Ethiosemitic languages: Classifications and classification determinants

Abstract

The present study addresses three concerns: (1) presents the areal classification of Ethiosemitic languages; (2) identifies major determinants of the distance among the languages; (3) challenges previous genealogical classifications of Ethiosemitic languages. To address these objectives, cluster analyses were performed on randomly selected 147 word lists. Multidimensional scaling was employed for the cluster validation. The cluster analyses performed on the phonetic and lexical distance matrices show that Ethiosemitic languages can be classified into six major groups: {Chaha, Gura, Gumer, Ezha, Mesqan, Muher}, {Amharic, Argobba}, {Endegagn, Inor, Gyeto}, {Wolane, Silt'e, Zay}, {Dobbi, Kistane}, and {Ge'ez, Tigrigna, Tigre}. Harari has an unstable position that swings based on the type of classification parameter used. The areal classifications obtained from the analyses fairly match the genealogical classifications previously proposed by historical linguists, resulting in a significant degree of overlap between the areal and genealogical classifications. The study further examined selected linguistic and non-linguistic variables that underpin the distance among Ethiosemitic languages, using Multiple Linear Regression. The results of the regression analyses show that lexical diffusion among Ethiosemitic languages, geographical distance and diffusion of phonetic features from Oromo to the Ethiosemitic languages are the major determinants of the distance among Ethiosemitic languages.