The Kunama language has been included in the proposed Nilo-Saharan language family, though it is distantly related to the other languages, if at all.[citation needed] Kunama is spoken by the Kunama people of the Gash-Barka Region in western Eritrea and just across the Ethiopian border. The language has several dialects including: Barka, Marda, Aimara, Odasa, Tika, Lakatakura, Sokodasa, Takazze-Setit and Tigray. Ilit and Bitama are not mutually intelligible and so may be considered distinct languages.
| Kunama | |
|---|---|
| Baada, Baazayn, Diila | |
 | |
| Native to | Eritrea, Ethiopia |
| Region | western Eritrea, northern Ethiopia |
| Ethnicity | Kunama |
Native speakers | 180,000 (2022)[1] |
| |
| Dialects |
|
| Latin | |
| Official status | |
Recognised minority | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | kun |
| Glottolog | kuna1268 |
There have been some use of the Kunama language in publications. "The first Bible translation product in Kunama was the Gospel of Mark prepared by Andersson and published in 1906."[2]
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stop | voiceless | t | tʃ | k | ||
| voiced | b | d | dʒ | g | ||
| Fricative | f | s | ʃ | (h) | ||
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||
| Rhotic | r | |||||
| Lateral | l | |||||
| Approximant | w | j | ||||
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i iː | (ɨ) | u uː |
| Mid | e eː | (ə) | o oː |
| Open | a aː |
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