Editing Saho language

{{Short description|Cushitic language spoken in Eritrea and Ethiopia}}
{{Distinguish|text=the [[Sahu language]]}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Saho
| altname          = Saho 
| states           = [[Eritrea]], [[Ethiopia]]
| region           = [[Southern Region (Eritrea)|Southern]], [[Northern Red Sea Region|Northern]] and [[Southern Red Sea Region|Southern Red Sea]] regions in Eritrea, [[Tigray]] in Ethiopia
| ethnicity        = [[Saho people|Saho]]
| speakers         = {{sigfig|178,800|2}}
| date             = 2007–2022
| ref              = e27
| familycolor      = Afro-Asiatic
| fam2             = [[Cushitic languages|Cushitic]]
| fam3 = [[East Cushitic languages|East]]
| fam4             = [[Lowland East Cushitic languages|Lowland]]
| fam5             = [[Saho–Afar languages|Saho–Afar]]
| minority={{ERI}}
| iso3             = ssy
| glotto           = saho1246
| glottorefname    = Saho
| script           = [[Geʽez script]] (Used in Ethiopia) <br /> [[Latin alphabet]] (Used in Eritrea)
}}
The '''Saho language''' ([[Tigrinya language|Tigrinya]]: {{lang|ti|ሳሆ/ቋንቋ ሳሆ}}) is an [[Afro-Asiatic languages|Afro-Asiatic]] language spoken in [[Eritrea]] and [[Ethiopia]]. It belongs to the family's [[Cushitic languages|Cushitic]] branch.

==Overview==
Saho is spoken natively by the [[Saho people]]. Traditionally, they inhabit the territory in Eritrea bounded by the bay of Erafayle (ዓራፋሊ) in the east, the Laacasi Gade (ላዐሲ ጋደ) valleys in the south, and the [[Eritrean highlands]] to the west (the Shimejana district on the eastern flank of the South- or [[Debub]] region in what was formerly known as [[Akele Guzai]] province).

This speech area is bordered by other [[Afroasiatic languages|Afro-Asiatic]]-speaking communities, with [[Tigre language|Tigre]] speakers on the west and [[Afar language|Afar]] speakers on the east. In Ethiopia, Saho is primarily spoken in the [[Tigray Region]]. It has about 250,000 speakers in total and four main dialects:{{clarify|date=February 2024}} Northern dialect, mainly spoken by Casawurta (ዓሳኣዉርታ), Tharuuca (ጣሩዓ), Casabat Care (ዓሳባት ካረ), etc.; Central dialect is mainly spoken by Faqhat Xarak (ፋቃት ሓራክ) of Minifere (ሚኒ ፊረ); Southern dialect mainly spoken by Minifire (ሚኒ ፊረ), Xazo (ሓዞ/ዶ), Dabrti-meela ዳብሪ መላ), Irob (ኢሮብ), Sancafe (ሳንዓፈ).<ref>{{ethnologue25|ssy}}</ref>

The Saho also use the Arabic (special now Latin letters){{clarify|date=February 2024}} to document their history and render information.

The Saho language in former [[Italian Eritrea]] has received a strong influence of italian loanwords.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.academia.edu/5529047 |title=Italian loanwords in saho |language=it |last1=Banti |first1=Giorgio }}</ref>

Also recently the language is being used on the cyberspace as a tool of communication. And there is one website completely designed with saho language.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.makaado.net/ |title=Makaado.net - the Saho on line Community |access-date=2013-11-22 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203011134/http://www.makaado.net/ |archive-date=2013-12-03 }}</ref>

Saho is so closely related to the Cushitic [[Afar language]], spoken as a mother tongue by the [[Afar people]], that some linguists regard the two tongues as dialects of a single "Saho–Afar language". Regardless, it has been shown that at least in their [[lexicon|basic lexicon]] the two can be cleanly separated.<ref name="Banti-Vergari">{{cite conference|first1=Giorgio|last1=Banti|first2=Moreno|last2=Vergari|title=Aspects of Saho dialectology|year=2017|book-title=Afroasiatica Romana. Proceedings of the 15th meeting of Afroasiatic linguistics|pages=65–81|publisher=Sapienza Università de Roma}}</ref>

== Phonology ==

=== Consonants ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! colspan="2" |
![[Labial consonant|Labial]]
![[Dental consonant|Dental]]/<br/ >[[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
![[Retroflex consonant|Retroflex]]
![[Dorsal consonant|Dorsal]]
![[Pharyngeal consonant|Pharyngeal]]/<br>[[Epiglottal]]
![[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! rowspan="3" |[[Plosive]]
!{{Small|voiceless}}
|
|{{IPAlink|t̪}}
|
|{{IPAlink|k}}
|{{IPA link|ʡ}}
|({{IPAlink|ʔ}})
|-
!{{Small|voiced}}
|{{IPAlink|b}}
|{{IPAlink|d̪}}
|{{IPA link|ɖ}}
|{{IPAlink|g}}
|
|
|-
!{{Small|ejective}}
|
|({{IPAlink|t̪ʼ}})
|
|({{IPAlink|kʼ}})
|
|
|-
! rowspan="3" |[[Fricative]]
!{{Small|voiceless}}
|{{IPAlink|f}}
|{{IPAlink|s}}
|
|
|{{IPA link|ħ}}
|{{IPAlink|h}}
|-
!{{Small|voiced}}
|
|({{IPAlink|z}})
|
|
|({{IPA link|ʕ}})
|
|-
!{{Small|ejective}}
|
|({{IPA link|sʼ}})
|
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
|{{IPAlink|m}}
|{{IPAlink|n}}
|
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Rhotic consonant|Rhotic]]
|
|{{IPAlink|ɾ}}
|
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Approximant]]
|{{IPAlink|w}}
|{{IPAlink|l}}
|
|{{IPAlink|j}}
|
|
|}

* Sounds /t̪ʼ, sʼ, z, kʼ, ʔ/ are heard from loanwords.
* /b/ can be heard as [β] when in intervocalic positions or when preceding a fricative consonant.
* /t̪, d̪/ can be heard as laminal [t̻, d̻] when before or after /a/.
* /ɾ/ can be heard as a trill [r] in free variation.
* /ɖ/ can be heard as a flap [ɽ] in intervocalic positions.
* /l/ can be heard as apical [l̺] or alveolar [l] when before vowels /i, u/, and as laminal [l̻] when before vowels /a, e, o/.
* /n/ when preceding sounds /b, f, ɖ, k, ɡ/ can be heard as [m, ɱ, ɳ, ŋ].
* /ʡ/ can also be heard as a fricative [ʕ] in free variation or in intervocalic position.
* Stops /b, t̪, d̪, ɖ/ are heard as unreleased [b̚, t̪̚, d̪̚, ɖ̚] when in word-final position.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Tajebe |first=Esayas |title=Descriptive Grammar of Saaho |publisher=Addis Ababa University |year=2015}}</ref>

=== Vowels ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
!
![[Front vowel|Front]]
![[Central vowel|Central]]
![[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
![[Close vowel|Close]]
|{{IPA link|i}} {{IPA link|iː}}
|
|{{IPA link|u}} {{IPA link|uː}}
|-
![[Mid vowel|Mid]]
|{{IPA link|ɛ}} {{IPA link|ɛː}}
|
|{{IPA link|ɔ}} {{IPA link|ɔː}}
|-
![[Open vowel|Open]]
|
|{{IPA link|a}} {{IPA link|aː}}
|
|}

* /ɛ/ can be heard as either [ɛ] or [e], and may occur as [ə] when in unstressed positions.
* /ɔ/ may be pronounced as either [ɔ] or [o] among speakers across dialects.<ref name=":0" />

==Writing systems==
Saho has three written versions: a version in the [[Latin alphabet]], official in Eritrea; a version in the [[Ge'ez script]], official in Ethiopia; and a version in the [[Ajami script]] with no official recognition.<ref name="Banti-Vergari"/>

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [[World Atlas of Language Structures]] information on [http://wals.info/languoid/lect/wals_code_sao Saho]
* [http://llacan.vjf.cnrs.fr/langues/saho.html Saho -LLACAN] (with map)

==Further reading==
* {{cite journal |first=William E. |last=Welmers |year=1952 |title=Notes on the structure of Saaho |journal=Word |volume=8 |issue=2 |pages=145–162|doi=10.1080/00437956.1952.11659429 }}

{{Languages of Eritrea}}
{{Languages of Ethiopia}}
{{Cushitic languages}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:East Cushitic languages]]
[[Category:Languages of Eritrea]]
[[Category:Languages of Ethiopia]]


{{Eritrea-stub}}
{{AfroAsiatic-lang-stub}}
{{Ethiopia-stub}}