Talk:Afar language

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[edit] Christian language sample?

I don't really like having a specifically christian language sample, considering that the article on Afar_people claims Afars are muslims. A muslim text would be better, but I'd much prefer to see a non-religious text. Any input? --81.233.90.182 20:34, 30 July 2006 (UTC) (the guy who forgot to sign his edit)

I fully agree. I think a short text from Didier (1997) would be very appropriate. For starters, I have pulled out the current example, the source of which is unclear apparently. — mark ✎ 07:15, 30 July 2006 (UTC)

Sounds like a good idea, so you've got my support for putting it in there (I don't have any sources or knowledge myself, I only happened to stumble upon this issue by chance) --81.233.90.182 20:34, 30 July 2006 (UTC) (the guy who forgot to sign)

I have acces to some linguistic and ethnological sources on Afar, so I will try to fix it. — mark ✎ 17:42, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Merge this with Afar?

What do others think of the potential for expanding either this article or the Afar article? I'm wondering if they should be merged. -- Gyrofrog (talk) 20:55, 12 Apr 2005 (UTC)

I'd say no. This one certainly has potential, if only because it is a language spoken by one and a half million people across three countries. It's also interesting because it is (part of) a dialect continuum and because it has been linked with Beja, thought to constitute an Afro-Asiatic branch on its own. Above all, it has potential because languages are inherently encyclopedic.

Afar looks more like a geographic article at present; but it, too has potential — for example, there is virtually nothing on the Afar people themselves yet. We might even need Afar (people) in the end... — mark ✎ 21:41, 12 Apr 2005 (UTC)

I hope we would end up with three good-sized articles! But somehow I thought, in their present state, the two existing articles could work as one. Afar language didn't have a link to Afar (not that there's much to see, yet). I added the link but I guess the merge idea stuck in my mind anyway. -- Gyrofrog (talk) 00:02, 13 Apr 2005 (UTC)

The main problem is the disambiguation. Afar is an ethnic region of Ethiopia. It is also a language, not only spoken in the Afar region but also beyond it in two other countries. And then there is the Afar people, also not confined to the Afar region of Ethiopia alone. If we'd merge something, Afar people+Afar language might be a better idea. — mark ✎ 07:42, 13 Apr 2005

We could call it Afar culture and it would include Afar history as well. Aleksei 08:26, 3 November 2005 (UTC)

But still, Afar language is encyclopedic enough in its own right so I don't see any good reason for a merger. There are many articles on languages with considerably fewer speakers which are quite extensive nonetheless (e.g. Laal language, Chenoua language, Nobiin language, Nafaanra language, etc.). One day, Afar language will be a featured article. — mark ✎ 08:57, 3 November 2005 (UTC)

I brought this up to begin with, but note that this was over six months ago, and I am now more supportive of the separate articles as Mark D. suggests. In fact, there are already articles on the language, the region, and the ethnicity. -- Gyrofrog (talk) 22:39, 3 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Orthography

I if it is says “standard orthography" it is not correct to use the "c" for ʕ, "x" for ħ, and ”dh” for ɖ, because that is the Somali orthography. As Yom corrected it in the language name, the Afar orthography uses “q” for ʕ, and furthermore “c” for ħ (!) and “x” for ɖ. For reference see “Hayward and Parker. 1985. An Afar-English-French Dictionary”. So if I think that should be corrected in the consonant chart. Driss 11:25, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for that information. I knew that something was wrong with that table (it was pure Somali alphabet!). I remember reading an article saying that Afar chose unique orthography purposefully to distinguish it from Somali (and Oromo). I'll correct the data on the article if you haven't done so already. — ዮም | (Yom) | Talk • contribs • Ethiopia 17:40, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Ok, I saw it. I just discovered it in the refrence list. But Hayward should be added as author. Driss 22:23, 9 January 2007 (UTC)