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Issues in Classifying and Map** the Semitic Languages of Ethiopia

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Abstract

The origin, classification, and map** issues of Ethiosemitic languages have not been sufficiently discussed. Some archeological evidence implies that Ethiosemitic languages emerged as a result of prehistoric across Red Sea trade contact in Arabian Peninsula; however, there is no satisfactory linguistic evidence that verify this claim. The classification issue has relatively enjoyed a great deal of attention, but there are many contradictions among various classification proposals. The contradictions seem to emanate from the lack of data on some of the languages, methodological issues, and misconceived previous theoretical assumptions. Map** is a highly neglected area as far as Ethiosemitic languages are concerned. There exist some language maps in previous publications, but proper linguistic map** has been largely overlooked. There are a few published morphology, phonetics, and lexicon-based maps. The maps manifest copious limitations such as simplicity, generality, incompleteness, and imprecise representations. Absence of linguistic data, political issues, lack of communication and transportation systems, and economic issues are among the deterrents in classifying and map** Ethiosemitic languages.

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  1. Arctic University of Norway, Tromso, Norway

    Tekabe Legesse Feleke

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  1. Department of Geography, University of Kentucky Department of Geography, Lexington, KY, USA

    Stanley D Brunn

  2. Deutscher Sprachatlas, Marburg University, Marburg, Hessen, Germany

    Roland Kehrein

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Feleke, T.L. (2022). Issues in Classifying and Map** the Semitic Languages of Ethiopia. In: Brunn, S.D., Kehrein, R. (eds) Handbook of the Changing World Language Map. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73400-2_234-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73400-2_234-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-73400-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-73400-2

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