Language Shift: The Case of Ethiopian Kunama

Language contact and competition has gained increasing awareness and interest among (socio)linguists during the last decades. In such contact situations, stable equilibrium occurs when two languages are spoken in distinct domains. On the other hand, there are many situations of language contact in which one language gradually loses ground in the face of another. In effect, this can have several consequences; the most notables could be language shift and language death. This book is focused on exploring the determinant factors that work for language shift on the Ethiopian Kunama speech community, who resides in and around Shiraro (Tigray) in the northwestern parts of Ethiopia. The speech community is in contact with Tigirigna speakers of the area for a long period. There is also a high degree of bilingualism in Tigirigna language on the part of Kunama speakers. Besides, factors like education (other than the mother tongue) and movement away from rural life on the part of the young will work toward language shift. Hence, the book provides a detailed account of sociolinguistic and linguistic evidence that indicates language shift on the mentioned speech community.