Mesqan language

Semitic language of Ethiopia

Mesqan
Mäsqan
Native to	Ethiopia
Region	Gurage Zone
Native speakers	200,000 (2007)^[1]
Language family	Afro-Asiatic Semitic West Semitic South Semitic Ethiopic South Outer South West Gurage Mesqan
Writing system	Unwritten
Language codes
ISO 639-3	`mvz`
Glottolog	`mesq1240`

Mesqan (also Mäsqan or Meskan) is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken by the Gurage people in the Gurage Zone of Ethiopia. It belongs to the family's Ethiopian Semitic branch.

Phonology

Consonants

		Labial		Alveolar	Post- alveolar	Palatal	Velar		Glottal
		plain	lab.	Alveolar	Post- alveolar	Palatal	plain	lab.	Glottal
Nasal		m	mʷ	n		ɲ
Stop/ Affricate	voiceless	(p)		t	t͡ʃ	c	k	kʷ
	voiced	b	bʷ	d	d͡ʒ	ɟ	g	ɡʷ
	ejective	(pʼ)		tʼ	t͡ʃʼ	cʼ	kʼ	kʼʷ
Fricative	voiceless	f	fʷ	s	ʃ	ç	x	xʷ	h
	voiced	(v)		z	ʒ
	ejective			(sʼ)
Rhotic				r
Lateral				l
Approximant						j	w

Sounds /p, pʼ, v, sʼ/ occur in loanwords, mainly from Amharic.
/xʷ/ may also have an allophone of [hʷ].
/b/ may have an allophone of [β] in postvocalic and intervocalic positions.
/n/ may assimilate to [ŋ] when following a velar consonant.^[2]
/k, ɡ/ can also be heard as palatalized [kʲ, ɡʲ] when before front vowels.^[3]^[4]

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i	ɨ	u
Mid	e	ə	o
Open		a

References

^ Mesqan at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
^ Shafi, Ousman; Meyer, Ronny (2016). Mesqan.
^ Eshetu, Meseret (2012). Tense, aspect and mood in Mesqan. Addis Ababa University. pp. 19–20.
^ Getachew, Alemayehu (2011). Mesqan folktales: A contribution to the documentation of the Mesqan language. Addis Ababa University. pp. 10–11.

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Languages of Ethiopia

Official languages

Regional
languages

Ethiosemitic	Amharic Argobba Geʽez Gurage Harari Inor Mesqan Muher Sebat Bet Gurage Siltʼe Soddo Tigrinya Zay
Cushitic	Afar Alaba Ale Arbore Awngi Baiso Bussa Burji Daasanach Dirasha Gedeo Hadiyya Kambaata Konso Libido Oromo Qimant Saho Sidamo Somali Tsamai Xamtanga
Omotic	Aari Anfillo Bambassi Basketo Bench Boro Chara Dime Dizi Dorze Gamo-Gofa-Dawro Ganza Gayil Hamer-Banna Hozo Kachama-Ganjule Kafa Karo Koorete Maale Melo Nayi Oyda Seze Shekkacho Sheko Wolaitta Yemsa Zayse-Zergulla
Nilo-Saharan	Anuak Berta Daatsʼiin Gumuz Kacipo-Balesi Komo Kwama Kwegu Majang Meʼen Murle Mursi Nuer Nyangatom Opuuo Shabo Suri Uduk

Foreign languages

Sign languages

Ethiopian sign languages

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