Aasax
| Asa | |
|---|---|
| Aasá | |
| Region | Tanzania |
| Ethnicity | Asa people |
| Extinct | mid 20th century |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | |
| Glottolog | aasa1238 |
The Asa (Aasá) language, commonly rendered Aasax, was spoken by the Asa people of Tanzania. The language is extinct; ethnic Assa in northern Tanzania remember only a few words they overheard their elders use, and none ever used it themselves. Little is known of the language; what is recorded was probably Aasa lexical words used in a register of Maasai like the mixed language Mbugu.
Asa is usually classified as Cushitic, most closely related to Kw'adza. However, it might have retained a non-Cushitic layer from an earlier language shift, and might be best left unclassified.
The Aramanik (Laramanik) people once spoke Asa, but shifted to Nandi (as opposed to Maasai).
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