Ongota (also known as Birale, Birayle) is a moribund language of southwest Ethiopia. UNESCO reported in 2012 that out of a total ethnic population of 115, only 12 elderly native speakers remained, the rest of their small village on the west bank of the Weito River having adopted the Tsamai language instead. The default word order is subject–object–verb. The classification of the language is obscure (Sava & Tosco 2015).
History of the people
Oral history of the Ongota tells that they originated from a number of different populations from Dikinte, Maale and Arbore among others. During a stay in Maale territory, which today lies at their north, the collection of clans were chased south due to their hunting of Maale livestock. They followed the banks of the Weito River until they reached the Arbore, where they were turned away back north and settled where they are today. This account differs from that of the Maale, who claim that the Ongota were originally a part of the Maale who migrated and did not return.
The first European mention of the Ongota people was in the late 1800s, when they were vaguely mentioned in a travel guide. The next mention was in the mid 1980s when English linguist Harold Fleming recorded 60 words of the language, which seemed to have little resemblance to nearby languages. In 1991 Harold Fleming visited the Ongota, recording a population of 89, of whom only 14 spoke the language. He believed the language to be an ancient branch of the Afro-Asiatic linguistic family. He said that the people use bows and arrows and avoid guns. The men would usually marry outside of the group and the children would often not speak Ongota.
Classification
Ongota has features of both Afroasiatic and Nilo-Saharan languages that confuse its classification, and linguists and anthropologists have been unable to clearly trace its linguistic roots so far. Five broadly different classifications have been suggested:
Savà and Tosco (2007) argue that what little Ongota morphology that has been collected is either Tsʼaamakko or unique. They also note Aklilu's "conclusion is strengthened by a local legend stating that Ongota originated from a multiethnic melting pot."
Bonny Sands (2009) believes Savà and Tosco's proposal to be the most convincing proposal. Sava & Tosco (2015) leave it unclassified, possibly an isolate but possibly so affected by superstrate influence that the original affiliation of the language has been obscured.
Decline
The main mechanism behind the decline of Ongota is marriage with other communities. In a brief expedition in the early 1990s, a number of researchers made the observation that many Ongota men married Tsamakko women. The child would grow up speaking only the mother's language, but not the father's. (Mikesh, P. et al., 1992–1993) This trend has continued through recent years.
Additionally, Ongota distinguishes between high and low tone.
Lexicon
By far the largest number of parallels in the documented Ongota lexicon is with Tsʼamakko, the local majority language that speakers have been shifting to, ca. 300 lexemes. The direction of borrowing, however, cannot be assumed to be always into Ongota. Much Tsʼamakko vocabulary with no known Cushitic origin, e.g. for animals or plants, could be instead newer or older borrowings from earlier Ongota.
Smaller groups of ca. 15 words each by the count of Blažek, are shared with other neighbors: Oromo, the major regional language, and its relatives; Aroid languages such as Hamar, spoken to the west of Ongota and Tsʼamakko; and North Omotic languages such as Maale and Wolayta, spoken to their north.
Borrowings from Oromo: sarba 'calf of leg', harri 'donkey', arba 'elephant', wura 'house' (Borana Oromo worra 'family'), kinne 'insect' (Borana kinniisa 'bee'), sibila 'iron', meela 'leg', gaara 'mountain', olla 'village'.
Parallels with various languages classified as Nilo-Saharan number 44 according to Blažek.
Personal pronouns
The personal pronouns of Ongota show little similarity with Tsʼamakko or wider Cushitic, while some parallels can be found across Nilo-Saharan.
The numerals from '3' to '7' and '9' seem to be borrowed from Tsʼamakko, and they have clear parallels also in the other languages of the Dullay group. '1' and '2' seem to be borrowed from Aroid.
Numeral
Ongota
Tsʼamakko
other Dullay
Notes
1
akala
(dóókko)
(toʔo)
Not Cushitic. Similar to Dime (Aroid) ɔɔkɛl, Shilluk (Nilotic) akʸel.
2
lama
(lakkí)
(lákki)
From East Cushitic *lamm-, e.g. Oromo lama. Also borrowed into Aroid: Hamar and Kara lama.
Compareable if assuming metathesis from *tsafana in Ongota. No further Cushitic parallels.
7
taxanke
táħħan
Harso caħħan, Gol. taħħa
No further Cushitic parallels.
8
ʔiista, îsta
(sezzen)
(Harso sasse, Gol. sétte)
Perhaps from East Cushitic *sizħeet, but with different development to Tsʼamakko / Dullay. Structure most similar to Kambaata (Highland East) hezzeto <? *ħiszeet.
9
gólanke
góllan
Harso kollan, Gol. kolla
No further East Cushitic parallels. Similar to South Cushitic: Iraqw gwalel, Kwʼadza gweli; and to Bejagaal '1'.
12Sava, Graziano, & Thubauville, Sophia, 2010. “The Ongota: a branch of the Maale?; ethnographic, historic and linguistic traces of contact of the Ongota people.” In "To live with others: essays on cultural neighborhood in southern Ethiopia", edited by E. Gabbert, & S. Thubauville, (pp. 213‐235). Koln: Koppe.
↑Mous, Maarten. "Loss of linguistic diversity in Africa." Language Death and Language Maintenance: Theoretical, practical and descriptive approaches, 157-170. John Benjamins, 2003.
↑Savà, Graziano and M. Tosco (2007). Review article of: Harold C. Fleming Ongota: A Decisive Language in African Prehistory. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz: 2006. In: Aethiopica 10 (2007): 223-232.p. 1. - "Ongota is also mentioned as an isolate (see, for example, Mous 2003)" http://www.maurotosco.net/ewExternalFiles/SAVA%26TOSCO_review_FLEMING_Aethiopica_2007.pdf ||| Mous, Maarten (2003). “Loss of linguistic diversity in Africa”. In: Mark Janse – Sijmen Tol (eds.) Language Death and Language Maintenance: Theoretical, Practical and Descriptive Approaches. Benjamins, Amsterdam: 157–170. p. 164. 5. Isolates - "Ongota is an unclassified language with 8 speakers in southwest Ethiopia shifting to a minority Cushitic language, Ts'amakko (Savä, this volume)." http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?rep=rep1&type=pdf&doi=10.1.1.218.5996Archived 2018-04-21 at the Wayback Machine
↑Dimmendaal, Gerrit J. (2011). Historical Linguistics and the Comparative Study of African Languages. John Benjamins. ISBN978-90-272-8722-9.
↑Dimmendaal, Gerrit J. (2020). "33. Linguistic Isolates". In Rainer Vossen; Gerrit J. Dimmendaal (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of African Languages. Oxford University Press. pp.428–436.
↑Güldemann, Tom (2018). "Historical linguistics and genealogical language classification in Africa". In Güldemann, Tom (ed.). The Languages and Linguistics of Africa. The World of Linguistics series. Vol.11. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp.58–444. doi:10.1515/9783110421668-002. ISBN978-3-11-042606-9. S2CID133888593.
123Blažek, Václav (2007). "Nilo-Saharan Stratum in Ongota". In Payne, Doris L.; Reh, Mechthild (eds.). Advances in Nilo-Saharan Linguistics. Proceedings of the 8th Nilo-Saharan Linguistics Colloquium, University of Hamburg, August 22-25, 2001. Köln: Rüdiger Köppe. pp.1–10.
123Blažek, Václav (2005). "Cushitic and Omotic strata in Ongota, a moribund language of uncertain affiliation from Southeast Ethiopia". Archiv Orientální. 73: 43–68.
Fleming, Harold, 2006. Ongota: A Decisive Language in African Prehistory. – Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. ISBN3-447-05124-8
Mikesh, P. et al., 1992–1993. "Ongota or Birale: a moribund language of Gemu-Gofa (Ethiopia)". Journal of Afroasiatic Languages, 3,3:181–225.
Militarev, Alexander, 2005. "Towards the genetic affiliation of Ongota, a nearly-‐extinct language of Ethiopia." In ""Memoriae Igor M. Diakonoff"", by Leonin E. Kogan, (pp. 567-‐607). Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns.
Sands, Bonny (2009). "Africa’s Linguistic Diversity". Language and Linguistics Compass 3/2 (2009): 559–580, 10.1111/j.1749-818x.2008.00124.x
Savà, Graziano, 2003. "Ongota (Birale), a Moribund Language of Southwest Ethiopia." In ""Language Death and Language Maintenance: Theoretical, Practical and Descriptive Approaches"" by M. Janse, S. Tol, & V. Hendriks. Amsterdam: Benjamins.
Savà, Graziano and Mauro Tosco 2000. A sketch of Ongota, a dying language of southwest Ethiopia. Studies in African Linguistics 29.2.59–136.
Savà, Graziano and Mauro Tosco 2003. "The classification of Ongota". In Bender et al. eds, Selected comparative-historical Afrasian linguistic studies. LINCOM Europa.
Savà, Graziano and Mauro Tosco 2007. Review article: HAROLD C. FLEMING, Ongota: a Decisive Language in African Prehistory. Aethiopica 10.
Savà, Graziano, & Thubauville, Sophia, 2010. "The Ongota: a branch of the Maale?; ethnographic, historic and linguistic traces of contact of the Ongota people." In "To live with others: essays on cultural neighborhood in southern Ethiopia", edited by E. Gabbert, & S. Thubauville, (pp.213‐235). Koln: Koppe.
