Wild Plant Nomenclature and Traditional Botanical Knowledge Among Three Ethnolinguistic Groups in Northwestern Ethiopia

Download or read book Wild Plant Nomenclature and Traditional Botanical Knowledge Among Three Ethnolinguistic Groups in Northwestern Ethiopia written by Zelealem Leyew and published by African Books Collective. This book was released on 2011 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Botanists study plants. Ethnologists study ethnic groups including their language. Ethnobotany is an interface between botany and ethnology dealing with the perception of ethnic groups about plant life surrounding them. Language, as the mirror of the mind of speakers, is central in ethnobotanical studies. This work describes the linguistic properties of wild plant names and traditional botanical knowledge among three ethnolingistic groups in northwestern Ethiopia: Awi, Gumuz and Shinasha. The ethnolingistic groups speak Awni (Cushitic), Gumuz (Nilo-Saharan) and Shinasha (Omotic) languages, respectively. The purpose of this study is to document the names and uses of wild plants from three ethnolinguistic communities of Ethiopia: the Awi (A), Gumuz (G), and Shinasha (S) - henceforth AGS. The study also attempts to describe the traditional botanical knowledge (henceforth TBK of these groups in the identification and classification of their plant life.