# Yemsa language

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**Yemsa** is the language of the [Yem](/source/Yem_people) people of the former [Kingdom of Yamma](/source/Kingdom_of_Yamma), known as the Kingdom of Janjero traditionally. It is a member of the [Omotic](/source/Omotic) group of languages, most closely related to [Kafa](/source/Kafa_language). It is distinctive in having different systems of vocabulary depending on social status, rather like [Japanese](/source/Japanese_language) and [Javanese](/source/Javanese_language). The estimated number of speakers varies wildly from about 1000 (Bender, 1976) to half a million (Aklilu, 1993). The [ISO 639-3](/source/ISO_639-3) system for assigning standardized codes to languages has faced criticism for perpetuating the use of the term Janjero despite its prejudicial origin; the Yem language is coded as jnj as opposed to a mnemonic derived from the preferred name of the language.[2]

Yemsa is the main language spoken in [Yem special woreda](/source/Yem_special_woreda), [Central Ethiopia](/source/Central_Ethiopia_Regional_State).

The Fuga dialect is distinct enough to perhaps be a different language.

## Sample verb forms

- *zagín* - I do
- *zaginí* - we do
- *zagít* - you (singular) do
- *zagí* - he does
- *zagì* - she does

[3]

## Notes

1. [Ethiopia 2007 Census](http://www.csa.gov.et/index.php?option=com_rubberdoc&view=doc&id=264&format=raw&Itemid=521)

1. Morey, Stephen; Post, Mark W.; Friedman, Victor A. (2013). [*The language codes of ISO 639: A premature, ultimately unobtainable, and possibly damaging standardization*](https://web.archive.org/web/20160223010953/http://prijipati.library.usyd.edu.au/handle/2123/9838). PARADISEC RRR Conference. Archived from [the original](http://prijipati.library.usyd.edu.au/handle/2123/9838) on 23 February 2016. Retrieved 10 May 2022.

1. *African Languages: An Introduction*, edited by Bernd Heine & Derek Nurse, Cambridge University Press, 2000.

## External links

- [World Atlas of Language Structures](/source/World_Atlas_of_Language_Structures) information on [Yemsa](https://wals.info/languoid/lect/wals_code_yms)
- [Yemsa basic lexicon at the Global Lexicostatistical Database](http://starling.rinet.ru/cgi-bin/response.cgi?root=new100&morpho=0&basename=new100\omo\ggm&first=0)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Yemsa language](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yemsa_language) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yemsa_language?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.