Zay language
Encyclopedia
The Zay language is one of the Ethiopic languages. It is spoken by about 4,880 members of the Zay people
on the island
s and shores of Lake Zway
in southern Ethiopia
. It is also known as Zway, or Lak'i/Laqi in the neighboring Oromo language
.
(subject–object–verb). Attributive adjective
s precede the noun
s they modify. Possessives also precede nouns.
Zay people
The Zay are a small ethnic group of about 5,000 people in Ethiopia. They are also known as the Zeway or Laki. They live on the islands of Lake Zway, south of Addis Ababa, and engage mainly in fishing. The Zay language belongs to the Southern branch of the Ethiopian Semitic language family and is...
on the island
Island
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...
s and shores of Lake Zway
Lake Zway
Lake Zway or Lake Ziway is one of the freshwater Rift Valley lakes of Ethiopia. It is located about 60 miles south of Addis Ababa, on the border between the Regions of Oromia and of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples; the woredas holding the lake's shoreline are Adami Tullu and Jido...
in southern Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
. It is also known as Zway, or Lak'i/Laqi in the neighboring Oromo language
Oromo language
Oromo, also known as Afaan Oromo, Oromiffa, Afan Boran, Afan Orma, and sometimes in other languages by variant spellings of these names , is an Afro-Asiatic language, and the most widely spoken of the Cushitic family. Forms of Oromo are spoken as a first language by more than 25 million Oromo and...
.
Grammar
The word order of Zay is SOVSOV
SOV is an acronym for several terms:in organizations*Same Old Vanderbilt, usually refers to Vanderbilt Commodores football by their fans due to lack of success over the years*Stade Olympique Voironnais, a French rugby union club...
(subject–object–verb). Attributive adjective
Adjective
In grammar, an adjective is a 'describing' word; the main syntactic role of which is to qualify a noun or noun phrase, giving more information about the object signified....
s precede the noun
Noun
In linguistics, a noun is a member of a large, open lexical category whose members can occur as the main word in the subject of a clause, the object of a verb, or the object of a preposition .Lexical categories are defined in terms of how their members combine with other kinds of...
s they modify. Possessives also precede nouns.