A Linguistic Appraisal of an Attempt to Revive Ge'ez
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2010-10
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Addis Ababa University
Abstract
This th~si s is ,I d~sc ripti o n as well as an appraisal oi' an a1t cmpt to re vive (il"I'/ 1<1 11ll' sl"llIS U!'
a spoken language, Gc'cz is one 0 1' Flhio-Semilic languages which is nol. IHlllcVI'L prescnlh'
i'n lISC as a mother tongue, The re vival attempt is being made by a loo se ly urganized grOlip
dcsignated ),,,/ is.\'ol1" Ce 'ez W;)dlljrJ(' Mahb",. "The Society of Priends of Ge' a", Thc atlempl
01' the Society is apprai sed against other language rev iva l' experiences both suc cess l'ul ,Ind
unsuccess l'ul. Por Ihc purpose, documents were examined, a questionnaire II,IS 'ldminislLTell.
inll' rvicws were conducted and data were co llected li'om utlei'anccs or rl'spondents,
Questi onnaire results indicale that the Society, which claims to have some JOOO members, is
Imking progress in teaching (;c'Cz. Out 01' 120 respondents the m,'jorit)' hel iel 'l's IIlat thl'
SocielY has ,,~hicved cncouraging r~ s ul ts and therc are good prospect' lor thl' l'cl'il',lI "I' (il"I'/ ,
Yet. the majurity. once ag<lin. ! ~L'1s til.lt l!h': ;)UCiClY ;;(JS l0 0Vl'rCO IIlC ell,tl l, ngl: ....
!\ cOllllxlmti\'l! exami nation or solll(, phl )l~()log i (:al ;!qc! sy'lltact ic ICaturcs 01" til,: \ dril..'I> O!"Cj 'L' · ... ·/
that is bei ng rev ived against th e written fo rm, which is considered cOl lse rvatiw and closer to
thc or iginal lornl , suggest that thcre are some discrepancies, That is, Ihe ""ril, t)' 01' (;c'cz the
society is "ttcmpling to revi ve seems to match up with the type th"t is function"I,
II survey 01' reviv,,1 cxpencnces shows tlmt the t"sk is complex "nd " rdliOllS, Thl' 1"lSic'
r~qllir~mellt s for the success or a language revival attempt ranges frol11 HI) OhjLLtiv(' ultitLllk
assessmenl of thc would-bc benclieiary community, ci r"lI'ing <l re"lislic p"lic\' and pian ,
secu ring thc nccessary SUppOI'l to constul1t organ ized el'i'o l'ls, Prom this vil'\I'I"1inl. Ihl'I\' ~II'I' "'I
lllore ckdkngcs "he"d of Ihe atlempt tei re vive Gc'cz.
Description
Keywords
Linguistics