Dahalik language
Dahalik ] dahālík'', "Afroasiatic language spoken exclusively in the [Dahlak Archipelago">Afroasiatic languages">Afroasiatic language spoken exclusively in the [Dahlak Archipelago in Eritrea. Its speech area is off the coast of Massawa, on three islands in the Dahlak Archipelago: Dahlak Kebir, Nora, and Dehil.
Dahalik belongs to the Afro-Asiatic family's Semitic branch, a member of the Semitic languages|Ethiopic] group, and is closely related to Tigre and Tigrinya. It is said to be not mutually intelligible with Tigre and, according to Simeone-Senelle, is sufficiently different to be considered a separate language. However, there are those who disagree.
Status
Dahalik is spoken on the Dahlak Archipelago, an island group belonging to Eritrea in the Red Sea. On the archipelago, most people are speakers of Dahalik with smaller populations of Arabic and Afar native speakers. The situation is different for every village: Durrubishet and Dasquo have almost universal use of Dahalik, while other villages have a greater mix of languages. Most islanders are multilingual in Dahalik, Arabic, and Afar, while the language of education is Arabic. Most Dahalik men have regular contact with Arabic, Tigre, and Afar, and any mixed marriages usually result in the children learning two mother tongues. Dahalik speakers also consider their language to be a mix of Arabic, Tigre, and a small amount of Tigrinya. Overall, there are only a few elderly monolingual speakers of Dahalik. However, Dahalik speakers do have positive attitudes towards the language and see it as an essential part of their cultural identity.Phonology
Vowels
might be another vowel. The vowel only occurs in unstressed syllables.Consonants
Dahalik has 21 consonants.- The emphatic alveolar ṭ is described by Simeone-Senelle as pharyngealized, as in Arabic, with pharyngealization being weak Idris describes ṭ as an ejective, as in Tigre and other mainland Ethiopian Semitic languages. It is only found in native vocabulary in the dialect of Dehil, and corresponds to both Ethiopian Semitic ṭ and ṣ. The Dahlak Kebir and Nora dialects have in its place in these cases.
- is rare and limited to loanwords.
- The voiced uvular fricative is the most common articulation of in the intervocalic position, while the voiceless uvular fricative is used after a fricative.
- The velar fricative and the voiced alveolar sibilant are only used in loanwords from Arabic. Original Ethiopian Semitic *z has become.
Morphology
Pronouns
Dahalik has two different forms for second and third person pronouns, one masculine and one feminine.Dahalik also has dependent pronouns, suffixed to the end of the word.