Kw'adza_language

Kwʼadza language

Kwʼadza language

East Rift language spoken in Tanzania


Kwʼadza (Qwadza), or Ngomvia, is an extinct Afroasiatic language formerly spoken in Tanzania in the Mbulu District. The last speaker died sometime between 1976 and 1999.[1]

Quick Facts Native to, Region ...

Classification

Kwʼadza is poorly attested, and apart from perhaps being close to Aasax, its classification is not certain. Although it has a large number of identifiably Cushitic roots, the non-Cushitic numerals itame 'one' and beʼa ~ mbɛa 'two' suggest a connection with Hadza, while haka 'four' suggests a connection with Sandawe. It is possible that Kwʼadza borrowed e.g. 'four' from Sandawe, but also that it was a non-Cushitic language whose speakers were undergoing language shift to Cushitic when it was recorded.[citation needed]

Phonology

The phonology is not certain, but the following has been suggested (Ehret 1980):

Consonants

More information Labial, Alveolar ...

/ɡ/ and /l/ have the allophones [dʒ] and [ɽ] before front vowels. /tʃʼ/ is 'mildly' ejective. Ehret reports that /kʼ/ and /kʼʷ/ are voiced [ɡ, ɡʷ] if a preceding consonant is voiced.

Vowels

More information Front, Back ...

Notes

  1. Kwʼadza at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon

References

  • Christopher Ehret, 1980. "Kwʼadza vocabulary". ms.

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