Overview
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Severely Endangered

Native Speakers Worldwide

A few hundred

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Recent Resources

No resources

Community Members

    No members

Revitalization Programs

No programs

Discussion Forum

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Language Information By Source

ELF Grant Abstract: Recording the Last Fluent Speakers of Kemantney
Arrow pointing down
Severely Endangered

Native Speakers Worldwide

A few hundred

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers and learners

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

No data

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

"According to the 1994 census, there are around 1,625 speakers of Kemantney, but following the death of many of the older members of the community, the speaker population been reduced to only a few hundred. Most of the fluent speakers of Kemantney are in their 60's or above, and the well-known storytellers are older. "

Year of info

2005

Location and Context

Countries

No data

Coordinates

No data

Location description

No data

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers' attitudes

No data

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

No data

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

No data

Domains of other languages

No data

More on context

No data

Threatened

Native Speakers Worldwide

1,650

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers and learners

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

172,324

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

No data

Year of info

1998

Location and Context

Countries

No data

Coordinates

No data

Location description

No data

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers' attitudes

No data

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

No data

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

No data

Domains of other languages

No data

More on context

No data

Critically Endangered

Native Speakers Worldwide

No data

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers and learners

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

No data

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

No data

Year of info

1975

Location and Context

Countries

No data

Coordinates

No data

Location description

Gondar

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers' attitudes

No data

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

Gondar

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

No data

Domains of other languages

No data

More on context

No data

Threatened

Native Speakers Worldwide

1000-17000

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers and learners

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

25000

Non-monolingual speakers

All or most

More about speakers

No data

Year of info

1992

Location and Context

Countries

Ethiopia

Coordinates

No data

Location description

"North of Lake Tana, Central Begendir Province, northwest, also Sudan... the countryside extending to the north and south of the east-to-west Gonder-Aykel road as well as the east of Gonder and the west of Aykel"

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers' attitudes

No data

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

"North of Lake Tana, Central Begendir Province, northwest, also Sudan... the countryside extending to the north and south of the east-to-west Gonder-Aykel road as well as the east of Gonder and the west of Aykel"

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

Amharic

Domains of other languages

No data

More on context

No data

Threatened

Native Speakers Worldwide

~1,600

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers and learners

~3400

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

No data

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

No data

Year of info

2007

Location and Context

Countries

No data

Coordinates

No data

Location description

No data

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers' attitudes

No data

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

No data

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

Amharic

Domains of other languages

No data

More on context

No data

Threatened

Native Speakers Worldwide

1,500

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers and learners

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

No data

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

No data

Year of info

2010

Location and Context

Countries

No data

Coordinates

12.9349,37.2326

Location description

No data

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers' attitudes

No data

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

No data

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

No data

Domains of other languages

No data

More on context

No data

Threatened

Native Speakers Worldwide

No data

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers and learners

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

172,327

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

1,650 in Ethiopia. Data for the number of native speakers and the ethnic population are from the 1994 census.

Year of info

2009

Location and Context

Countries

Ethiopia; Eritrea

Coordinates

No data

Location description

Northwest Amhara region, north of Lake Tana. Qwara or Kayla are near Addis Ababa. Also in Eritrea.

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers' attitudes

No data

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

Northwest Amhara region, north of Lake Tana. Qwara or Kayla are near Addis Ababa. Also in Eritrea.

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

No data

Domains of other languages

No data

More on context

No data

At risk

Native Speakers Worldwide

350,000

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers and learners

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

>1,000,000

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

"According to Ato Nega there are more than one million Qemant people, of whom 350,000 still speak the language... Qemant is being replaced by Amharic, and there is a tendency for the language to die"

Year of info

1994

Location and Context

Countries

No data

Coordinates

No data

Location description

Chilga, Armachoho, Gonder, Zuria, Wogera, Matebia, Qara, and others.

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers' attitudes

No data

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

Chilga, Armachoho, Gonder, Zuria, Wogera, Matebia, Qara, and others.

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

Amharic

Domains of other languages

No data

More on context

No data

Threatened

Native Speakers Worldwide

1,500

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers and learners

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

1500

Ethnic Population

170000

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

No data

Year of info

2008

Location and Context

Countries

No data

Coordinates

No data

Location description

No data

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers' attitudes

No data

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

No data

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

No data

Domains of other languages

No data

More on context

No data

Critically Endangered

Native Speakers Worldwide

No data

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers and learners

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

No data

Non-monolingual speakers

The majority of this group know only Amharic

More about speakers

"Kemant certainly is one of the most 'endangered' languages in Ethiopia, already considered 'dead' by some linguists... it has become very unlikely the Kemant people will preserve a distinct religion and culture. Those who speak the language fluently are elderly people beyond the age of sixty... the extinction of Kemant is conceivable within the next 40–50 years."

Year of info

2002

Location and Context

Countries

No data

Coordinates

No data

Location description

No data

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers' attitudes

No data

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

No data

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

Amharic

Domains of other languages

No data

More on context

"A strong process of Amharization seems to have made a strong impact on the size of the 'Kemant' population"

Severely Endangered

Native Speakers Worldwide

1625

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers and learners

3450

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

304

Older adult speakers

791

Elder Speakers

2588

Ethnic Population

172291

Non-monolingual speakers

All

More about speakers

No data

Year of info

2003

Location and Context

Countries

Gondar, Ethiopia

Coordinates

12.599967,37.466633

Location description

No data

Government support

No

Institutional support

No

Speakers' attitudes

Negative

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

No data

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

Amharic

Domains of other languages

Home, normal use

More on context

"Kemantney has been stigmatized by two groups: Amharic speakers of Amharic descent, and Amharic speakers of Kemant descent. It is not uncommon for Kemant speakers to be ashamed of using it for fear of being humiliated by these two groups. Everyone who wants to speak the language smiles and looks around before (s)he starts speaking. The smile is a sign of bewilderment and anxiety, not of courage and excitement."

No data

Native Speakers Worldwide

No data

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers and learners

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

No data

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

No data

Year of info

2005

Location and Context

Countries

No data

Coordinates

12.6666666667,37.4166666667

Location description

No data

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers' attitudes

No data

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

No data

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

No data

Domains of other languages

No data

More on context

No data

Threatened

Native Speakers Worldwide

1,650

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers and learners

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

No data

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

No data

Year of info

Location and Context

Countries

No data

Coordinates

No data

Location description

No data

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers' attitudes

No data

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

No data

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

No data

Domains of other languages

No data

More on context

No data

Media Resources

No resources

No resources

No resources

No resources

No resources

No resources

Filter By

No programs

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  8. A survey on language death in Africa
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  9. First report on a survey of the Shinasha and Agew dialects and languages
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  10. Endangered Languages Catalogue Project. Compiled by research teams at University of Hawai'i Mānoa and Institute for Language Information and Technology (LINGUIST List) at Eastern Michigan University
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  12. Africa
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  15. ELF Grant Abstract: Recording the Last Fluent Speakers of Kemantney
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