languages of Ethiopia

According to Glottolog, there are 109 languages spoken in Ethiopia, while Ethnologue lists 90 individual languages spoken in the country.{{Cite web |title=Glottolog 4.8 - Languages of Ethiopia |url=https://glottolog.org/glottolog/language.map.html?country=ET#5/9.532/29.115 |access-date=30 August 2023 |website=glottolog.org}}{{cite web |title=Languages of Ethiopia |url=http://www.ethnologue.com/country/ET |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20170318194709/https://www.ethnologue.com/country/ET |archive-date=18 March 2017 |access-date=9 February 2013 |work=Ethnologue |publisher=SIL International}} Most people in the country speak Afroasiatic languages of the Cushitic or Semitic branches. The former includes the Oromo language, spoken by the Oromo, and Somali, spoken by the Somali; the latter includes Amharic, spoken by the Amhara, and Tigrinya, spoken by the Tigrayans. Together, these four groups make up about three-quarters of Ethiopia's population. Other Afroasiatic languages with a significant number of speakers include the Cushitic Sidamo, Afar, Hadiyya and Agaw languages, as well as the Semitic Gurage languages, Harari, Silt'e, and Argobba languages. Arabic, which also belongs to the Afroasiatic family, is likewise spoken in some areas.{{cite book |last1=Yigezu |first1=Moges |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2Is2nUM-5UQC&pg=PA143 |title=Language Ideologies and Challenges of Multilingual Education in Ethiopia |date=2012 |publisher=African Books Collective |isbn=978-99944-55-47-8 |page=143}}

Charles A. Ferguson proposed the Ethiopian language area, characterized by shared grammatical and phonological features in 1976. This sprachbund includes the Afroasiatic languages of Ethiopia, not the Nilo-Saharan languages. In 2000, Mauro Tosco questioned the validity of Ferguson's original proposal. There is still no agreement among scholars on this point, but Tosco has at least weakened Ferguson's original claim.{{Citation needed|date=September 2023}}

Of the languages spoken in Ethiopia, 91 are living and 1 is extinct. 41 of the living languages are institutional, 14 are developing, 18 are vigorous, 8 are in danger of extinction, and 5 are near extinction.[https://www.ethnologue.com/country/ET Ethnologue page on Ethiopian languages]

According to data from 2021 from Ethnologue,{{cite web |last1=Eberhard |first1=David M. |last2=Simons |first2=Gary F. |last3=Fennig |first3=Charles D. |title=Ethnologue: Ethiopia |url=https://www.ethnologue.com/country/ET/languages |access-date=21 July 2021 |website=Ethnologue |publisher=SIL International}} the largest first languages are:

• Oromo speakers numbering more than 36 million speakers;{{Cite web |title=Ethiopia |url=https://www.ethnologue.com/country/ET/languages |access-date=15 July 2021 |website=Ethnologue |language=en}}
• Amharic speakers numbering 31,800,000;
• Somali speakers numbering 6,720,000;
• Tigrinya speakers numbering 6,390,000;
• Sidama speakers numbering 4,340,000;
• Wolaytta speakers numbering 2,380,000;
• Sebat Bet Gurage speakers numbering 2,170,000;
• Afar speakers numbering 1,840,000.

Arabic, which also belongs to the Afroasiatic family, is spoken in some areas of Ethiopia.{{cite book |last1=Yigezu |first1=Moges |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2Is2nUM-5UQC&pg=PA143 |title=Language Ideologies and Challenges of Multilingual Education in Ethiopia |date=2012 |publisher=African Books Collective |isbn=978-9994455478 |page=143}}United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees: [http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ad0714.html Ethiopia: Information on whether Arabic is used in the Oromo and Ogaden regions], 1 January 1996, Retrieved 19 November 2017 Many Muslim Ethiopians are also able to speak Arabic because of their religious background.Grimes, Barbara F.: "Languages of the World", 1992. 12th ed., Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics, p. 248.

English is the most widely spoken foreign language and is taught in many schools.[https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/ethiopia/ Ethiopia]. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency.{{cite web |date=4 March 2020 |title=ETHIOPIA TO ADD 4 MORE OFFICIAL LANGUAGES TO FOSTER UNITY |url=http://venturesafrica.com/ethiopia-to-add-4-more-official-languages-to-foster-unity/ |access-date=2 February 2021 |website=Ventures Africa |publisher=Ventures}}

{{bar box

|float = right

|title = Distribution of languages of Ethiopia (2007){{Cite web |title=Population and Housing Census 2007 – National Statistical |url=https://www.statsethiopia.gov.et/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/National_Statistical.pdf |access-date=5 June 2022 |website=Ethiopian Statistics Agency}}{{Cite journal |last=Hudson |first=Grover |date=2012 |title=Ethnic Group and Mother Tongue in the Ethiopian Censuses of 1994 and 2007 |url=https://journals.sub.uni-hamburg.de/aethiopica/article/view/666 |journal=Aethiopica |language=en |volume=15 |pages=204–218 |doi=10.15460/aethiopica.15.1.666 |issn=2194-4024 |quote=A Nilo-Saharan people of the Sudan (BENDER 1975: 63); the 1994 census reported 307 ethnic-group members and 301 mother-tongue speakers. Surely mistakenly, the 2007 census reported 880,818 Shitagna speakers, a number reasonably that for Siltigna|doi-access=free }}

|bars =

{{bar percent|Oromo|DarkBlue|33.8}}

{{bar percent|Amharic|DarkRed|29.3}}

{{bar percent|Somali|Orange|6.2}}

{{bar percent|Tigrinya|DarkGreen|5.9}}

{{bar percent|Sidamo|Red|4.0}}

{{bar percent|Wolaytta|Cyan|2.2}}

{{bar percent|Gurage|Black|2.0}}

{{bar percent|Afar|Orange|1.7}}

{{bar percent|Hadiyya|Green|1.7}}

{{bar percent|Gamo|Red|1.5}}

{{bar percent|Gedeo|Grey|1.3}}

{{bar percent|Silt'e|Purple|1.2}}

{{bar percent|Kafa|Silver|1.1}}

{{bar percent|Other languages|Yellow|8.1}}

}}

English is the most widely spoken foreign language, the medium of instruction in secondary schools and all tertiary education; federal laws are also published in British English in the Federal Negarit Gazeta including the 1995 constitution.{{cite web |last1=FDRE |title=Federal Negarit Gazeta Establishment Proclamation |url=https://www.fsc.gov.et/Content/Negarit%20Gazeta/Negarit%20Gazeta/Gazeta-1987/Proc%20No.%203-1995%20Federal%20Negarit%20Gazeta%20Establishment%20.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191104223222/https://www.fsc.gov.et/Content/Negarit%20Gazeta/Negarit%20Gazeta/Gazeta-1987/Proc%20No.%203-1995%20Federal%20Negarit%20Gazeta%20Establishment%20.pdf |archive-date=4 November 2019 |access-date=27 May 2021 |publisher=Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia}}

Amharic was the language of primary school instruction, but has been replaced in many areas by regional languages such as Oromo, Somali or Tigrinya.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PNEiAQAAMAAJ |title=Language, literature, and identity |publisher=Cuvillier |year=2006 |isbn=978-3-86537-839-2 |editor1=Mpoche, Kizitus |pages=163–64 |editor2=Mbuh, Tennu}} While all languages enjoy equal state recognition in the 1995 Constitution of Ethiopia{{cite web |title=Article 5 |url=http://www.wipo.int/edocs/lexdocs/laws/en/et/et007en.pdf |access-date=2 July 2015 |work=Ethiopian Constitution |publisher=WIPO}} and Oromo is the most populous language by native speakers, Amharic is the most populous by number of total speakers.

After the fall of the Derg in 1991, the 1995 Constitution of Ethiopia granted all ethnic groups the right to develop their languages and to establish first language primary education systems. This is a marked change to the language policies of previous governments in Ethiopia. Amharic is recognised as the official working language of Amhara Region, Benishangul-Gumuz, Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region, Gambela Region, Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa.Gebremichael, M. (2011). Federalism and conflict management in Ethiopia: case study of Benishangul-Gumuz Regional State. PhD Thesis. United Kingdom: University of Bradford. Oromo language serves as the official working language and the primary language of education in the Oromia,{{cite web |title=Ethiopia |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/ethiopia/ |access-date=5 April 2021 |work=The World Factbook |publisher=CIA}} Harar and Dire Dawa and of the Oromia Zone in the Amhara Region. Somali is the official working language of Somali Region and Dire Dawa, while Afar,{{Cite web |title=Afar Regional State |url=http://www.ethiopia.gov.et/afar-regional-state |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170728193815/http://www.ethiopia.gov.et/afar-regional-state |archive-date=28 July 2017 |access-date=27 July 2017 |website=Government of Ethiopia}} Harari,{{Cite web |title=Harari Regional State |url=http://www.ethiopia.gov.et/harari-regional-state |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170728191721/http://www.ethiopia.gov.et/harari-regional-state |archive-date=28 July 2017 |access-date=27 July 2017 |website=Government of Ethiopia}} and Tigrinya{{cite web |title=Tigray Regional State |url=http://www.ethiopia.gov.et/tigray-regional-state |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170727163310/http://www.ethiopia.gov.et/tigray-regional-state |archive-date=27 July 2017 |access-date=27 July 2017 |website=Government of Ethiopia}} are recognized as official working languages in their respective regions. Recently the Ethiopian Government announced that Afar, Amharic, Oromo, Somali, and Tigrinya are adopted as official federal working languages of Ethiopia. Italian is still spoken by some parts of the population, mostly among the older generation, and is taught in some schools (most notably the Istituto Statale Italiano Omnicomprensivo di Addis Abeba). Amharic and Tigrinya have both borrowed some words from the Italian language.{{cite journal |last1=Beyene |first1=Yaqob |date=2011 |title=I prestiti italiani in amarico e tigrino |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23622766 |journal=Rassegna di Studi Etiopici |publisher=Istituto per l'Oriente C. A. Nallino |volume=3 |pages=97–140 |jstor=23622766 |access-date=5 September 2023}}{{cite web |last=Rossi |first=Leonardo |date=25 June 2009 |title=Assaggi da un dizionario di italianismi nel mondo |url=https://www.treccani.it/magazine/lingua_italiana/speciali/mondo/rossi.html |access-date=5 September 2023 |website=treccani.it |publisher=Istituto Treccani}}

In terms of writing systems, Ethiopia's principal orthography is the Ge'ez script, employed as an abugida for several of the country's languages. For instance, it was the primary writing system for Afan Oromo until 1991. The Ethiopic script first came into usage in the sixth and fifth centuries BC as an abjad to transcribe the Semitic Ge'ez language.Rodolfo Fattovich, "Akkälä Guzay" in Uhlig, Siegbert, ed. Encyclopaedia Aethiopica: A-C. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz KG, 2003, p. 169. Ge'ez now serves as the liturgical language of the Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox and Catholic Churches. Other writing systems have also been used over the years by different Ethiopian communities. These include Arabic script for writing some Ethiopian languages spoken by Muslim populationsPankhurst, Alula. "Indigenising Islam in Wällo: ajäm, Amharic verse written in Arabic script." Proceedings of the Xlth International Conference of Ethiopian Studies, Addis Ababa 1991. 1994.[https://www.academia.edu/2242419/A_Comparative_Description_of_Written_Christian_and_Muslim_Amharic Andreas Wetter on Arabic script for writing Amharic] and Sheikh Bakri Sapalo's script for Oromo.Hayward and Hassan, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/616613 "The Oromo Orthography of Shaykh Bakri Saṗalō", Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies], 44 (1981), p. 551 Today, many Cushitic, Omotic, and Nilo-Saharan languages are written in Roman/Latin script.{{Citation needed|date=November 2017}}

Amharic has been the official working language of Ethiopian courts and its armed forces, trade and everyday communications since the late 12th century. Although now it is only one of the five official languages of Ethiopia, together with Oromo, Somali, Afar, and Tigrinya – until 2020 Amharic was the only Ethiopian working language of the federal government.{{cite web |title=Ethiopia is adding four more official languages to Amharic as political instability mounts |url=https://www.nazret.com/2020/03/07/ethiopia-is-adding-four-more-official-languages-to-amharic-as-political-instability-mounts/ |website=Nazret |access-date=2 February 2021}}{{cite news |last1=Shaban |first1=Abdurahman |title=One to five: Ethiopia gets four new federal working languages |url=https://www.africanews.com/2020/03/04/one-to-five-ethiopia-gets-four-new-federal-working-languages// |agency=Africa News |access-date=23 October 2020 |archive-date=15 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201215231030/https://www.africanews.com/2020/03/04/one-to-five-ethiopia-gets-four-new-federal-working-languages// |url-status=dead }}{{Cite journal|last=Meyer|first=Ronny|year=2006|title=Amharic as lingua franca in Ethiopia|url=https://www.academia.edu/5514187|journal=Lissan: Journal of African Languages and Linguistics|language=en|volume=20|issue=1/2|pages=117–131|via=Academia.edu}}{{cite book |chapter=Amharic: Political and social effects on English loan words |first=Anbessa |last=Teferra |year=2013 |title=Globally Speaking: Motives for Adopting English Vocabulary in Other Languages |editor1-first=Judith |editor1-last=Rosenhouse |editor2-first=Rotem |editor2-last=Kowner |publisher=Multilingual Matters |page=165}} Amharic is the most widely spoken and written language in Ethiopia. As of 2018, Amharic was spoken by 31.8 million native speakers in Ethiopia with over 25 million secondary speakers in the nation.

Although additional languages are used, Amharic is still predominantly spoken by all ethnic groups in Addis Ababa. Additionally, three million emigrants outside of Ethiopia speak Amharic. Most of the Ethiopian Jewish communities in Ethiopia and Israel speak it too.{{Cite news|url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2017/06/geez-language-only-left-in-lithurgy.html|title=Israel's Ethiopian Jews keep ancient language alive in prayer|date=29 June 2017|work=Al-Monitor|access-date=26 July 2017|language=en-us}}

In Washington DC, Amharic became one of the six non-English languages in the Language Access Act of 2004, which allows government services and education in Amharic.{{cite web|url=http://ohr.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/ohr/publication/attachments/LAAFactSheet-English.pdf|title=Language Access Act Fact Sheet|date=5 October 2011|access-date=11 October 2016}}

Furthermore, Amharic is considered a holy language by the Rastafari religion and is widely used among its followers worldwide.

A number of Ethiopian languages are endangered: they may not be spoken in one or two generations and may become extinct, victims of language death, as Weyto, Gafat, and Mesmes have and Ongota very soon will. The factors that contribute to language death are complex, so it is not easy to estimate which or how many languages are most vulnerable. Hudson wrote, "Assuming that a language with fewer than 10,000 speakers is endangered, or likely to become extinct within a generation", there are 22 endangered languages in Ethiopia (1999:96). However, a number of Ethiopian languages never have had populations even that high, so it is not clear that this is an appropriate way to calculate the number of endangered languages in Ethiopia. The real number may be lower or higher. The new language policies after the 1991 revolution have strengthened the use of a number of languages. Publications specifically about endangered languages in Ethiopia include: Appleyard (1998), Hayward (1988), and Zelealem (1998a,b, 2004)

File:Meskel Adebabay Millenium.JPG at the Ethiopian millennium celebration.]]

Afroasiatic

• Ethiopian Semitic
• North Ethiopic
• Tigrinya language (also in Eritrea)
• Ge'ez language (also in Eritrea: extinct, liturgical)
• South Ethiopic
• Transversal
• Amharic language
• Argobba language
• Harari language
• East Gurage languages
• Silt'e language (Ulbareg, Inneqor, Wolane)
• Zay language
• Outer South Ethiopic
• Gafat language (extinct)
• North Gurage languages
• Soddo language, incl. dialect Goggot (Dobi)
• West Gurage languages
• Chaha (Sebat Bet Gurage)
• Ezha language
• Gumer language
• Gura language
• Inor language
• Gyeto language
• Endegen language
• Mesmes language (extinct)
• Mesqan language
• Muher language

• Cushitic
• Agaw languages
• Awngi language, incl. dialect Kunfal
• Qimant language
• Xamtanga language
• East Cushitic
• Highland East Cushitic languages
• Burji language
• Sidaama-Hadiyya-Kambaata
• Alaba language
• Gedeo language
• Hadiyya language
• Kambaata language
• Libido language
• Sidamo language
• Lowland East Cushitic languages
• Somali language (also in Somalia, Somaliland, Djibouti, and Kenya)
• Saho-Afar
• Afar language (also in Eritrea and in Djibouti)
• Saho language (also in Eritrea and in Ethiopia spoken by the Irob people)
• Southern Lowland East Cushitic
• Mainstream Lowland East Cushitic
• Omo-Tana
• Arbore language
• Baiso language
• Daasanach language (also in Kenya)
• Oromoid
• Konso language
• Dirasha language
• Oromo language (also in Kenya)
• Transversal Lowland East Cushitic
• Bussa language
• Gawwada language
• Tsamai language

• Omotic (Afro-Asiatic classification uncertain)
• Aari language
• Anfillo language
• Bambassi language
• Basketo language
• Bench language
• Boro language, also called Shinasha
• Chara language
• Dawro language
• Dime language
• Dizi language
• Dorze language
• Gamo language
• Ganza language
• Gayil language
• Gofa language
• Hamer-Banna
• Hozo language
• Kachama-Ganjule language
• 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

In Ethiopia, the term "Nilotic" is often used to refer to Nilo-Saharan languages and their communities. However, in academic linguistics, "Nilotic" is only part of "Nilo-Saharan", a segment of the larger Nilo-Saharan family.

Nilo-Saharan

• Anuak language (also in South Sudan)
• Berta language
• Gumuz language
• Kacipo-Balesi language (also in South Sudan)
• Komo language
• Kunama language (also in Eritrea)
• Kwama language
• Kwegu language
• Majang language
• Me'en language
• Murle language (also in South Sudan)
• Mursi language
• Nuer language (also in South Sudan)
• Nyangatom language
• Opuuo language
• Shabo language
• Suri language
• Uduk language (also in Sudan)

• Weyto language (extinct — could have been Cushitic or Semitic)
• Ongota (moribund — possibly Omotic or an independent branch of Afroasiatic or not Afroasiatic at all)
• Rer Bare language (extinct — maybe Bantu)

{{Reflist}}

• Appleyard, David. 1998. Language Death: The Case of Qwarenya (Ethiopia). In Endangered Languages in Africa, edited by Matthias Brenzinger. Köln: Rüdiger Köppe.
• 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.
• Hayward, Richard J. 1998. The Endangered Languages of Ethiopia: What's at Stake for the Linguist? In Endangered Languages in Africa, edited by Matthias Brenzinger, 17–38. Köln: Rüdiger Köppe.
• Hudson, Grover. 1999. Linguistic Analysis of the 1994 Ethiopian Census. Northeast African Studies Vol. 6, No. 3 (New Series), pp. 89–108.
• Hudson, Grover. 2004. Languages of Ethiopia and Languages of the 1994 Ethiopian Census. Aethiopica: International Journal of Ethiopian and Eritrean Studies 7: 160–172.
• 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.)
• {{Cite journal |last=Yohannes |first=Mekonnen Alemu Gebre |date=2021 |others=Contributions by Bianco, Joseph Lo and Peyton, Joy Kreeft |title=Language Policy in Ethiopia |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63904-4 |journal=Language Policy |volume=24 |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-63904-4 |isbn=9783030639037 |issn=1571-5361}}
• Zelealem Leyew. 1998a. An Ethiopian Language on the Verge of Extinction. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 134: 69–84.
• Zelealem Leyew. 1998b. Some Structural Signs of Obsolescence in K’emant. In Endangered Languages in Africa. Edited by Matthias Brenzinger. Köln: Rüdiger Köppe.
• Zelealem Leyew. 2004. The fate of endangered languages in Ethiopia. On the margins of nations: endangered languages and linguistic rights. proceedings of the eighth FEL Conference, Eds. Joan A. Argenter & Robert McKenna Brown, 35–45. Bath: Foundation for Endangered Languages.

• [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=ET Ethnologue page on Ethiopian languages]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070319031639/http://www.panafril10n.org/wikidoc/pmwiki.php/PanAfrLoc/Ethiopia PanAfriL10n page on Ethiopia]
• [http://www.silethiopia.org/langdb/languages.php Bibliographic database of Ethiopian languages by SIL Ethiopia]
• [http://www.endangeredlanguages.com/lang/country/Ethiopia Endangered languages of Ethiopia at Endangered Languages Project]

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