Qimant

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A language of Ethiopia

ISO 639-3
ahg
Alternate Names
Kimanteney, Western Agaw
Population

1,650 (1994 census). Ethnic population: 172,000 (1994 census).

Location

Northwest Amhara Region, north of Lake Tana. Qwara or Kayla are near Addis Ababa.

Language Maps
Language Status

6a (Vigorous).

Classification
Afro-Asiatic, Cushitic, Central, Western
Dialects

Achpar, Dembiya (Dambya, Dembya), Hwarasa (“Kara” , Qwara, Qwarina), Kayla, Kwolasa (Kwolacha), Qimant (Chemant, Kamant, Kemanat, Kemant, Kimant, Qemant), Semyen. Distinct from Awngi [awn], Bilen [byn], and Xamtanga [xan].

Typology

SOV

Language Use

3,181 L2 speakers. Qwara dialect has no remaining speakers. 170,747 ethnic Western Agaw are monolingual in Amharic [amh]. Also use Amharic [amh], Ge’ez [gez] as liturgical language; a few Hebrew [heb] words used in prayer.

Language Development
Literacy rate in L2: 15%. Bible portions: 1885.
Writing
Ethiopic script, no longer in use.
Other Comments

Ethnonym: Falashi (Kayla or Qwara people), meaning Black Jews. 2,321 Falashas in Ethiopia. Most remaining Falasha went to Israel in 1999. No evidence of a distinct Jewish language. Kara is an incorrect spelling. Christian (Qimant), Jewish (Kayla).