Gender variation across the Oromo dialects

A corpus‐based study

Dados Bibliográficos

ID21398810
AutoresTekabe Legesse Feleke (0000-0002-5627-2043, AcqVA Aurora Research Center, Department of Language and Culture The Arctic University of Norway Tromsø Norway, autor correspondente), Terje Lohndal (0000-0002-8514-1499, AcqVA Aurora Research Center, Department of Language and Culture The Arctic University of Norway Tromsø Norway)
Ano2023
Volume77
Fascículo3
Páginas453-495
Data de publicação2023-12-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoStudia Linguistica (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0039-3193 • E-ISSN: 1467-9582
EditoraWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/stul.12213
OpenAlexW4377013781
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas3
Referências citadas42

This study aims to (1) demonstrate the position of the Oromo gender system in Corbett's (1991) typology of gender; (2) illustrate major syntactic gender variation across the Oromo dialects; (3) identify factors that contributed to the gender variation, and (4) illustrate the morphosyntax of the Oromo gender system. The data obtained from the Oromo Speech Corpus shows a high degree of lexical and syntactic variation between the Western‐Northern dialects on the one hand, and the Eastern‐Southern dialects on the other hand. The Western and Northern dialects have shifted from the historically Cushitic phonology‐based gender assignment pattern to the semantic‐based assignment pattern. This shift has resulted in a widespread neutralization of feminine gender markers. The contact between Oromo and the neighboring non‐Cushitic languages contributed to these changes. The study also argues that Kramer's (2015) morphosyntactic approach can be extended to the analysis of Oromo gender system

Geography · Linguistics · Phonology · Typology · Variation (astronomy) · History · Language, Linguistics, Cultural Analysis · Natural Language Processing Techniques · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation