Nayi language
language
Nayi (also known as "Nao") is an Omotic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family spoken in western Ethiopia.
Most of the speakers of the language live in two separated areas. The largest grouping live in Decha woreda of the Keffa Zone. The nearest city to their region is Bonga. A few in Dulkuma village of the Shoa Bench woreda, some in Sheko woreda having moved there in 1976-1977 as a result of conflicts between local feudal lords and the military government (Aklilu 2002:4). In Decha, young people no longer speak the language.
The language is notable for its retroflex consonants (Aklilu Yilma 1988), a striking feature shared with closely related Dizi, Sheko and nearby (but not closely related) Bench. The language has 5 vowels that can be long or short. The question of the status of a short mid central vowel is still unresolved. There are three phonemic tones and syllabic nasal consonants.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Nayi language” is language. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Nayi and language, not as a finished interpretation.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3183349. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1976, 1977, 2002 and 1988.
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This entry incorporates text from “Nayi language” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.