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Ongota

Ongota (iifa ʕongota)
Spoken in:	Ethiopia
Region:	Southern Omo zone, Southern Region
Total speakers:	12
Ranking:	Not in top 100
Genetic classification:	Unclassified, probably Afro-Asiatic  Ongota
Language codes
ISO 639-2	mis
SIL	BXE
Linguasphere	07-AAA-aa

Ongota (also known as Birale/Birayle) is a moribund language of southwest Ethiopia. In the year 2000 it was said to be in a state of decline with only 8 elderly mother tongue speakers, most other speakers having adopted the Ts'amakko language instead. The grammar follows a Subject Object Verb word order. It is probably Afroasiatic, but has not been definitively classified. It is currently (as of 2004) being studied by Aklilu Yilma of Addis Ababa University.

Bibliography

• Fleming, Harold 2002. "Ongota Lexicon: English-Ongota". Mother Tongue, VII, pp. 39-65.
• Mikesh, P. and Seelig, J.M. 1992. "Ongota or Birale: a moribund language of Gemu-Gofa (Ethiopia)". Journal of Afroasiatic Languages, 3,3:181-225.
• Savà, Graziano and Mauro Tosco 2000. A sketch of Ongota, a dying language of southwest Ethiopia. Studies in African Linguistics 29.2.59-136.