Aasax is classified as Extinct by the UNESCOWorld Atlas of Languages[2]
The Asa (Aasá) language, commonly rendered Aasax (also rendered as Aasá, Aasáx, Aramanik, Asak, Asax, Assa, Asá[3]), is an extinct Afroasiatic language formerly 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, similar to the mixed language Mbugu.[4]
Classification
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.
The Aramanik (Laramanik) people once spoke Asa, but shifted to Nandi (as opposed to Maasai).
Vocabulary
Asa is known from three primary sources: two vocabulary lists from 1904 and 1928, and a collection by W. C. Winter from 1974.[5]
The following are some example words of Asa, together with probable cognates identified in Kw'adza and Iraqw:[6]
'big': jira — Kw'adza dire
'bird': širaʔa — Iraqw tsʼirʕi
'louse': ʔita — Iraqw itirmo
'blood': saʔaka — Kw'adza saʔuko
'bone': farit — Kw'adza falaʔeto, Iraqw fara
'horn': hadoŋ — Kw'adza xalinko, Iraqw xaraŋ
'hair': seʔemuk — Iraqw seʔemi
'head': sogok — Kw'adza sagiko, Iraqw saga
'eye': ilat — Kw'adza ilito, Iraqw ila
'mouth': afok — Kw'adza afuko, Iraqw afa
'tongue': šeferank — Iraqw tsʼifraŋ
'breast': isank — Iraqw isaŋ
'heart': monok — Kw'adza munaku, Irawn muna
'water': maʔa — Kw'adza maʔaya, Iraqw maʔay
'sand': hajat — Kw'adza hasinko, Iraqw hasaŋ
'stone': deʔok — Kw'adza tlʼaʔiko, Iraqw tlʼaʕano
'to drink': wat- — Kw'adza wat-, Iraqw wah-
'to eat': ʔag- — Kw'adza ag-, Iraqw ʕayim-
'to lie': ʔat- — Kw'adza kʼat-, Iraqw qat-
'to die': ga- — Kw'adza gwaʔ-, Iraqw gwa-
'to kill': gas- — Kw'adza gaʔis-, Iraqw gas-
'far': sanga — Kw'adza sagumu, Iraqw saw
'near': šaya — Kw'adza tsʼahemi, Iraqw tsʼew
Some loanwords in Asa from other languages are known:[7]
Ehret, Christopher (1980). The Historical Reconstruction of Southern Cushitic phonology and vocabulary. Kölner Beiträge zur Afrikanistik. Vol. 5. Dietrich Reimer.
