Languages of Ethiopia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ethiopia has many indigenous languages (some 84 according to the Ethnologue), most of them Afro-Asiatic (Semitic, Cushitic, Omotic), plus some that are Nilo-Saharan.
Charles Ferguson proposed the Ethiopian Language Area, characterized by shared grammatical and phonological features (1976). This language area includes the Afro-Asiatic languages of Ethiopia, not the Nilo-Saharan languages. More recently, Mauro Tosco has questioned the validity of Ferguson's original proposal (2000). There is still no unanimity among scholars on this point, but Tosco has at least weakened Ferguson's original claim.
English is the most widely spoken foreign language and is the medium of instruction in secondary schools and universities. Amharic was the language of primary school instruction, but has been replaced in many areas by local languages such as Oromifa and Tigrinya.
After the fall of the Derg regime, the new constitution of the Federal Demeocratic Republic of Ethiopia granted all ethnic groups the right to develop their languages and to establish mother tongue primary education systems. This is a marked change to the language policies of previous governments in Ethiopia.
- Ethiopian Semitic languages
- North
- Tigrinya language (also in Eritrea)
- Ge'ez language (extinct, liturgical)
- Tigre language (also in Eritrea)
- South
- Transverse
- Outersouth
- Gafat language (extinct)
- Soddo language
- Muher language
- Goggot language
- West Gurage languages
- Inor language
- Mesmes language (extinct)
- Mesqan language
- Chaha (Sebat Bet Gurage)
- Ezha language
- Gumer language
- Gura language
- Gyeto language
- Indegen language
- Iner language
- North
- Cushitic
- Agaw languages
- East Cushitic
- Afar language (also in Djibouti)
- Alaba language
- Arbore language
- Baiso language
- Bussa language
- Burji language
- Daasanach language (also in Kenya)
- Dirasha language
- Gawwada language
- Gedeo language
- Hadiyya language
- Kambaata language
- Konso language
- Libido language
- Oromo language (also in Kenya)
- Saho language (also in Eritrea)
- Sidamo language
- Somali language (also in Somalia)
- Tsamai language
- Xamtanga language
- Omotic
- Aari language
- Anfillo language
- Bambassi language
- Basketo language
- Bench language
- Boro language, also called Shinasha
- Chara language
- Dime language
- Dizi language
- Dorze language
- Gamo-Gofa-Dawro
- Ganza language
- Hamer-Banna
- Hozo language
- Kachama-Ganjule
- Kafa language
- Karo language
- Koorete language
- Male language
- Melo language
- Nayi language
- Oyda language
- Seze language
- Shekkacho language
- Sheko language
- Wolaytta language
- Yemsa language
- Zayse-Zergulla language
- Anuak language (also in Sudan)
- Berta language
- Gumuz language
- Kacipo-Balesi (also in Sudan)
- Komo language
- Kwama language
- Kwegu language
- Majang language
- Me'en language
- Murle (also in Sudan)
- Mursi language
- Nuer language (also in Sudan)
- Nyangatom language
- Opuuo language
- Shabo language
- Suri language
- Turkana language
- Uduk language (also in Sudan)
- Unclassified
- Weyto language (extinct)
- Ongota (moribund; possibly Omotic or its own branch of Afro-Asiatic or not Afro-Asiatic at all)
- Rer Bare language (extinct, maybe Bantu)
[edit] Literature
- Ferguson, Charles. 1976. The Ethiopian Language Area. ‘’Language In Ethiopia’’, ed. by M. Lionel Bender, J. Donald Bowen, R.L. Cooper, Charles A. Ferguson, pp. 63-76. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Leslau, Wolf. 1965. An annotated bibliography of the Semitic languages of Ethiopia. The Hague: Mouton.
- Tosco, Mauro. 2000. Is There an ‘Ethiopian Language Area’? Anthropological Linguistics 42,3: 329–365.
- Unseth, Peter. 1990. Linguistic bibliography of the Non-Semitic languages of Ethiopia. East Lansing: African Studies Center, Michigan State University. (Classification charts, pp. 21 ff.)
[edit] External links
|
|||||||||||
