Kayla, or Kayliñña ( Ge'ez: ካይላ ''kāylā'', for the people, Ge'ez: ካይልኛ ''kāylññā'', Kayla,

Amharic Amharic ( or ; (Amharic: ), ', ) is an Ethiopian Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amharas, and also serves as a lingua franca for all oth ...

, and

Tigrinya (; also spelled Tigrigna) is an Ethio-Semitic language commonly spoken Eritrea and in northern Ethiopia's Tigray Region by the Tigrinya and Tigrayan peoples. It is also spoken by the global diaspora of these regions. History and literatur ...

for the language) is one of two Agaw dialects formerly spoken by a subgroup of the

Beta Israel The Beta Israel ( he, בֵּיתֶא יִשְׂרָאֵל, ''Bēteʾ Yīsrāʾēl''; gez, ቤተ እስራኤል, , modern ''Bēte 'Isrā'ēl'', EAE: "Betä Ǝsraʾel", "House of Israel" or "Community of Israel"), also known as Ethiopian Jews ...

(Ethiopian Jews). It is a dialect of Qimant. The name ''Kayla'' is sometimes also used as a cover term for both Beta Israel dialects. It is known only from unpublished notes by

Jacques Faitlovitch Jacques Faitlovitch (1881–1955), an Ashkenazi Jew born in Łódź, Congress Poland, studied Ethiopian languages at the Sorbonne under Joseph Halévy. He travelled to Ethiopia for the first time in 1904, with support from the French banker, Bar ...

written in the Ge'ez alphabet, recently studied by David Appleyard. It is preserved by the Beta Israel today.

Bibliography

* * David Appleyard, "Preparing a Comparative Agaw Dictionary", in ed. Griefenow-Mewis & Voigt, ''Cushitic & Omotic Languages: Proceedings of the 3rd International Symposium Berlin, Mar. 17-19, 1994'', Rüdiger Köppe Verlag, Köln 1996. .

References

Jewish languages Jews and Judaism in Ethiopia Languages of Ethiopia {{Jewish-hist-stub

See also

Bibliography

References