Bench language
| Bench | |
|---|---|
| Pronunciation | bentʂnon |
| Native to | Ethiopia |
| Region | Bench Maji Zone, SNNPR |
|
Native speakers
|
350,000 Bench Non, 8,000 Mer, 490 She (2007) |
| Dialects |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | |
| Glottolog | benc1235 |
| Linguasphere | 16-BBA-a |
Bench (Bencnon, Shenon or Mernon, formerly called Gimira ) is a Northern Omotic language of the "Gimojan" subgroup, spoken by about 174,000 people (in 1998) in the Bench Maji Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region, in southern Ethiopia, around the towns of Mizan Teferi and Shewa Gimira. It has three varieties: Benchnon, Shenon, and Mernon, which Blench (2006) considers to be distinct languages but which Rapold (2006) states are "...mutually intelligible...varieties of one and the same language".
In unusual variance from most of the other languages in Africa, Bench has retroflex consonant phonemes. The language is also noteworthy in that it has six phonemic tones, one of only a handful of languages in the world that have this many. Bench has a whistled form used primarily by male speakers, which permits communication over greater distances than spoken Bench. The whistle can be created using the lips or made from a hollow created with both hands. Additionally, this form of the language may be communicated via the 5-stringed krar.
The phonemic vowels of Bench are /i e a o u/.
There are six phonemic tones: five level tones (numbered 1 to 5 in the literature, with 1 being the lowest) and one rising tone 23 /˨˧/. The top tone is sometimes realized as a high rising 45 [˦˥]. On the vowel o, they are /ő ó ō ò ȍ ǒ/
The consonants are:
All of these can occur palatalized, but only before /a/, suggesting an alternate analysis of a sixth phonemic vowel /ja/. Labialized consonants are reported for [p, b, s, ɡ,] and [ʔ], but their phonemic status is unclear; they only occur after /i/.
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