Mesqan

Abstract This chapter describes the Mesqan language. It is not used for writing and in official domains. Moreover, most Mesqan speakers are bilingual in Amharic. The chapter outlines the structure of verbs and nominals as the major word classes, and also deals with ideophones and interjections, which have a limited distribution. The verb derivation encompasses the prefixation for valency adjustment and reduplication to express the iterative, while nouns are derived from other nominals through suffixation. Additionally, the chapter looks into subject and object marking in Mesqan being differentiated through flagging and word order.