Official vs. Applied Multilingualism: Comparative Study of the Language Regimes and Legal Systems of Ethiopia and the European Union

This thesis investigates the practical application of laws governing official multilingualism in the Ethiopian legal system. Using functionalism as a legal research method, it compares the Ethiopian language regime with that of the European Union (EU) to explore how each system manages linguistic diversity. Despite significant differences, the laws governing official multilingualism in both systems serve the shared objective of determining the officially recognized languages, prescribing the languages used in lawmaking procedures, and specifying the authority granted to each language version of a law when interpreted by the courts. The EU language regime is characterized by strong legal multilingualism, where all language versions are considered equally authentic. In contrast, Ethiopia's system is categorized as reflecting weak legal multilingualism, primarily because it grants precedence to the Amharic version over the English version of laws in case of discrepancies. Despite these differences, the research uncovers, in both systems, a tension between ensuring the equality of languages and addressing practical concerns in the laws governing official language use. Legal translation also plays a significant role in drafting multilingual laws in both systems, which is demonstrated by the role of EU-English in the EU legislative process and the two-way translation of laws between English and Amharic in the Ethiopian federal legislative process. Finally, the study shows that linguistic divergences between different language versions of a law, inherent in both systems of strong and weak legal multilingualism, pose a challenge while also offering an opportunity to facilitate the interpretation of multilingual legal texts. The research lays the base for future studies on language and law in Ethiopia. It also informs legal translators and judges about the complexities in resolving translation problems in multilingual legal contexts

"Issues and maize bread taste good when they're cool": Temperature terms and their metaphorical extensions in Kambaata (Cushitic)

International audienceThis paper is an analysis of the basic and extended meanings of temperature lexemes and the grammar of temperature expressions in Kambaata in comparison to related Highland East Cushitic languages of Ethiopia. Globally, Kambaata has a system of two opposing temperature values, ‘cold’ vs. ‘warm/hot’. The lexeme iib- ‘be(come) warm/hot’ contrasts with caal- ‘be(come) tactile cold’ in the tactile frame of temperature evaluation, while it contrasts with gid- ‘be(come) non-tactile cold’ in the domain of ambient (weather) and personal-feeling (inner) temperature. In addition to these central lexemes, Kambaata has a number of terms that are semantically more restricted, are less frequent and/or have an unequivocal positive or negative connotation, including, e.g., sigg- ‘be(come) comfortably cold or warm, cool’ and buss- ‘burn (tr.); be dangerously, excessively hot’. Irrespective of the temperature value, the expression of personal-feeling temperature is constructionally different from that of ambient temperature and tactile temperature; for the former a transitive, for the latter an intransitive construction is used. As for the extended uses of temperature terms, Kambaata maps warmth/heat onto freshness, busyness, and anger, and links burning heat to anger, spiciness and raging thirst. Unlike many other languages in the world, Kambaata does not relate warmth/heat to affection. Furthermore, Kambaata conceptualizes inactivity, ineptness and fear as tactile cold but the absence of emotional and physical pain as non-tactile cold. Coolness is linked metaphorically to calmness and absence of thirst. In the Highland East Cushitic branch of languages, ‘warm/hot’ is the most stable term, whereas six seemingly non-cognate roots are used for ‘tactile cold’ and/or ‘non-tactile cold’

"Issues and maize bread taste good when they're cool": Temperature terms and their metaphorical extensions in Kambaata (Cushitic)

International audienceThis paper is an analysis of the basic and extended meanings of temperature lexemes and the grammar of temperature expressions in Kambaata in comparison to related Highland East Cushitic languages of Ethiopia. Globally, Kambaata has a system of two opposing temperature values, ‘cold’ vs. ‘warm/hot’. The lexeme iib- ‘be(come) warm/hot’ contrasts with caal- ‘be(come) tactile cold’ in the tactile frame of temperature evaluation, while it contrasts with gid- ‘be(come) non-tactile cold’ in the domain of ambient (weather) and personal-feeling (inner) temperature. In addition to these central lexemes, Kambaata has a number of terms that are semantically more restricted, are less frequent and/or have an unequivocal positive or negative connotation, including, e.g., sigg- ‘be(come) comfortably cold or warm, cool’ and buss- ‘burn (tr.); be dangerously, excessively hot’. Irrespective of the temperature value, the expression of personal-feeling temperature is constructionally different from that of ambient temperature and tactile temperature; for the former a transitive, for the latter an intransitive construction is used. As for the extended uses of temperature terms, Kambaata maps warmth/heat onto freshness, busyness, and anger, and links burning heat to anger, spiciness and raging thirst. Unlike many other languages in the world, Kambaata does not relate warmth/heat to affection. Furthermore, Kambaata conceptualizes inactivity, ineptness and fear as tactile cold but the absence of emotional and physical pain as non-tactile cold. Coolness is linked metaphorically to calmness and absence of thirst. In the Highland East Cushitic branch of languages, ‘warm/hot’ is the most stable term, whereas six seemingly non-cognate roots are used for ‘tactile cold’ and/or ‘non-tactile cold’

Qakkichchu Laaha [Le Petit Prince de Antoine de Saint-Exupéry en langue kambaata]

International audienc