Talk:Ethio-Semitic languages

Gafat language

I'm adding what I have on this language from Ullendorff, but he adds no indication where it fits in the taxonomy here; I'm guessing, based on its recorded location. See the article for more information.

incomplete?

while i'm not even remotely an expert on ethiopic languages, i'm pretty sure that this list is nowhere near complete. Gringo300 12:25, 10 November 2005 (UTC)

Ethiopic?

I see this word often, why is the catagory called Ethiopic? What exactly is Ethiopic? Mesfin 12:36, 15 November 2005 (UTC)

Ethiopic in this context is a linguistic term referring to a certain linguistic subgrouping of the Semitic languages which confines itself roughly to the area that is commonly known as Ethiopia. — mark ✎ 14:04, 15 November 2005 (UTC)

Is it just a sub-grouping? I have noticed it often in reference to Ge'ez Mesfin 14:15, 15 November 2005 (UTC)

It is considered a subgrouping of the Southern branch of the broader family of Semitic languages (itself part of Afro-Asiatic), and Ge'ez indeed is considered part of it. In linguistics, calling this group of languages a 'genetic subgrouping' entails the claim that these languages are more closely related to each other than to certain other Semitic languages. On a sidenote, another common term for this group of languages is 'Ethiopian Semitic' (instead of Ethiopic Semitic). — mark ✎ 15:10, 15 November 2005 (UTC)

I have never seen the word Ethiopic except when it is used as a replacement for the word Ge'ez. Couldn't "Ge'ez languages" be used instead? It would be more accurate then using the word "Ethiopic" or "Ethiopian". Mesfin 03:08, 16 November 2005 (UTC)

Ah, now I see the problem. There is a difference, though: Ge'ez is but one of the Ethiopic languages, i.e. the Ethiopic branch of Southern Semitic. Ge'ez might be called 'Ethiopic' sometimes, but it would of course never be called 'the Ethiopic languages' (plural). But I agree that it is not really clear anyway, so I propose to move this article to Ethiopic Semitic languages. — mark ✎ 08:44, 16 November 2005 (UTC)

Or Ethiopian Semitic languages. — mark ✎ 08:51, 2 January 2006 (UTC)

To which I just moved it. — mark ✎ 08:56, 2 January 2006 (UTC)

West Gurage languages

I took the liberty of editing this list (sorry, I see I FORGOT THE EDIT SUMMARY) to conform to what's now on Ethnologue, which I think is a better reflection of the reality. I grouped the Sebat Bet dialects together, including Chaha, the West Gurage dialect that has been investigated the most, which was missing from the list. And Ennemor is now known as Inor, the name its speakers use (there's a new book on the language; I'll get the reference later). Endegen is a dialect of Inor, according to Ethnologue. Something similar should also be done for East Gurage. There's some recent work on Silt'e, which could verify whether Ulbareg, Wolane, and Enneqor should all be seen as dialects of Silt'e, as Ethnologue claims. I'll check it out when I get a chance. I also added Mesmes, which is extinct, according to Ethnologue. -- MikeGasser (talk) 15:59, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

Looks good. It wouldn't hurt however to keep some of the alternative names for clarity's sake. — mark ✎ 13:06, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

Yhever and I have been discussing this (he knows a lot more about Gurage languages than I do), and I believe it was a mistake to take seriously Ethnologue's "Sebat Bet Gurage" language. For one thing, Muher is included among the dialects, and there is not even agreement that it's Western Gurage at all. Inor, treated as a separate language by Ethnologue, is probably closer to the other "SBG" dialects than Muher is. What we agreed would be a good way to go is the following: an article on "Gurage languages", mainly to discuss whether this should be treated as a linguistic grouping at all; articles on Western Gurage, Eastern Gurage, and Northern Gurage, dialect groupings that are pretty well agreed on; and then separate articles on some of the dialects/languages within these. What I already put in the SBG article would become an article on Chaha, which was in fact the dialect I was writing about. We hope this is OK with everybody. -- MikeG (talk) 04:21, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

It's fine with me. Until half a year ago, I didn't even know that there were unintelligible dialects. I just that that they had one language: Guragigna.

Yom 05:17, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Importance

It would be helpful to have some indication of oimportance / modern significance next to the languages in this list. Some of them are long-unused, others are alive and thriving today. +sj + 15:09, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

"Ethiopian Semitic"

Well, it had to happen (and maybe it's not the first time?), somebody complaining about the use of "Ethiopian Semitic" to refer to this branch of Semitic (see Mesfin's edit). This (or "Ethiosemitic") is the standard term in every study I can think of, though I'm sure there are lots I don't know of. As usual, we have to go with what is current. But we don't want to offend anybody, or to be using an obvious "misnomer", so are there other suggestions? I once heard "Afro-Semitic", I think. — MikeG (talk) 05:02, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

Misnomer or not, it really is one of the most current names for this group (see also #Ethiopic? above). Instead of abandoning it, I think a better solution might be to explain why it was not considered a misnomer at the time it came into use (I'm assuming here that it came into use after Eritrea was federated with Ethiopia and before its independence). After that, you could make the point that it "can be considered a misnomer as the north languages are found in Eritrea with two of them being exclusively used there". — mark ✎ 06:18, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

As the person who made the recent edit it should be no surprize to anyone when I say that I dislike the misnomer, and I am all for changing the name to something more accurate. Mesfin 18:43, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

We can't simply change the name, though. The only ever used terms for this group that I've ever heard are "Ethiopian Semitic"/"Ethio-Semitic" or the older, no out of use, "Ethiopic." Noting why it wasn't a misnomer at the time of naming should be done in the article, however. — ዮም | (Yom) | Talk • contribs • Ethiopia 19:48, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

Well yes, I believe the name can be changed. Marie-Claude Simeone-Senelle, a well-known French linguistic who specializes in Eritrean languages (also the person who helped discover the Dahlik language), uses the neutral term "Afro-Semitic" in all her journal articles:

"DahÂlík, a newly discovered Afro-Semitic language spoken exclusively in Eritrea"

"Up todate Assessment of the results of the research on the Dahalik language (December 1996 - December 2005)"

If you want more information on Simeone-Senelle, the Dahlik language, or more articles using the term "Afro-Semitic" you can check out her C.V. I find this term to be better then the misnomer "Ethiopian Semitic"; it is more accurate and we DO have examples of its scholarly use by a well-respected professional researcher. Mesfin 21:49, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

I am not unsympathetic to your feelings and to Simeone-Senelle's term, but I think it is clear that Wikipedia should be descriptive, not prescriptive. As such, in my opinion we should simply stick with the most commonly used term, which will be Ethio-Semitic or Ethiopian Semitic. As far as I know, Simeone-Senelle is at the moment virtually alone in her use of the term 'Afro-Semitic'. We should wait to see if this term gets picked up instead of pushing it ourselves, because promoting neologisms is not a goal of Wikipedia (see WP:NOT). Of course it is a good idea to mention her term, and it's also good to note that the languages of this grouping are not confined to Ethiopia; this can be explained by noting why the term was not a misnomer when it came into use. — mark ✎ 06:36, 23 August 2006 (UTC)

However, I don't think it is "Simeone-Senelle's term" but instead it is an attempt, by the academia who are wilfuly knowledgeable to the fact that Ethiopian Semitic is a misnomer, to find a term that is correct.

Tekle M Woldemikael, an Associate Professor of Sociology and Anthropology University of Redlands, uses the term "Afro-Semitic" in his 2003 article for the African Studies Review journal:

"Language, Education, and Public Policy in Eritrea" Mesfin 07:43, 23 August 2006 (UTC)

While the Ethiopique group of languages are also spoken by people of other nationalities, such a naming system, albeit inexact, is not exactly unique. English for instance is a West Germanic language. Farsi( persian) is an Indo-European language. The English are not Germans and neither are Iranians European or Indian. Such a system of classification is essentially genetic and is supposed to reflect the relatedness and evolution of the languages. The notion of Ethiopique therefore canvases much more than Ethiopia as a political entity and is purely linguistic. I agree with Mark that Wikipedia is descriptive and should not be prescriptive.It should be noted that Afro-Semitic is not itself very accurate, strictly speaking, as neither Eritreans nor Ethiopians are Semitic people(ethnically) but users of a semitic language.- sam

Genetic "Evidence"

While the use of genetic evidence for larger groups is controversial, the use of genetic evidence for small subgroups is absolutely ridiculous. Keep the genetics to Semitic and above, it becomes increasingly irrelevant for the smaller subgroups. Unless the evidence specifically discusses Ethiopian Semitic and not Semitic as a whole, it is irrelevant here. --Taivo (talk) 20:00, 26 August 2011 (UTC)

Languages are inevitably connected to to certain sub-groups of people and genetics are a tool to trace the origins of ethnic groups and thus their ancestral, common language. And this reference (which I have restored since you didn't even care to discuss it here) refers to semitic people spreading from the Arabic penisula to Ethiopia and other areas. Please read the full article to learn how the authors clearly connect the different branches of Semitic languages (including Ethiopic) to genetic patterns of the specific population. De728631 (talk) 18:23, 27 August 2011 (UTC)

Unless this alleged haplogroup is specifically cited as being unique to Ethiopian Semitic speakers then it's irrelevant here and citing this article is a case of improper WP:SYN and WP:OR. --Taivo (talk) 21:33, 27 August 2011 (UTC)

Please explain what exactly makes it irrelevant even if it was non-specific to Ethiopian Semitic speakers. The study shows that "interestingly, in Ethiopia, all Cushitic Oromo and ~29% of Semitic Amharic J1 chromosomes are J1*" and it clearly shows that there is a genetic connection between speakers of Amharic and other ethnic groups who migrated out of the Arabic peninsula in prehistoric times. And please be careful with citing WP rules since one might as well think that you are to be blamed for WP:POV ("genetics are irrelevant anyway to language articles"). De728631 (talk) 14:27, 28 August 2011 (UTC)

P.S.: Genetic and linguistic coevolution worldwide has been studied for years ([1], [2], [3]) so please tell us why genetic studies should be irrelevant to language articles. De728631 (talk) 14:39, 28 August 2011 (UTC)

First, this article is about a small well-defined group of languages, whose separate history is not particularly ancient. Keep the focus here. It's not about the Semitic family and its origin and spread. That information belongs in the Semitic languages article. Unless the genetic information focuses specifically on Ethiopian Semitic, then it's simply too broad an issue to place in this article on a specific small subgroup of the languages that the genetics article focuses on. Even if the genetics article mentions Amharic in a laundry list of Ethiopian languages that are not specifically Semitic, that doesn't necessarily relate to Ethiopian Semitic, since Amharic is but one of those languages on one branch of Ethiopian Semitic. There is no reason to think it is necessarily inclusive of the other branch of Ethiopian Semitic. Second, genetic information is not universally accepted by linguists as being a valid subbranch of linguistic research. It is still very controversial since, first, since the conclusions that geneticists draw are often linguistically wrong. Cavalli-Sforza's famous comments about the haplogroups and linking them to Greenberg's conclusions about Native American languages are a prime example. He was simply wrong. The fact that Pygmies are a separate and distinct genetic branch, but they speak Bantu and Ubangian languages closely related to their neighbors lends further dissociative credence to the separation of linguistics and genetics. Linguists are not uniformly drinking the genetics Kool-Aid. So to blindly insert genetics information that is written about Semitic as a whole into lower-level subgroup articles is inappropriate. Even at Semitic languages, the information should be written in such a way as to indicate that genetics is not automatically appropriate information in a linguistics article. Just because a physical group of people carrying some gene moves to another area, doesn't mean they automatically carry their language(s) with them. Look at the Pygmies. They are genetically distinct and have been for tens of millennia (at least), but there is no trace of any separate "Pygmy" language family and they speak languages that are closely related to their neighbors. Languages have no genetic component. Look at the United States, there's no genetic component to English as spoken here. Genetics can always and only offer the merest suggestion of a language migration, it can never, ever offer definitive proof. --Taivo (talk) 14:56, 28 August 2011 (UTC)

At no time has there been a claim that the relevant study was authoritative or even a proof for the diversification of Ethiosemitic in Ethiopia and Eritrea — the IP who first introduced it wrote that the genetics study generally suppports this finding. And it does so specifically naming Ethiopic groups of Semitic speakers while connecting them to an ancient origin in Arabia. Which is what the WP article does as well based on the Bayesian phylogenetic analysis by Kitchen et al., another genetic study which you did not question. So I don't see your rationale. They even state the same relation between Cushitic and Ethiomeitic speakers. And it doesn't matter at all if linguists accept genetic evidence. WP is independent and reports and collects facts that have been reliably published and the haplogroup study by Chiaroni et al. is a reliable source. There is no synthesis or original research at all in combining these two sources. De728631 (talk) 15:14, 28 August 2011 (UTC)

The problem is that unless linguists specializing in these languages are using these genetic studies to supplement their linguistic arguments, then using the studies here in Wikipedia to support X or Y theory is inappropriate synthesis and original research. Just because geneticists inappropriately use linguistic labels rather than ethnic labels in their articles doesn't make them appropriate sources our our linguistic articles. Wikipedia is not "independent" of the scientific sources that it relies on. If the scientific sources do not make certain assertions and do not synthesize the information in certain ways, then the non-specialist and anonymous editors of Wikipedia do not have the right, under Wikipedia policy, to make those assertions or synthesis. I was going to add a third point to my comment above that specifically addresses this. Unless the linguistic specialists in these languages are using those genetic studies as evidence, then Wikipedia editors cannot use them as evidence. That is where the inappropriate synthesis and original research comes into play. We must rely on the specialist sources for our articles, not on peripheral scientific articles in other fields--especially in this case, where geneticists use linguistic labels when they actually mean ethnic groups. The genetic haplogroup studies are perfectly appropriate for the articles on these ethnic groups. But this is not an article about an ethnic group, but about a linguistic group of languages. It's not people we're talking about in this article, it their languages. Too many of our anonymous editors confuse the two. --Taivo (talk) 15:22, 28 August 2011 (UTC)

And the Baynesian study mentioned in the article is a linguistic article that analyzes linguistic data. It has nothing to do with genetics. --Taivo (talk) 15:25, 28 August 2011 (UTC)

As I said above languages and ethnicity are most often closely related and the Chiaroni study explicitely refers to speakers of certain languages and their genetic pools. It seems to me we won't agree here so let's hear other editors' opinions on this matter. De728631 (talk) 15:47, 28 August 2011 (UTC)

You said it yourself: "speakers", not "languages". There is a distinct difference and that's why unless a linguist has used the genetic study, then it's not an appropriate reference here and violates WP:SYN and WP:NOR. This article is not about speakers, but about languages. --Taivo (talk) 16:33, 28 August 2011 (UTC)

Your logic is flawed. Speakers in this case are native speakers and therefore they are indicative for the distribution and origin of that particular language. Yes, this article is about languages but not about extinct languages so native speakers are very well relevant here. De728631 (talk) 16:50, 28 August 2011 (UTC)

Genetics tells us things about human beings, but tells us absolutely nothing about languages, because languages are not passed down with chromosomes. A child acquires the language of the community around him, which may be, but is not necessarily, the community of his biological parents, grandparents, great-grandparents and so on – and even if it is, there is no guarantee the child is acquiring the same language as his great-grandparents spoke (because a community can change what language it uses over time), or even that all eight of his great-grandparents spoke the same language. Genetics may tell us there was a movement of people from southern Arabia into Ethiopia and Eritrea 2800 years ago, and it may tell us that the modern descendants of those people (or most of them, or some of them) speak Ethiopian Semitic languages, but genetics cannot tell us that the people who moved 2800 years ago were themselves speakers of Proto-Ethiosemitic or anything like it. Only the discovery and decipherment of writing among the artifacts left by those people could do that. You're simply mistaken to say "Languages are inevitably connected to to certain sub-groups of people", and while it's true that "genetics are a tool to trace the origins of ethnic groups", genetics do not and cannot tell us anything about their ancestral common language. You need only look at the enormous ethnic variety among speakers of modern-day English to understand that. Angr (talk) 17:15, 28 August 2011 (UTC)

You're absolutely right and that is why the text in question was also referring to a genetic study "supporting" the linguistic evidence. Please consider also the last paragraph of that study which explicitely cites Kitchen et al. in relation to their own findings: "A recent Bayesian analysis of Semitic languages supports an origin in the Levant 5750 years ago and subsequent arrival in the Horn of Africa from Arabia 2800 years ago,[Kitchen] thus providing an indirect support of our phylogenetic clock estimates. It is important to note that the glottochronological dates yield estimates for the break-up and expansion of the Proto-Semitic language. Proto-Semitic, itself, may have been spoken in a localized linguistic community for millennia before its bifurcation into the East and West Semitic branches. In summary, haplogroup J1e data suggest an advance of the Neolithic period agriculturalists/pastoralists into the arid regions of Arabia from the Fertile Crescent and support an association with a Semitic linguistic common denominator." [4] Here they are actively combining genetics and lingustics and WP is entitled to cite their work, be it correct or not. De728631 (talk) 17:34, 28 August 2011 (UTC)

No, De..., you are misinterpreting the text. The controversial article is a GENETICS article, not a linguistic article. As a genetics article, they are calling upon a linguistics article to prove their genetic assumptions. You are trying to do the reverse here--use the genetics article to inform the linguistics. That is a circular argument in any definition of logic. The authors of the genetics article have no proof that the people who carried those genes spoke Semitic languages and have offered no proof whatsoever. They only cite the linguistics article as "support" of a movement of people, but as both Angr and I have pointed out, languages are not indissolubly linked to people and even less so to genes. But the critical issue here, and one that you completely ignore, is that there is never any proof that genes and languages are linked. All "evidence" is circumstantial and any geneticist (or linguist) who argues otherwise is wrong. You are trying to draw a link that simply doesn't exist. Since this is never "evidence" in a scientific sense, then it doesn't belong in Wikipedia articles as if it is proven science. --Taivo (talk) 17:45, 28 August 2011 (UTC)

You write as if this is somehow acceptable science in linguistics. It's not. Look, for example, at the differing genetic and linguistic trees in this chart from your sources above. There are many, many differences between the two (compare, for example, the differing placements of Tigak, Tungag, and Notsi in the two charts) and the forced marriage of the two trees at the bottom is simply poor science. The "similarities" are not hard science, they are statistical correlations. Statistics is not evidence, it is always only a suggestion, never a clear correlation in the absence of any other linkage. --Taivo (talk) 17:49, 28 August 2011 (UTC)

To Taivo's comments I would add that glottochronology itself is a fringe theory at best (and full-fledged pseudoscience at worst), so any conclusions drawn upon its results are very shaky. If the genetics side of the equation is scientifically acceptable, it would be more appropriate to put this information into another article, such as Amhara people or History of Ethiopia or something like that. It really has no business here. Angr (talk) 18:10, 28 August 2011 (UTC)

Ok, I've now read that Chiaroni article for the third time and you're right in that we cannot draw reverse conclusions from it. And if glottochronology is really so dubious, let's leave it all out of this WP language article. De728631 (talk) 21:32, 31 August 2011 (UTC)

While glottochronological and lexicostatistical studies are not universally accepted within linguistics, they do rise (a little) above the level of WP:FRINGE because, in the absence of more rigorous studies of relationships that gain wide acceptance, they serve as an interim, stop-gap solution. And, unlike the genetics article above, they are linguistic studies based on language data. As such, they should be discussed with appropriate qualifiers and not given the stamp of established fact, but still mentioned if they have not been superseded by other studies. --Taivo (talk) 22:14, 31 August 2011 (UTC)

Very nice correlation between glottochronology and YDNA. 2800 years. https://yfull.com/tree/J-P56/ --Yomal Sidoroff-Biarmskii (talk) 05:59, 7 January 2019 (UTC)

incomplete

aggreed i have no expertise in any of this language but this is definantly incomplete — Preceding unsigned comment added by Shaqadim (talk • contribs) 22:11, 4 September 2011 (UTC)

That's why there is a stub tag at the bottom of the page. De728631 (talk) 23:36, 5 September 2011 (UTC)

"Early version of Amharic"

The chart includes "early version of Amharic" under the Northern section.. I am not sure what this implies. Does this imply that an early version of Amharic was a descendant of the Northern half of Ethio-Semitic? Then how does later Amharic end up in the Southern half? If there is published evidence for this "early version of Amharic", it should be cited. If there is no evidence, probably this line should be removed. Pete unseth (talk) 14:36, 6 February 2015 (UTC)

User:Pete unseth I believe it ended up in the South because it was the domain of the Harla. The Harla were subjugated by the Geez Axum empire. I don't believe they ever had a northern branch just a few loan words perhaps. Kiziotherapy (talk) 09:16, 11 July 2016 (UTC)

South Ethiopic Transversal is Harla

South language groups are I believe the Harla language category. [5] Kiziotherapy (talk) 09:10, 11 July 2016 (UTC)

There are very few linguists who see a language called Harla as a notable part of Ethiopian linguistic history, Giogio Banti is one. Kiziotherapy cites a passage from Banti, but in the passage Banti only mentions it once, just in passing. Until more work is done that confirms the significance of a separate language called Harla, it will not be incorporated into the discussion of Ethio-Semitic classifications. Pete unseth (talk) 14:13, 11 July 2016 (UTC)

Ulrich is another [6] Perhaps there's still a notability issue. Kiziotherapy (talk) 06:35, 14 July 2016 (UTC)

Geez is Not known as "Abyssinian" in the Linguistic Studies. Outdated Term. Current term is Ethiopic

"Abyssinian" is an outdated term which has no Linguistic studies usage. Geez is known as "Ethiopic" [7] States The Ge'ez or Ethiopic script possibly developed Abyssinian is a politically charged term and outdated also.Otakrem (talk) 01:24, 17 September 2016 (UTC)

By EthiopianHabesha using a primary source to come to the conclusion of "Geez = Abyssinian" is Original Research on his part. Abyssinian needs to be deleted from this article.Otakrem (talk) 01:26, 17 September 2016 (UTC)

Otakrem, for your info you have reverted more than 4 times within 24 hours (unacceptable editing even if the editor has convincing reason for reverting). Before I will revert your last edit after 24 hours I will discuss the issues. Above you said "Abyssinian" is an outdated term which has no Linguistic studies usage." and "Abyssinian is a politically charged term", I have repeatedly asked you in the edit summary to give me an answer on who said that? Reliable source or you Otakrem? Based on wikipedia talk page we need to discuss issues based reliable source and for every point you raised in discussion there has to be a source attributed to it other wise it will be regarded as original research and that kind of discussion is not allowed in here. Lastly you said "primary source" which one is the primary source among the two sources used here [8] & [9] to add "also known as Abyssinian languages". Be specific & precise on which sources you have issues and present your evidences on why they cannot be used to add content. Moreover, your reasoning for deleting based on "outdated term" justification shows that there is agreement by you that it was used previously to name the Ethio-semtiic languages and based on your agreement then it should be returned because wikipedia is a place to inform readers on present usage as well as past usage of terms/article titles based on NPOV policy. Actually you trying to hide it's past name for refering Ethio-semitic speaking people is an obvious violation of NPOV, either for poltical reason violating WP:ADVOCACY, or for your issues you have with me on Abyssinian people violating WP:NOTBATTLEGROUND. — EthiopianHabesha (talk) 12:18, 17 September 2016 (UTC)

See the Discussions Above CONSENSUS was reached and Ethiopic and Ethiosemitic are the accepted terms. You are adding Abyssinian to tie in with the Abyssinian people of which you have been heavily active in editing to reach your POV. This is not per Wikipedia guidelines.Otakrem (talk) 12:36, 17 September 2016 (UTC)

This discussion of "Abyssinian" has gone on long enough. "Abyssinian" is a geographically based term, "Semitic" is a linguistic term. Ethiosemitic (or Ethio-Semitic) refers to a linguistically related languages found within a geographic area. I know of no author in the past who actually used the term "Abbysinian" to refer to a specific set of linguistically related languages in "Abyssinia", not Leslau, not Ullendorf, not d'Abbadie, not Cerulli, not Hetzron. Instead of arguing whether the term "Abbysinian" should be mentioned here as having been used in the past to refer to a set of linguistically related languages (not merely "Abbysinian languages" meaning the various languages found there), the challenge is to find and cite any examples of authors in the past who actually used it to refer to only the Semitic languages of Ethiopia. Pete unseth (talk) 13:45, 17 September 2016 (UTC)

• Pete unseth I agree with your statements here. I have not found sources that explicitly say "Abyssinian" languages as a Linguistic term rather only a general "regional" name they gave to different ethnic groups who spoke Ethiosemitic languages. It is my understanding, the usage of "Abyssinian" in the earlier studies was used as a geographical identifier rather than any specific linguistic term/definition of the Ethiosemitic languages.Otakrem (talk) 13:53, 17 September 2016 (UTC)

Pete unseth, some authors using Abyssinian languages to refer only Ethiopian Semitic languages: "Sahri, Soqotri and related dialects; Abyssinian languages - Amharic, Tigre, Tigrina or Tigrai, Harari, Gurage, Argoba"[10], "This is the Ethiopic or Abyssinian language; or as it is called by the people themselves, the Gees language"[11], "Abyssinian language (Ethiopic) is not properly included in this group, since it and its daughters (Amharic, Tigre, Tigrena, and Harari) are clearly ..."[12], "The better known Abyssinian languages appear to be Himyaritic modified by ancient Abyssinian*....*To this class (Ethiopic) belong the old Ethiopic or Gheez of Tigre, the modern Tigre. the Arkiko, Amhara, Argobba, Harragie, Hurrur or Adhari, Guragie and Gafat"[13], "According to M.Cohen the individual Abyssinian languages are the. result of a parallel evolution of many close South Arabic dialects"[14], "less-known southern Abyssinian languages (Gurage,1 Harari, Argobba)"[15]. By the way " also known as Abyssinian" is added in the article by Soupforone initially and I added more sources (not that it matters but just to counter otakrems claim it was added by me for political reason). — EthiopianHabesha (talk) 21:43, 17 September 2016 (UTC)

The term Abyssinian is Geographically based and not Linguistic. The Term Ethiopic or Ethiosemitic is the appropriate Linguistic term. In your source [16], it even mentions that the "Modern language of the Habesha is Amharic", therefore Geez does not equal Habesh. It's that "Abyssinian" refers to the location of the speakers of Geez or Ethiopic but that the current term Habesha(Abyssinia) was in relation to the geographical location of the "descendants of the speakers of Geez", one of them being Habesha(Amharic speakers). The author's misidentification of Geez as "Abyssinian" is their own claim therefore not part and parcel of the Linguistic definition as agreed upon by Linguists in the modern era. Ethiopic or Ethiosemitic is the agreed upon term and not Abyssinian(a subgroup of Ethiopic/Ethiosemitic). Otakrem (talk) 22:24, 17 September 2016 (UTC)

In addition in your own source, [17] Page 20 of "The Sacred and Profane History..", they speak of Geez as an ancient language with the Linguistic term "Ethiopic" but they refer to the geographical location as "Abyssinia". This equivalent to calling someone from the United States as American but the language they speak as English. You wouldn't call English, American language because that is false statement, you would say that English is language spoken by Americans. Similarly, Geez is a language used in the Churches of Abyssinians(Amhara and Tigrayans) but the ancient Aksumites(Geez-speakers) were not Abyssinian people necessarily. If we are to go to the root of the word for Abyssinia = Habesha/Habashat, then that is another topic of which it is covered in the discussion of the Abyssinian people. Otakrem (talk) 22:32, 17 September 2016 (UTC)

"Abyssinian languages" was a colloquialism for the languages natively spoken by the Abyssinians. For example, in M. B. Gover's An "Abyssinian" vocabulary of the seventeenth century [18]. However, as noted above, most modern linguists that specialize in these languages use instead "Ethiopian Semitic". A brief sentence explaining this is enough. Soupforone (talk) 05:32, 18 September 2016 (UTC)

I will admit that EthiopianHabesha has found some sources that use the term "Abbysinian" as a linguistic cluster. Such great linguists that one spelled the name of classical Ethiopic as "Gees". OK, there were in the far past people who wrote of "Abbysinian" languages. Make sure that whatever the article says reflects that it was in the far past, and that this was a term only used by outsiders. Pete unseth (talk) 13:32, 18 September 2016 (UTC)

I have moved "Abbysinian" to the last position in the string of alternate names. If it is to be included in the list, it must not be in a position of prominence. I hope this compromise brings an end to this dispute. Pete unseth (talk) 21:28, 18 September 2016 (UTC)

That works fine; thanks. Soupforone (talk) 02:36, 19 September 2016 (UTC)

Recent changes

@Hanibsl567: What are you trying to do? You added Although some scholars once considered the so-called Ethiopic languages to be a branch within Semitic, these languages are now referred to as Ethio-Semitic., but this makes no sense. The Ethio-Semitic are a branch of Semitic. You are also removing a cited paragraph and any connection to Afroasiatic. Srnec (talk) 03:58, 20 January 2020 (UTC)

Ill restore the citera Afroasiatic paragrapgh. The Ethio-semitic is a seperate branch. Related to semitic but in some way distant to the other semitic language. although still categorized as Semetic languages so ill clearify that. Hanibsl567 (talk) 04:12, 20 January 2020 (UTC)

Cycle of Undo-s, July 2024

On 19 July, User:MathDaw added to the lead section a claim that older Ethio-Semitic languages had a VSO word order which has shifted to SOV in modern Ethio-Semitic languages. On the same day I added a citation needed template. As this was MathDaw's first edit to Wikipedia, I left a message on their Talk page asking if they had a source. On 22 July they replied that their own analysis of an Old Amharic poem, comparing its structure to that of modern Amharic and Gəʕz led them to the conclusion. I think that this was a good-faith addition to Wikipedia, but it clearly runs afoul of WP:OR. (Again, recall that this was this editor's first edit.) I guided them to the OR & reliable sourcing guidelines as well as other help material, then removed the addition to this page. User:Tropylium partially reverted my undo, restoring the claim with the citation needed template. As the source for the claim is now knowable & is not reliable for Wikipedia purposes, I have again removed the added paragraph: The citation needed template is appropriate when there's reason to suspect that the claim might come from a reliable source, but that the adding editor failed to include it. If this claim is accurate (& it may well be), an editor who wishes to restore it should first find it in a reliable source. Sorry if the above sounds curt: Just trying to explain the sequence of events concisely. Pathawi (talk) 00:34, 23 July 2024 (UTC)

Someone rediscovering a known and sourcable fact by OR does not make stating the claim OR (perhaps asserting it as being due to that research would, but this does not seem to be happening here). We already cite Old Amharic being VSO at Amharic#Linguistic development theory; Ge'ez being VSO is already given at our article, Proto-Semitic being reconstructed as VSO likewise; for individual EthSem languages we have SOV already given for e.g. Muher, Tiger, Tigrinya, Zay (interestingly explicit mention is missing for Amharic…), all this easily confirmable also from overview sources like WALS. This already suffices to logically imply the "OR" claim. For that matter, if we presume Semiticists are not idiots, this clearly should be sourceable from some of the Ethiopian Language Area literature.

As we know, unsourced bullshit should not be merely tagged with citation requests; but inversely also, proper citation requests are not verification requests, and should not be deleted without investigating a single source. --Trɔpʏliʊm • blah 15:15, 23 July 2024 (UTC)

I think that quite literally does make it OR: OR doesn't mean that something is false, bullshit, or poorly researched, nor does it mean that no one else has ever reached the same conclusion. Here, that research (identification of a word ordering in one poem compared to known structure of two languages) does not support the broad general claim. This shouldn't be a controversial issue: If it's out there in the literature (& it may well be!) & someone wants to add it, they should source that claim & add it with citation. At present, what we have is (good faith!) OR and your comparable conclusion, which is also OR. I think there's a very high probability that this claim is sourceable, but there's also reason for skepticism at this point in this conversation: It's probably pretty iffy to allow Gəʕz to stand in for all of old Ethio-Semitic/Horn Semitic, & one Old Amharic poem isn't compelling evidence. (Gəʕz's role within Northern Horn Semitic is questioned in the literature. Poetry cross-linguistically frequently uses non-standard word orders.) Moreover, historical linguistic work isn't comparable to translation or routine calculation: We can't draw conclusions that seem obvious to us & claim that it's not OR. I'm probably being too redundant here, but just in the interests of clarity: I am not disputing the claim—I am objecting to its inclusion without sourcing, & I hold that at present we know with pretty reasonable certainty that it does not originate in a reliable source. Pathawi (talk) 16:00, 23 July 2024 (UTC)

A piece of the claim can be sourced in Wolf Leslau's "The Influence of Cushitic on the Semitic Languages of Ethiopia: A Problem of Substratum" from the first volume of Word, p 73:

In all the modern Ethiopic languages the position of the verb is at the end. The structure of the Amharic sentence (1) anbäsaw (2) bärewn (3) säbbärä "(1) the lion (3) killed (2) the ox" can be applied to all the Ethiopic languages.

It is the normal structure of a Cushitic sentence: Ometo…, Galla…, etc.

In the other Semitic languages, the position of the verb is not final; in the Aramaic dialects its position is variable; in Akkadian the position of the verb is final, perhaps under the influence of Sumerian…

I'd consider that adequate to something fairly similar to the most recent version that Tropylium posted, which limited to the comparison to Gəʕz. I'd make that final clause relating to Semitic beyond the Horn of Africa more general to reflect Leslau, if this were the source one wanted to draw from. 1945 is a very long time ago, & something more recent & closer to what you want to say may be identifiable. (On reliability: Leslau remains one of the greats of Horn Semitic research in my book—his claims of Cushitic influence on modern Semitic languages are far better substantiated than is normal in the field. However, Ometo is no longer considered Cushitic. A lot has changed in the last eighty years.) Pathawi (talk) 16:24, 23 July 2024 (UTC)

As a native speaker of Amharic and as a student of Ge'ez, I see many similarities between the two languages and I have explored their similarities with each other andwith other ES languages. The Old Amharic poem I provided as citation and the fact that I have familiarity with ES languages(አማርኛ፣ትግሪኛ እና ግዕዝ) should have been sufficient but I understand the importance of accuracy in Wikipedia articles, therefore I will illustrate this with examples and more citation.Citation 1:-https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/37A3D04A985C6C74F854011CC8E78B32/S0041977X1900034Xa.pdf/an_old_amharic_poem_from_northern_ethiopia_one_more_text_on_condemning_glory.pdf

Examples:-Grammar:-Various Amharic sayings like "ድር ቢያብር አንበሳ ያስር" lack the suffix -አል which is used in simple present tense in Modern Amharic. The lack of this suffix creates more similarity between Ge'ez and Old Amharic. Another similarity between Old Amharic and Ge'ez is the use of the suffix -o in Old Amharic just like Ge'ez in third person masculine singular form unlike -ew in modern Amharic(eg, ቀተሎ-Ge'ez ገደሎ-O.Amharic ገደለው-M.Amharic). It is also important to keep in mind that most of the Old Amharic texts are after the 16th century therefore our sources cover the late part of Old Amharic. Because Amharic Diverged from Argobba in the 9th century, and the first Amharic work was written in the reign of Amda Tseyon in the 14th century(Soldier Songs), we really do not have a lot of sources, but the works of literature in Amharic demonstrate that the earlier the work of literature, the more similar it is to Ge'ez. For example in Old Amharic plurals are formed either by adding the suffix -አት just like in Ge'ez or -አች just like in Harari, while ኦች is added in Modern amharic which is a bit similar to Tigrigna,: -ot (following deletion of -a or -ay)

• ጐይታ gʷäyta 'master', ጐይቶት gʷäytot 'masters'
• ሐረስታይ ḥarästay 'farmer', ሐረስቶት ḥarästot 'farmers'

Vocabulary:-While most of Old Amharic texts use Ge'ez insertions, the majority is written in Old Amharic. Here is a comparison,

Ge'ez:-ወጽአ-got out ጸባሕ-morning ገብዓ-got in ረወጸ፣ሮጸ-run ሐለመ

Old Amharic:-ወጽአ-got out ጸዋት-morning ገብዓ-got in ሮጸ-run ሐለመ

Modern Amharic:-ወጣ-got out ጠዋት-morning- ገባ-got in ሮጠ-run አለመ

This examples show some interesting phonological changes,

1, The change from ጸ to ጠ in Modern Amharic

2, The omission of ዓ present in Ge'ez and Old Amharic, in Modern Amharic

3, The change from ሐ to አ in Modern Amharic

Additionally, in your example:-"In all the modern Ethiopic languages the position of the verb is at the end. The structure of the Amharic sentence (1) anbäsaw (2) bärewn (3) säbbärä "(1) the lion (3) killed (2) the ox" can be applied to all the Ethiopic languages", sa፟bba፟ra፟ ሰበረ actually means broke, the correct word for killed is ገደለ in Modern Amharic.

Additional personal opinion:- It puzzles me the reason why the romance languages are agreed to be descended from Vulgar Latin and linguists agree that ES languages are not descended from Ge'ez, even though ES languages are loser to Ge'ez than Romance languages are to Latin. By all terms, there is almost no reason to believe ES languages are not descended from Ge'ez other than the unfamiliarity of the linguists with the ES languages.

Thank you! MathDaw (talk) 13:17, 25 July 2024 (UTC)

When you note one poem and your personal familiarity, I think you're really missing a very core part of why I removed this: Wikipedia's policy on original research. If you haven't read WP:OR, you really, really should: Until you're familiar with that policy, we'll really just be talking past each other. I'm not doubting your proficiency, and I think your claim is quite plausible. What's needed is for that claim itself—not the evidence that leads you to make the claim—to appear in published, reliable sources: ideally secondary, ideally peer-reviewed, tho those aren't absolutes (you can check out WP:RS for more on that). Pathawi (talk) 13:39, 25 July 2024 (UTC)