Saho language
The Saho language is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Eritrea and Ethiopia. It belongs to the family's Cushitic branch.
Overview
Saho is spoken natively by the Saho people. Traditionally, they inhabit the territory in Eritrea bounded by the bay of Erafayle in the east, the Laacasi Gade valleys in the south, and the Eritrean Highlands to the west.This speech area is bordered by other Afro-Asiatic-speaking communities, with Tigre speakers on the west and Afar speakers on the east. In Ethiopia, Saho is primarily spoken in the Tigray Region. It has about 250,000 speakers in total and four main dialects: Northern dialect, mainly spoken by Casawurta, Tharuuca, Casabat Care, etc.; Central dialect is mainly spoken by Faqhat Xarak of Minifere ; Southern dialect mainly spoken by Minifire, Xazo, Irob, Sancafe.
The Saho also use the Arabic to document their history and render information.
The Saho language in former Italian Eritrea has received a strong influence of Italian loanwords.
Also recently the language is being used on the cyberspace as a tool of communication. And there is one website completely designed with saho language.
Saho is so closely related to the Cushitic Afar language, spoken as a mother tongue by the Afar people, that some linguists regard the two tongues as dialects of a single "Saho–Afar language". Regardless, it has been shown that at least in their basic lexicon the two can be cleanly separated.
Phonology
Consonants
- Sounds /t̪ʼ, sʼ, z, kʼ, ʔ/ are heard from loanwords.
- /b/ can be heard as when in intervocalic positions or when preceding a fricative consonant.
- /t̪, d̪/ can be heard as laminal when before or after /a/.
- /ɾ/ can be heard as a trill in free variation.
- /ɖ/ can be heard as a flap in intervocalic positions.
- /l/ can be heard as apical or alveolar when before vowels /i, u/, and as laminal when before vowels /a, e, o/.
- /n/ when preceding sounds /b, f, ɖ, k, ɡ/ can be heard as .
- /ʡ/ can also be heard as a fricative in free variation or in intervocalic position.
- Stops /b, t̪, d̪, ɖ/ are heard as unreleased when in word-final position.
Vowels
- /ɛ/ can be heard as either or, and may occur as when in unstressed positions.
- /ɔ/ may be pronounced as either or among speakers across dialects.