Koman languages

Not to be confused with Koma language.

Short description: Family of languages used along the Sudan–Ethiopia border

Koman

Geographic
distribution| Ethiopia–Sudan border region
Linguistic classification| Nilo-Saharan?

* Komuz?
* Koman

Proto-language| Proto-Koman
Subdivisions|

* Uduk
* Kwama
* Komo
* Opo
* Dana
* Gule?

Glottolog| koma1264[1]

The Koman languages are a small, close-knit family of languages located along the Ethiopia–Sudan border with about 50,000 speakers. They are conventionally classified as part of the Nilo-Saharan family. However, due to the paucity of evidence, many scholars treat it as an independent language family. Among scholars who do accept its inclusion within Nilo-Saharan, opinions vary as to their position within it.

Koman languages in Ethiopia are in close contact with the Omotic Mao languages. In Ethiopia, some Koman-speaking groups also consider themselves to be ethnically Mao.[2]

## Contents

* 1 Internal classification
* 1.1 Otero (2019)
* 2 External classification
* 3 Reconstruction
* 4 Numerals
* 5 See also
* 6 References

## Internal classification

The Koman languages are:

* Koman
* Uduk, or T’wampa, (formerly in South Sudan) — about 20,000 speakers, most at a large refugee camp at Bonga, near Gambela
* Kwama (Ethiopia) — about 15,000 speakers, mainly in Benishangul-Gumuz
* Komo (Sudan) — about 12,000 speakers mainly in An Nil al Azraq
* Opuuo (Opo), or Shita (Ethiopia) — spoken in 5 villages north of the Nuer by about 5,000 people
* Dana, a newly discovered language located near Opo
* ?Gule (Sudan) — extinct

The poorly known Shabo language (600 speakers) shows strong Koman influence, and it has been suggested (on little evidence) that it may be a Koman language. Gule is generally classified as Koman, but the evidence is as yet insufficient.

### Otero (2019)

Otero's (2019: 28) internal classification of Koman:[3]

* Koman
* Gwama
* Highland Gwama
* Lowland Gwama
* Central
* Komo–Uduk
* Komo
* Uduk
* Chali
* Yabus
* Dana–Opo
* Dana
* Opo
* [clade]
* Bilugu
* Modin
* [clade]
* Pame
* Kigile

## External classification

Dimmendaal (2008) notes that mounting grammatical evidence has made the Nilo-Saharan proposal as a whole more sound since Greenberg proposed it in 1963 but that such evidence has not been forthcoming for Songhay, Gumuz, and Koman: "very few of the more widespread nominal and verbal morphological markers of Nilo-Saharan are attested in the Coman languages plus Gumuz ... Their genetic status remains debatable, mainly due to lack of more extensive data." (2008:843) And later, "In summarizing the current state of knowledge, ... the following language families or phyla can be identified: ... Mande, Songhai, Ubangian, Kadu, and the Coman languages plus Gumuz." (2008:844) However, Ahland (2010) reports that with better attestation, both Koman and Gumuz do appear to be Nilo-Saharan, and perhaps closest to each other.

## Reconstruction

Proto-Koman has been reconstructed by Lionel Bender (1983)[4] and Otero (2019).[3]

## Numerals

Comparison of numerals in individual languages:[5]

Language | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

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Komo (1) | ɗɛ́ | sʊ | dìʃ | dɔɡɔ̀n | bùsʼ | káná ɡɪ ɗɛ́ (? + 1) | káná á sʊ (? + 2) | káná á dìʃ (? + 3) | káná á dɔɡɔ̀n (? + 4) | kʼɔ́ʃ kʼɔ̀lɔ̀
Komo (2) | ɗe(d) / ɗɛʔ (SIL) | suʔin / sʊʔ (SIL) | dícin / dǐʃǐn (SIL) | dōɡɔne(n) / dɔ̄ɣɔ́n (SIL) | busín / bʊ̀sʼín (SIL) | kɛnɡɪɗe / kàːnaɡǐɗɛ́ (SIL) | kɛnnɛsɔ / kàːnàsʊʔ (SIL) | kɛnnɛdiʃ / kàːnàdɪʃ (SIL) | kɛnnɛdɔɡɔn / káːndɔ̀ɡɔ̀n (SIL) | kɔʃinkwolo / kʼɔ́ʃkʼɔ̀lɔ̀ (SIL)
Gwama (Kwama) (1) | sóndò /sɛ́ːnɛ́ /sɛ́ːsʼkìn | sùjá | twásɛ̀n | béːsʼìn | kúːmùtʼ | kúbà-sèːn ('takes/lends/brings one') | kúbá-sùjá ('takes/lends/brings two') | kúbà-twásɛ̄n ('takes/lends/br. three') | kúb-béːsʼín ('takes/lends/brings four') | kʼúːzí (lit: 'fingers')
Gwama (Kwama) (2) | sɛ́ɛ́kʼín | swíjá | twàsɛ́n | béésʼín | kómòtʼ | kúpà-sɛ́n (litː ? + 1) | kúpà-swíjá (litː ? + 2) | kúpà-twàsɛ̄n (litː ? + 3) | kúpà-béésʼín (litː ? + 4) | kʼoosʼi
Kwama (Asosa) (3) | seːko ~ se:ndo / ʔāˈsɛ́n~ ʔāsɛ́l (SIL) | siːya / ˈsíjá (SIL) | twazan ~ twasan / ˈtʷāsán (SIL) | mbisiːna ~ beːsen / bēːsīn (SIL) | kʷʊmbut ~ kombɔt / ˈkʰūːmùt (SIL) | kʊmpasɛnde / ˈkōbāsín (SIL) | kʊmpa-siːya / kōbə̄ˈsìa (SIL) | kʊmpa-twasən / kōbə̄ˈtʷàsɪn (SIL) | kʊmpa-n-beːsina / kōˈbeːéːsīn (SIL) | kʊʃʊmbiːt ~kwuːzia / ˈkūːzi (SIL)
Opuuo (Tʼapo) (3) | ɗɛ̄n~dɛ̄ (contraction) | sʊ̄kʼá | tùsù | ʍàn | mùtá-kʼʊ̄j (litː 'be.full-hand') | kān-ɪ́-ɗɛ̄, contraction, (lit: five-ASC-one / five-ASC-one) | kān-ɪ́-sʊ̄kʼá (litː' five-ASC-two') | kān-ɪ́-tùsù (litː' five-ASC-three') | kān-ɪ́-ʍàn (litː' five-ASC-four') | kʼʊ̄j-ā-sʊ̄kʼ-ɛ́n (litː 'hand-LOC-two- 3N.POSS')
Opuuo (Shita) (4) | ɗán / ɗíán | sùkʼá | tùsú | hwán | mùtá-kʼʷèj (litː 'one hand') | kánè-ɗéé | kánè-sùkʼá | kánè-tùsú | kánè-hʷán | mútá-kʼʷùjá-sùkʼén ('two hands')
Opuuo (Shita) (5) | diʃeɗe | ʃuka / cuka | tuʃu / tusu | hwan / ŋwan | mutaːkwei (one hand) ? | kane-ɗe | kane-ʃuka | kane-tūʃū | kane-hwān | muta-kweya-ʃuka-yen (two hands) ?
Uduk (Twampa) (1) | ɗéʔ | súʔ | kʷārā | dòŋ(ɡ)òn | múd̻èɗ (lit: 'hand closed') | múd̻èɗ pé ɗéʔ (5+ 1) | múd̻èɗ pé súʔ (5+ 2) | múd̻èɗ pé(ŋ) kʷārā (5+ 3) | múd̻èɗ pé dòŋ(ɡ)òn (5+ 4) | ʼkúmèɗ
Uduk (2) | ɗe | suʔ | kwara | doŋon | mudheɗ (lit: hand closed) | (mudheɗ) peɗe (5+ 1) | (mudheɗ) pesuʔ (5+ 2) | (mudheɗ) pekwara (5+ 3) | (mudheɗ) pedoŋon (5+ 4) | kumeɗ

## See also

* List of Proto-Koman reconstructions (Wiktionary)

## References

1. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds (2017). "Koman". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History. http://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/koma1264.
2. ↑ Küspert, Klaus-Christian (2015). "The Mao and Komo Languages in the Begi–Tongo area in Western Ethiopia: Classification, Designations, Distribution". Linguistic Discovery 13 (1). doi:10.1349/PS1.1537-0852.A.447. https://journals.dartmouth.edu/cgi-bin/WebObjects/Journals.woa/1/xmlpage/1/article/447.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Otero, Manuel Alejandro. 2019. A Historical Reconstruction of the Koman Language Family. Doctoral thesis. Department of Linguistics, University of Oregon.
4. ↑ Bender, Lionel. 1983. "Proto-Koman Phonology and Lexicon." Afrika und Übersee 66: 259–298.
5. ↑ Chan, Eugene (2019). "The Nilo-Saharan Language Phylum". Numeral Systems of the World's Languages. https://lingweb.eva.mpg.de/channumerals/Nilo-Saharan.htm.

* Colleen Ahland, 2010. "The Classification of Gumuz and Koman Languages" presented at the Language Isolates in Africa workshop, Lyons, December 4, 2010
* Lionel Bender, 2000. "Nilo-Saharan". In Bernd Heine and Derek Nurse, eds., African Languages: An Introduction. Cambridge University Press.
* Gerrit Dimmendaal, 2008. "Language Ecology and Linguistic Diversity on the African Continent", Language and Linguistics Compass 2/5:842.

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