Aroid languages


The Aroid or Ari-Banna languages possibly belong to the Afro-Asiatic family and are spoken in Ethiopia.

Languages

There are five Aroid languages:
The classification of South Omotic is highly disputed and it may be a separate language family. Karo is sometimes considered as a dialect of Hamer, but considered as a separate language by Glottolog which groups both in a Hamer-Karo subfamily.
Zaborski and Lamberti consider South Omotic to be a separate branch of Cushitic, renaming it as West Cushitic.
Bender notes that South Omotic is in fact quite divergent from other Afroasiatic languages, and suggests that it may in fact have connections with Nilo-Saharan, such as Surmic and Nilotic.
Citing lexical similarities with Surmic and other non-Nilotic Nilo-Saharan languages, Yigezu argues that Aroid has a "Nilo-Saharan origin" and had become strongly influenced by other "Omotic" language groups. The Proto-Aroid vowel system is also more similar to those of the Surmic and Nilotic languages.
Glottolog 4.0 does not recognize that South Omotic belongs to one of the disputed families, and the candidate group of Omotic languages remains disputed. For this reason it is considered for now as a separate family.

Reconstruction

Below is a reconstruction of Proto-Aroid by Yigezu.
GlossProto-Aroid
animal*dabɪ-
arrow*bʌnkʌr
blow*pug-
boat *gongul
buffalo*meek-
burn*ʔats-
bury*duuk-
calabash*gusi
call *ɛl-
cattle*waak-
charcoal*tʃ’ilʃ-
chicken*baatʃa ~ *koyz
chicken*baatʃ-
chief*biti
claw*guʃ-
climb*wut-
cloth*apala
cotton*putta
count*payd-
crocodile*gurgur
divide *kʌʃ-
donkey*ukul-
drink *wutʃ’-
dry season*bona
egg*muk’-; *mol-
father*baab
fire*no̤ha ~ *nuu
hand/arm*ʔan
hat*koɓ-
head*mat-
hoe*gaita
hold*yʌd
I*ʔinta
liver*tʊ/ur-
make*ʔaʃk-
mother*ʔind-
mouth*ʔap-
navel*gulɗ-
nine*sakal
open*bul-
people*eedna
person*eed
pierce*tors-
plant*kor-
rainy season*bʌrgi
road*gɔgi
salt*sok’o
sand*ʃaam-
seed*ɓenta
sew*dʒaag-
shoot*kʌs’-
show*ɗaw-
six*la̤h
smoke *tʃ’ub-
snake*gun-
sow*dʊk’-
spit*tʌs’-; *pas’-
split*p’al-
tail*go/ul-
ten*tʌmm-; *tʌɓ-
tobacco*dampo
untie*bul-
urinate*ʃaan-
urine*ʃaan
1sg*ʔinta
2sg*ya-
3sg *no̤h/nuu
3sg *naa
3sg *yi
1pl*wot-
2pl*yʌt-
3pl*kɛt-

Numerals

Comparison of numerals in individual languages:
Language12345678910
wólːáqqastːénmakːénʔoydːídónqːláːtabzáqastːaː́ntámːers wolqáːntámːers támːá
kálalamámakkánoidídunɡ̥laxtoɓɓálankáisaltáɓi
kʌlʌlɛmaːmakanʔoʷidi / ʔuʷididuŋlʌxtʌɓa / toɓalʌŋkaⁱsəltəɓi
ˈwɔkʰʌl / wókkilˈkʼʌtʼɨm / kʼəstinˈmʌkʰɨm / mə́kkimʔʊdːʊ / ʔúddúˈʃənːə / ʃinníˈlahə ~ ˈlah / láxiˈtʰʊsːʊm / tússumˈkʼʌʃnaʃ / kʼaʃnáʃiʃˈwʌklaʃ / wókláʃiʃˈtʰamːe / təmme
kalalamamakkamojididɔŋlatsoɓalɔɔŋkajisaltaɓi