Shared lexicalisation patterns in the Ethiopian Linguistic Area

International audience The Ethiopian Linguistic Area at the Horn of Africa comprises languages of different branches of the Afroasiatic macro-family and, to a lesser extent, of the disputed Nilo-Saharan phylum. The linguistic area was established by Charles A. Ferguson as early as the mid-seventies (Ferguson 1976). The boundaries of the contact zone and the criteria used to define it have ever since been disputed, but it is commonly agreed that languages spoken in the Ethiopian highlands show many signs of convergence. After a brief introduction to the languages in Ethiopia (classification, sociolinguistic situation and interesting typological features), some of the defining criteria that have been proposed (and questioned or refuted) by different authors are critically assessed. While most authors have concentrated on features of the phonology and morphosyntax, I discuss, in the central part of my presentation, how language contact has influenced the organization of the lexicon of languages in the Ethiopian highlands. I start with a review of Richard Hayward’s influential work (1991; 2000) and then discuss recent and ongoing research on shared polysemy and shared lexicalization patterns in selected semantic fields. My focus be on two topics: (i) the use of verb ‘know’ as a means to express the experiental perfect, i.e. ‘have (n)ever VERB-ed’, and (ii) the similarities in the inventories of interjections, especially for animal-directed commands, across languages. My talk is based on my own field research on Kambaata (Cushitic) and on published data for other Ethiopian languages.