Bench language

language
name=Bench
nativename=Bentʂnon
states=Ethiopia
region=Bench Maji Zone, SNNPR
speakers=173,586 (mother-tongue speakers as of 1998)
familycolor=Afro-Asiatic
fam1=Afro-Asiatic
fam2=Omotic
fam3=North
fam4=Gonga-Gimojan
fam5=Gimojan
fam6=Ometo-Gimira
iso2=afa|iso3=bcq|

Bench (also called Gimira, considered a derogatory term) is a Northern Omotic language of the "Gimojan" subgroup, spoken by about 174,000 people (as of 1998) in the Bench Maji Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region, in southern Ethiopia, around the towns of Mizan Teferi and Shewa Gimira. It has three mutually intelligible dialects: Bench proper, She, and Mer. [Raymond G. Gordon, Jr, ed. 2005. "Ethnologue: Languages of the World". 15th edition. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics.] In unusual variance from most of the other languages in Africa, Bench has retroflex consonant phonemes. [Breeze 1988.] The language is also noteworthy in that it has six phonemic tones, one of only a handful of languages in the world that have this many. [Wedekind 1983, 1985a, 1985b.]

ounds

The consonants are:

20, 30, etc. are formed by adding "tam2" "ten" (with tone change) to the unit. In compound numbers, "-a4" is added to each 'figure, thus:

:13 = "ta5ma4 ka4za4":236 = "nam4 ba2-3la4 kaz3ta2ma4 sa2pm3a4"

When a cardinal number functions as an adjective, the suffix -as3 can be added (eg "nya3ʔa2 ka4zas3" "three children".) Ordinal numbers are formed by suffixing "-nas4" to the cardinal, eg: "od4nas4" "fourth".

Adjectives

Adjectives are sometimes intensified by changing the tone to 5; eg "ez2-3" "big" > "ez5" "very big".

Verbs

Verbs with monosyllabic roots can have three different forms of their active stems: the singular imperative, which is just the root; the past stem, usually identical to the root but sometimes formed by adding "-k" (with changes to the preceding consonant); and the future stem, usually identical to the root but sometimes formed by changing the tone from 3 to 4 or from 1 to 5. Some have causative (formed by adding "-as3" or "-s1", and changing tone 3 to 4) and passive (formed by adding "-n3", "-t", or "-k1" to the causative) forms. Verbal nouns are formed from the stem, sometimes with tone change or addition or "-t".

Verbs with polysyllabic roots have at least two forms, one with an intransitive or passive meaning and one with a transitive or causative meaning; the former ends in "-n3", the latter in "-as3". A passive may be formed by ending in "-as3n3". Verbal nouns are formed by taking the bare stem without "-n3" or "-as3".

Compound verbs are formed with "mak2" "say" or "mas2" "cause to say", a formation common among Ethiopian languages.

The primary tenses are simple past (formed from the past stem), future (future stem plus "-ns3-"), present perfect (from present participle stem); negative (future stem plus "-arg4-".) Eg: "ham3" > "han3k'u2e3" "he went"; "ham4sm3su2e3" "he will go"; "han3k'n4su2e3" "he has gone".

There are four corresponding participles: past (formed from the past stem), present perfect (formed from the past stem with the suffix "-ns4-", "-ng4", or "-ank'4-"), imperfect (formed from the future stem with the stative suffix "-ag3-"), and negative (formed from the future stem with the negative suffix "-arg4-" or "-u2-" or a person/number marker.)

The order of affixes is: root - (tense) - (negative) - (foc. pn.) - person/number - marker.

Orthography and literature

The New Testament has been published in the Bench language, using an orthography based on the Ethiopian syllabary. Tones are not indicated. Retroflex consonants are indicated by using extra symbols from the syllabary (the "nigus s") and forming new symbols, (the addition of an extra arm on the left side for "t").

Notes

References

* [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=bcq Ethnologue entry for Bench]
* Breeze, Mary J. 1986. "Personal pronouns in Gimira (Benchnon)."‭ In Ursula Wiesemann (ed.), Pronominal systems , 47-69. Tübingen: Gunter Narr.
* Breeze, Mary. 1988. "Phonological features of Gimira and Dizi."‭ In Marianne Bechhaus-Gerst and Fritz Serzisko (eds.), Cushitic - Omotic: papers from the International Symposium on Cushitic and Omotic languages, Cologne, January 6-9, 1986 , 473-487. Hamburg: Helmut Buske Verlag.
* Mary J. Breeze. 1990. "A Sketch of the Phonology and Grammar of Gimira (Benchnon)", in Richard J. Hayward (ed.), "Omotic Language Studies", SOAS: London. Pages 1-67.
* Rapold, Christian. 2006. Towards a grammar of Benchnon. PhD thesis, University of Leiden.
* Wedekind, Klaus. 1983. "A six-tone language in Ethiopia: Tonal analysis of Benč non (Gimira)."‭ Journal of Ethiopian Studies 16: 129-56.
* Wedekind, Klaus. 1985a. "Why Bench’ (Ethiopia) has five level tones today."‭ In Ursula Pieper and Gerhard Stickel (eds.), Studia linguistica diachronica et synchronica , 881-901. Berlin: Mouton.
* Wedekind, Klaus. 1985b. "Thoughts when drawing a map of tone languages."‭ Afrikanistische Arbeitspapiere 1: 105-24.