Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics & Philology

Department of Linguistics and Philology

College of Humanities, Language Studies and
Journalism & Communication
Addis Ababa University
Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics & Philology

Editorial Committee
Shimelis Mazengia
Derib Ado
Abebayehu Messele
Girma Mengistu

Department of Linguistics and Philology, AAU

P.O. Box 1176
Tel. 251 111 23 97 55
Fax: 251 111 24 32 72
Email: linguistics@aau.edu.et
Web: http://www.aau.edu.et/chls/academics/department-of-linguistics
 In this Issue
Editorial ........................................................................................ 1
News .......................................................................................... 2
 Prof. Baye Gets Award for Excellence in Research ........ 2
 Dr. Moges Finds a “New” Language, Ngaalam.............. 3
 Dr. Zelealem Appointed as Dean of CHLSJC ................. 4
 Dr. Girma Mengistu Appointed as Department Head..... 5
 Dr. Binyam Sisay, Selected as a Founding Member
of the Ethiopian Young Academy of Science ...... 5
 Dr. Amsalu Wins Postdoc Fellowship Award ................. 6
 Staff members Earn PhD and Students Defend
Dissertations ...................................................... 7
 The Department Welcomes New Students ...................... 8
 Linguistics Capacity Building Conference
Held in Rondane (Norway) ................................. 9
 Three Sign Language PhD Candidates Make
a Study Visit to Trondheim .............................. 12
 Language Technology Team of LCB
Meets with Habit project .................................. 13
 Linguistic Capacity Building Holds Annual
Meeting with NORAD .................................... 14
 Four Staff Members and Sign Language Unit
of the Department of Linguistics Publish Books16
 MA Curriculum for Ethiopian Sign Language
Appraised .......................................... 22
 Researchers of Linguistic Capacity Building from AAU
and HU Present Papers at the 19th ICES .......... 24
 Prof. Baye Delivers a Key Lecture at the 19th ICES ...... 26
 Dr. Endris Makes a Presentation on Ramsa via Skype .. 29

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  Binyam Ephrem Makes a Study Visit to Japan.............. 30
 Kemal Makes a Study Trip to the University
of Copenhagen ................................................. 31
 Dr. Hirut Reads Papers at Conferences .......................... 31
 Dr. Meyer Co-authors an Article on Muher
and Makes Presentations ................................... 32
 Dr. Mersha Participates in Logos
in Oxford 2015 Conference .............................. 32
 Dr. Eyasu Presents a Paper at WOCAL 8 ..................... 33
 EthSL and Deaf Culture Program Unit Continues
Rendering Community Service ......................... 35
 Lectures and Conferences Organized
by Office of ADRTT (CHLSJC) ....................... 36
Scholars Give Talks .................................................................. 37
 Prof. Sweeny on speech and language therapy .............. 37
 Prof. Theil on the age of language ................................. 38
 Profs. Lanza, Svennevig and Røyneland
on two topics .................................................... 38
 Prof. Edzard on South Arabian and Ethio-Semitic
for etymology and Semitic classification ......... 39
 Ngaaalam, a “New” Nilo-Saharan Language ................ 40
 13th Nilo-Saharan Linguistics Colloquium
to be Hosted by AAU ........................................ 42
Synopses of Doctoral Dissertations .......................................... 45
 Descriptive Grammar of Ezha ....................................... 45
 A Grammar of Sezo ...................................................... 50
 A Sociolinguistic Study of the Use of and Attitudes
toward Ethiopian Sign Language (EthSL) ...... 53
Enrollment ............................................................................. 58
Staff Profile (2015) .......................................................... 59

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Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

Editorial
Linguistic Capacity Building
The Department of Linguistics and Philology of Addis Ababa
University, which is committed to the science of linguistics,
essentially aims at studying and building the capacity of the over-
eighty languages of Ethiopia. Since its establishment in 1978, the
Department graduated hundreds in Linguistics at BA, MA and
PhD levels, scores in Sign Language at BA level and about eighty
in Philology at MA and PhD levels. In addition to requiring
especially postgraduate students to produce theses, the
Department encourages its staff members to engage in research.
Accordingly, apart from endeavours made individually, the staff
members engage in thematic (interdisciplinary) and project
research. Of the latter, currently the project dubbed "Linguistic
Capacity Building: Tools for the Inclusive Development of
Ethiopia" is the major undertaking. It involves collaboration
among Addis Ababa University (AAU), Hawassa University
(HU), the University of Oslo (UiO), the Norwegian University of
Science and Technology, Sør-Trøndelag University College and
Center for Multilingualism in Society across the Lifespan. The
five-year project (2014-2018) obtained the funding, 17.5 million
NOK (Birr 52.5 million), from the Norwegian Agency for
Development Cooperation (NORAD) through its program the
Norwegian Program for Capacity Development in Higher
Education and Research for Development (NORHED). The chief
objective of the project is to increase knowledge and build
capacity at the two Ethiopian universities thereby developing
resources for disadvantaged languages (both spoken and signed),
and providing opportunities to children and adult speakers of

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Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

these languages in education and other arenas that have bearing

on the overall development of Ethiopia. The disadvantaged
languages are the ones that have not been adequately researched
and lack resources such as orthography, description of grammar,
dictionaries and other teaching materials.

The collaborative project has accomplished a number of capacity-

building tasks in 2014-2015 involving collaboration between
universities in Ethiopia and Norway as well as local governments
and communities. A networking workshop was conducted with
experts and administrators in Adaama (Feb. 25-26, 2015) and a
workshop on a curriculum for an MA program in Signed
Language Linguistics was held in Bishoftu (Oct. 16, 2015).
Furthermore, five capacity building training programs were
conducted: in Hawassa (Feb. 12-14, 2015) for the Sidaama Zone
education and culture representatives (essentially from districts)
as well as mass media representatives focusing on lexical
development, orthography appraisal and dictionary making; again
in Hawassa (April 20-24, 2015) for Ethiopian Sign Language
(EtheSL) teachers and experts from various zones of the Southern
Nations Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNPR) on the
structure of the EthSL and teaching methodology; in Wolkite
(May 1-3, 2015) for representatives from various offices and
schools of the Gurage Zone on language development and
standardization; in Shashemene (June 26-30, 2015 for journalists,
editors and government communication practitioners on news
writing, news presentation and language use; and again in
Shashemene (July 7-9, 2015) for representatives from the Aari
district in South Omo Zone (SNNPR) on mother tongue
education.

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Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

Eleven PhD and eight MA students who were granted

scholarships by the project are now in their second year at Addis
Ababa University and Hawassa University respectively. Laptops
were bought for the students and also for coordinators of research
teams including audio-visual devices for fieldwork. An MA
program in Linguistics and Communications has been launched at
HU while the curriculum for an MA program in Signed Language
Linguistics has been finalized involving stakeholders and will be
submitted soon to the Department of Linguistics and Philology,
AAU, for implementation.

A number of articles which resulted from fieldwork by

researchers from AAU and HU have been published and others
are in the pipeline including those read at the 19th International
Conference of Ethiopian Studies (ICES) which was held in
Warsaw, Poland, and those presented at Rondane conference
(Norway). Academics from Norway and Ethiopia also
collaborate in supervising and examining PhD students as well as
in conducting series of lectures. When Dr. Admassu Tsegaye,
president of AAU and Professor Ole Petter Ottersenm, rector of
UiO, met in Oslo in June 2015, the Linguistic Capacity Building
project was commended as a symbol of a strong partnership.

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Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

News
Prof. Baye Gets Award for Excellence in Research
Prof. Baye Yimam got an to recognize distinguished
award for excellence in researchers of the various
research at the College of colleges and institutions of

Prof. Baye Yimam after receiving the award

Humanities, Language Studies, Addis Ababa University. The
Journalism and bestowal ceremony took place
communication (CHLSJC), at the Faculty of Business and
Addis Ababa University. The Economics (FBE) in May
award was bestowed on him 2015. Dr. Admasu Tsegaye,
by Ato Kasa Tekleberhan, president of Addis Ababa
Chair of the AAU Board and University, and other officials
the then Chair of the House of were present at the ceremony.
Federation at a ceremony held

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Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

Dr. Moges Finds a “New” Language, Ngaalam

Dr. Moges Yigezu recently Nairobi, Kenya, September 1-

found a “new” language called 4, 2015. Dr. Moges was
Ngaalam in the southwestern invited by Dr. Helga Schröder,
part of Ethiopia in Anuak Zone Senior Lecturer, Department of
of Gambella Region. Ngaalam Linguistics and Languages,
is a Nilo-Saharan language. University of Nairobi, on
Dr. Moges presented a paper behalf of the organizing

Partial view of 12th Nilosahann Colloquium at the University of Nirobi

on the language entitled committee of the 12th Nilo-

Ngaalam: Sketch Grammar Saharan Linguistics
and Genetic Position at the 12th Colloquium. At the end of the
Nilo-Saharan Linguistics 12th Colloquium, the
Colloquium to which he was participants unanimously chose
invited to deliver a keynote Addis Ababa University, that
speech. The conference was is, the Department of
held at the University of Linguistics and Philology, to

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Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

host the 13th Nilo-Saharan and Asia (For additional

Linguistics Colloquium in information on Ngaalam, see
August 2017. The participants under the heading “Ngaalam, a
of the 12th Colloquium were ‘New’ Nilo-Saharan
prominent linguists from Language”.)
Africa, Europe, North America

Dr. Zelealem Appointed as Dean of CHLSJC

Dr. Zelealem Leyew has been been engaged in teaching and
appointed as Dean of the research at the Department of
College of Humanities, Linguistics and Philology since
Language Studies, Journalism 1990 for the last twenty six
and Communication by AAU years. He has published a
president, Dr. Admasu number of articles concerning
Tsegaye, as of December 1, the grammatical and
2015 (Hidar 21, 2008 E.C.). sociolinguistic descriptions of
Dr. Zelealem Leyew, Associate the Ethiopian languages.
Professor of Linguistics, has Under the auspices of the
Organization for Social
Science Research in Eastern
and Southern Africa
(OSSREA), he published a
book on the ethnobotany of
three Ethiopian languages. He
assessed books and articles for
publishers and journals here
and abroad. He is a member of
the editorial boards of various
Dr. Zelealem Leyew, Dean CHLSJC local and international journals
as well as scientific

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Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

committees. At different Association of Humboldt

times, he received service and Fellows. The Editorial
research awards from AAU Committee of BDLP
and universities abroad. He congratulates Dr. Zelealem on
was a research fellow at his appointment and wishes
Alexander Humboldt him a fruitful term of deanship
Foundation, Germany, in 2003 at the College of Humanities,
and is currently serving as the Language Studies, Journalism
secretary of the Ethiopian and Communication.

Dr. Girma Mengistu Appointed

as Department Head
Dr. Girma Mengistu has fellow at Ludwig
been appointed as Head of Maximilian University of
the Department of Munich (LMU), Germany.
Linguistics and Philology as The Editorial Committee of
of August 1, 2015. Dr. BDLP congratulates Dr.
Girma replaced Dr. Amsalu Girma on his appointment.
Tefera who is now a postdoc

Dr. Binyam Sisay, Selected as a Founding Member

of the Ethiopian Young Academy of Science
Dr. Binyam was selected as a Ethiopian Science Academy.
founding member of the Similarly, Dr. Binyam was
Ethiopian Young Academy of selected as the inaugural fellow
Science in January 2015. The of the African Science
Ethiopian Young Academy of Leadership Program (ASLP)
Science is the brainchild of the which was hosted by the

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Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

University of Pretoria, South University of Oslo on October

Africa. He also attended a 1, 2015. The academic event
workshop at the same was attended by the staff of the
university for about a week, MultiLing Center and the
June 7-12, 2015. At the end of Institute of Linguistics and
last September 2015, Dr. Nordic Studies. In May 2015,
Binyam travelled to Norway Dr. Binyam was invited to the
and gave a talk on language same university as a guest
use on the internet in Ethiopia researcher to collaborate with
based on evidence from Temari Prof. Rolf Theil on a chapter of
Net and facebook at the a book being written on the
MutiLing Center of the Omotic languages.

Dr. Amsalu Wins Postdoc Fellowship Award

Dr. Amsalu Tefera, a staff Linguistics and Philology, won

member in the Philology a postdoctoral research award
stream of the Department of offered by Alexander von
Humboldt for two years—
August 2015 - September
2017. The host university is
Ludwig Maximilian University
of Munich (LMU), Germany.
The title of Dr. Amsalu’s
research project is Uriel
Traditions in Ethiopia: Critical
Edition and Translation of the
Ethiopic Homilies Dedicated to
Dr. Amsalu Tefera
the Archangel Uriel.

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Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

Staff Members Earn PhD

and Students Defend Dissertations

In July 2015, at AAU graduation of the academic year 2007 E.C.,

three staff members of the Department of Linguistics and
Philology received their doctorates in Linguistics. The three staff
members are Dr. Endalew Assefa, Dr. Girma Mengistu and Dr.
Eyasu Hailu. The titles of their dissertations are respectively: i)
Descriptive Grammar of Ezha: A Central West Gurage Language,
ii) A grammar of Sezo and iii) A Sociolinguistic Study of the Use
of and Attitudes toward Ethiopian Sign Language (EthSL) (The
synopses of the three dissertations are available in this issue).

During this first semester of the academic year 2008 E.C.

(2015/2016), nine doctoral candidates of the department
successfully defended their dissertations. The candidates who
defended their dissertations and the respective institutions they
came from are:

1. Emana Beyene, Haramaya University

2. Yenealem Aredo, Addis Ababa University
3. Dawit Bekele, Jimma University
4. Teshome Belayneh, Jimma Universityi
5. Mihretu Adnew, Jimma University
6. Yohannes Adgeh, Academy of Ethiopian Languages
and Cultures, AAU
7. Sellassie Cheru, Jimma University
8. Tesfaye Baye, Kotebe University College
9. Mokonnen Hunde, Ambo University

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Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

Each candidate publicly defended her/his dissertation at a separate

session. The external examiners were from universities abroad
and acclaimed in the respective fields. The internal examiners,
who were from AAU, were also experts in the fields. The
candidates were all from the Linguistics stream of the
department’s graduate programs. Seven of the nine dissertations
focus on those Ethiopian languages which are among the least
studied (Dawuro, Kafinoonoo, Gyeto, Endegagn, Gofa, Burji, and
Girirra) while two of them on Afaan Oromoo. The editorial
committee of BDLP would like to congratulate the candidates on
their successful defence results.

The Department Welcomes New Students

The Department of Linguistics entertaining and informative.

and Philology welcomed the On the occasion, the new
2008 E.C (2015/2016) batch of students were introduced to the
undergraduate and staff members and earlier
postgraduate students at a batches of students of the
ceremony held on November 9, department. Prof. Baye
2015. The ceremony was Yimam gave an inspirational

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Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

speech to the students. Former undergraduate students were

graduates of the department part of the program. Occasions
also shared their experiences such as this year’s welcoming
with the new students. Prizes ceremony are of great
were given to outstanding importance in bringing staff
undergraduate students from and students together and also
both spoken language and in promoting the department
signed language Linguistics and should, therefore, continue
programs. Activities such as as a tradition.
singing competition among the

Linguistic Capacity Building Conference Held in

Rondane (Norway)
The Norwegian and Ethiopian researchers as well as the PhD
scholarship students of the NORHED program held a conference
in Rondane, a ski resort in north-western Norway, from

Participants of the Rondane Conference

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Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

September 1 to 4, 2015. At the conference, fifteen papers were

read by the researchers and eight papers, based on proposals, were
also presented by the PhD students. In addition, a workshop,
related to language technology, was conducted. Of the
presentations made by the researchers and PhD students some
were on sign language. The titles of the presentations are given
below.

A. Presentations by Researchers

1. BayeYimam: The Phonology of the Variety of Amharic in

Wollo
2. Rolf Piene Halvorsen and Lindsay Ferrara: Methods in data
annotation:Insights from signed language research
3. Pawlos Kassu: Aspect Marking in Ethiopian Sign Language
4. Ronny Meyer: Marking of Core Case in Muher
5. ShimelisMazengia: Some Observation on Hadiyissa
Orthography
6. BinyamSisay: Negation in Hamar
7. Derib Ado and Feda Negesse: Recognition of Redundant
Letters in Amharic: A Psycholinguistic Experiment
8. Janne Bondi Johannessen: Using corpora for linguistic
research
9. Hirut Woldemariam: Contesting Identities in Multilingual
Settings: The case of Gamo
10. Elizabeth Lanza and Hirut Woldemariam: Linguistic
landscape as (socio)linguistic data
11. Zelealem Leyew: Kinship Terms and Concepts among the
Sidaama
12. Kristin Hagen: ELAN workshop: Preliminary guidelines
13. Fekede Menuta and Ruth Vatvedt Fjeld: The Pragmatics of
Cursing and Insult in Gurage and Nordic Culture
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Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

14. Girma Mengistu: Tone in Sezo

15. Nigussie Meshesha: Political and Social Discourse in
Sidaama Folk Media
16. MogesYigezu: The Morphophonology of Hamar

B. Presentations by PhD Students

1. John Koang: Nuer Orthography
2. Melkeneh Seid: Noun Inflection in Gayl
3. Solomon Getahun:The Influence of Amharic on Guragigna
Varieties: A Study of Language Contact and Genetic
Affiliation
4. Emebet Bekele: Multilingualism and Language Choice among
the Gurage
5. Almaz Gelagay : The Standardization of Gamo: Practices,
Challenges and Implications
6. TsehayAbza: The Phonological Preliminaries of Inor
7. WoineshetGirma: The Semantics Properties of Ethiopian Sign
Language: Implications for Sign Language Dictionary Making
8. Andargachew Deneke: Phonology of Ethiopian Sign Language

Partial view of the Rondane Conference

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Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

The conference sessions were accompanied with excursions in the

Rondane region of scenic beauty. The Rondane conference was
organized by Prof. Janne Bondi Johannessen from the Center for
Multilingualism in Society across the Lifespan, University of
Oslo. The participants agreed to make their papers ready for
publication of the conference proceedings by the end of the year.
They are grateful to the organizer, Prof. Johannessen, the
Linguistic Capacity Building: Tools for the Inclusive
Development of Ethiopia project and the Norwegian Agency for
Development Cooperation (NORAD) for covering travel,
accommodation and conference expenses.

Three Sign Language PhD Candidates

Make a Study Visit to Trondheim

Three sign language PhD Ethiopian National Association

Candidates from AAU who are of the Deaf. There was also
benefiting from the Linguistic another PhD candidate called
Capacity Building: Tools for Guri Amundsen from the
the Inclusive Development of University of Stockholm,
Ethiopia project of the Sweden and currently a staff
NORHED program stayed in member of the host, Sør-
Trondheim, Norway, for a Trøndelag University College.
study visit from September 5 to Each one of the PhD
19, 2015. The three PhD candidates made presentations
candidates were: Pawlos Kasu and got feedback and also had
and Andargachew Deneke discussions with her/his
from the Department of respective supervisor as to how
Linguistics and Philology as to proceed with her/his
well as Woynishet Girma from research. In addition, the group
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Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

received training in ELAN University College and Dr.

(EUDICO Linguistic Lindsay Ferrara and Dr. Rolf
Annotator) by two staff Piene Halvorsen from the
members of Sør-Trøndelag NORHED program.

Language Technology Team of LCB

Meets with Habit project

The members of the Language hands in developing text

Technology team of the corpora for the under resourced
Linguistic Capacity Building languages of Ethiopia that are
project met with the Habit also one of the focus areas of
project participants in Oslo at the Linguistic Capacity
the Department of Linguistics Building collaborative project
and Nordic Studies on between Addis Ababa

Participants of the meeting between LCB and Habit projects

September 5-6, 2015. The University, Hawasa University,

meeting focused on joining University of Oslo and

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Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

Norwegian University of Technology represented the

Science and Technology. The Habit project.
meeting discussed ways of
improving the quality and The Habit project is concerned
increasing the quantity of the with developing language
corpora being developed. Dr. technology tools for under
Feda Negesse, Dr. Derib Ado, resourced languages including
from Addis Ababa University, those of Ethiopia. It is a
Prof. Janne Bondi collaborative project between
Johannessen, Dr. Anders Masaryk University of Czech,
Nøklestad, Joel Priestley and Norwegian University of
Kristin Hagen from UiO Science and Technology and
represented the Language University of Oslo. The
Technology Team while Aleš Language Technology team is
Horák, Pavel Rychlý, Vít grateful to Prof. Janne Bondi
Suchomel from Masaryk Johannessen and Björn
University of Czech and Björn Gambäck who made the
Gambäck from the Norwegian meeting possible.
University of Science and

Linguistic Capacity Building Holds Annual Meeting

with NORAD

The AAU, HU and UiO Adviser of the Norwegian

collaborative NORHED Agency for Development
program of Linguistic Capacity Cooperation (NORAD) at
Building: Tools for the Semien Hotel, Addis Ababa on
Inclusive Development of 16 November 2015. Dr.
Ethiopia project (LCB), held Binyam Sisay, the coordinator
an annual meeting with Ms. of LCB (NORHED), Dr. Taye
Jeanette da Silva, Senior Regassa, Dean of the College

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Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

of Humanities, Language Linguistics and Philology,

Studies, Journalism and welcomed those present at the
Communication, Dr. Mersha meeting and presented the
Alehegne, Associate Dean of 2014-2015 report of the LCB.

LCB annual meeting with NORAD representative

the Office of Research and Supplementary reports were

Technology Transfer, Dr. also presented by Dr. Nigussie
Girma Mengistu, chair, Meshesha from Hawassa
Department of Linguistics and University and by Prof. Janne
Philology, Prof. Janne Bondi Bondi Johanessen from UiO.
Johanessen, University of Oslo After the report, Ms. Jeanette
and Dr. Nigussie Meshesha, da Silva, stated that the annual
Hawassa University, as well as report showed that the project
project team leaders and has been well-managed and is
researchers were present at the going well, the partnership
annual meeting. between the institutions
involved is very active, the
The project coordinator, Dr.
networking and collaboration
Biniyam Sisay, a staff member
with stakeholders is positive.
of the Department of

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Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

She said that NORAD is happy languages, the language

that the partners are taking the situation in Ethiopia and the
activities seriously as they help main challenges that the
the project to be successful. project faced and steps taken to
Gender mainstreaming, the role mitigate them were among the
of the project in developing items discussed.

Four Staff Members and Sign Language Unit

of the Department of Linguistics Publish Books
Dr. Amsalu Tefera, Dr. Hirut philological study while those
Wolde-Mariam, Dr. Shimelis of Dr. Hirut and Dr. Shimelis
Mazengia, Ato Pawlos Kasu are focused on linguistic
and the Ethiopian Sign studies. Ato Pawlos’s book is
Language and Deaf Culture a guide to teaching Ethiopian
Program Unit of the Sign Language while that of
Department of Linguistics and the Sign Language Program
Philology, each published a Unit of the department is a
book recently. The books of baseline survey concerning
the first three staff members deaf-blindness and the
are based on their doctoral deafblind in Ethiopia.
dissertations. That of Dr. Highlights of the books are
Amsalu is concerned with a given below.

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Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

Dr. Amsalu: The Ethiopian Homily on the Ark of the

Covenant: Critical Edition and Annotated Translation
of Dǝrsanä Ṣǝyon

Dr. Amsalu offers an editio princeps of the Ethiopic text

of Dǝrsanä Ṣǝyon together with an annotated English translation.
The homily, most likely
composed in the fifteenth
century, links the term Zion
with the Ark of the Covenant
and recounts at length its
wanderings from Sinai to
Ethiopia. As a Christian
document, many of the events
are interpreted as symbolic of
Mary and the heavenly New
Jerusalem. First edited by the
author for his doctoral
dissertation, the critical text
and apparatus present a complete collation of the ten known
witnesses to this homily. Detailed notes are supplied on
significant and difficult terms in the translation. The publisher is
BRILL: http://www.brill.com.

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Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

Dr. Hirut: A Grammar of Haro

Dr. Hirut’s book is on
Haro grammar, an
endangered language
spoken by less than 200
people who live on the
eastern shore of an island
in Lake Abaya. The latter
is located in the south-
western part of Ethiopia.
The Haro language
belongs to the Ometo
linguistic group of the
Omotic language family
within the Afro-Asiatic
superfamily. The book,
which is based on the
author’s PhD dissertation, and syntactic structures of the
provides description of the language. The book was
phonological, morphological published by LINCOM GmbH.

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Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

Dr. Shimelis: Nominalization via Verbal Derivation:

Amharic, Tigrinya and Oromo

The book describes and contrastively compares the mechanisms

which three major Ethiopian languages, Amharic, Tigrinya and
Oromo, use to satisfy
their needs for nominals
at word, phrasal and
clausal levels—in other
words, the operations
utilized for lexical,
phrasal, and clausal
nominalizations. Amharic
and Tigrinya are Semitic
and Oromo is Cushitic.
However, Amharic is
sometimes considered to
have undergone
significant Cushitic
influence and is therefore
often assumed to be
structurally intermediate
between Semitic and
Cushitic. The description
and analyses take tone into account for Oromo, as tone is
considered to have some bearing on the nominalization processes
of the language. The
book was published by
Harrassowitz Verlag,
Germany.

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Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

Ato Pawlos Kasu:    

 (A Guide to Teaching Ethiopian Sign Language)
Pawlos’s book introduces language, many deaf children
modern methodology to teach display severe language lag
sign language. Pawlos is a and many users also often
Deaf lecturer at the Ethiopian
Sign Language and Deaf
Culture Program Unit of the
Department of Linguistics and
Philology, AAU. His new
book is the first of its kind in
Ethiopia. Although Ethiopian
Sign Language (EthSL) is used
by over two million people and
taught at various schools,
colleges, universities, religious
institutions and educational
establishments of non-
governmental organizations
(NGOs), the only published
resource available so far is distort the beauty of the
EthSL dictionary which language. The focus of
contains pictures of the signs Pawlos’s 222-page book is to
along with their meanings in minimize these problems. The
Amharic and English. Shortage book contains hitherto
of materials has adversely untouched topics such as the
impacted the development of history of the Ethiopian Deaf
the language as well as Community and Deaf Culture,
language acquisition of deaf which is an important
children. Because of the faulty ingredient for understanding
methods used in teaching the the language. The great
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Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

majority of deaf children are where the foundation is laid.

born of hearing parents; as a All those interested in EthSL,
result, unlike other language Deaf Culture as well as sign
speakers, they learn their language teaching
language mostly at school and methodology will find the book
develop it with their peers. very useful. Prior to this
Therefore, how it is taught to book, Pawlos has already
them determines their language published three books and is
skills and proficiency. currently doing research on
“Aspect Marking in EthSL” for
The book is in Amharic to
his PhD.  
make the content accessible to
   (A
all those who can read
Guide to Teaching Ethiopian
Amharic and are involved in
Sign Language) was published
the teaching of EthSL
by AAU Press.
especially in primary schools

Ethiopian Sign Language and Deaf Culture Program

Unit: Baseline Survey Report on the Sate of Deafblindness
and the Deafblind in Ethiopia

The book is a report about the of deafblind in relation to

baseline survey that was communication, social
conducted from May 2013 to interaction, orientation and
February 2014 in four regional mobility, service availability
states and two city such as day care, medical
administrations. The study service, education,
engaged different groups of transportation and early
people to obtain the required intervention and collaboration
baseline information. The among stakeholders. The
study aimed to acquire baseline survey for the book
knowledge and skills on issues was conducted by four
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Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

committee members including Pawlos Kassu Abebe—both

two members of the Ethiopian PhD candidates in Sign
Sign Language and Deaf Linguistics. The other two
Culture Program Unit of the committee members are Ato
Department of Linguistics and Assefa Berihun Mitikea from
Philology—Ato Andargachew the School of Psychology,
AAU, and Dr. Sewalem
Tsega Agegnehu from the
Department of Special
Needs Education, AAU.
The research work as well
as the publication of the
book were funded by the
project called
“Deafblindness: Theory
and Practice in Ethiopian
Context”, a collaboration
between AAU and
Kentalis International of
the Netherlands. The
book was printed by
Berta Publishing
Enterprise, Addis Ababa.
Deneke Demssie, team leader
of the baseline survey, and Ato

MA Curriculum for Ethiopian Sign Language Appraised

To launch a postgraduate MA curriculum, designed

program for Ethiopian Sign earlier, was appraised at a
Language and Deaf Culture, an workshop conducted in
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Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

Bishoftu (Debrezeit) at Air Linguistics and Philology to

Force Hotel on October 16, effectively run the program,

Workshop participants discussing in groups

2015. The workshop was potential opportunities and

organized by Linguistic prospects as well as possible
Capacity Building: Tools for challenges. The comments and
the Inclusive Development of suggestions offered are to be
Ethiopia project (NORHED). used to improve the curriculum
During the one-day which will be finally submit to
deliberations, valuable the Department of Linguistics
comments and suggestions and Philology, AAU. The
were forwarded by the participants of the workshop
participants. Most of the were member of the academic
comments and suggestions staff of the Department of
focused on the contents of the Linguistics and Philology,
curriculum, the overall representatives of the deaf
readiness of the Department of community and other
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Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

stakeholders including Secondary School, Ministry of

Ethiopian National Association Education, and Hoseana
of the Deaf, Federation School for the Deaf. The
ENAPD (Ethiopian National curriculum for the MA
Associations of Persons with program in Ethiopian Sign
Disabilities), Alpha School Language is expected to be
For The Deaf, Mekanissa implemented as soon as
School For The Deaf, Victory approval is obtained from the
School For The Deaf, Minilik university.
Primary School, Minilik II

Researchers of Linguistic Capacity Building from AAU

and HU Present Papers at the 19th ICES

Researchers of the Linguistic Capacity Building: Tools for the

Inclusive Development of Ethiopia (NORHED program)
presented papers at the 19th International Conference of Ethiopian
Studies, Warsaw (Poland) August 24-28, 2015.

There were ten researchers from the Department of Linguistics

and Philology, AAU, and two from the College of Social Sciences
and Humanities, Hawassa University. The conference was held
under the theme: "Ethiopia: Diversity and Interconnections
through Space and Time". The researchers
from the two universities participated in two panels—Time in the
languages of the Horn of Africa and Spatial expressions in
Ethiopian languages. Below is a list of the researchers—the first
ten from AAU and the last two from HU—along with the titles of
their papers.

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Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

1. Prof. Baye Yimam: Deictics in Amharic

2. Dr. Binyam Sisay: Deixis in Koorete
3. Dr. Derib Ado: Metaphors of Time in Amharic
4. Dr. Feda Negesse: Dialectometry in the Studies of Ethiopian
Languages
5. Dr. Girma Mengistu: Spatial Expressions in Sezo
6. Dr. Hirut Woldemariam: Deictics in Haro
7. Dr. Moges Yigezu: Deictics in Hamar
8. Dr. Ronny Meyer: On Tense in Amharic and Muher
(Ethiosemitic)
9. Dr. Shimelis Mazengia: Aspect and Tense in Oromo
10. Dr. Zelealem Leyew: Endangered Languages in Ethiopia
11. Dr. Fekede Menuta: Time in the Guragina variety of Gumer
12. Dr. Nigussie Meshesha: Names and Genealogical
Communication System in Sidaama

LBC researchers who participated at the 19th ICES

The panel for Time in the languages of the Horn of Africa was
coordinated by Prof. Lutz Edzard, Dr. Ronny Meyer, Dr. Yvonne
Treis and Dr. EwaWołk-Sor while the panel of Spatial

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Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

expressions in Ethiopian languages was coordinated by Dr.

Anbessa Teferra, Dr. Azeb Amha, Prof. Baye Yimam, Dr.
Binyam Sisay and Dr. Hirut Woldemariam.

The over 300 participants of the conference were welcomed by

Dr. Hanna Rubinkowska-Anioł, President of the Conference
Organizing Committee, Dr. Ahmed Hassen Omer, Director of the
Institute of Ethiopian Studies of Addis Ababa University and
other dignitaries. The five-day conference included 40 panels
under 18 different headings covering linguistics, archaeology,
history, social and political affairs, art and literature, all aspects
of development, Ethiopia's place in Africa and the world, and
Poland's links with Ethiopia. The 19th ICES was a large gathering
of scholars and academics interested in Ethiopia and the Horn of
Africa. The International Conference of Ethiopian Studies takes
place every three years. The contingent from the AAU and HU is
grateful to the Linguistic Capacity Building: Tools for the
Inclusive Development of Ethiopia project and the Norwegian
Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) for covering
travel, accommodation and conference expenses.

Prof. Baye Delivers a Key Lecture at the 19th ICES

Prof. Baye Yimam delivered a Language Area. He began his

key lecture at the 19th speech by underscoring that the
International Conference of horn is a confluence of
Ethiopian Studies (ICES) on linguistic phyla, both major
August 25, 2015. The topic of and minor, and where the Nilo-
his speech was Movement, Saharan and Afro-Asiatic
Contact and Diffusion of peoples and cultures converge.
Features in the Ethiopian He also pointed out that the
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Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

region is where the Cushitic traditional Abyssinian state,

sub-phylum meets Nilotic and and the southeastern and south-
where the youngest sub- western expansion of the
phylum, Omotic, alias West modern Ethiopian state are

Partial view of the 19th ICES (Warsaw)

Cushitic, found itself wedged some of the major movements

in between forming an in history. According to his
intersection. observation, this is leaving
aside minor cross-local
Prof. Baye gave an account of movements of groups caused
the movements of the peoples by population dynamics and
of the region by stating that the resource limitation, where one
southward movement of group pushes the other next to
Semitic over the Agaw sub- it with the same or greater
stratum and the northward force applied to it by the one
movement of Oromo across the behind it. Citing Fleming’s
Western highlands and the (1984) metaphor, he likened
Eastern Lowlands of the the manner of the movement to

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Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

a domino effect. Concerning Christian–Islam divide has

the results of the movements, been blurred by a strongly
Prof. Baye said that there have secular socio-cultural tint as
occurred contacts of cultures, observed in the Wollo variety
of which languages constitute of Amharic where a good mix
the core. He explained this of the latter with Oromo and
with the Omotic intersection Arabic constitutes its lexicon
where Nilo-Saharan vocalic and where a sub-variety of
features appear prominent; Muslim Amharic seems to be
where Semitic vowels and on the emergence.
Nilo-Saharan consonants figure
widely in Central Cushitic, Regarding Ethiopian
and where vowel length is lost, Linguistics, Prof. Baye
against a background where indicated that first it has been,
such would be the exception by and large, classification
rather than the norm in based on textual evidence and
Cushitic and non-Semitic in later on descriptive based on
general. He noted that the facts of live data to which the
prefix conjugation of Lowland effect of crisscross movements
East Cushitic and its leading to contact and diffusion
counterpart in the imperfect of features has been an
paradigm of Semitic is encumbrance. He thus
witnessed as a diachronic suggested a broader
feature. perspective with a
multidisciplinary thematic
Concerning religion, Prof. approach might prove useful.
Baye underscores that the horn In addition to that of Prof.
is home to the largest Baye’s, key lectures were
Abrahamic religions— given by Dr. Yaqob Arsano,
Christianity, Islam and AAU, on "The New Hydro-
Judaism—in which the diplomacy of the Nile:

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Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

Prospects for Peace and Warsaw, on "Encounters with

Security in North-eastern Ethiopia: Towards Ethiopian
Africa" and Professor Adam Studies in Context".
Łukaszewicz, the University of

Dr. Endris Makes a Presentation on Ramsa via Skype

Dr. Endris presented a paper, and other regions of Ethiopia

"The Ramsa of Sheikh Ahmed which share in the practice.
Adem of Dana” (the latter is a
center of Islamic learning and The Muslim scholars of Wallo
mysticism in Yajju, Wallo) via are generally known for
skype at the 19th International panegyrics that are usually
Conference of Ethiopian chanted at special occasions
Studies (ICES)—panel: like hadra and Mawlid. The
Islamic Literature in Ethiopia: composer of the Ramsa, which
New Perspectives of was the focus of Dr. Endris’s
Research—on August 26, presentation, Sheikh Aḥmad
2015. Ramsa, the origin of Adem (d. 1903.), the founder
which is Oromo, is an opening of Dana, was one of the
recitation, usually manzuma (a disciples of the famous sheikh
melodic poem), at religious of Yajju, Ǧamāl Al-Dīn Al
ceremonies such as Mawlid ʿAnī. Dr. Endris presented the
(celebration of Prophet Ramsa text with analysis and
Mohammad’s birth) and hadra annotation in English.
(a ritual gathering), in Wallo

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Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

Binyam Ephrem Makes a Study Visit to Japan

Binyam Ephrem, a PhD candidate in the language technology

track of the IT PhD program, made a three-month study visit to
the National Institute of Informatics (NII), Tokyo (Japan) from
May 20 to Aug 20, 2015. During his stay, he worked at his
external supervisor, Dr. Yusuke Miyao's lab
(http://kmcs.nii.ac.jp/mylab/?page_id=7&lang=en) focusing on
the development of a Treebank for Amharic. A Treebank is a
language dependent resource which is a linguistically annotated
corpus for syntactic as well as
semantic analysis. Such a resource
is used to develop a parser and
other Natural Language Processing
(NLP) applications. Binyam,
along with his supervisor,
developed a draft annotation
guideline for annotating Amharic
sentences. Based on his PhD
Binyam Ephrem research, Binyam made a
presentation to the lab group. The title of his presentation was
“Towards the Development of Dependency Treebank for
Amharic”. In his talk, he pointed out the challenges he faced in
developing a Treebank for Amharic and he got important
feedback from the group. During his stay in Japan, he had a
chance to participate in WOCAL 8 (8th World Congress of
African Linguistics) which was held at Kyoto University, August
21-24, 2015. The title of his presentation was "Developing Deep
and Robust Parsing for Less-resourced Languages: Challenges
and a Way out".

30
Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

Kemal Makes a Study Trip to the University

of Copenhagen

Kemal Ibrahim, a lecturer and a PhD candidate in Philology, went

to the University of Copenhagen for a two-month study visit
(September 20 - November
19, 2015). He was invited by
Professor Allesandro Gori,
head of the project Islam in
the Horn of Africa: Kemal Ibrahim
Comparative Literary
Approach at the Department
of Cross-Cultural and
Regional Studies, Faculty of
Humanities. Kemal gained
expertise through technical
and bibliographic assistance
from the project.
Kemal Ibrahim

Dr. Hirut Reads Papers at Various Conferences

Dr. Hirut participated in on African multilingualism:

varioius conferences over the motivations, modalities,
last several months. She read, movement and meaning, at The
among others, the following British Academy, London,
four papers: 1)“What does it September 8 – 9, 2015; 2)
mean to be multilingual in the “Linguistic Landscape as a
diverse settings in Africa and Standing Historical Testimony:
its satellites?” at a conference The Case of Ethiopia” at the 7th

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Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

Conference on Linguistic University of California,

Landscape, University of Berkeley Language Center,
California, Berkeley Language Berkley, May 7-9, 2015; and 4)
Center, Berkley, May 7-9, “Identity contestation as a
2015; 3) “Methodological challenge of multilingual
challenges in conducting settings: The case of Gamo”, at
Linguistic Landscape the NORHED Headquarters,
research”, at the 7th Conference Norway, August 30, 2015.
on Linguistic Landscape,

Dr. Meyer Co-authors an Article on Muher

and Makes a Presentation

Dr. Ronny Meyer co-authored for Jan Retsö, Wiesbaden:

with Fekade Manuta (Hawassa Harrassowitz. At a workshop
University) an article organized by Wolkite
“Sonorant alternations in University, July 7, 2015, Dr.
Muher” (a Gurage variety) Meyer presented a paper
which was published in Lutz entitled “Linguistic research on
Edzard (ed.) 2015, Arabic and Gurage: Overview about major
Semitic Linguistics trends”.
Contextualized: A Festschrift

Dr. Mersha Participates in Logos in Oxford 2015

Conference

Dr. Mersha Alehegne Oxford, 31 May – 5 June 2015.

participated in the Logos in Dr. Mersha was invited to the
Oxford 2015 Conference which conference in his capacity as a
was held at the University of participant in the Green
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Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

Scholars Initiative Project on Initiative. SCIO is the UK

the Ethiopian Canticles— subsidiary of the Council for
Songs of Africa. At the Christian Colleges &
conference, Dr. Mersha led the
Ethiopic Seminar as the Green
Scholars Initiative Mentor. The
seminar was aimed at giving
participants with a broad range
of traditional and Universities (CCCU). It is a
contemporary issues on the research and educational
Ethiopic textual tradition and institute in Oxford. Logos in
practice. Oxford 2015 was hosted at St
Hugh’s College, one of the 38
Logos in Oxford 2015 colleges of the University of
conference was organized by Oxford. St Hugh’s College
SCIO (Scholarship and was relative newcomer when it
Christianity in Oxford) on was founded in 1886.
behalf of Green Scholars

Dr. Eyasu Presents a Paper at WOCAL 8

Dr. Eyasu Hailu presented a Ethiopian Sign Language

paper at the 8th World (EthSL)”. He also attended a
Congress of African number of presentations on
Linguistics (WOCAL 8) African sign languages
which was held at Kyoto including Kenyan,
University, Japan, August Cameroonian, Chadian,
20–24, 2015. The title of Dr. Ivorian, and South African
Eyasu’s paper was sign languages. There were
“Phonemic Inventory of side events in which Dr.
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Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

Eyasu participated; among presentation made by Prof.

them a visit to Kyoto Sign Tetsuro Matsuzawa of Kyoto
Language Resource Center University was among the most
which is managed by the celebrated ones at the
Japanese Deaf Community conference. It was about
members. “Evolutionary origin of human
language viewed from the
It was as of WOCAL 6, which study of chimpanzees.” It
was held in Cologne, Germany argues that the memory
in 2009, that presentation of capacity of chimpanzees is
research papers on African sign much bigger than that of
languages was considered. humans which was once as big
Since then, sign language but perhaps got lost at the time
presentations were given due between the Neanderthals and
attention by large audience and the following hominids.
a number African sign
language researchers. The The WOCAL conference is
WOCAL 8 sign language conducted every three years
workshop was led by the focusing on the linguistic
famous Japanese sign language research of African Languages.
researchers including Prof. The next WOCAL, that is
Soya Mori (Japan College of WOCAL 9, will be hosted by
Social Work), Prof. Myamoto Morocco. Dr. Eyasu is grateful
Ritsuko (Akita University), Dr. to Mrs. Anja Malm of
Nabotuka Kamei (Aichi Disability Partnership Finland
Prefectural University) and (FIDIDA) and to the Finnish
Nami Akiyama (Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs for
Federation of the Deaf) along covering his travel and
with members of the Japanese conference attendance
Deaf community. The expenses.

34
Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

EthSL and Deaf Culture Program Unit Continues

Rendering Community Service

The EthSL and Deaf Culture undergraduate students. In

Program Unit, Department of addition, at the request of the

Yeseph Yemane, a Deaf comedian, signing a joke during orientation.

Linguistics and Philology, Ministry of Justice of the
AAU, continues rendering non- Federal Government and
regular sign language training Yekatit 23 Primary School of
to the university community Special Needs Education, the
and others who are interested Program Unit is providing
in the language. The training training for 52 employees of
has been given for over 10 the ministry as well as 26
years. teachers and administrative
Currently, there are 300 staff of the school,
registered trainees. The respectively, every Saturday
training is being given to five mornings on the university
sections by 12 final-year premises. Over the last ten

35
Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

years, the Ethiopian Sign two thousand people and over

Language Program Unit of the 1,500 have been certified in
Department of Linguistics and preliminary sign language skill.
Philology has trained nearly

Lectures and Conferences Organized

by Office of ADRTT (CHLSJC)

The Office of Associate Dean 2) Fidel Conference, June 23,

for Research and Technology 2015; and 3) Conference on
Transfer (ADRTT) of the The Force of Faith: Belief,
College of Humanities, Tradition and Health in
Language Studies, Journalism Ethiopia, September 7-9, 2015.
and Communication (CHLSJC) The latter was organized
organized lectures, conferences jointly by: Dr Mersha
and a Research Day over the Alehegne, Associate Dean of
last one year. The lectures Research and Technology
were conducted on monthly Transfer (CHLSJC) as well as
basis inviting senior faculty Professor David Phillips and
members to share their Dr. Dan Levene, both from the
knowledge and experiences University of Southampton.
with fellow colleagues and The Research Day was
students. As to conference, celebrated on 25th June 2015
three were held during the by conducting a panel
year—two were organized by discussion and presenting
the Office and one jointly: 1) award to faculty members of
The 20th Annual CHLSJC exemplary engagement with
Conference, June 19-20, 2015; research.

36
Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

Scholars Give Talks

Prof. Sweeny on speech and language therapy

Prof. Triona Sweeny gave a public lecture on Speech and

Language Therapy at Addis Ababa University on June 5, 2015.
The lecture covered a wide range of issues in relation to clinical
linguistics and speech as well as language therapy. It was
attended by staff, students and
practitioners from Yekatit 12
Hospital and from other
rehabilitation centers. Prof.
Sweeny, who was a member of a
medical team called Smile Train
which repaired torn lips and
palates of many Ethiopians,
Prof. Triona Sweeny helped the patients to improve
their speech and feeding. She
has also contributed to the establishment and organization of the
cleft Unit in Yekatit 12 Hospital.

Professor Sweeny is an Irish clinical speech and language

therapist and researcher with more than 30 years of experience as
a clinician.

37
Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

Prof. Theil on the age of language

Prof. Theil of the Department massive data from various

of Linguistics and areas of disciplines such as
Scandinavian Studies, linguistics, biology, genetics,
University of Oslo, gave a history, archeology and
public lecture on the age of mythology. His main concern
language on October 29, 2015. was to address the mysterious

Prof. Theil lecturing

The topic of his lecture was question of the beginning of
How old is Language? Prof. human language. The talk was
Theil’s talk was based on attended by staff and students.

Profs. Lanza, Svennevig and Røyneland on two topics

Prof. Elizabeth Lanza, Prof. 2015. Prof. Lanza talked on

Jan Svennevig and Prof. Unn Methodological Issues in
Røyneland, all three from the Doing Research on and with
Center for Multilingualism in Multilinguals while Prof.
Society across Lifespan, Svennevig and Prof.
University of Oslo, gave talks Røyneland focused on
on two topics on November 10, Language Attitudes and
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Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

Pofs. Lanza, Svennevig and Røyneland delivering their talks

Negotiation of Language and Oslo and Director of the Center
Identity. The sessions were for Multilingualism in Society
attended by staff members and across Lifespan while Prof.
students of the department. Svennevig and Prof.
Røyneland are
Prof. Lanza is professor of professors of Linguistics at the
Linguistics at the University of same University.

Prof. Edzard on South Arabian and Ethio-Semitic

Prof. Edzard, from Friedrich- particular interest was whether

Alexander-Universität the semantics of a root in a
Erlangen-Nürnberg/ University given Semitic language can be
of Oslo, talked on the explained as a genetic reflex of
importance of South Arabian
(both Epigraphic and Modern)
and Ethio-Semitic for
establishment of etymologies
and classification at Addis
Ababa University on
November 17, 2015. Of Prof. Edzard lecturing the
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Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

semantics at an earlier (including Judeo-Arabic) texts

"common Semitic stage" or from different periods,
whether the semantics of the Colometric text analysis,
root in question rather has to be History of science, Phonology
explained by an inner-family and Language in diplomacy.
loan. Prof. Edzard’s talk was The organizer of the event was
attended by staff and students, The Office of Associate Dean
especially, PhD candidates. for Research and Technology
Prof. Edzard is a professor of Transfer (ADRTT) of the
Middle East Studies, whose College of Humanities,
areas of interest include: Language Studies, Journalism
Comparative Semitic and and Communication
Afroasiatic linguistics, analysis (CHLSJC).
of Hebrew and Arabic

Ngaalam, a “New” Nilo-Saharan Language

Ngaalam, a “new” Nilo- call them Majir; the Suri

Saharan language, which was (Tirma-Chai) call them Ngidini
identified recently by Dr. and the Baale call them
Moges Yigezu, is spoken by a Ngaalama. The Murle call
very small community of five them by their self-name,
hundred people in the south- Ngaalamer. The Ngaalamer
western part of Ethiopia in use different names to refer to
Anuak Zone of Gambella their neighbors: Berier for
Region. The self-name of the Anuaks; Suri for the Baale and
speakers of the language is Tirma-Chai. They call the
Ngaalamer while they call Murle by their self-name,
their language Ngaalam. The Murle.
Anuaks call the Ngaalamer
people Olam while the Majang
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Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

According to Dr. Moges, the Although it is genetically

speakers of Ngaalam are closely related to the Surmic
scattered in the forest belt of languages, it is, however,
south western Ethiopia distinct from the rest of the
between Baale and Majang Surmic languages. Based on
speakers. The main settlement, over 300 basic lexical items, a
which is close to the South comparison has been made
Sudanese border, is in a between Ngaalam and the
locality known as Gedu, South West Surmic languages.
approximately some 45 A cognate count shows that
kilometers from Dima Ngaalam has 49% lexical
westward to Gambella town. similarity with Baale, 51%
The other main settlement area with Tennet, 53% with Murle,
is Merken, some 20 kilometers 47% with Narim and 44% with
from Dima to the north and Didinga whereas with Majang,
close to the Majang speaking a language the Ngaalamer are
area. Their neighbors are: the shifting to, the lexical
Majang to the north, Me'enit to similarity is around 14%.
the east, Baale and Murle to
Ngaalam is highly endangered
the south and southwest, and
and is on the verge of
the Anuak to the northwest.
extinction. From a
Their economy is mainly based
sociolinguistic perspective, the
on river basin cultivation,
situation is one of bilingualism
hunting, gathering and
in diglossia whereby the
occasionally fishing. The
speakers of Ngaalam speak
principal crops are durra,
Baale or Majang as their
millet, beans, sesame and
second language. On the
maize.
contrary, the latter rarely learn
Dr. Moges underscores that or speak Ngaalam as a second
Ngaalam is certainly a Nilo- language.
Saharan Surmic language.
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Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

Although Ngaalam (or Olam) perspective and revisits the

has been mentioned by various internal classification of
authors in the past (Bryan Surmic in light of data from
1945; Bender1971, 1975, 1977, recent fieldwork. Dr. Moges
1983; Fleming 1982), no thus classifies Ngaalam as a
significant linguistic data have coordinate branch of the
ever been presented. Dr. Didinga-Murle-Baale branch
Moges’s study provides a that forms the South West
sketch grammar of Ngaalam Surmic branch within Surmic.
from a comparative historical

13th Nilo-Saharan Linguistics Colloquium

to be Hosted by AAU

The 13th Nilo-Saharan Addis Ababa University to

Linguistics Colloquium will be language studies.
hosted in Addis Ababa by the
Department of Linguistics and The Nilo-Saharan Linguistics
Philology, AAU, in August Colloquium is an international
2017. This was decided at the forum established by leading
12th Colloquium, which took academics in the field of Nilo-
place at the University of Saharan studies some four
Nairobi, Kenya, September 1- decades ago in order to discuss,
4, 2015. The unanimous choice debate and disseminate
of the Department of developments in the field on a
Linguistics and Philology as regular basis. Since it was
the next host by the languaged in the 1970s, twelve
participants of the 12th colloquiums have been held in
Colloquium is recognition of the various parts of the world
the contributions made by and the last one (the 12th Nilo-
Saharan Colloquium) in
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Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

Nairobi, Kenya. Over the Gambella, Benshangul and

years, the study of Nilo- SNNP Regional States. The
Saharan languages has become languages include: Kunama in
one of the most vibrant and Tigray Regional State, Anuak,
innovative fields in African Nuer, Opuuo and Ngaalam in
linguistics. It is the close Gambella, Gumuz, Komo,
collaboration of linguists of the Uduk, Gwama and Berta in
various universities in Africa, Benishangual-Gumuz, and
North America, Europe and Majang, Koegu, Muguji,
Asia that made it a highly Nyangatom, Bodi, Tishena,
productive field of study. Since Murle, Mursi, Tirma-Chai and
Ethiopia is home to some 21 Baale in SNNP Regions.
languages of the Nilo-Saharan
family, it is gratifying and Until recently, many of the
deserving to have been chosen Ethiopian Nilo-Saharan
as the next host of the languages happened to be
colloquium. among the least studied
languages in the continent.
Nilo-Saharan is the largest Thanks to the expansion of
language family in Africa and graduate programs in Addis
includes some 204 languages Ababa University, many PhD
spoken across a wide swath of students and staff have been
the African continent roughly studying little known Nilo-
from Nigeria in the west to Saharan languages and have
Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania brought to the fore
in the east. The Nilo-Saharan unprecedented linguistic and
languages spoken in Ethiopia cultural information which
are found in the western part of could have immense scientific
the country along the border and historical values. We are,
with the Sudan and South thus, contributing not only to
Sudan particularly in Tigray, the preservation of the precious

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Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

linguistic and cultural heritage expected that a large

of Ethiopia but also that of contingent of East Africans
Africa and beyond. will take part in the conference
as the Eastern African region is
The 13th Nilo-Saharan home to many of the Nilo-
linguistics Colloquium is Saharan languages and the
expected to involve around 100 region has also quite a large
participants from various parts group of local linguists actively
of the world ranging from the working on the various
United States in the west to languages. We also envisage to
Japan in the east. It is also attract PhD students working in
Africa and abroad on the Addis Ababa University, the
different aspects of Nilo- Federal Ministry of Culture
Saharan languages to present and Tourism (MOCT) and the
their findings at the House of Federation of the
colloquium. For our PhD FDRE. MOCT, as an
students (at AAU and executive organ of the Federal
elsewhere in the country) who Government, is mandated to
are engaged in Nilo-Saharan oversee the affairs of languages
studies, the occasion will be an and cultures while the House
opportunity to have exposure of Federation is the legislative
to an international academic body in charge of issues
forum and to get feedback pertaining to languages and
from renowned scholars in the nationalities. It is customary
field. that higher officials of the host
country give opening and/or
To organize the 13th Nilo- closing speeches and often the
Saharan Linguistics opening session takes place in
Colloquium, there is a need for the city hall or in a high-profile
collaboration, most of all, place.
among the major stakeholders:

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Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

The chairperson of the and Communication

Department of Linguistics and (CHLSJC), to inform the
Philology, Dr. Girma College and the University
Mengistu, has formally management and request for
requested the good offices of budget allocation. The
Dr. Mersha Alehegne, Department has already put in
Associate Dean for Research place an organizing committee
and Technology Transfer, to start preparations for the
College of Humanities, upcoming 13th colloquium.
Language Studies, Journalism

Synopses of Doctoral Dissertations

Descriptive Grammar of Ezha:

A Central West Gurage Language, Ethio-Semitic
Endalew Assefa

This study provides a descriptive account of the Ezha language

which is typologically grouped under the South Ethio-Semitic
group of languages. The required data were collected from native
speakers through elicitation
supplemented by recording of
free narratives, and the findings
are presented in seven chapters.

A total of thirty three consonant

and seven vowel phonemes are
attested in Ezha. Out of the the
Dr. Endalew Assefa
thirty three consonants, twenty

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Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

two are simple or plain, whereas eleven are complex (i.e.

labialized or palatalized). No two consonants can co-occur word-
initially except when the second slot is filled in by the trill r. At
word-medial and -final positions, however, two consonants can
come in a sequence As regards vowel sequencing, no two vowels
can co-occur at any position of a word.

Concerning syllable structure, nine different syllable types are

attested: V, VC,CV, CVC, VCC, CVCC, CCV, CCVC and CCVCC
where a CC sequence at the onset position is limited to syllables
whose second consonant is r. Different morphophonemic
processes are discussed in the dissertation including assimilation,
non-assimilative palatalization, labialization, vowel deletion,
vowel fronting, epenthesis (vowel or glide insertion), and
spirantization.

In Ezha, the minor word classes assume three categories:

pronouns, determiners and adpositions. The pronoun sub-class is
composed of personal pronouns, interrogative pronouns,
indefinite pronouns, reflexive pronouns, reciprocal pronouns,
exclusive pronouns, pronouns of totality, and pronouns of
isolation/emphatic pronouns. The determiner category, on the
other hand, subsumes demonstratives and quantifiers (cardinal
numerals, ordinal numerals and non-numeral quantifiers). The
adposition sub-group comprises prepositions, postpositions and
circumpositions.

Four major word classes are attested: noun, adjective, verb and
adverb. The lexical elements included in all of these word classes
are found out to be simple, derived or compound.

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Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

Nouns inflect for definiteness and case. Indefiniteness is

morphologically unmarked; it is expressed by bare nouns or by
employing the numeral att ‘one’. With regard to gender, only few
nouns attach the non-productive suffix -t to indicate feminine
gender; masculinity has no marker at all. Though there are some
supplementary pairs that differentiate between masculine and
feminine gender, the overwhelming majority of nouns are not
gender specific. The distinction between the two genders for
human nouns is indicated by agreement elements attached to
verbs. Besides, pre-posed independent words indicating either of
the genders can be used. These gender specific terms are təbatt
‘male’ and arsɨtt ‘female’. As for number, nouns do not inflect for
both singularity and plurality. There are a few nouns that
distinguish between the two numbers by internal modification or
suppletion. For the majority of nouns, number distinction is made
by verbal agreement. Numerals can also be employed to
distinguish between the two numbers.

Adjectives attract definite and case markers when they precede

definite and case marked nouns. No gender specification applies
to adjectives of any kind. Regarding number, adjectives undergo
complete reduplication to indicate plurality, while the basic forms
signal singularity.

Verbs are sub-categorized on the basis of two major criteria:

number of root consonants and gemination of the penultimate root
consonant. With reference to the number of root consonants, Ezha
verbs are mono-consonantal, bi-consonantal, tri-consonantal or
quadri-consonantal. Based on gemination of the penultimate root
consonant, on the other hand, tri-consonantal and quadri-
consonantal verbs are labeled as type-A (those which geminate

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their penultimate root consonants in the perfective base only),

type-B (those which geminate the penultimate root consonant in
all the three base forms: perfective, imperfective and
jussive/imperative) and type-C (those which geminate their
penultimate root consonant in the perfective and imperfective
bases only).

Verbs inflect for subject agreement, object agreement, negation,

future tense/epistemic modality, clause marking in their
affirmative perfective forms, and converb formation. Object and
negation markers exhibit grammatically conditioned allomorphy.
Remote past tense is expressed by using the past auxiliary bannə
following converbs in their perfective form. Near past tense
reading is signaled by verbs in the perfective aspect, while a
present tense reading is rendered by the imperfective form of
verbs. The two future tenses, definite future and indefinite future,
are marked by the morphemes -te and -ʃə which also mark
certainty and probability at the same time in their respective
order. Aspect is expressed by employing different base patterns.

The four major word classes and adpositions expand to phrasal

levels. Thus, five phrasal categories are identifiedː noun phrase,
adpositional phrase, adjective phrase, adverb phrase and verb
phrase. Except for an adpositional phrase, all the phrasal types
can be built out of a head word only; an adpositional phrase
always requires a noun as complement. Once again, except for an
adpositional phrase, the remaining phrasal categories are head
final; the head of an adpositional phrase can occupy either the
right or the left (or even both) position of the phrase.

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In situations where a noun phrase is made up of a head noun

together with dependents, the dependents can be a noun,
adjectives, a numeral, a demonstrative and/or a relative clause.
The dependent of an adpositional phrase can be a noun or another
adpositional phrase. The head of an adjective phrase can select the
intensifier nɨkk’ar ‘very’, an adpositional phrase and/or a relative
clause as its dependents. The only dependent that an adverb
phrase can select is the intensifier nɨkk’ar ‘very’. A verb phrase
can have a noun phrase, an adpositional phrase, an adverb phrase,
an adjective phrase, a clause and/or the intensifier nɨkk’ar ‘very’
as dependents.

Ezha verbal arguments assume three dimensionsː one-place

argument structures, two place argument structures and three
place argument structures. These argument structures are
associated with intransitive, mono-transitive and di-transitive
verbs.

Different clausal types are identified and described. These include

declarative clauses, interrogative clauses (polar and content
interrogatives), subordinate clauses (conditional clauses,
concessive-conditional clauses, relative clauses, purpose clauses
and temporal clauses), clauses involving converbs, clauses
involving verbal nouns, and complement clauses. Declarative and
polar interrogative clauses have the same structure except that
polar interrogative utterances are accompanied by a rising
intonation.

The ways in which clausal comparison can be expressed are also

addressed. An adjectival predicate expresses similarity. In doing
so, the similative marker -xəma attaches to a genitive-marked

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noun that constitutes the standard of comparison. Difference

relative to a particular quality can be expressed by using an
adjective predicate which expresses the quality in question
whereby a relative verb is situated before the predicative
adjective, or by employing verbs which signify the quality in
question. In both adjectival and verbal means of expressing
difference, the standard of comparison is always marked by
ɨnnɨm‘all’ is employed to express the superlative. This element is
always marked by tə- and can be followed by a verb indicating
the respective quality or an adjectival predicate preceded by a
relative verb.

Finally, the ways in which focus and topicalization operate in the

language are discussed. Focus is attested to be expressed in two
waysː morphologically and syntactically. Morphologically
speaking, the focus suffix -m attaches to nouns, pronouns,
numerals, adverbs and verbs of subordinate clauses in order to
indicate contrastive focus. Reflexive pronouns and pronouns of
isolation can also be used to indicate a focused constituent, hence,
syntactic focus marking. As regards topicalization, constituents
which relate to an object noun phrase (both direct and indirect
object), a time adverb and an adjunct can be dislocated to the left
peripheral position within a clause to become topics.

A Grammar of Sezo
Girma Mengistu Desta

The dissertation presents the first comprehensive grammatical

description of Sezo, an Omotic language genetically related to the
Non-Gonga group of Mao languages. It is spoken in the western

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Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

borderland of Ethiopia in Begi and Qondala districts of the West

Wellegga Zone.

The phonemic inventory shows that Sezo has twenty two

consonant and five vowel phonemes. Consonant gemination and
vowel length are phonemic. Assimilation,
aspiration, spirantization, vowel/glide
insertion, terminal vowel (TV) deletion,
degemination, cluster simplification, nasal
release and debuccalization are among the
most common phonological and
morphophonemic processes attested in the
Dr. Girma Mengistu language.

Sezo has two-level tonemes—high and low. The two tonemes

occur on monomoraic and bimoraic syllables (i.e. on short and
long vowels). Rising (LH) and falling (HL) contour tones have
been recorded occurring only on bimoraic syllables. They are
analyzed as composites of the high and low tonemes squeezed
together on one bimoraic syllable as a result of diachronic and
synchronic processes. Tone plays a very significant role in the
lexicon of the language. It distinguishes lexical items. It also
derives nominal stems from verbal roots. Unlike its importance in
the lexicon, tone has a limited role in the grammar of the
language. It distinguishes between declarative and interrogative
sentences. The key tonal processes are downdrift, downstep,
contour formation through partial spreading of a high tone over a
low tone bearing unit, contour formation through re-linking of a
floating high tone to an adjacent low tone bearing unit and total
spreading of a high tone.

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In citation form, a noun consists of a root and a TV. A noun root

may be either consonant-final or vowel-final. Every root consists
of a root-internal associated tones (or tones) and a root-final
floating tone. The function of the TV of a noun cited in isolation
is to host the root-final floating tone. In the presence of an
adjacent morphological or syntactic element, the TV is deleted
because its function (i.e. hosting the root-final floating tone), can
be carried out by the adjacent tone bearing unit.

In its unmarked form, a countable noun is transnumeral. It may

refer to singular or plural referents depending on context. A
countable noun can also be further specified for paucal, plural and
associative. Sezo does not mark grammatical gender. Only
biological gender (sex) is expressed by suppletive forms and
periphrastic constructions. Grammatical features such as
definiteness and case are morphologically marked.

In Sezo, a verb root does not stand alone. In order to occur as a

phonological word, it involves one of the mood markers as its
obligatory component. A lexical verb shows interesting features
in the way it changes its valence. The causative is
morphologically derived. The passive is expressed by the
unchanged (active) form of the verb which involves the third
person non-singular impersonal pronominal clitic as its essential
component. The reciprocal, the middle and the applicative are
expressed by verb serialization strategy. The inchoative is derived
from nominal and adjectival bases by deleting a root-final floating
tone.

Mood is the most prominent verbal grammatical category in the

language. It is the most grammaticalized and the most compulsory
element of the verb. Tense and aspect are generally less
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prominent because they are less grammaticalized and less

compulsory as opposed to mood. Tense and aspect are
respectively expressed by lexical items and grammaticalized
converb constructions.

The study identifies a separate class of adjectives based on their

distinct morphosyntactic features. It also describes adverbs the
function of which is to express time, frequency, manner and
direction. Pronouns, demonstratives and various types of
quantifiers were also described with extensive illustrative data.

The syntactic description examines the structures and functions of

phrasal, clausal and sentential constructions. In Sezo, phrases are
generally head-final. The word order in sentences is subject-verb
(SV) with intransitive verbs and subject-object-verb (SOV) with
transitive verbs when the subject is overt. In clause structure,
dependent clauses precede main clauses.

In addition, the study tries to show grammatical features of Sezo

that relate it to or set it apart from other Omotic languages. It also
indicates some residues that need further investigation.

A Sociolinguistic Study of the Use of and Attitudes

toward Ethiopian Sign Language (EthSL)
Eyasu Hailu Tamene

This study investigates the language use and attitudes toward the
Ethiopian Sign Language (EthSL) the language of the Ethiopian
Deaf community. Data were collected at 11 sites from all over
Ethiopia. Three types of informants were recruited: Deaf
participants (119), teachers of the Deaf (22) and parents of the
Deaf (22). The data were gathered based essentially on
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Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

questionnaires which were administered to

the Deaf participants in the form of video-
taped guided interviews conducted in
EthSL, and administered to the hearing
parents and teachers in writing. This was
supplemented, informally and in a minor
way, by my own participant observation.
Dr. Eyasu Hailu The total collected data were from all 119
Deaf participants, 17 of the teachers and 19 parents of the Deaf.

The findings of the study can be grouped into three broad

categories: Language use (also skills), services for the Deaf and
attitudes. With regard to language skills, the Deaf participants
were multilingual with skill in two to five languages.
Surprisingly, those who became Deaf when they were below five
years old reported that they were more multilingual than those
who became Deaf at a later age (self-evaluation on
questionnaires). Almost all of the Deaf participants know both
Amharic and EthSL to some degree, regardless of factors such as
place of birth, onset of Deafness and education. Parents of the
Deaf were found to have very little or no sign language skills;
teachers, unsurprisingly, have much better signing skills than the
parents.

With regard to the language use, sign language is not used equally
in all domains. It is commonly used in some informal domains
such as in the market or with friends who know sign language;
and in some formal domains such as the classroom. It is much less
common in the home domain. Parents do not usually
communicate with their Deaf children instead they employ oral
means for communication, but there are cases where siblings
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Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

serve as sign language interpreters. Teachers have a much higher

level of sign language use, mainly in the classroom..

Concerning services for the Deaf, the Deaf participants were

found to be generally knowledgeable about the services and made
frequent use of them. They know better about the availability of
sign language interpreters, Deaf associations and sign language
dictionaries in their area. Parents have much less knowledge
about the services and seldom use them. Teachers are in a better
position than the parents.

The participants were also asked about their attitudes towards sign
language and sign language use. Typically, the Deaf participants
have very positive attitudes, followed by the teachers and, least of
all, the parents. The positive attitude of the Deaf and, to a lesser
degree, of teachers resulted in the continuing vitality of EthSL.

The study has identified five major factors that govern Deaf
people’s attitudes towards the use of EthSL and they are
presented in the following diagram.

Onset of Deafness

Those who became Deaf early, i.e. below the age of five, have a
relatively greater chance of developing positive attitudes towards
the use of EthSL than the age groups above five. The ones below
five are characterized by frequent use of sign language among
each other at school, in the market with signer friends, at religious
places but less frequently at home. They have no fear or shame at
using sign language in public places.

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Parental Deafness

Those Deaf people who are from a Deaf family background

develop greater positive attitudes towards the use of EthSL than

those families who do not have Deaf members. Deaf people from
a Deaf family, including hearing Children of Deaf Adults
(CODAs), are characterized by markedly higher frequency of sign
language use, at home and at school, in the market place and at
religious places, and increased sense of Deaf identity.

Age of Sign Language Introduction

Those individuals who acquire sign language early have a greater

chance of developing positive attitudes towards the use of sign
language than those who acquire it later. In line with the onset of
Deafness, these groups of people have greater confidence in using
sign language at school, in the market places, with signer friends
and in religious domains.

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Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

Age of School Enrollment

Deaf children who join school early show greater chance of

positive attitudes than those who enter later. The “early” group of
people is characterized by frequent use of sign language at school,
in the market, in religious domains and they make use of sign
language interpreters in government domains.

Availability of Deaf Social Services

The availability of Deaf associations, Deaf clubs, Deaf gathering

sites and sign language interpreters contribute greatly towards the
socialization of the Deaf. The more available the Deaf social
services, the more positive are the attitudes towards the use of
sign language in the neighboring Deaf community.

At the beginning of the research, the assumption was that when a

language is used in as many domains as possible that was
considered a manifestation of the users’ positive attitudes towards
the language. The research proved the assumption to be basically
correct for EthSL. The research winds up by recommending that
parents of the Deaf need to get adequate sign language training
and that policy makers need to consider Deaf parents’ and
teachers’ language use situations when drafting Deaf education
policy.

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Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

Enrollment

The tables below present update on student enrollment of the

Department of Linguistics and Philology.

1. PhD
Year of Entry Track
E.C. E.C.

Documentary

Experimental
Descriptive

Theoretical
Linguistics
Linguistics

Linguistics

Philology
Phonetics

Total
Applied
and

2000 2007/8 - 1 - - 1
2001 2008/9 - 1 - 4 5
2002 2009/10 - - - 1 1
2003 2010/11 4 6 - 3 13
2004 2011/12 6 13 - 4 23
2005 2012/13 9 11 - 7 27
2006 2013/14 8 7 2 10 27
2007 2014/15 24 - - - 7 31
2008 2015/16 12 15 - - 9 36
Total 63 15 39 2 45 164

2. MA
Year of Entry Track
E.C. G.C. Linguistics Philology Total
2006 2013/14 -
2007 2014/15 - 7 7
2008 2015/16 6 7 13
Total 6 14 20

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Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

3. BA
Year of Entry Track
E.C. G.C. Linguistics Sign Language Total
2006 2013/14 - 27 27
2007 2014/15 8 6 14
2008 2015/16 18 10 28
Readmitted 4 6 10
Total 30 49 79

Staff Profile (2015)

I. Full Time
1. Professor
Baye Yimam
PhD, SOAS, London University, Syntax

2. Associate Professor
Gerald Heusing
PhD, University of Hamburg, Morpho-Syntax &
Comparative Linguistics
Hirut Wolde-Mariam
PhD, Addis Ababa University and Cologne University,
Morphosyntax
Moges Yigezu
PhD, Laboratoire de Phonologie, Université Libre de
Bruxelles, Phonetics & Phonology
Ronny Meyer
PhD, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz,
Descriptive Linguistics & Typology
Zelealem Leyew
PhD, Addis Ababa University and Cologne University,
Sociolinguistics & Descriptive Linguistics
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Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

3. Assistant Professor
Abebayehu Messele
PhD, University of Sheffield, UK, Clinical Linguistics
Bedilu Wakjira
PhD, Norwegian University of Science and Technology,
Morphology
Binyam Sisay
PhD, Oslo University, Syntax
Derib Ado
PhD, Addis Ababa University, Experimental Phonetics
Endalew Assefa
PhD, Addis Ababa University, Descriptive Linguistics
Endris Mohammed
PhD, Addis Ababa University and University of Florence,
Philology
Eyasu Hailu
PhD, Addis Ababa University, Sign Linguistics
Feda Negesse
PhD, Addis Ababa University, Experimental Phonetics
Girma Mengistu (Currently, Department Chair)
PhD, Addis Ababa University, Descriptive Linguistics
Mersha Alehegne
PhD, Hamburg University, Philology
Shimelis Mazengia
PhD, Addis Ababa University, Descriptive &
Comparative Linguistics

4. Lecturer
Samrawit Bekele
MA, Addis Ababa University, Linguistics

4.1 Lecturer (in-house PhD candidate)

Abay Tesfaye
MA, Addis Ababa University, Linguistics
Andargachew Deneke
MA, Addis Ababa University, Special Needs Education
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Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

Binyam Ephrem
MPhil, University of Tromsø, Norway, Computational
Linguistics
Demeke Asres
MSc, Addis Ababa University, Computer Science
Dessie Keleb
MA, Addis Ababa University, Philology
Endashaw W/Michael
MA, Addis Ababa University, Documentary Linguistics
and Culture
John Koang Nyang
MA, Addis Ababa University, Linguistics
Kemal Ibrahim
MA, Addis Ababa University, Philology
Muna Abubeker
MA, Addis Ababa University, Philology
Pawlos Kassu
M.Ed, University of Jos, Nigeria, Sign Linguistics
Samuel Handamo
MA, Addis Ababa University, Linguistics

4.2 On Post-Doctoral Research Leave (abroad)

Amsalu Tefera – Maximilian University of Munich (Germany)
PhD, Addis Ababa University and University of Florence,
Philology

4.2 On PhD Study Leave (abroad)

Desalegn Hagos - Stockholm University (Sweden)
MA, Addis Ababa University, Linguistics
Gidena - Hamburg University (Germany)
MA, Addis Ababa University, Philology

II. Home-Base
Mulugeta Seyoum, Assistant Professor
PhD, Leiden University, Netherlands, Descriptive
Linguistics
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Bulletin of the Department of Linguistics and Philology No. 7

Wondwosen Tesfaye, Assistant Professor

P hD, Norwegian University of Science and Technology,
Norway, Morphology & Syntax

6. Technical Staff
Dawit Hassen - Technical Assistant III
MSc, Addis Ababa University, Information Science
Mihret Daba - Technical Assistant III
Diploma, Africa Beza University College

7. Administrative Staff
Brook Haylemariam, Finance and Administrative Assistant
(Linguistic Capacity Building: Tools for the Inclusive
Development of Ethiopia--NORHED)
Mekdes Giram, Department Secretary (Part-timer)
Rahel Demisse, Department Courier
Yenenesh Takele, Janitor

The printing cost of this issue was covered by the Linguistic Capacity Building
project (NORHED program.)

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