Mesqan
Mäsqan
Native toEthiopia
RegionGurage Zone
Native speakers
200,000 (2007)[1]
Unwritten
Language codes
ISO 639-3mvz
Glottologmesq1240

Mesqan (also Mäsqan or Meskan) is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken by the Gurage people in the Gurage Zone of Ethiopia. It belongs to the family's Ethiopian Semitic branch.

Phonology

Consonants

Labial Alveolar Post-
alveolar 		Palatal Velar Glottal
plain lab. plain lab.
Nasal m mʷ n ɲ
Stop/
Affricate 		voiceless (p) t t͡ʃ c k kʷ
voiced b bʷ d d͡ʒ ɟ g ɡʷ
ejective (pʼ) tʼ t͡ʃʼ cʼ kʼ kʼʷ
Fricative voiceless f fʷ s ʃ ç x xʷ h
voiced (v) z ʒ
ejective (sʼ)
Rhotic r
Lateral l
Approximant j w

Vowels

Front Central Back
Close i ɨ u
Mid e ə o
Open a

References

  1. ^ Mesqan at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Shafi, Ousman; Meyer, Ronny (2016). Mesqan.
  3. ^ Eshetu, Meseret (2012). Tense, aspect and mood in Mesqan. Addis Ababa University. pp. 19–20.
  4. ^ Getachew, Alemayehu (2011). Mesqan folktales: A contribution to the documentation of the Mesqan language. Addis Ababa University. pp. 10–11.


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