beside Jis-, also Kailina giz-], K. gaz- are from EthSem., gss, Gz. gasasa, etc.

swim

B.

hambasbabhambas- is from Ti. hammasa.

war-

bamby-

PA *bamb-. X. bab-, A. bamt/- [also Re. B. bamb-, Kunfal bimb-}.

T tail

BiL

Xam.

Kem.

Awn.

samar s ’amar j^ray camdr PA *camar/camdr: Chamir samir, ^umir beside simir, also Kunfal samir. K..jardy (CRo. ¥^.jaray), also Chamir jera, Khamta cera, CRo. Awiya cari have various cognates in EthSem., Tna. jara, Amh. jarat, as well as Amh. c’ara ‘fly-whisk (made of hair from a horse’s tail)’. The Kemant and Chamir forms must derive directly from the former, whilst the latter is more likely the origin of the remaining

132 A comparative dictionary, etc.

forms. There are similar forms elsewhere in the Ethiopian region: Sidamo c’ira ‘tail’, Or. c’iraa ‘horse-hair fly whisk’.

take away ?adJisJaskacB. ?ad- [also Re. Qu. az-} is from EthSem., ?xz, Gz. ?axaza, Tna. hazd', evidently an ancient borrowing as suggested by (i) the absence in Bilin of a reflex of the laryngal, and (ii) the initial vowel a in Bilin. X. Jis- (Chamir, Khamta idem), K. fas- (Quara idem) are caus. derivatives of ‘go’ [q.v.], as is A. kac- (of kas-).

take hold of [see have] tall

sir-axw ligz-aw lagaz-ay liggisimi B. siraxw(from sir- ‘grow tall; go to a distant place’ [KH.]) can also mean ‘distant, far’; perhaps then also Re. Qu. cer-, if not a variant of kar- ‘be distant’, and thus PNA ? *cir-/cer-/cir-/cer-. Cf. perhaps PLEC *d’eer- ‘long, tall’ (Som. d’eer-, Rendille d’er, Arbore d’eera, Or. d’eer-, Dhaasanac d’er, etc.). For the other Agaw terms see under ‘long’; the semantic linking of ‘tall’ and ‘long’ is common across the Ethiopian area. gabas-, gamarmars-, dibswigaswayartB.jiyast- is denom. from jirja ‘conversation’ [see under ‘gossip, story, news’]; the same root appears in X. jigz- ‘tell, relate’ [see below]. X. gabas- and wigas- are similar derivatives of roots (gab-, wig-, resp.) meaning ‘speak’ [q.v.]. Similarly, K. gamarmars- is a reduplicated derivative of the root gamar- also meaning ‘speak’. K. wayart- is a deriv. of the root wayar- [cf. wayar ‘word’, CRo. K. wagart ‘discours’; cf. also Kailina waqart- ‘talk to o.a.’], which he connects with the Xam.Chamir root wig- [1912:264]. Note also Re. Qu. wdgar-t-/wanar-t-/wdr-t- ‘speak’. [See discussion under ‘play, converse’.] A. dibs- is a denom. from dib ‘thing, word’ [q.v.]. Awn. also has the n. konki ‘talk, conversation’, for which cf. Amh. kwankwa ‘language’.

talk, converse

jitjdst-

tapeworm habi sika saka ankoku B. habi is Tna. habbr, Re. has arawita from EthSem., Gz. ?arwe [pl. ?ardwit} ‘animal, serpent’. X. sika and K. saka (Qu. idem) presuppose PNA *sdk-a\ CRo. [1912:242] glosses K. saka as ‘koso, brayera anthelmintica’, i.e. the herbal remedy for tapeworm. The same term denotes both the parasite and its remedy in several languages of the Ethiopian area. taste, vt. tamtaste good, be sweet tamit-

tamtamt-

tamtam y-

cewent-

Dictionary 133

PNA *tam-: Re. B. tam-Ztam-’, Chamir has tam- [= tam-]; Khamta tarn-. In the first instance the PNA root is probably from EthSem., t’Zm\ Gz. t’a?ma, Tna. t aSama, Amh. t ’ama, etc. Similar forms do, however, occur in Cushitic with the meaning ‘taste, drink, eat’ (Or. d’ancTam- ‘taste’, Som. d’am- ‘drink milk or blood’, Bayso t’am- ‘drink’, Afar taam- ‘taste’, Dahalo tem-, Beja tam- ‘eat’; also in Omotic: Wolaytta t’aamm- ‘suck’, Gamo d’amm-, Koyra d’ay-, Yemsa tam-, Kafa t’am-, etc. [Lamberti & Sottile 1997:532-3]). Some of these probably reflect a distinct PCush. (and POmotic) root *d’am- or *t’am~, which survives in Agaw in A. cay ‘tongue’ [q4 teach

kans-, kanskinsdecc?ar?asB. kans-, etc. is the caus. of kant- ‘learn’ [q.v.]. Similarly, A. decc- is the caus. of des- ‘learn’, and B. ?ar?as- is caus. of ?ar?~ ‘know’ [q.v.].

tears, n. ?aruyw arayw yaray send PNA *?arayw: also Qu. yaray™, var.yarum with unusual development of yw. The Kem. final has been delabialized, if not derived from a var. *?aray. A different term occurs in Re. Chamir, zuna, pl. zun. Yet another root occurs in SAgaw: in “Agaumeder” esini, to which cf. Awiya esiaw- ‘weep’, A. assy~. A. senti [also “Damot” santi] is probably a different nom. derivation from the same root. To PNA *?arayw cf. PEC (Som. ilmo, Rendille ilim, Or. immimaan, Konso ilmaamaa, Buiji ilma [see Sasse 1982:105]); PSC *?ilima [Ehret 1980:291]. Also Beja milo ‘tears’. Elsewhere in AA: AEg. rmj ‘weep’ [Takacs 1999:123]. tell, relate dawjiyzdawPA ? *dayw~: see discussion under ‘speak’. X.jiyz- is denom. from jiya ‘story’ [Re. jinaj. Re. Chamir records the basic stemjin- as ‘erzahlen’. ten

saka s’ak’a saka cakka PA *cak-a: also in Khamta seqa, Kailina S’ak’a [R'^’], Qu. caka [Re. sika], Kunfal teka [sic]. CRo. Awiya has seqa., but Beke records ^ikka with geminate kk as in Awngi. The gemination is probably secondary, as suggested by the clitic -cka used in forming tens [suyacka ‘thirty’ from suya ‘three’] and cakra in the formation of teens [cakra suya ‘thirteen’]. For the latter v. B. sakadi, lit. ‘with ten’ beside saka, X. s ’ac’i, K. saki [‘thirteen’: sakaZsakadi saxwa, s’ac’i saqwa, saki siywa, resp.] Perhaps PA *caka is cognate with Or. kud’a ‘ten’ via metathesis? The same term is found in Konso kud’ani, and in Dullay (Gawwada xud’d’a, Gollango hud’d’a, Dobaace hud’d’dn, etc.) Elsewhere in Cushitic a different root is used: PEC *tam[m]an-/tamn- [also Beja tamin], which occurs in Agaw as the formation of the tens [for details see under ‘eighty’]. Also in Omotic *tamm- [Lamberti & Sottile 1997:520-1].

134 A comparative dictionary, etc.

termite

sasaba coca s ’as 'ba sasaba PA *cacdb--. with metathesis and weakening of *b in Awngi?

thanks

masgana mizan musa, hamda B. musa is from Tna. mosa, and hamda is from Ti. hamde, and ultimately Arabic hamd. X. mizan [Re. Chamir has mizyana} and K. masgana [Re. Qu. mezena] are from EthSem., Amh. masgana.

that

an ad/adin/adyan yin/yindan Pane ’a, Pane’adin ii accan " Panc’a, (f.) Panc’adini azzay yindaw dnni (Pl) Panc’a, Panc’adan No single proto-form can be reconstructed, as each branch of Agaw has developed a far demonstrative separately. B. Panc’a is the modifier and is invariable: Panc’a garwa ‘that man’, Pane ’a Paxwina ‘that woman’, etc. The extended forms are used as independent pronouns and mark gender-number. Variants occur: Re. Bil. has inja; injadi, etc., KH. has also andan-, anc’dndin. It is probable that X. ad, etc., derives from a similar extension of the base *Pan- [for discussion of the demonstrative base see under ‘this’]: *Pan-dV > ad, etc., where -d/-din/-dyan, -can, -zay are the gender/number marked extensions. Re. Chamir has similar forms: modifier masc/fem. ed/ied, fem. iezzan, plur. iez/iezzay, independent masc/fem. edin/iedin, plur. iedenzay. A similar dental suffix occurs in Kemant, on yinddn beside yin, and on the pl. yindaw. However, the far demonstratives in Kemant are built on the stem yin-, which represents an internal modification of the near demonstrative stem an-. The same occurs in Quara: sg. yin, pl. yinzd. A modification of the stem vowel also occurs in Awngi: an, dnni. The Khamta forms recorded by CRo. are somewhat different, being based on the 3rd pers. pronoun: (m.sg.) nd, (f.sg.) net, (m.pl.) nut, (f.pl.) nan. Note that only Bilin and Xamtanga/Chamir/Khamta have separate feminine forms (Khamta is alone in distinguishing gender in the plural, however), as well as distinct modifying and independent demonstratives.

there

nil adal yinndt dnda Locative forms of the far demonstrative [see under ‘that’], except for Bilin [also Quara], which is built on the 3rd pers. pronoun stem [see under ‘he’]. Kem. yinndt [unlike Qu. nili} contains the non-productive locative suffix -t also found on the interrogative ‘where?’ [q.v.]. Re. Chamir has iedra beside iedil.

they

na, naw rjay/rjaytay For discussion see under ‘he’.

(m.)

naydtw

gdji

Dictionary 135

thief

s’aywata, qas ’ya For discussion see under ‘steal’.

thin

Tabra, saw y-aw lit-ay ancu jark’w-ak’w B. ^'abra is from Ti. Re. Chamir has various terms glossed ‘mager, diinn’: kiiasau, moled, etin [for the last see ‘little’]. Beside lit-, CRo. Kem. has sawy-, which may be compared with X. saw y-. Quara has iyana. A. ancu is also recorded by CRo. in Awiya insil-t- ‘essere fino, sottile’, ensu ‘sottile, magro’. Kunfal has qaeen, which is Amh. k’ac’c’an.

sawana

xasanta, xasana

dadiyl

gaba gab gaba dib PNA *gab- ‘speak; language, word’ [see discussion under ‘speak’]. dibs- ‘speak’.

thing (= word)

think

Similarly, A.

hasabhasbasabtaksThe NAgaw terms are from EthSem., Ti. hasba, Tna. hasaba, Amh. assaba. Also in CRo. Awiya asiav-. A. taks-, cf. B. tak-is- ‘believe, understand’, the caus. derivation of tak- ‘appear, seem’ [q.v.].

thirsty, be sak’wantzaqwantsaxwantcanquntPNA *saqwan-/saqwan~: the verbs are denom. derivations in refl.-pass, -t from the respective nouns meaning ‘thirst’: sak’^ana, zaqwana, saxwan. Ap. Qu. has saxwan-s- ‘be thirsty’ with the pass, extension. Also in Khamta suhan ‘sete’; Re. Chamir has a voiceless initial, suqudna, etc. A. canqunt-, canquna ‘thirst’ is presumably related, but cannot derive from the same form as NAgaw. Aside from the intrusive nasal, there may be a trace here of an old verbal prefix: *t-sa[n]qwan- > canqun-. A. soyen ‘wet’ is the direct SAgaw cognate of the NAgaw root; *saqwan- > soyen. Lamberti & Sottile [1997:494-5] relate the Agaw term to various ECush, roots (Kambaata sagabe ‘thirst’, Buiji suggane ‘dry’, Bayso sokwat- ‘be thirsty’, Boni suug ‘thirst’, etc.) but these probably derive from a PEC *su[u]gg- ‘dry, thirsty’ [Sasse 1982:169]. See Lamberti & Sottile op.cit., for some suggested Omotic cognates.

thirty

saxwdrayan sdwaryan sdywayy suyacka PA *saywa-/saywa- + *-tayan, etc.: comprising the numeral ‘three’ [q.v.] + the tens suffix [see under ‘eighty’ for discussion.]

136 A comparative dictionary, etc.

this

(m) ?ana, nin an/anin/anyan an/andan an fl ?ana, nini ancan (f) ?ana, nan anzay andaw anni (Pl) PA base *?an-: B. ?ana is used as a modifier and is invariable: ?ana garwa ‘this man’, ?ana ?axwina ‘this woman’, ?ana ?dk ‘these people’; it may also be used as an independent pronoun: ?ana ya-k’wara gan ‘this is my son’. A shorter form, ?an, is used in Bilin as a general definite modifier: ?an ?addam ‘the man’, ?an ?a?i ‘the girl’, ?an darfaf'Ah.e roads’. The independent demonstratives nin (m.), nini (f.), nan (pl.) are perhaps built on the 3rd pers. pronoun base n V- [see under ‘he’]. Re. [1882:689], however, notes a variant indn of the pl. nan, which suggests that nin, etc., may be shortened from *?anin, which would correspond directly to X. anin. The fem. demonstrative in Re. Bil., however, is nifin to which the pron. ‘she’ niri may be compared. Like Bilin, Xamtanga shows gender/number marking; the suffixes (m.) -in, (f.) -can, (pl.) -zay also occur with the far demonstrative ‘that’ [q.v.]. The Khamta forms are again rather different: (m.sg.) anil, (f.sg.) anic, (m.pl.) ariut, (f.pl.) net, with variants (sg.) enqa, (pl.) en; these should be treated with some caution as there appears on the face of it to be some confusion of different forms here. The remaining languages distinguish only number, following the same patterns as seen on the far demonstrative. PA *?an- has cognates across Cushitic: PEC *-ni/-nu/-na as a clitic added to the pron. base marking gender (Som. kan, tan', Rendille kan[a], tan[aJ; Or. kana, tana (some dialects) [Subj. case kuni, tuni]; Sidamo konne, tenne [Subj. case kuni, tini]}; also Dullay clitic -na, -nu; Beja. ?uun, tuun [Acc. case ?oon, toon]. A nasal element also figures in some Omotic demonstratives [see Lamberti & Sottile 1997:391-2]. Elsewhere in AA, a demonstrative element n occurs widely, in Semitic, Ancient Egyptian, Berber and Chadic.

thorn

?agam ami amu ayu Whilst the various terms are clearly all related, it is difficult to reconstruct a single proto-form. Re. records Bil. variants agum, egum, apparently with labialization [? = ?agwam, ?agwam], as in the Kem.-Qu. and Awngi terms. Khamta has ami, which like X. ami shows no labialization of the final vowel. The forms other than Bilin all indicate a proto-form in which the labial m precedes the third (underlying) consonant, and this is confirmed by the recorded NAgaw plurals: X. amik, CRo. K. amkuk, in contrast to B. ?akakam [Re. akekum]. A. ayu [idem CRo. Awiya] could similarly derive from such as *?amgw- via *aygw~. Perhaps, then, X. ami < *?amax and K. amu < *?amaxw, with some uncertainty about the precise nature of the guttural, 9[w]^[w]^x[w]■ There are cognates in Omotic [Lamberti & Sottile 1997:281 reconstruct “Old Cushitic” *?agum-]: Wolaytta agun-ta, Gamo agun-tsi, Maale angu-tsa, Shinasha anga-tsa, Aari ukuma. It is interesting that Shinasha anga-tsa shows a similar metathesis to A. ayu if < *?angw-, given the evidence elsewhere for contact between SAgaw and the Gonga branch of Omotic in particular.

Dictionary 137

thousand sah, sih sax si say The NAgaw forms cannot be divorced from similar terms in EthSem., Tna. sah, Old Amh. sih, Mod. Amh. si, etc. Re. records B. sih/sih, and Chamir si%. The EthSem. term is itself of Cushitic origin, probably Agaw, but the pharyngeal h in Bilin corresponding with velar x in Xamtanga suggests that these cannot be “uninfluenced” Agaw forms. Also Khamta seh. A. say probably derives from *sax- + nom. -i. The term occurs in a number of Cushitic and Omotic languages across the Ethiopian area [see Lamberti & Sottile 1997:502], though one suspects these are borrowings from EthSem., and the reconstruction of an “Old Cushitic” form seems unfounded. Cf. perhaps Beja se ‘hundred’, but also AEg. st, Coptic se ‘hundred’, which perhaps suggests the Beja word is from Egyptian.

thread

tara kar kar karri B. tara [Re. B.tera, tir] is perhaps from EthSem. t’at’ ‘cotton, cotton thread’ [cf. Re. Chamir teta ‘Faden aus Baumwolle’]. CRo. Kem. has makwa from the root mak‘filer’ [also Re. Qu. makua]. The remaining terms are from EthSem., Amh. karr.

three

saxwa saqwa siywa suya PA *saywa/saywa: X. saqwa [also Chamir sakua, Khamta soqa, Kailina sek’^a [?£#]] show an unusual development of the initial, as well as a strengthening of the medial guttural, neither of which appear in the derivatives ‘eight’ or ‘eighty’ [q.v.]. Quara has siywa/siwa. Kunfal has sawa. The vowel of the stem also shows considerable variation across languages: beside B. saxwa, Lamberti and Tonelli [1997:84] have sexwa; note also B. sixwar ‘third’; X. saqwa ‘three’; Kailinasek’wa and Re. Qu. sewa beside slwa; A. suya < *saywa (with palatalization before a), but soye- < *saywa- in ‘eight’. Forms like B. sexwa, K. siywa, Qu. siwa/sewa and X. saqwa could represent developments of something like *5eywa, though the existence of PA *e is debatable, or the respective medial vowels could be due to the following guttural. PA *sayw-a/sayw-a has been compared to PEC *saz[i]h-/sazzih-/sizah- (Afar sidoh, Som. saddeh, Arbore seezze, Bayso seed, Or. sadi?, Konso sessa, Burji fadfya, Sidamo sase, Dullay (Gawada) iseh, etc. [See Lamberti & Haberland 1988:135-6 for more possible cognates. See also Dolgopolskiy 1973:282]. It is difficult, however, to see how the PEC medial cluster *-zh- could relate to PA *-yw-. Lamberti & Haberland’s [op.cit.] suggestion of a “Common Cushitic” form *kwezzex- embracing not just ECushitic and Agaw, but also Omotic, is somewhat far-fetched.

thresh

sawat’-, tabtambkid?t’cffambB. sawat’- is from Ti. sawwat’a. X. tab- [Chamir tab-/tab-] and Kem.-Qu. tamb- are clearly cognate with B. t'aSamb-, which KH. glosses as ‘beat, hit’, Re. ‘schlagen, dreschen (getreide)’.

138 A comparative dictionary, etc.

threshing floor warana warna wayna PNA *wadan-a: the first vowel of K. wayna is unexpected. Also in Ti. wadna. throat

gwarguma xaya gurer B. gwarguma also means ‘neck’ [q.v.]. Re. also has B. anqar ‘schlund, kele’ = lank’ar ‘pharynx’ [KH.], which is from EthSem. Ti. lank’dr ‘palate’, but also lank’dr ‘throat’ [Littmann & Hofner 1962:372, 472, resp.]. For K. xaya, cf. Qu. xeya, Re. Qu. %ena [Flad chegna], Kailina has guraya, which like A. gurer is from Amh. gurarro, gurorro.

throw

mal-, mal-, cake-, zagwrwi[r]warwarawarwowar(1) PNA *mal- ‘throw down, throw away’: also in Kailina mal-. (2) X. wiwar-Zwirwar- [Khamta wirwir-}, K. warawar-, A. wower- ‘throw, hurl’ is from EthSem., Gz. warawa, Tna. warwdra, Amh. warawwara. Awn. also has cay- ‘throw a spear’. mal-

thunder gwangw 9Wd9w gwangwa PNA *gwangw-/gwangw--. Re. B. gudng- vb. ‘thunder’, guangiind n., Lamberti & Tonelli [1997:94] gwarjw- vb. Re. Chamir guigu- vb., ogutd n. A number of similar terms occur across the Ethiopian region: viz. Som. gugul/gugal, Rendille gugah, Dhaasanac (feefeti, Kambaata gugana, Sidamo guga, gugatto. Also in Omotic: Wolaytta guugunta, Shinasha guuma, Aari guugin. Kailina has ndgwadgwad, like Qu. ndgwadgwad, which is from EthSem.

Thursday lamad kilazya amaz janay B. lamad, K. amaz [also Qu. xamas, Re. Qu. [hJams] all derive from EthSem., Gz. xamus, Tna. hamus, Amh. [h]amus. However, the Bilin form is interesting as it can only derive immediately from the same as K. amaz, i.e. presumably the Amh. form, without initial x/h of the NEthSem. forms, and with voiced final -z. For X. kilazya [Chamir kilisya], cf. Kailina kaldziya’, the origin of this name is a puzzle, other than it rhymes with the name for ‘Tuesday’ in Xamtanga.

tie

lansdwas ’wansawancewPA *?ancaw-'. also Chamir [i]ez[u]w~, Kailina as ’aw-, Qu. ancaw-Zansdw-. Dolgopolskiy 1973:299 connects the Agaw root with Semitic nsb'. Arabic nisab', Re. suggests a link with Gz. las ’awa ‘be difficult, hard’, neither of which is convincing. Ehret [1987:42] connects PA *?ancaw- with Yaaku -inc’am- ‘catch, seize’ and Dahalo meet’e ‘palm-fibre cord’, proposing PC *-mc this seems speculative and leaves the final syllable of the Agaw root unexpalined.

Dictionary 139

time

wakt, zaban giza, gize giz daban, ?ayam B. wakt is from Arabic waqt, also in Ti. wak’at. B. daban is cognate with X. zaban, and both are from EthSem., Ti. zaban, Tna. zaban beside zaman. Kem-Qu. giza, var. gize, and A. giz are from Amh. gize.

tire o.s., tired, be

dakam (tired) garan- (?), deretgarayPNA *gara-t--. with refl.-pass, extension. Kem. garay- [also Re. Qu. gare-} corresponds directly to B. garar--, the variant Kem. garan- is perhaps derived from a vb. n. Kem. has the caus. garas- ‘tire, exhaust’, which confirms that garay- is an old refl.-pass, deriv. [Re. Qu. has, however, gare-s- in this sense; note also gar n. ‘Mudigkeit’]. B. garas-, however, means ‘be able’. Re. [1887:157] believes these are the same root; note, however, ‘be able’ in Kem. is gars-. X. dakam ‘tired’ is from Amh. dakam. Ap. Qu. has takas- ‘be tired’.

today

garar-

naki nac’ nag naki PA *naki/naki: also in Khamta neg, Kailina nak’i, Qu. nagi [Re. nim, ney], CRo. Awiya naka. The velar nasal in K. nag, Qu. nagi is unexpected, as is the variant Qu. ney, unless these derive via a weakened form *naxi/nayi such as seen in CRo. K. nagi

[= nayi]. tomorrow ?amari amar amar ca PNA *?amar-: also in Khamta amer, Kailina amira, Qu. amari. As a borrowing in EthSem., Gz. ?amir ‘day’ (also in Gafat aymara). Cf. perhaps Or. aboroo ‘dawn, early in the morning’. [See also Dolgopolskiy 1972:132]. tongue

lank’i lag lanxa cag PNA *lanq~. also in Kailina lak’, Qu. lanx. Borrowed into Amh. lank’a ‘palate’. Cf. perhaps PEC *lik’m-/luk’m-/lak’m- ‘swalfow’ beside *lik’-/luk’- (Or. lik’ims‘swallow’, luk’uma ‘oesophagus’, luk’k’uumuu ‘larynx’, Buiji lak’ans- ‘taste’ [Sasse 1982:132]). PNA *lanq- might then derive via metathesized *lamk’-. [See also under ‘spit’.] A. cag [also Kunfal £a>?] is perhaps cognate with PEC *d’am-/t’am- ‘taste’ [q.v.].

tooth

?arkw araqw arkwa arkwi PA *?arkw< also in Khamta eruq, Kailina ark’o, Qu. yarku/yarkw, Kunfal erkuwi. Cf. PEC *?ilk- (Saho ?iko ‘front tooth’, Som. ilig, Rendille ilah, Bayso ilko, Or. ilkaani, Konso ilkitta, Dullay (Gawada) ilge, Buiji irk’a, Sidamo hinko, Hadiyya ink’ee, etc. [see Sasse 1979:12, Lamberti & Haberland 1988:66 for more cognates]). Cf. also Beja kwire ‘tooth other than a molar’. PSC *?iiikwa [Ehret 1980:292],

140 A comparative dictionary, etc.

top (see above)

dag, dig, ?dway gwa [see discussion under ‘above’]

dag/daga

amp

touch

tamaddaxdanxnekcB. tamad-, Re. records also timd-. PNA *danq-: also in Kailina dak’-, Chamir dag-. Qu. has dntarj-, Re. Qu. ddse-, which is from Amh. dassdsd [Flad has “Falashan” dasas-', also CRo. Awiya diets as-]. A. nekc- may be from Amh. nakka ‘touch’ with the addition of a transitivizing extension -c.

tree

kana zaf zaf, kana kani (1) PA *kan-: also in Chamir qdna ‘Holz, Baum’ [X. k’ana = the material ‘wood’ only], Khamta qan ‘albero’, Kailina k’ana ‘wood’, Kunfal kani ‘tree’. PA *kan- is possibly cognate with PEC *k’or- ‘wood, tree’ (Som. qori ‘wood’, Rendille xoro, Dhaasanac for ‘tree, wood’, Elmolo orro, Or. k’oraani, Konso qoyra, etc.), though the formal fit is far from unproblematic. Ehret [1987:63] compares PA *kan- with PSC *xa-/xa?~ ‘tree, wood’ but this is even more problematic. Elsewhere in AA: PSem. *qa[a]r[iy]- ‘beam, stick’ (Arabic qariya, Hebrew qorah, Aramaic qarita). (2) X. zaf, also Kailinazaf, Re. Qu./^beside Ap. Kem.-Qu. zaf: also borrowed into Amh. zaf^ee,’.

truth

?aman ownot dara owun B. ?dman is from Ti., idem. Khamta has emman, from Tna. ?aman, whilst X. swnot is from Amh. awnat, and A. awun is from Amh. awan ‘true’. K. dara [also CRo. glosses K. dara ‘chose, verite’; Qu. dara].

try

wat’anmikwdrmokarmokkerB. wat’an- is from Ti. wat’na. The remaining terms are all from Amh. mokkara. Re. Chamir has fitn- ‘versuchen, probiren’ from a different Amh. root, fattand ‘test, try out’.

Tuesday sallig sihz, sHazya salzi wufci B. sallig is perhaps cognate with X. sihz, K. salzi [also Kailina sahz, Qu. salz], though it is unclear why the final sibilant should have been replaced by rj. The term is from EthSem., Gz. salus, Tna. sallus. turn (see go round)

twenty

twin

laydrdgan laray/laran lagdyg larjargd PA *laya- + *-tayan, etc.: comprising the numeral ‘two’ [q.v.] + the tens suffix [see under ‘eighty’ for discussion.] matta

manta

menti

Dictionary 141

B. mdtta, like K. manta and A. menti is from EthSem., Tna, Amh. manta, though the shift -nt- > -tt- is unexplained. two

U ugly

laya liya liya laya PA *ldya/laya\ also in Chamir Una [= laya], Khamta lina, Kailina liya, Kunfal lama (?). The z-vocalization in Xamtanga (Chamir)-Khamta and Kailina is explained by the regular shift PA *a > i/a in the former, which also occurs sporadically in the latter. No such shift occurs in Kem.-Qu., however, and so the vowel i of liya is most likely due to the influence of siywa, siwa ‘three’. Compare the vocalization of the derivatives ‘seven’, ‘seventy’ and ‘twenty’. The reconstruction of PA *laya alongside *laya is, however, required not only by the SAgaw form, but also by the forms of the derivatives in Xam.-Khamta. Cf. PEC *lam[m]-a: (Saho lammay, Afar nammay, NSom. laba, SSom. lamma, Rendille, Bayso lama, Dhaasanac naama, Or. lama, Sidamo lame, Hadiyya lamo, etc.) Also PSC *laama- [Ehret 1980:208]. Beja -rama in ?asarama ‘seven’. Bil.

Xam.

Kem.

Awn.

kiyawaxw, c’aqa goguni badan B. badan is glossed by Re. as ‘gestank’ and though translated by KH. as ‘ugly’, also has the meaning there of‘rotten’. X. c’aqa also has the meaning ‘bad’ [q.v.]. Ap. Qu. has kamata, which may be connected with K. gam ‘rotten’.

uncle [MoBr] halo -ag aq ag, -dga uncle [FaBr] ?ag PA *?ag- : only Bil. has a specific term distinguishing a maternal from a paternal uncle. The term for the former, halo [Re. hal\, is borrowed from Ti. hal. Note, however, that Re. glosses Chamir ig as ‘Oheim miitterlicher Seite, Bruder der Mutter’, and for ‘paternal uncle’ gives the paraphrase ir-zin, lit. ‘father’s brother’. Also in Kailina ayag [? =y-dg ‘my uncle’]. A. ag is th? independent norm, -dga occurs with poss. pron. prefixes. Kunfal has yagi and aguti, the latter of which looks like Amh. aggot. Cf. PEC *?aak[k]- meaning ‘grandparent/old man/woman’; PSC *?ako ‘old man’ [Ehret 1980:377]; elsewhere in AA, AEg.jk ‘old, elderly’. The Cushitic cognates all refer to a person and translate variously as ‘grandfather’, ‘grandmother’, ‘old man’, etc. (Bayso akko ‘g.mother, old woman’, Arbore akka, Or. akkoo ‘g.mother’, Konso aakka ‘g.father’ [Sasse 1982:21], okkoyoota [Lamberti & Haberland 1988:65], D’irayta ahayya, Buiji akko, aakkoo ‘g.mother’, akki, aakki ‘g.father’, Gedeo akka?o ‘g.father/g.mother’, etc.) The Agaw reflex with voiced g is not exact. [See also discussion under ‘grey hair’.]

142 A comparative dictionary, etc.

?ankaksanc-, ansuntie, undo PNA *?ank-\ also in Chamir [i]ek~, X. aks- is a caus. derivative [Re. Chamir ek-s‘offnen lassen’]; also Kailina ak’s-. K. anc-/ans- [also Qu. anc-az-] show palatalization of the velar k > c > s.

urinate urine

saxc’aqsaycays ax c’a say cayi PA *cay-: B. sax ‘urine’ presupposes a different vocalization, PA *cay, from the vb. stem. X. vb. c’aq- derives from the ablauted stem var. *caq~. Kailina has a reduplicated form for the vb. stem, c’ac’aqwith vocalization reminiscent of the Bil. noun. Note also Ap. Qu. sa, Re. Qu. san for the noun [also Flad’s “Falashan” shang}. Kunfal cakha ‘urinate’, caw ‘urine’. Lamberti & Sottile [1997:501-2] relate the Agaw term to a range of Cushitic and Omotic forms, none of which seem cognate with the Agaw root. PLEC has *sinc PHEC *sim-ad’-, *suma n., whilst the Omotic forms aside from SOmotic point to *se[e]s~, perhaps a reduplication of *se?~. Also Beja ?oos- ‘urinate’, sa ‘urine’. PA *c usually corresponds to PEC *c’ or *d’, where the few possible cognates allow comparison. Cf. perhaps Afar daaho ‘faeces, urine’, though the formal fit is far from exact.

used to, get kantdasglamaddesgB. kant- is ‘learn, become accustomed to’ [q.v.]. X. dasg- and A. desrj- are reciprocal derivations in -y (the formative is not productive in Xam.) of PA *das- ‘learn’ [q.v.]. K. lamad- is from Amh. lammada . utensil (see possessions)

V valley

Bil.

Xam.

Kem.

Awn.

makwi c ’alwa, sawr (ravine) B. waraba, cf. X. wirba ‘river’. X. sawr may derive from the root recorded by Re. Chamir zdw- ‘fliessen, regnen’ [see under ‘rain’]. waraba

value (see price)

vein, sinew/tendon

danga

sar

village

dagga

kiw, mindar

danga, dangi, ganga seg (tendon) PA *dang-a-. also in Quara; the Kem. variant ganga shows an unusual assimilation. X. sar is from Amh., idem.

kaw, mandar

muri

Dictionary 143

B. dagger. Re. [1887:98] compares Saho dik ‘extended family’, and Tigre (of Bogos) dagga to which should be added Ti. dagge ‘village, large settlement’. Cf. also perhaps CRo. Awiya digl ‘vicino’ [but see also under ‘approach’ and ‘near’]. Re. Chamir has gisa, which is compared to B. qisot (not in KH.), which is from Ti. X. mindar, K. mandar are from Amh. mandar. X. kiw, K. kaw [also Kailina ku, Qu. kaw, ko] are from PNA *kaw - also A. -yo ‘house’ [q.v.]. B. kaw ‘people’, hence PA *kaw. Cf. Beja gaw ‘house’. Perhaps also elsewhere in AA: PSem. *gaw?-/gay?~ ‘nation, people, country’ (Gz. ge ‘territory’, Hebrew gay[?] ‘valley, plain’, Arabic jiwa? ‘valley’, ESArabian [Minaean] gw? ‘quarry’, Soqotri gehi ‘valley’). vomit, vb.

lak’-, siginas?u? yPNA *laq< Re. B. laq-/laq- is glossed by Re. as ‘speien, anspeien’. Cf. Chamir laq-t‘speien’, CRo. K. lahit- ‘vomir’ (Re. Qu. layet-), suggesting PNA *laq-, for which cf. PEC *lik’-/luk’~ ‘swallow’. [See discussion under ‘tongue’, also ‘vomit’.]

?aya, abwa amora, amura lilora tilaya The occasional imprecision of glosses makes comparison difficult. B. Taya is a large bird of prey, glossed by Re. as ‘geier’ and by KH. as ‘eagle; a large type of bird which flies in the sky’. B. lilora [cf. Ti./zZo] is ‘falke’ in Re., and ‘vulture’ in KH., ‘which hunts small birds’. X. abwa corresponds to Amh. amora, which is a generic term for a large bird of prey; the Amh. term appears in Kem.-Qu. amora/amura. K. tilaya [cf. CRo. K. telay, Ap. Qu. sila, Re. Qu. sited] is a smaller bird of prey, corresponding to Amh. c’alat ‘sparrowhawk’ [also Khamta celat ‘avoltoio’]. Similar terms appear in other languages of the Southern Ethiopian region: Harari t’illi, Kambaata t’Ulillita, Sidamo tillaallo, Or. c’ulullee.

vulture, hawk

w

BiL

Xam.

Kem.

Awn.

wait (see stay) wake, vi. bar yniqgwagwB. bar y- is also in Ti. bar bala. X. niq- [Re. Chamir has naqaq- as a variant of niqq-] is from Amh. nak’k’a.

walk, go on foot Jars ’ayjayanzey3. Jar- is also ‘go’ [q.v.]. X. s’ay- and K~jay- [cf. Ap. Qu. anjay-, Re. Qu. enjag-] look as if they may be cognate, though the initial j- of Kem.-Qu. and z of the Awn. form would not be the usual correspondents of X. s ’-. Comparison with A. anzeysuggests PA root *3ay-. The initial an- of Qu. anjay- is therefore probably an old

144 A comparative dictionary, etc.

deriv. prefix. [See under ‘put, place’ for a discussion of this element.] The same element is seen in A. anzerj-.

wall

kab, j^g^r gadgada PNA *kwan-a/kwdn-a'. B. kwana, X. kwina [also Khamta kuind, CRo. K. kona] also in Tna. kwana ‘dry-stone wall’. K. kab ‘stone wall’ [CRo. ‘mur sans chaux’] and gadgada are both from Amh. Re. Qu. has magar, Re. Chamir has ma/td, which may be cognate. kwana

want, seek

kwina

tamz-, damz-, jd.rd.b-, faybannfdldgPNA *^arab-‘. also in Qu. jarab- ‘want, wish’, Karlina zarab-. X. damz-/tdmz- [not in Chamir, which has timn- ‘wollen, wiinschen’ from Amh. tdmajijid ‘wish’] shows unusual fluctuation between voiced and voiceless initial. K. falag- is from Amh. jallaga ‘want, seek’.

jarab-

warm (see be hot)

wash, vt. ?ank’asqasxasqucwash vi. fank’arqarxayPNA *?anqa- + caus., refl.-pass, extensions: also Chamir [i]eqa-s-, [i]eqa-t-, resp., Kailina ak’ay- ‘wash o.s.’ (vi.), Qu. anxas-, anxay-, CRo. K. riihas- ‘wash’ (vt.); the initial syllable is lost in Ap. K. xa-s-, xa-y-. To A. quc- [Kunfal kosti (vi.?)] Ehret [1987:45] compares Dahalo k’wat’- ‘wash’.

watch (see look after) water

fak”", ?ak’w aqw axw ayu PA *?aqw: the variant with initial T in Bil. is problematical. Pharyngeals are normally indicative of EthSem. loans in Bilin [but see discussion of Sal ‘eye’, which is an Agaw root of undisputed Cushitic origin]. Also in Khamta aqu, aqui, Kailina aqw (h^"), Qu. axw, axu, Kunfal ahw. The Agaw root is probably the origin of SEthSem. forms like Amh. waha, waha, Argobba ahwa, Chaha ax a, Gafat aga, etc. Elsewhere in Cushitic cf. D’irayta hak’a, Konso haqa ‘water’. Lamberti & Sottile [1997:402] also equate PHEC *wa?a (Buiji waa, Hadiyya wo?o, Sidamo waa, Kambaata wa?a, wi?a\ but this is rather cognate with Afar weefa ‘torrent of water’ and hence a probable PEC *wa?-/wi?~ [see Sasse 1982:186]. Perhaps cognate is PEC *-?ag/-?ig/-?ug ‘drink’ (Boni -a?ak/-i?ik, Arbore ?ig-, Elmolo ik-, Dhaasanac ?ik-, Konso ikk-, D’irayta ukk-, Yaaku ek- ‘eat’, PHEC *ag-: Sidamo, Hadiyya ag-, Gedeo ha?w~). Note also from Omotic, Yemsa aka ‘water’, which Lamberti & Sottile [op.cit.] propose to derive from the same origin as Ometo terms such as Gamo haacce, Wolaytta haatta, and Kafa-Gonga terms such as Kafa aco.

Dictionary 145

we

yan yan andiw/anniw annoji [oblique] yana yana-/yana- andan-/annojisPA *?ann-: Bil.-Xam. has prefixed y- [also Chamir yin, yinne, Kailina yinantay, but Khamta has ina]. Lamberti & Tonelli [1997:95] have B. yarj with unparalleled velar nasal. Kem.-Qu. has innovated vocalization in a, perhaps influenced by the singular T [q.v.] and has added a pluralizing suffix -diw [cf. Qu. andnew beside anan, cf. var. K. anandiw [Sasse p.c.]]. Forms without this suffix appear in CRo. K. anan, Qu. anan. A. annoji also has an additional pluralizing ending -oji (for -ji, cf.perhaps K. -diw). CRo. Awiya, however, has enu without this last element. Kailina also has an additional pluralizing suffixyin-an-tay copying 2pl. katan-tay [see below]. The same pluralizers appear on the 2nd and 3rd pers. plural. The special oblique forms are B. yana, X. yana-/yana-, K. and- (poss.), A. an- (possj/annojis-. Evidence for the reconstruction of a geminate nn in PA *?ann- comes principally from Awngi, but note also Chamir yinne. [See Appleyard 1986:205-7 for a full discussion.] Elsewhere in Cush., cf. Afar nanu, nee (obi.), ni (poss.), Som. inna-gu (inch), annd-gu (excl.), ina, na (obi.), -eena (poss.), Or. nuy, nu (obi.), -eejyia (poss.), Buiji naanu, nin- (poss.), Sidamo ninke, -nke (poss.), etc. Beja hinin, -n (poss.). Common AA: PSem. *nihnu, -nu/-na/-ni (obi.), AEg.ynn, -n (obi.), etc.

wear, put on clothes (see dress) wedding (see marriage)

Wednesday labwa, ldgwa arab labu yimi B. labwa, var. ldgwa with substitution of the unusual cluster bw by more common gw (also Re. Chamir ierib, Kailina rab, Ap. Qu. lawi, Re. Qu. loba) from EthSem., Gz. rabul via *rabu--, note the replacement of initial r- by I- in Bil. and Kem-Qu., and the prosthetic vowel before r- in Xam-Chamir.

weed[s], n. laramu aram aramo arimi Also Ap. Qu. arami, Re. Qu. erm). The Agaw forms are probably all of EthSem. origin, cf. Amh. arrama ‘to weed’, Argobba harrama, etc., representating a development of Gz. harama ‘prohibit’. Lamberti & Sottile [1997:397-8], however, propose that widespread cognates throughout Cush, and Omotic indicate “an Old Cushitic stem *?arum- (weed)”. week

lunar mangalsaywat soyet B. lunar, cf. Chamir unat, which together presuppose a proto-form *lunat, which Re. [1887:40] somewhat fancifully suggests is from EthSem. *samnat. Actual EthSem. forms are Gz., samun, Ti. saman, Tna. Tna. samun, somun, Amh. sammant, etc., from the root ‘eight’. K. saywat, also CRo. Kem. sohwafi. [also saywati [Sasse p.c.], Ap. Qu. saywat, sawat, Re. Qu. saguata, A. soyet, CRo. Awiya sohuat are all derivatives of the numeral

146 A comparative dictionary, etc.

‘eight’ [q.v.], and are doubtless caiques on the EthSem. terms. The element mangalof K. mangalsay"dt is unexplained.

weep (see cry)

well, get (recover) ?abirdandanB. ?abir- is the refl-pass, of root *?dbi- (cf. ?abis- ‘heal, cure’ vt.), which is from Ti. ^afa (itself from Arabic Safa ‘restore to health’.) X. dan- (Chamir var. dihen- beside dan-), K. dan- (Qu. idem) are from Amh. dana. [See also under ‘safe, well, healthy’.] wet, adj. k’wdt’a qwat’an x^dtani soyen PNA *qwat~: X. qwat’an, K. xwatani are derived from the vb.n. in -m; Qu. has aywala, awala as an adj., but vb. xwat- ‘be wet’ (Re. hiiet-, wet-). The Bil. cognate of these extended forms, k’wat’ana, means, however, ‘unripe, green’. CRo. Kem. has huatam with what looks like the Amh. adj. suffix -am. A. soyen ‘wet’ (Kunfal sekhwan) is the direct cognate of the NAgaw root; *saqwan‘thirsty’ [q.v.].

wara/warani war/wardya

wd/wa/wara

what?

wo[t]-, ddrma PA *wa-/wa~: with suffix *-t[a] > B. wara, X. war, A. wot-, etc. Also Khamta wura, Ap. Qu. ward, Re. Qu. wi, wera. Further clitics that are added are B. -ni, the common NAgaw interrogative clitic, X. -ya a nominal formative. A. w6[t]- occurs as a proclitic attached to the verb form, otherwise ddrma is used < *ddr an old noun meaning ‘thing’ (cf. ddrsi ‘why’, lit. ‘for what’, Qu. dara ‘thing’ + interrogative clitic -ma; similarly K. wara may be a contraction of *wa+dara [Sasse p.c.]. PA *wa-/wa- is probably a development of PEC *ma? which perhaps has a variant *mi? as seen in Buiji miya < *mi?yaa ‘what is it?’. [See Sasse 1982:146.] Note also Afar miyya ‘who’. The shift *m- > *w- may be either under the influence of PA *?aw- ‘who?’ [q.v.] or may be simply an instance of a sporadic shift seen elsewhere in the Ethiopian region, especially in EthSem. Elsewhere in AA: AEg. m ‘who? what?’, with focus marker jn-m > Coptic nim ‘who?’; PBerber *mi ‘who?’, *ma ‘what?’ [Prasse 1972:216ff]; PSem. *man-, *miy‘who?’, *ma? ‘what?’.

wheat

jargwa zirwa jdrgwa PNA *3argw-a: also Khamta zirwa, Kailina zarwa. A. sanday is from EthSem., Amh. sande.

when?

?awan, ?dwdka

awan

awan

sanday

woni

Dictionary 147

PNA base *?aw- [see under ‘who?’], SAgaw *wa- [see under ‘what?’] + suffix *-n-, var. in Bil. with -aka. Also Khamta awna, Kailina awan.

where?

?awat awal aw[a]t woda/wodi PNA base *?aw- [see under ‘who?’], SAgaw *wa- [see under ‘what?’] + various suffixes: - Vt, locative and in Aw. locative -da (-di with question clitic -i). Bil. also ?awil ‘where? to where?’ with the same locative case suffix as X. awal. Other locative interrogative adverbs with additional suffixes occur variously in each language: exx. B. ?awilad, ?awtalad ‘from where?’, A. wodes ‘from where?’, wusa ‘to where?’

white

c’a?dd-axw s’ar-aw say-ay filcci X. s ’ar-aw (also Khamta sar-dw, Kailina 5 ’dy-aq), K. say-ay (Qu. say-a) presuppose PNA *caR~, which is clearly related to B. c’afad-. The initial c’ and certainly the medial f are normally indicative of a borrowing from EthSem., and indeed there are clearly cognate forms in Gz. s ’d^dawa ‘be white’, s 'd^dd ‘white’, Tna. s ’a?dawa. The EthSem. root is however probably itself of Cush, origin [Dolgopolskiy 1973:118; Leslau 1991:542-3], though the apparent EC. cognate does not have the sibilant initial. K.fucci (Kunfal faci) is perhaps of Omotic origin: Wolaytta bootta, Gamo boocci, Dawro booca, etc. Takacs [1997:237], however, suggests A. fucci is a distinct reflex of the same AA root that lies behind the Omotic forms.

who?

?awi, ?awni, aw aw ay ?awni PA *?aw-\ A. ay < *aw- + subject case -i > *awi > ay[i], with the stem reanalysed as a- (cf. ades ‘from whom?’) The stem is also used as the base for a number of interrogative adverbs in NAgaw [see under ‘when?’, ‘where?’], as well as the interrogative adjective in B. ?awa ‘which?’. PC *?ay-/?aw-\ with w as in PA cf. Beja aw, PEC *?ayy-/?ay- (Saho ay, Afar iyya, Som. ayo, Bayso ayo, Or. ee-jijru, Konso ay-no, Hadiyya, Sidamo ay, Sidamo also

ayye, etc.) Also in Omotic (Wolaytta oo-n ‘who?’, as well as ay-baa ‘what?’, Gamo ooni ‘who?’, Yemsa oo, etc. [see Lamberti & Sottile 1997:274, 306]). Elsewhere in AA: PSem. *?ayy- ‘which?’. why?

warixw, waryanat wimana darsi waraxara NAgaw forms built on the base wa- [see under ‘what?’]. B. warixw is in origin the possessive adj., ‘of what?’. A. darsi is formally the dative of *ddr ‘thing, what’ (darma ‘what?’ [q.v.]) + interrogative clitic -i.

wide

?adan-axw fdraq-aw yazan y-ay assan PA *?azan~: also Ap. Qu.yazdna, Re. Qy.yisan, CRo. K.yizan. X.fdraqdw(Chamirfarag-au) is perhaps from EthSem. frk’ ‘divide, separate’ in the sense of such as Amh.farak’k’ ‘split apart, separated’.

148 A comparative dictionary, etc.

widow

mabdldana bdltit balti B. mabdldana ‘widower, widow’ is from Ti. mdbdl ‘widower’, mabalat ‘widow’ plus the nominal suffix -ana. X. bdltit, K. balti (Qu. idem) is from Amh. baltet ‘old woman’.

wife

k^i awna yiwana -qd B. k’wi (var. ?ak’wi recorded by Re.) is probably cognate with ?axwina ‘woman’ [q.v.] with which it shares the same plural, The glottalized k’w< earlier g^may be due to the influence of ?a?i ‘girl’ < earlier *?aqi. Perhaps A. -qd is also cognate, the other languages use the same term as ‘woman’ [q.v.].

win (a lawsuit) lataxlitaqlatayPNA * latay- from EthSem., Gz. rat^a, etc. wind (n.) walwal fidya aymaza nafas B. walwal is from Ti. walwal. X.figya, cf. Qu. fangaya. Kailina has kaba. CRo. Kem. has agmaza. A. nafas is Amh. nafas. wing

kanfi kif kamba makw PNA *kanf-/kanb-/kdnf-/kanb< Khamta has kenfan, which suggests the influence of Tna. kanfi in the preservation of the nasal cluster. CRo. Kem. has kambt with avowel, as is reconstructable from the Xam. form. The Agaw root is borrowed from EthSem., Gz. kanf, etc.

winnow koka ydasyamtB. kokay-, cf. Re. Qu. kudkua-s- ‘shake’. Re. Chamir has watb-, cf. X. watab ‘sieve’ (n.) [q.v.]. woman

?axwina awna yiwana/yawina yuna PA *?axwin-a: X. awna and A. yuna presuppose a var. *?axwan-a (with loss of initial syllable in A.) Khamta has equen, which looks like an originally plural form, cf. X. ak’wan (B. ?akwin)-, Kailina has awina, Qu. yawina, and Kunfal kuna. The original PA pl. may be reconstructed as *?akwin/?akwan, from earlier Pre-Agaw *?Vkkwiin, etc., and hence sg. *?Vkwiin-aa, etc. (Kem. has restructured pl. iwan.) A possible cognate elsewhere in Cushitic is Beja kwa ‘sister’; it is unclear whether B. [?a]k’wi ‘wife; female (of animals)’ is connected, or whether this represents a distinct root (cf. B. ?a?i < earlier *?aqi ‘girl’ and A. -qd ‘wife’).

wood (material) kana k’ana PA *kan- [see discussion under ‘tree’].

wood (forest)

word

kana

kani

[see discussion under ‘forest’.] gaba

wik’

waydr

dib

Dictionary 149

As in many other languages of the Ethiopian region the same term is used for ‘word’ and ‘thing’, employing roots that also have the sense of ‘speak, talk’. Thus, B. gaba ‘word, language’ (cf. K. gaba ‘thing’) is from the root gab- ‘speak’ [q.v.]; X. wik’ is from the same root seen in wikt- ‘speak’, wigas- ‘converse, talk together’ (this latter and Khamta cognates suggest that the underlying root shape is *wig~y, similarly cf. K. waydr ‘word’ and wayart- ‘talk, converse’, Kailina waqart-, A. dib ‘word’ and ‘thing’, and dibs- ‘talk’. work, n.

work, vb.

warat, gar, gabar kaddm-, gabar-

sab

saray

sab-, s ’amr-

sarays-

ancyi

[see also build] B. warat and gar are both from Ti. idem, gabar and vb. gabar- are also from EthSem., Gz, Ti. gbr, etc. B. kadam- is also a borrowing from EthSem., Ti. kadma, Tna. kadama ‘serve, work’. X. sab- looks like a reflex of PA *sab-/sab-, etc., ‘do, make’ [q.v.], though the Xam. reflex in the latter sense is s ’ab- (perhaps < *t-sab~). X.s’amr- (cf. Chamir ^am-t- ‘toil, exert o.s.’ [= s’amt-} is a vb. derivation from a noun *5 ’ama borrowed from EthSem., Gz. s ’amd ‘exertion, toil’. The root of K. saray, sarays- (also Kailina saraqa ‘work’) is also of EthSem. origin, Gz. sarha ‘toil, work’ [see under ‘build’]. Qu. has gar ‘work’, which like the Bil. term is from EthSem., but from Amh. gar ‘toil’. world

alam alem ?adina, atom balad B. ?adina\ Re. records B. idunya. from Arabic dunya, as well as an indigenous Agaw term brijar [= bari jar lit. ‘god (or heaven) of the earth’]. B. balad [also ‘dwelling place’] is from Arabic balad but with more the sense of bilad. The remaining terms are from EthSem., Gz. Talam, Amh. alam, etc.

worm

k’asa xas’a xasa acci PNA *qac-a: Re. records Chamir eqasa [= axasa] besides hesa [= hasa} and CRo. Khamta has hasseka, which is Tna. hasaka/hassaka ‘worm, insect’. Re. Qu. has Xesi. A. acci could possibly be from a metathesized variant *aqc- < *qac~, but is perhaps more likely an EthSem. borrowing, cf. Gz. Sas ’e ‘worm’, which has probable Sem. cognates [Leslau 1991:57]. Dolgopolskiy [1973:302] compares inter alia Beja d?a (d?o) ‘worm, caterpillar’.

laxan laxan nayan layen wound, n. PA *layan--. Re. compares Som. log [also Dolgopolskiy 1973:261].

150 A comparative dictionary, etc.

write

katabs’aft’afcapB. katab- is from Ti. katba. The other Agaw terms are from EthSem. s ’hf, and in particular from Amh. 5 ’afa/t’afa.

Y

BiL

Xam.

Kem.

Awn.

yayas-, yawn, vb. tazagPNA *kayas--. B. kaxas- is glossed by KH. as ‘sigh’. K. yayas- shows assimilation of the initial. K. tazag- is evidently from Amh. azzagga ‘yawn’, though the initial tais puzzling, perhaps through confusion with tazagga ‘jostle’.

kaxas-

kas-

year

?amara amra amay/amaya amet PA *?amat~: also Khamta amtan, Ap. Qu. ame, Re. Qu. amiya. From EthSem., Gz. iamat, etc.

yellow

bit’a bas’a bac’a From EthSem., Gz. bes’a ‘become white, yellow;, Tna. bayyas’d, bic’a ‘yellow’, Amh. bac ’a.

yes

yawa/yana yay yayya/ayya/yi Also Re. Chamir yau, yd beside yay, Khamta yai, Kailina e, Re. Qu. iya\ CRo. Awiya yaga = ‘it is’. Similar forms occur across the Ethiopian region: Gz. ?awa, Tna. ?awa, Ti. ?awe, Amh. awo, Afar yeey, Or. eelee, ?ii, Bugi ii, Sidamo ee, Hadiyya eeyya, Beja ?awo, Mocha-Kaffa &e.

tagra, ayna anjag tantana PNA */anjag-//anjag-: also Re. B. anjay, Chamir azuna, Khamta aza, azan, Kailina azig, Qu. anjagi. Cf. perhaps Omotic: Wolaytta, zina, Dawro zini, Koyra zine-kko, etc. [see Lamberti & Sottile 1997:561]. Elsewhere in AA: perhaps AEg. znj ‘pass (of time)’ [Takacs 1999:183, where some Chadic cognates are also suggested]. X. tagra is perhaps lit. ‘[the day] behind’; tantana is from Amh. tanantanna.

yesterday

?anjagi

/anta ku-/kw?antan

anta ant, anti ku-/kikw-/kanta[n]diw/ antoji " [Pl] antanniw kata-/katdanta-/ [oblique] ?antaant-/antoji[s]~ antandiwant, antu " [polite] nay PA sg. *?ant- : *kwa-/ka-', pl. *?antan : *?anta~: X. has prefixed k- in the absolute forms copied from the oblique (also in Khamta m. ket[a], f. kit, pl. ketou, with an

you [sg.]

[oblique]

kat kakatan

Dictionary 151

apparent gender distinction in the sg. not found elsewhere, probably under the influence of EthSem; Kailina sg. kat, pl. katantay.) Additional pluralizing suffixes are found in the pl. in Kailina katan-tay, Chamir (optionally kiiten-tay), K. antan-diw, etc., Qu. antan-ew, and A. ant-6ji. The variation in the obi. sg. between labialized kwand non-labialized k- forms probably represents different PC forms *ku and *ki [see Appleyard 1986:214-5]. Bil. has only the labialized variant, and Xam. the non­ labialized; in Kem. ki- is restricted to possessive function: ki-aba ‘your father’, and ku- occurs with case suffixes: ku-t xalayw‘l saw you’. In Awn. kw- occurs only with accusative and dative case suffixes, whilst k[a]- is used elsewhere. The vocalization of the second syllable in K. antdn-diw parallels that of Qu. 1 .pl. anan-ew and may be influenced by the noun pl. ending -an, whilst B. Pantan retains the original form. The obi. form, B. Panta-, etc., without the second nasal element also parallels the 1 .pl. PA *?ant~, *?antan are clearly cognate with PEC *?ati/?atu and *Patin/?atun, respectively. The presence of the cluster nt need not be due to the influence of EthSem., as sometimes suggested, but is more probably an archaism, where PEC has innovated. The PA forms also require the reconstruction of a different vocalization, and several EC. languages show z-vocalization in the pl. only (e.g. Som. idin-ka, Or. isin[i], isaani, etc. Konso isina, etc.). The obl.sg. forms are paralleled by PEC *ku alongside *ki, which were probably originally gender variants, most languages selecting one or the other as an undifferentiated sg. 2. The pl. obi. form in PEC can be reconstructed as *kun-/kin~, though there has been much restructuring in individual languages [see Appleyard 1986:217-8 for details]. There is no trace of this form in Agaw, where the pl. obi. form is built upon the absolutive stem. Elsewhere in AA: PSem. abs. * Panta (m.sg.), *Panti (f.sg.), *?antunu (rn.pl.), *?antina (f.pL); obi. *ku- / *-ka (m.sg.), *-ki (f.sg.), *kun- / *-kunu (m.pl.), *-kina (f.pl.). There are also parallels in AEg., Berber, Chadic for the originally obi. forms in k-. young (see small)

young man, youth sagw gulasa goldmsa goremsi B. sagw is clearly cognate with the adj. sagwaxw ‘small, young’ [q.v.]. The other forms are from Amh. goramsa ‘young man, adolescent boy’.

152 A comparative dictionary, etc.

APPENDICES Word Lists The following word-lists contain the primary data for the four principal languages, Awngi, Bilin, Kemant and Xamtanga, together with the Proto-Agaw [PA] and Proto-Northern Agaw [PNA] reconstructions that appear in the dictionary. The first four lists, in addition to listing all the vocabulary from the principal languages that is cited in the dictionary, also include some material that was not used in the comparative discussion. The reason for this is that it seems opportune to collect the full data lists here as the material has either not been published before, or appears in diverse places. The Bilin, Kemant and Xamtanga material comprises data collected in the field by myself, in the case of Bilin with the addition of a sizeable body of data drawn from KH., where all the Bilin data was further cross-checked. The Awngi material comes from the two major publications of Hetzron [1969, 1978] on Awngi, with the occasional item from my own short word-list. All the PA and PNA reconstructions are my own. Nouns are given in their citation form, which is the absolutive singular in the case of Bilin, Kemant and Xamtanga, and the nominative singular in the case of Awngi. Verbs are given in the stem form of the 3rd masc. of the indicative or main-verb affirmative tenses. For many verbs this is the only stem form that occurs throughout the verbal paradigm. For a smaller number, there are stem variants according either to person and/or tense/aspect, the details of which are briefly cited in the discussions of individual languages in the dictionary itself. The Awngi prefixing verbs are cited both in the 1st sing, and the 3rd masc. stems, e.g. ag-/yeg‘bring’. The sequence throughout the lists, where appropriate to each language, is: ?, £ a, a, a, b, c, c, c’, d, e, f, g, gw, y, yw, h, h, i, j, k, k’, kw, k’w, I, m, n, rj, o, p, q, qw, r, s, s’, s, t, t’, u, w, x, xw, y, z, 3, V.

Appendices 153

Proto-Agaw [PA] & Proto-Northern Agaw [PNA] reconstructions

*?aban*?abb-a *?adar-[a]

pna pna

pa

pa *?agpna *?dmdrpa *?amn*?an/?an PA pna *?an*?anq-/?anq- pna pna *?aq-[t-] pa *?ar*?drb-/?arf- pa *?dri-/?ali-/?dlipna *?arqpa *?aw*?3C -

pna

pna *?afypa *?ayaypna *?aywVrpa *?alpa *?dn[a]pa *?ancawpna *?ancaw-a pa *?ancaq*?anfa pna *?anfa-ta pna pa *?angdr-a *?angw-/?ang wpna *?ank*?ank-[ar]~ '? pa pna *?ank-a pa *?ankanpna *?ankwarPA *?ann-

pna *?anqa-s*?a[n]qw- [+] pna pa *?anqw-

stranger, guest n father n master, lord n uncle n tomorrow adv believe vt I pron grandfather n girl n be enough vi grain, cereals n moon, month n pa other n know vt who pron curse vt/n blow vi hail, ice n bear, beget children vt eye, spring n this pron tie, bind vt mouse, rat n send vt boy! n.voc boy, girl n back, rear n pna breast n undo, untie vt soul n leech n love, like vt put, place, set down vt we pron wash vt cough vi/n ear n

PNA fill vt pa you [sg.] pron pna come vi < pa *- Vntpa you [pl.] pron pa you, your [pl.] pron. obi. *?antaypna be full vi *?agpa bite vt *[?a]qwar-a pna child n *?aqwa- [+] pa laugh vi *?aqwtpna be small, few vi *?arakwpna possessions, goods, things n *?araywpna tears n *?arban-/?arfan-a pna ploughshare n *?arkwpa tooth n pa do, make vt *?aspa nose n *?as Vn*?dtanpna small, little adj *?3Wpa give vt *?sxar-/?axarpna father n *?axirpna man, person n *?axwin-/?axwan-a pa woman, wife n *?azanpa wide adj/n *?aywarpna head n pa be vi *?ak-/?ax*?ak-atpna grey hair n *?amatpa year n *?amb-[a] pna mountain, high place, top vi *?ankw-a PA five num pa inside n *?anq*?an^dr}-/?an^ag- pna yesterday adv PA know vt *-aq-/?aqpa water n *?aqwpa fish n *?as-a pa skin n *?ax-[a] pna drought, dry n/adj *?iz*?us-dti pna female adj *?ansay*?ant*?ant-[at-] *?antan*?anta-

154 A comparative dictionary, etc.

PNA lack, not have vt *bPNA sheep n *bag-a PNA be hot vi *balPNA door n *bal-a PA divide, share vt *ban*bantar/lPNA hare, rabbit n *baql-/baql-a PA mule n PNA curds, go sour n/vi *bdqwPNA forehead n *baw*bdkwan-a PNA cloud n *bdlqw-/balxw-• PNA boil vi *bdqw-/bdqw- PNA flow, pour out vi PA be hot vi *barPA blood n *barPA land, earth n *bar-a ? *barbarPA be hot vi *basq-/basqw-/bacq- pa saliva n PNA be rich, sated vi *bat[t]~ ? *bdt-[a] PA land, earth, soil, ground n *batt-a PNA louse n *baw-/baw- PA carry on the back vt *bazPA open vt *ba-tPA leave vi PA swim vi *bamb*bir-[a] PA ox n PNA gourd n *b Vyw-a *bVqwPA empty, bald, sparse adj

PNA *cab-/cabPA *cacabPNA *cangabPA *cdb-/caf*cdbk-a PNA PNA *caywVsPNA *cdywVzPA *cagw*cdk-a PA *camar-/camdrPA *canc-a

milk n termite n left-side n hair n hair n be sick vi sickness, disease n small, young n/adj ten num pa tail n fly n

*cangarw-a PNA *caqwan-/caq wan*cak-/caxPA *camPA *canb-/canf- PA PnA *cank-a *caqw-/caqw- PA *car-/carPNA

star n pa thirst n hold, take, have vt dark, shadow n sole of the foot n grass n cook, stew vt/n oath, swear an oath n/vi *ciqw-/ciyw-a PNA scorpion n *cVbVrPNA ashes n

*cab-/cib- 1 PA *cacaw-a PNA *cdqw-/caqw-a fna PNA *C3TJPA *csq-/caq*caw-[a] PA PA *cay-/cayPNA *ciw-/caw-

PA *dab*[dd]daqw-a PNA PNA *dayr *dakw-/daxw- PNA *dam[m]an- PA *dasPA *ddb[b]-a PNA *dadat)-/dadag*dayrPA PA *dayw*daywarPA *ddk[k]PA *dang-a PNA PA *dayw*dazPA

count vt Vervet monkey n fresh dung n call vt rainy season n salt n urinate, urine vi/n ask for, beg, pray vt

bury vt mud, clay n excrement n pass vi cloud n learn vt mountain, hill n pa short n defecate vi speak vt donkey n bad adj/n vein, sinew n finish vt be destroyed, lost, finished vi PA step, tread vi *dadPNA top, upper part, height *dag-/dagn *dang war-/dang wsr - pa rock, boulder n

Appendices

PNA *danqpna *daqar*daqws-a/daqs-a pa *dirw-a ^^ab-Zc^db- pa *dVmmV-[ta]

touch vt divorce vt PNA frog n chicken n buy vt pna cat n

go out, go up vi pna bake vt pa horse n pa go vi PNA sow vt pna goat n pna fruit n pna fly vi pna comb vt pa breathe out, rest vi pna flea n pa

*fdy*farz-[a] *fdi*faz*fantVr-a *fsr*far-/bar^al-/fdl-

*fVlVt-a

*gab*gab-/gdf*gac*gam*gan*gdn-a *gany Z *gar*gar*gark*gaw-t*gaz-Zgaz^gamb*garb*garb-a *garg*garw-a *gat-

pa pna

pna pa

pna

pna pna

pna pna

pa pna

pa pa

pa pna pna pna

pna

refuse, forbid vt side, half n face n go down, descend vi grow old vi mother n sleep vi be strong, numerous vi calf n day n bless vt dig, till the earth vt stick, staff n knee n back n spend the day vi man, male n backside, anus, vagina

n *gazag-Zgazdrjpa dog n pna speak vt *gab'gay-Zg^ay- pna cave n

*gag-Zgiij*gi*gib*gix-

PA run vi PA be ripe, cooked vi pna shield n PNA horn n

PA *gwPNA *gwadrj*gwdydtPA ★g^azPNA *gwazgw-/gwazgw*gwab-/gab PNA *gwarab-Zgwdrab*g”ay-/gway-• PNA *gwangw-Zgwangw-

get up, stand up vi side of the body n possessed, mad nZadj till the earth, plough vt pa belly n sharpen vt pna morning n fear n pna thunder n

PA cut vt pna bear, beget children vt PNA yawn vi *kayas*kamb-Zkamb- pa cold adjZn *kanfarPA lip n *kdr-/kalPNA break vt *kdrkdr-/kdkar- pa hang vt PNA shoulder n *kas*kawPA house, village n *kam-Zkam- PA possessions, cattle n *karmPNA neck n *karij-/karg- PA stone n PNA dawn vi *kas*katPA die vi *kawPA kill vt PA buffalo n *kaw-a ? PNA marriage n *kaxan*kazPNA sell vt *ka-tPA cross, go across vi PNA help vt *kab*kagPA dry adj *kan-[a] PA tree, wood n *kanf-Zkanb- PNA wing n *kar-Zkwar- ? PA be angry vi *kiPA spend the night vi ^kab-Zkab-

*kdbdn-Zkaman-

155

156 A comparative dictionary, etc.

PA *-ki PA *kin*kin-t-/kan-t- PA *kiz*kVbVn-

all clitic male (animals) n/adj get to know, understand vt PNA be better vi PA forest, woodland n

*kwdraz*kwaz*kwd-/kd-

PNA forearm n PNA add vt PA you, your [sg.]

*kwdm-

PA evening, become

*liy-

PNA *mdkayPNA *ma[n JcPNA *mar-a *mayw-t-/may w-t*mark-/bark- PNA *marVw-[a] PA *max-[Vt-] PNA PNA *mal-

pron.obl.

PNA *kwdnPNA *kw3r-[a] *kwat[t]~ ? PNA *kwan-/kwan-a pna PNA *kwar-a PNA *lab*ldgdzPA PA *layanPA *larj-/larj-a *ldydtt-a/lar)dtt-a *law-/law*lax*lab[bjak-a *lakw*lam-/lam*law*la-[+-yw/-ti] *lab*lac-/lac-/ldc*lay*lay-/layw*layl-[a] *lam-t- ? *lanc*lanq*lay*laq-[at-]

PA PA PNA PA PA PA PA PA PA PNA PNA PNA PNA PA PNA PA PNA

evening n/vi become evening vi river, stream n cover vt stonewall n sun n fall vi be long, tall vi wound n two num pa seven num right-side n fire n heart n foot, leg n cover vt cow n one num feather n shave vt flour, meal n come! vi.imper. bee n receive vt lick vt tongue n finger n vomit, spit vi

PA hundred num

*mar*miz-

mouth n turn sour, ferment vi door, gate n pna carry vt lightning n snake n forget vt throw down, throw away vt PNA leather bag n PNA honey wine, mead n

PNA *nab*ndbdk-/ndbaxPNA *ndbax/y*nas-ayw PNA PA *nawPNA *nak-/nax-

suck vt middle n dream vi/n male (humans) adj calf n give here (i.e. to the speaker) vt *nan ? < *?anan pna now adv PNA hand, arm n *nan*rjacir*naki/naki *yan*yac*yat-a

PNA PA PA PA PA PA

pna

black adj today adv house n bone n head, brain n 3rd pers. pronoun pron

*qayal- [+] ? PNA egg n *qac-a PNA worm n *qac-/qacPA cheek, side of the face n *qacan- 1 PA steal, thief vi/n PA bark (tree) n *qafPNA straw, stalk n *qanc-a ? PNA spend the morning vi *qas*qir-/qarPA night n *qir-/qarPA smell n/vi

Appendices

PA *q *qwdray- [+] ?pna *qwamb-/qambPNA *qwdtPA *qwdt-tPNA *qwa-sPNA *qwa-t*qwal-/qalPNA *sa-t*sab*sab-/t-sdb*sayw-/sayw-a *sdywatt-a *sag-

PA PA PA PA PA PA

PNA *sak-a *sdmb-/samb- PA *sank'vat PNA *sdr-/sar-ayw PNA *^[3]-a PA *sa^t-a > *sacta *sagwartPNA *sdk-/sdx- ? PA PA *sdkm*sskw-/sakw/saxw*salay-/salay- PA *samb*san-a *sdnkw-a *sdyw^sar*sdrgw*saw-a *sdx-a *sdzq*sayar-a *sayw-a *sanq*saq-/say-

PNA PA PNA PA PA PNA PNA PNA PA PNA PNA PNA PA

eat Vt

egg n nose n wet, moist n/adj be small, thin vi anoint vt anoint o.s. vi see vt pa

dress, wear vt stab, prick, pierce vt do, make vt three num eight num upper back, shoulder blades, mountain ridge n tapeworm n lungs n axe n red adj four num pa nine num onion n stay, wait vi barley n pna sacrifice vt beer n stay, live, dwell vi butter n bark (tree) n swallow vt root n bride, bridegroom n rain n meat n sweat n honey n fat n liver n sew, plait vt

*saqw-/sdqw

PNA underneath n

*sayw-

PNA name n

*tak-/tak*t-an*-tdyan *tax-/tax*tax-t-/tax-t*tdb-t*taywan*tdl-a *tam-

PA PNA PA PNA PNA PNA PA PNA PNA PNA PNA PA PA PA PA PNA PNA

appear, seem vi grandmother n tens formative num vicinity, side n be near, draw near vi be hidden vi bedbug n medicine, remedy n darkness, dark n stop, stand still vi *tamb*tdyfind vt *tarbflax, linseed n *tdwenter vi smoke n *taz-[aJ *tab-/taftefffpoa abyssinica} n *tamtaste vt *tax-s/zhit, strike vt *t-axar-/t-axarpna father’s sister n *timt-a PNA bullock n PNA light n *tixw-a *t-san- < *t-zan- pna sister n

^d-ZwaPA *wadan-a PNA *wak-/wdx- PNA *wdlt-a PA *wdnkir-/wangir*wdntar-sPNA *wantarPNA *wdntdbPNA *wdz-/waz- PA *wan-/wan- PNA PNA *wanqar*wasPNA *waxarPNA *wVcay-a PNA

what pron threshing floor n hyena n six num pna wild pig n give back, answer vt return, go back vi sieve n ashes, embers n become, be vi ask a question vt hear vt play, game vt/n mat for sleeping on n

157

158 A comparative dictionary, etc.

*xac-[a] *xay-

pa pna

leaf n big adj

y-

pa

*yaw-

pa

*ya*yab-a

pa pna

say vt lumbar region, waist, hips n me, my pron.obl. leopard n

*zan-/zan-

pa

brother n

*5^13*3aq-/3ay*3drab*3drgw-a *3axal-a *3ayrVn-[a] *3dkaw*3alaw*3am*3aq-/3aq -

pa

walk vi insult vt want, wish vt wheat n bird n guinea fowl n be heavy vi go round, turn vi dance, sing vi drink vt intestines, innards n front n pna baboon n elephant n God n talk, tell, stoiy vt/n

pna pna

pna pna

pa pna pna

pa

pa

pa *3dr~ pna *3ab*3aggVr-/3aggVrpna *3an-a pna *3ar-

*3W~

pna

Awngi abrarj accadi acci acct acci ayamtaydyeri ayayeraymi ayoYayosi

flame n juniper n worm n fence n far, distant adj feel cold vi curse n curse vt hail, ice; cold n/adj laugh vi milk n hyena n

3jf~ all alia alltw allwa, alwa ? ambarti amn^ampal, ampld an ancayancaya ancayari ancay ancewancyi ancu anc?anc anda angar anga nanjicanjkwanfankd ankanankoy-, ankwayankoyi ankoku ankrankwlal ankwr~, ankuranni anndji anqasansasi ant, anti ant, antu antoji anzeg-

stay, wait vi eye n no part other adj cow n navel n seize, grab vt one num this pron send vt

girl n children n boy n tie, bind vt work, toil n thin adj be thin vi vagina n here adv back n refuse vi bake, cook vt sit vi be ripe vi soul n like, love vt hear vt ear n tapeworm n play vi/vt

egg n put, set down vt elephant n we pron tread, trample, step on vt animal n you [sg.] pron you [polite] pron you [pl.] pron travel, walk vi

Appendices

Wdyi aq ari arkut ark'^i arsi askawi assan assan as^astasew assi astaVatfini attyawartaway nawun ay-

bite, chew vt black ant n call vt rain n yoke n tooth n farmland, field n new adj wide adj nose n cry, weep vi be called vi heart n meat, flesh n drive animals vt be, spend the day vi flour, meal n fall vi cough vi cry, shout vi truth n give vt

dbal aban abalami abibi abt abtami adg^i adn

chain n news, story n cowherd, herdsman n flower n wealth, property n rich adj Sunday n master n outside n country n uncle n bring vt find vt country n help vt inside n water n

-afa ag, -aga ag- / yegagc-/yegcager agezay ayu

akalat akyi akiki -aksta alali alem ali amet amli amnamp an an, dni anbifi dnda angucca angw angwra ankbckd anki ankwa ant- / yintagu aq- / yaqaqi -drd arayuna drb areddremec aresarfi drfissd arfa an arimi asi assu assutasawi adri

body n things, possessions grey hair n aunt n male donkey n world n spring (water) n year n cabbage n believe vt above postp that pron I pron locust n there adv cat n breast n frog n fifty num bread [h?E4-] n five num come vi thorn n know vt man, human being n husband n married couple n Friday n slaughter vt embers n plough vt month n fortnight n moon n grain, cereal n weeds n fish n lie n lie, be deceitful vi sand n chickpea n

159

160 A comparative dictionary, etc.

attyaw awa away ay ay [2] ayna azenazezazmer azo bdbr-

bal balh bani baqli, baqla barbari basbasqi basti bati badbaday bay^i bam^bdr baybaycbecbefcbeftbenber bereyi bererbeseqbewd bid biri buk-

lack, fail, not have vt come! vi.imper. sun n ghost n skin n who pron yesterday adv be sad vi order vt harvest n crocodile n

bum vi share, part n clever adj river n mule n be hot, warm vi blood n open vt spittle, saliva n open adj earth, ground n dove, pigeon n bald adj swim vi lake, sea n leave, go away vi abandon, leave vt strew, scatter vt hide vt be hidden vi divide, share vt iron n wilderness, desert n fly vi decay vi star n rug, carpet n ox n run away, flee vi

bun bundi buzzi bw-

coffee n reed n fat adj carry vt

cabab

narrow adj

cagfi cayari cakka call! calli camdr camd canca cankut cafcaycami camitcanay cangeya cangiyi canquna canquntcay carki cay-ce cefar ceger-

palm of the hand n bee n ten num (a) few n/adj

ceregcewcewentcicifi ciya ciyard cimark*! ciniscitfcoca

little adj tail n pair (of oxen) n fly n beautiful adj write vt throw a spear vt dirt, dirty n/adj be dirty vi leopard n leftside n left-handed adj thirst n be thirsty vi tongue n black adj take, hold, have vt brother n belt n resemble, look like, seem vt sweep, wipe vt do, make vt taste good vi hair n bride n bridegroom n eyelash n learn vt live, dwell vi termite n

Appendices

cum cumiy cum?-

fast n quick, fast adj fast vi cook vt

daywdark das-

cakccakycan cangur caqi ca cafi caycaya cdyi caywcam carfcefcerk ciwi conger-cuja cwa, -cu &-

rainy season n pass the rainy season vi throw vt fall into vt male (animal) adj deaf adj clay, mud n tomorrow adv branch n urinate vi bird n urine n suck vt sole of the foot, shoe n load vt count vt cloth, rag n salt n be deaf vi sister n mother n spend the night vi

dad dadeydadiyi daguldalPdamb dammini daqerdar darmd darsi deccdeden demekderetdesdesrjdess n-, des^dewdib dibsdifim dig-

daban daccdayi dayitdayrdayri daywdaywari dakki dammi dangi danguli

God, sky, heaven n lose vt poor adj be poor vi defecate vi excrement n speak, talk vt donkey n bad adj red adj vein, artery n big adj

cuq-

cay cay-

dayust-

digi dikiti dolet duci duncdungicci duntdura, durt

fac-

fan

bum vi bum vt drought n be destroyed, lost, finished vi road n steal vt thief n embrace vt be enough vi bridge n cloud n bless vt side, edge, bank n what pron why adv teach vt short adj add vt be tired vi learn vt get used to s.th. vt be happy vi bury vt word, thing n speak, talk vt blind adj approach, draw near vi near adj healthy, well adj liver n cup n break vt leather belt n be broken vi chicken (hen, cockerel, resp.) n

grind, mill vt hate, dislike vt face, forehead, front n

161

162 A comparative dictionary, etc.

fanfini fakyfalenga fayfayc-

feyWfinci firisi fisi fiyeli jucci jw9f-

gabaci gabitgamb garab garmi gasey gasgagn gan gangi gefergemgemed gerezgerkassa gerka, gerki gewgewsaygicini gibbi

gwginzibi giz goyiti goguni gompet

first adj tan vt behind, after postp want vt be necessary vi pass, go past vi breathe vi foam n horse n mole n goat n white adj rest vi go out vi

cooking pot n build (house) vt stick, staff n knee n wild pig n dog n dig vt slave n large storage jar n ensete n boil vi descend, go down vi rope n circumcise vt noon, midday n day n forbid, prohibit vt quarrel vi merchant, trader n straw n run vi money n time n possessed, mad adj ugly adj testicles n

goni gonn

goremsi goryi gor^gud

gujguj gurer gurgam gusgusgustguzag yabci yambi yaci yag yar yari yarassa ya^yas-yo yukyuna yurci yury-

yw~, yuPfi j^tj^gsr jamjaqjaqi -ja jabi janay

cold, influenza n side (of the body), ribs n young man, youth n hoe n milk vt good adj not do vt hut n throat n neck n lead, pull, drag vt lend vt borrow vt belly, stomach n

sand n mouth n leaf n bed n night n odour, smell n midnight n smell vi have in one’s possession vt house n scratch vt woman n sleeping place n lie down, sleep vi eat vt

fearful, afraid adj be afraid vi wall n dance, sing vi marsh n daughter n root n Thursday n

Appendices

j?r jerjera jewf-Ju-

begin vt horn n branch; child n grandchild n buy vt get up, stand up vi

kab kabykac kac kadami kamkam kami karkaryi karri kasar kackacykdgi kaPkamenastkamenkampi kan kani kankli kantkdray kari kaskasfkawen kaykekerkelleb keskewkey-

gourd n flow vi basket n middle n Saturday n become evening vi enemy n cattle, livestock n die vi elbow n thread n back n take, take away vt hunt vt dry adj be able vt be bom vi bear/beget children vt curd cheese n mountain n tree, wood n penis n see vt stone n knife n go vi ask (a question) vt forest, woodland n cross, go across vi hang, suspend vt food n be better vi cut vt pay vt

jemer-

jenj

kezkazzi kicckic?kidkimkindi kinfiri kinkkiriwi kiskisi kisykockoc kucrjku