Asa language
The Asa language, commonly rendered Aasax, is an Afroasiatic language formerly spoken by the Asa people of Tanzania. The language is extinct; ethnic Assa in northern Tanzania remember only a few words they overheard their elders use, and none ever used it themselves. Little is known of the language; what is recorded was probably Aasa lexical words used in a register of Maasai, similar to the mixed language Mbugu.
Classification
Asa is usually classified as Cushitic, most closely related to Kw'adza. However, it might have retained a non-Cushitic layer from an earlier language shift.The Aramanik people once spoke Asa, but shifted to Nandi.
Vocabulary
Asa is known from three primary sources: two vocabulary lists from 1904 and 1928, and a collection by W. C. Winter from 1974.The following are some example words of Asa, together with probable cognates identified in Kw'adza and Iraqw:
- 'big': jira — Kw'adza dire
- 'bird': širaʔa — Iraqw tsʼirʕi
- 'louse': ʔita — Iraqw itirmo
- 'blood': saʔaka — Kw'adza saʔuko
- 'bone': farit — Kw'adza falaʔeto, Iraqw fara
- 'horn': hadoŋ — Kw'adza xalinko, Iraqw xaraŋ
- 'hair': seʔemuk — Iraqw seʔemi
- 'head': sogok — Kw'adza sagiko, Iraqw saga
- 'eye': ilat — Kw'adza ilito, Iraqw ila
- 'mouth': afok — Kw'adza afuko, Iraqw afa
- 'tongue': šeferank — Iraqw tsʼifraŋ
- 'breast': isank — Iraqw isaŋ
- 'heart': monok — Kw'adza munaku, Irawn muna
- 'water': maʔa — Kw'adza maʔaya, Iraqw maʔay
- 'sand': hajat — Kw'adza hasinko, Iraqw hasaŋ
- 'stone': deʔok — Kw'adza tlʼaʔiko, Iraqw tlʼaʕano
- 'to drink': wat- — Kw'adza wat-, Iraqw wah-
- 'to eat': ʔag- — Kw'adza ag-, Iraqw ʕayim-
- 'to lie': ʔat- — Kw'adza kʼat-, Iraqw qat-
- 'to die': ga- — Kw'adza gwaʔ-, Iraqw gwa-
- 'to kill': gas- — Kw'adza gaʔis-, Iraqw gas-
- 'far': sanga — Kw'adza sagumu, Iraqw saw
- 'near': šaya — Kw'adza tsʼahemi, Iraqw tsʼew
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