Some characteristics of Dahalik, a newly discovered Afro-Semitic language spoken in Eritrea.
Résumé
The Dahalik language was listed for the first time during the 1996 French survey on the Dahlak Kebir. The native speakers and the inhabitants of Massawa thought Dahalik was a sort of mixed language on the basis of Tigre, Arabic and Afar (languages in contact on the island). This presentation of some characteristics of the language is based of data collected during three short surveys in Massawa and Dahlak Kebir; I attempt to evaluate together the originality of Dahalik, and its relation with the other Afro-Semitic languages (essentially with Tigre and Tigrinya). After a sociolinguistic introduction to explain the interferences with other languages in contact (Afar and Arabic), I present some salient linguistic features (phonology, morphology, syntax and vocabulary), in order to provide a basis for a further and common reflexion about Dahalik, and to try to determine more exactly the status of this language.
Première Présentation linguistique des principaux traits du dahalik, mettant en valeur son originalité à l'intérieur du groupe afro-sémitique, et ses liens avec le tigré et le tigrinya. Données exclusives sur cette langue recueillies par l'auteur dans la région (sur le continent : Massawa et île principale de l'archipel des Dahlak)
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