The languages of Ethiopia include the official languages of

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

, its national and regional languages, and a large number of minority languages, as well as foreign languages.

Overview

Number of languages

According to

Glottolog ''Glottolog'' is an open-access online bibliographic database of the world's languages. In addition to listing linguistic materials ( grammars, articles, dictionaries) describing individual languages, the database also contains the most up-to-d ...

, there are 109 languages spoken in Ethiopia, while ''

Ethnologue ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' is an annual reference publication in print and online that provides statistics and other information on the living languages of the world. It is the world's most comprehensive catalogue of languages. It w ...

'' lists 90 individual languages spoken in the country. Most people in the country speak

Afroasiatic languages The Afroasiatic languages (also known as Afro-Asiatic, Afrasian, Hamito-Semitic, or Semito-Hamitic) are a language family (or "phylum") of about 400 languages spoken predominantly in West Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and parts of th ...

of the

Cushitic The Cushitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken primarily in the Horn of Africa, with minorities speaking Cushitic languages to the north in Egypt and Sudan, and to the south in Kenya and Tanzania. As of 2 ...

or Semitic branches. The former includes the

Oromo language Oromo, historically also called Galla, is an Afroasiatic language belonging to the Cushitic branch, primarily spoken by the Oromo people, native to the Ethiopian state of Oromia; and northern Kenya. It is used as a lingua franca in Oromia an ...

, spoken by the

Oromo Oromo may refer to: * Oromo people, an ethnic group of Ethiopia and Kenya * Oromo language, an Afroasiatic language See also * *Orma (clan), Oromo tribe *Oromia Oromia (, ) is a Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in Ethiopia and the homelan ...

, and Somali, spoken by the Somali; the latter includes

Amharic Amharic is an Ethio-Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amhara people, and also serves as a lingua franca for all other metropolitan populati ...

, spoken by the

Amhara Amhara may refer to: * Amhara people, an ethnic group of Ethiopia * Amharic, a language spoken by the Amhara people * Bete Amhara, a lordship and later province of medieval Ethiopia * Amhara Province, a historical region of Ethiopia * Amhara Region ...

, and

Tigrinya Tigrinya may refer to: * Tigrinya language Tigrinya, sometimes romanized as Tigrigna, is an Ethio-Semitic languages, Ethio-Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic languages, Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It i ...

, spoken by the

Tigrayans The Tigrayan people (, ''Təgaru'') are a Semitic-speaking ethnic group indigenous to the Tigray Region of northern Ethiopia. They speak the Tigrinya language, an Afroasiatic language belonging to the Ethiopian Semitic branch. The daily lif ...

. 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 The Agaw or Central Cushitic languages are Afro-Asiatic languages spoken by several groups in Ethiopia and, in one case, Eritrea. They form the main substratum influence on Amharic and other Ethiopian Semitic languages. Classification The Cen ...

, as well as the Semitic

Gurage languages Gurage (, Gurage: ጉራጌ) are a Semitic-speaking ethnic group inhabiting Ethiopia.G. W. E. Huntingford, "William A. Shack: The Gurage: a people of the ensete culture" They inhabit the Gurage Zone and East Gurage Zone, a fertile, semi-mount ...

, Harari, Silt'e, and Argobba languages.

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

, which also belongs to the Afroasiatic family, is likewise spoken in some areas.

Charles A. Ferguson Charles Albert Ferguson (July 6, 1921 – September 2, 1998) was an American linguist who taught at Stanford University. He was one of the founders of sociolinguistics and is best known for his work on diglossia. The TOEFL test was created under ...

proposed the Ethiopian language area, characterized by shared grammatical and phonological features in 1976. This ''

sprachbund A sprachbund (, from , 'language federation'), also known as a linguistic area, area of linguistic convergence, or diffusion area, is a group of languages that share areal features resulting from geographical proximity and language contact. Th ...

'' includes the Afroasiatic languages of Ethiopia, not the Nilo-Saharan languages. In 2000,

Mauro Tosco Mauro may refer to: Given name * Mauro (footballer, born 1932), Brazilian footballer * Mauro Silva (footballer, born 1978), Brazilian footballer * Mauro (footballer, born 1984), Portuguese footballer * Bruno Mauro (born 1973), Angolan footballer ...

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. 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.''Ethnologue'' page on Ethiopian languages
/ref> According to data from 2021 from ''Ethnologue'', the largest

first language A first language (L1), native language, native tongue, or mother tongue is the first language a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period hypothesis, critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' ...

s are: *

speakers numbering more than 36 million speakers; *

speakers numbering 31,800,000; * Somali speakers numbering 6,720,000; *

speakers numbering 6,390,000; *

Sidama The Sidama () are an ethnic group traditionally inhabiting the Sidama Region, formerly part of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region of Ethiopia. On 23 November 2019, the Sidama Zone became the 10th regional state in Ethiopia ...

speakers numbering 4,340,000; * Wolaytta speakers numbering 2,380,000; *

Sebat Bet Gurage Sebat Bet ("Seven houses") is an Ethio-Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family spoken in Ethiopia. Overview One of the Gurage languages, Sebat Bet is divided into several dialects. The latter are spoken in the western Gurage Regio ...

speakers numbering 2,170,000; * Afar speakers numbering 1,840,000.

, which also belongs to the

Afroasiatic family The Afroasiatic languages (also known as Afro-Asiatic, Afrasian, Hamito-Semitic, or Semito-Hamitic) are a language family (or "phylum") of about 400 languages spoken predominantly in West Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and parts of the ...

, is spoken in some areas of Ethiopia. Many

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

Ethiopians are also able to speak Arabic because of their religious background.

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

is the most widely spoken foreign language and is taught in many schools.Ethiopia
''

The World Factbook ''The World Factbook'', also known as the ''CIA World Factbook'', is a Reference work, reference resource produced by the United States' Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) with almanac-style information about the countries of the world. The off ...

''.

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

Languages

Commonly used and official languages

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 The ''Federal Negarit Gazeta'' is the government gazette of Ethiopia, defined in Article 71.2 of the 1995 Constitution of Ethiopia and established on 22 August 1995 by the ''Federal Negarit Gazeta'' Establishment Proclamation No. 3/1995. Backgro ...

including the 1995 constitution. Amharic was the language of primary school instruction, but has been replaced in many areas by regional languages such as Oromo, Somali or Tigrinya. While all languages enjoy equal state recognition in the

1995 Constitution of Ethiopia The Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (), also known as the 1995 Constitution of Ethiopia, is the supreme law of Ethiopia. The constitution came into force on 21 August 1995 after it was drawn up by the Constituent Asse ...

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 The Derg or Dergue (, ), officially the Provisional Military Administrative Council (PMAC), was the military junta that ruled Ethiopia, including present-day Eritrea, from 1974 to 1987, when they formally "Civil government, civilianized" the ...

in 1991, the

granted all ethnic groups the right to develop their languages and to establish

primary education Primary education is the first stage of Education, formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary education. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first schools and middle s ...

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 The Amhara Region (), officially the Amhara National Regional State (), is a Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in northern Ethiopia and the homeland of the Amhara people, Amhara, Awi people, Awi, Xamir people, Xamir, Argobba people, Argobba, a ...

Benishangul-Gumuz Benishangul-Gumuz () is a regional state in northwestern Ethiopia bordering Sudan. It was previously known as Region 6. The region's capital is Assosa. Following the adoption of the 1995 constitution, the region was created from the westernmos ...

Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region The Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region (often abbreviated as SNNPR; ) was a Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in southwestern Ethiopia. It was formed from the merger of five ''kililoch'', called Regions 7 to 11, following the ...

Gambela Region The Gambela Region, also spelled Gambella, and officially the Gambela Peoples' Region (), is a regional state in western Ethiopia. Previously known as Region 12, its capital and largest city is Gambela. It is bordered by the Oromia Region to t ...

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...

and

Dire Dawa Dire Dawa (; , meaning"where the Dir (clan), Dir hit his spear into the ground" or "The true Dir", , Harari language, Harari: ድሬዳዋ, lit. "Plain of Medicine"; ) is a city in eastern Ethiopia near the Somali Region and Oromia, Oromo borde ...

serves as the official working language and the primary language of education in the Oromia,

Harar Harar (; Harari language, Harari: ሀረር / ; ; ; ), known historically by the indigenous as Harar-Gey or simply Gey (Harari: ጌይ, ݘٛىيْ, ''Gēy'', ), is a List of cities with defensive walls, walled city in eastern Ethiopia. It is al ...

and

and of the

Oromia Zone The Oromia Zone (; Amharic: ኦሮሚያ ዞን) is a zone in Amhara Region of Ethiopia. Oromia is named for the Oromo people, who settled along the edge of the Ethiopian Highlands that form this Zone. Oromia Zone is bordered on the southwest by ...

in the

. Somali is the official working language of

Somali Region The Somali Region (, , ), also known as Soomaali Galbeed () and officially the Somali Regional State, is a Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in eastern Ethiopia. It is the largest region of Ethiopia. The state borders the Ethiopian regions ...

and

, while Afar, Harari, and Tigrinya are recognized as official working languages in their respective regions. Recently the

Ethiopian Government The government of Ethiopia () is the federal government of Ethiopia. It is structured in a framework of a federal republic, federal parliamentary system, parliamentary republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, prime minister is the hea ...

announced that Afar,

, Somali, and

are adopted as official federal working languages of Ethiopia.

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

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 Istituto Statale Italiano Omnicomprensivo di Addis Abeba or the Scuola Statale Italiana di Addis Abeba is an Italian governmental international school along Belay Zeleke Street in Arada, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Writing systems

In terms of

writing system A writing system comprises a set of symbols, called a ''script'', as well as the rules by which the script represents a particular language. The earliest writing appeared during the late 4th millennium BC. Throughout history, each independen ...

s, Ethiopia's principal orthography is the Ge'ez script, employed as an

abugida An abugida (; from Geʽez: , )sometimes also called alphasyllabary, neosyllabary, or pseudo-alphabetis a segmental Writing systems#Segmental writing system, writing system in which consonant–vowel sequences are written as units; each unit ...

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 An abjad ( or abgad) is a writing system in which only consonants are represented, leaving the vowel sounds to be inferred by the reader. This contrasts with alphabets, which provide graphemes for both consonants and vowels. The term was introd ...

to transcribe the Semitic Ge'ez language. 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 populations and Sheikh

Bakri Sapalo Sheikh Bakri Sapalo (born Abubakar Garad Usman; November 1895 – 5 April 1980) was an Oromo scholar, poet and religious teacher. He is best known as the inventor of a writing system for the Oromo language. Life Bakri Sapalo was the son of Garad ...

's script for Oromo.Hayward and Hassan
"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.

Special status of Amharic

Amharic has been the official

working language A working language (also procedural language) is a language that is given a unique legal status in a supranational company, society, state or other body or organization as its primary means of communication. It is primarily the language of the dai ...

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 language An official language is defined by the Cambridge English Dictionary as, "the language or one of the languages that is accepted by a country's government, is taught in schools, used in the courts of law, etc." Depending on the decree, establishmen ...

s of Ethiopia, together with

, Somali, Afar, and

– until 2020 Amharic was the only Ethiopian working language of the federal government. 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. In

Washington DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

, Amharic became one of the six non-English languages in the Language Access Act of 2004, which allows government services and education in Amharic. Furthermore, Amharic is considered a

holy language A sacred language, liturgical language or holy language is a language that is cultivated and used primarily for religious reasons (like church service) by people who speak another, primary language in their daily lives. Some religions, or part ...

by the

Rastafari Rastafari is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by Religious studies, scholars of religion. There is no central authori ...

religion and is widely used among its followers worldwide.

Endangered languages

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 In linguistics, language death occurs when a language loses its last native speaker. By extension, language extinction is when the language is no longer known, including by second-language speakers, when it becomes known as an extinct langua ...

, 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)

List of languages

Afroasiatic

Afroasiatic The Afroasiatic languages (also known as Afro-Asiatic, Afrasian, Hamito-Semitic, or Semito-Hamitic) are a language family (or "phylum") of about 400 languages spoken predominantly in West Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and parts of the ...

Ethiopian Semitic Ethio-Semitic (also Ethiopian Semitic, Ethiosemitic, Ethiopic or Abyssinian) is a family of languages spoken in Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Sudan. They form the western branch of the South Semitic languages, itself a sub-branch of Semitic, part of t ...

** North Ethiopic ***

Tigrinya language Tigrinya, sometimes romanized as Tigrigna, is an Ethio-Semitic languages, Ethio-Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic languages, Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is primarily spoken by the Tigrinya people, ...

(also in Eritrea) *** Ge'ez language (also in Eritrea: extinct, liturgical) ** South Ethiopic *** Transversal ****

Amharic language Amharic is an Ethio-Semitic languages, Ethio-Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic languages, Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amhara people, and also serves as a lingua ...

****

Argobba language Argobba is an Ethiopian Semitic language spoken in several districts of Afar, Amhara, and Oromia regions of Ethiopia by the Argobba people. It belongs to the South Ethiopic languages subgroup, and is closely related to Amharic. Writing in the ...

****

Harari language Harari is an Ethio-Semitic language spoken by the Harari people of Ethiopia. Old Harari is a literary language of the city of Harar, a central hub of Islam in the Horn of Africa. According to the 2007 Ethiopian census, it is spoken by 25,810 pe ...

****

East Gurage languages Gurage (, Gurage: ጉራጌ) are a Semitic-speaking ethnic group inhabiting Ethiopia.G. W. E. Huntingford, "William A. Shack: The Gurage: a people of the ensete culture" They inhabit the Gurage Zone and East Gurage Zone, a fertile, semi-mounta ...

*****

Silt'e language Silt'e (also transliterated Silte) can refer to: * Silt'e people Silt'e (also transliterated Silte) can refer to: * Silt'e people of Ethiopia; * Silt'e language, which they speak; * Silte Zone, where most live; * Silte (woreda), a subunit of wher ...

(Ulbareg, Inneqor, Wolane) *****

Zay language Zay (Oromo language, Oromo: Lak'i, Laqi) is an Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language of the Semitic languages, Semitic branch spoken in Ethiopia. It is one of the Gurage languages in the Ethiopian Semitic languages, Ethiopian Semitic group. ...

*** Outer South Ethiopic ****

Gafat language The Gafat language is an extinct Ethio-Semitic language once spoken by the Gafat people along the Blue Nile in Ethiopia, and later, speakers pushed south of Gojjam in what is now East Welega Zone. Gafat was related to the Harari language and ...

(extinct) **** North Gurage languages *****

Soddo language Soddo (autonym ''kəstane'' "Christian"; formerly called ''Aymälläl'' in Western sources, after a particular dialect of it) is a Gurage language spoken by a quarter million people in southern Ethiopia. It is an Ethiopian Semitic language of th ...

, incl. dialect Goggot (Dobi) **** West Gurage languages ***** Chaha (Sebat Bet Gurage) *****

Ezha language Sebat Bet ("Seven houses") is an Ethio-Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family spoken in Ethiopia. Overview One of the Gurage languages, Sebat Bet is divided into several dialects. The latter are spoken in the western Gurage Regio ...

*****

Gumer language Sebat Bet ("Seven houses") is an Ethio-Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family spoken in Ethiopia. Overview One of the Gurage languages, Sebat Bet is divided into several dialects. The latter are spoken in the western Gurage Regio ...

***** Gura language *****

Inor language Inor (pronounced ), sometimes called Ennemor, is an Afroasiatic language spoken in central Ethiopia. One of the Gurage languages, it is mainly spoken within the Gurage Zone in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region, as well as ...

****** Gyeto language ****** Endegen language ******

Mesmes language The Mesmes language is an extinct West Gurage language, one of the Ethiopian Semitic languages spoken in Ethiopia. There are still many people who claim the Mesmes ethnic identity, but none who speak the language. The last speaker of the langu ...

(extinct) *****

Mesqan language Mesqan (also Mäsqan or Meskan) is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken by the Gurage people in the Gurage Zone of Ethiopia. It belongs to the family's Ethiopian Semitic Ethio-Semitic (also Ethiopian Semitic, Ethiosemitic, Ethiopic or Abyssinian) is ...

*****

Muher language Muher (''Muxar'') is an Ethiopian Semitic language belonging to the Gurage group. It is spoken in the mountains north of Cheha and Ezhana Wolene in Ethiopia. The language has two dialects, which are named after the first-person singular pronou ...

Cushitic

*** Awngi language, incl. dialect Kunfal ***

Qimant language The Qimant language is a highly endangered language spoken by a small and elderly fraction of the Qemant people in northern Ethiopia, mainly in the Chilga woreda in Semien Gondar Zone between Gondar and Metemma. Classifications The language ...

***

Xamtanga language Xamtanga (also Agawinya, Khamtanga, Simt'anga, Xamir, Xamta) is a Central Cushitic language spoken in Ethiopia by the Xamir people. Phonology Vowels The central vowels have fronted and backed allophones, depending on the adjacent consonan ...

East Cushitic The East Cushitic languages are a branch of Cushitic within the Afroasiatic phylum. Prominent East Cushitic languages include Oromo, Somali, and Sidama. The unity of East Cushitic has been contested: Robert Hetzron suggested combining the H ...

***

Highland East Cushitic languages Highland East Cushitic or Burji-Sidamo is a branch of the Afroasiatic language family spoken in south-central Ethiopia. They are often grouped with Lowland East Cushitic, Dullay, and Yaaku as East Cushitic. The most popular language is Sidama ...

****

Burji language Burji can refer to * Burji dynasty, a dynasty that ruled Egypt from 1382 until 1517 * Burji people, an ethnic group in Ethiopia and Kenya * Burji language, a language spoken in Ethiopia and Kenya * Burji special woreda, an administrative subdivi ...

**** Sidaama-Hadiyya-Kambaata *****

Alaba language Alaba may refer to: * ''Alaba'' (gastropod), a sea snails genus in the family Litiopidae * Alaba International Market, an electronics market located in Ojo, Lagos State, Nigeria. * Halaba people The Halaba people (or Alaba) are an ethnic group in ...

*****

Gedeo language Gedeo is a Highland East Cushitic language of the Afro-Asiatic family spoken in south central Ethiopia. Alternate names for the language include Derasa, Deresa, Darassa, Geddeo, Derasanya, Darasa. It is spoken by the Gedeo people, who live in t ...

*****

Hadiyya language Hadiyya (speakers call it Hadiyyisa, others sometimes call it ''Hadiyigna'', ''Adiya'', ''Adea'', ''Adiye'', ''Hadia'', ''Hadiya'', ''Hadya'') is the language of the Hadiya people of Ethiopia. Over 1.2 million speakers of Hadiyya, making it one ...

*****

Kambaata language Kambaata is a Highland East Cushitic language, part of the larger Afro-Asiatic family and spoken by the Kambaata people. Closely related varieties are Xambaaro (T'ambaaro, Timbaaro), Alaba, and Qabeena (K'abeena), of which the latter two are s ...

*****

Libido language Libido (also known as Libixxiso, Mareqo, Mareko) is an Afroasiatic language of Ethiopia, which is spoken in the Mareko district Gurage Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region, directly south-east of Butajira. According ...

*****

Sidamo language Sidama or Sidaamu Afoo is an Afroasiatic language belonging to the Highland East Cushitic branch of the Cushitic family. It is spoken in parts of southern Ethiopia by the Sidama people, particularly in the densely populated Sidama National Re ...

***

Lowland East Cushitic languages Lowland East Cushitic is a group of roughly two dozen diverse languages of the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic family. Its largest representatives are Oromo and Somali. Classification Lowland East Cushitic classification from Tosco (2020:2 ...

****

Somali language Somali is an Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language belonging to the Cushitic languages, Cushitic branch, primarily spoken by the Somalis, Somali people, native to Greater Somalia. It is an official language in Somalia, Somaliland, and Ethio ...

(also in Somalia, Somaliland, Djibouti, and Kenya) **** Saho-Afar *****

Afar language Afar is an Afroasiatic language belonging to the Cushitic branch, primarily spoken by the Afar people, native to parts of Djibouti, Eritrea and Ethiopia. It is an official language in Ethiopia; and a national language in Djibouti and Eritre ...

(also in Eritrea and in Djibouti) *****

Saho language The Saho language (Tigrinya language, Tigrinya: ) is an Afro-Asiatic languages, Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Eritrea and Ethiopia. It belongs to the family's Cushitic languages, Cushitic branch. Overview Saho is spoken natively by the Saho pe ...

(also in Eritrea and in Ethiopia spoken by the

Irob people The Irob people (Geʽez: ኢሮብ ''ʾirōb'', also spelled Erob) are an ethnic group who live in a predominantly highland, mountainous area by the same name in Eritrea and Ethiopia. They speak the Saho language. Most of them profess the Catholi ...

) **** Southern Lowland East Cushitic ***** Mainstream Lowland East Cushitic ****** Omo-Tana *******

Arbore language Arbore is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken by the Arbore people in southern Ethiopia in a few settlements of Hamer woreda near Lake Chew Bahir. Classification That the Arbore language belongs within a "Macro-Somali" (now called Omo-Tana) grou ...

******* Baiso language *******

Daasanach language Daasanach (also known as Dasenech, Daasanech, Dathanaik, Dathanaic, Dathanik, Dhaasanac, Gheleba, Geleba, Geleb, Gelebinya, Gallab, Galuba, Gelab, Gelubba, Dama, Marille, Merile, Merille, Morille, Reshiat, Russia) is a Cushitic language spoken b ...

(also in Kenya) ****** Oromoid *******

Konso language Konso (Komso, Khonso, also ''Af Kareti, Afa Karatti, Conso, Gato, Karate, Kareti'') is a Lowland East Cushitic language spoken in southwest Ethiopia. Native speakers of Konso number about 200,000 (SIL 2005). Konso is closely related to Dirasha ...

*******

Dirasha language Dirasha (also known as Ghidole, Diraasha, Dirayta, Gidole, Gardulla, Dhirasha) is a member of the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic family. It is spoken in the Omo region of Ethiopia, in the hills west of Lake Chamo, around the town of Gidol ...

*******

(also in Kenya) ***** Transversal Lowland East Cushitic ******

Bussa language Bussa, or Mossiya, is a Cushitic language spoken in the Dirashe special woreda of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region located in southern Ethiopia. The people themselves, numbering 18,000 according to the 2007 census, call t ...

****** Gawwada language ******

Tsamai language Tsamai (also known as Ts'amay, S'amai, Tamaha, Tsamako, Tsamakko, Bago S'amakk-Ulo) is an Afroasiatic language spoken in Ethiopia. Tsamai is a member of the Dullay dialect continuum A dialect continuum or dialect chain is a series of Variety ...

Omotic

Omotic The Omotic languages are a group of languages spoken in southwestern Ethiopia, in the Omo River region and southeastern Sudan in Blue Nile State. The Geʽez script is used to write some of the Omotic languages, the Latin script for some others. T ...

(Afro-Asiatic classification uncertain) **

Aari language Aari (also rendered ''Ari'', ''Ara'', ''Aro'', ''Aarai'') is an Omotic language spoken by the Aari people in the South Omo Zone of Ethiopia. The language consists of 9 dialects: Bako, Biyo (Biya), Laydo, Seyki, Shangama, Sido, Wubahamer, Zedd ...

** Anfillo language **

Bambassi language Bambassi (native name: Màwés Aasʼè) is an Omotic Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language spoken in Ethiopia around the towns of Bambasi and Didessa in the area east of Asosa in Benishangul-Gumuz Region. The parent language group is the Ma ...

Basketo language Basketo (also known as Basketto, Baskatta, Mesketo, Misketto, and Basketo-Dokka) is an Omotic language spoken in the Basketo special woreda of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region, which is part of Ethiopia Ethiopia, ...

Bench language Bench (''Bencnon'', Shenon or Mernon, formerly called GimiraRapold 2006) is a Northern Omotic language of the "Gimojan" subgroup, spoken by about 174,000 people (in 1998) in the Bench Maji Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People ...

** Boro language, also called Shinasha **

Chara language Chara (alternatively Ciara or C’ara) is an Afro-Asiatic language of the North Omotic variety spoken in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region of Ethiopia by 13,000 people. Status Chara is geographically situated to the sout ...

Dawro language Gamo-Gofa-Dawro is an Omotic language of the Afroasiatic family ( Te-Ne-Omotic according to Glottolog) spoken in the Dawro, Gamo Gofa and Wolayita Zones of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region in Ethiopia. Varieties are sp ...

Dime language Dime or Dima is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken in the northern part of the Selamago district in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNP) of Ethiopia, around Mount Smith. Dime divides into at least two dialects, which inclu ...

Dizi language Dizin (often called “Dizi” or “Maji” in the literature) is an Omotic languages, Omotic language of the Afro-Asiatic languages, Afro-Asiatic language family spoken by the Dizi people, primarily in the Maji (woreda), Maji woreda of the Sou ...

Dorze language Dorze is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken in the Gamo Gofa Zone of Ethiopia. Alemayehu Abebe reports that while performing preliminary fieldwork in 1992, he found 14 kebeles in Chencha woreda with Dorze speakers.Alemayehu Abebe"Ometo Dialect Pil ...

Gamo language Gamo-Gofa-Dawro is an Omotic language of the Afroasiatic family ( Te-Ne-Omotic according to Glottolog) spoken in the Dawro, Gamo Gofa and Wolayita Zones of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region in Ethiopia. Varieties are s ...

Ganza language Ganza, also known as Ganzo or Koma, is an Omotic language of the Afro-Asiatic family spoken in the Al Kurumik District of the Blue Nile (state) in Sudan and in the western Benishangul-Gumuz region of Ethiopia, specifically in the village districts ...

** Gayil language **

Gofa language Gamo-Gofa-Dawro is an Omotic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic family (Ta-Ne-Omotic languages, Te-Ne-Omotic according to Glottolog) spoken in the Dawro Zone, Dawro, Gamo Gofa Zone, Gamo Gofa and Wolayita Zones of the Southern N ...

** Hamer-Banna **

Hozo language Hozo is an Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language spoken mostly in the Kondala woreda of Mirab Welega Zone (Western Oromia) by peoples generically known as "Mao". There are smaller groups of Hozo speakers in Mana Sibu woreda. The term Hozo i ...

** Kachama-Ganjule language **

Kafa language Kafa or Kefa (''Kafi noono'') is a North Omotic language spoken in Ethiopia at the Keffa Zone. It is part of the Ethiopian Language Area, with SOV word order, ejective consonants, etc. A collection of proverbs in the language has been publis ...

Karo language Karo may refer to: Ethnic groups * Karo people (Ethiopia), an ethnic group from Ethiopia * Karo people (Indonesia), the indigenous people of the Karo Plateau in North Sumatra Languages * Karo language (Brazil), a Tupian language * Karo language ...

Koorete language Koorete (also Amaarro, Amarro, Badittu, Koore, Koyra, Kwera, Nuna) is the language spoken by the Koore people of southern Ethiopia. Language definition Koorete is an omotic language of the Afro-Asiatic linguistics. The omotic language family ...

** Male language **

Melo language Melo (also known as Malo) is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken in the Gamo Gofa Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region in Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landloc ...

Nayi 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. ...

Oyda language Oyda is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken in the Gamo Gofa Zone of Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders w ...

Seze language Seze (or Sezo) is an Afro-Asiatic Omotic language, spoken in the western part of Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It s ...

Shekkacho language Shekkacho (also Mocha, Shakacho, Shekka) is an Afro-Asiatic Omotic language, spoken mainly in Sheka Zone at southwestern Ethiopia. It is closely related to Kafa. Notes Bibliography *Leslau, Wolf. 1958. “Moča, A Tone Language of The Kafa G ...

Sheko language Sheko is an Omotic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family spoken in the area between Tepi and Mizan Teferi in western Ethiopia, in the Sheko district in the Bench Maji Zone. The 2007 census lists 38,911 speakers; the 1998 census listed 2 ...

Wolaytta language Wolaitta or Wolayttatto Doonaa is a North Omotic language of the Ometo group spoken in the Wolayita Zone and some other parts of southwestern Ethiopia. It is the native language of the Welayta people. The estimates of the population vary great ...

Yemsa language Yemsa is the language of the Yem people of the former Kingdom of Yamma, known as the Kingdom of Janjero traditionally. It is a member of the Omotic group of languages, most closely related to Kafa. It is distinctive in having different systems ...

Zayse-Zergulla language Zayse-Zergulla is the combined title for the two closely related dialects of Zayse (also Zaysete, Zaisse, Zaysite, Zaysse) and Zergulla (or Zergula). The division may be more along ethnic or geographic lines than linguistic. It is an Afro-Asiatic ...

Nilo-Saharan

In Ethiopia, the term "

Nilotic The Nilotic peoples are peoples Indigenous people of Africa, indigenous to South Sudan and the Nile Valley who speak Nilotic languages. They inhabit South Sudan and the Gambela Region of Ethiopia, while also being a large minority in Kenya, Uga ...

" 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 The Nilo-Saharan languages are a proposed family of around 210 African languages spoken by somewhere around 70 million speakers, mainly in the upper parts of the Chari and Nile rivers, including historic Nubia, north of where the two tributari ...

Anuak language Anuak or Anywaa is a Luo language which belongs to the western Nilotic branch of the Nilotic language family. It is spoken primarily in the western part of Ethiopia and also in South Sudan by the Anuak people. Other names for this language in ...

(also in South Sudan) *

Berta language Berta proper, a.k.a. ''Gebeto'', is spoken by the Berta (also ''Bertha, Barta, Burta'') in Sudan and Ethiopia. As of 2006 Berta had approximately 180,000 speakers in Sudan. The three Berta languages, Gebeto, Fadashi and Undu, are often consid ...

Gumuz language Gumuz (also spelled Gumaz) is a dialect cluster spoken along the border of Ethiopia and Sudan. It has been tentatively classified within the Nilo-Saharan family. Most Ethiopian speakers live in Kamashi Zone and Metekel Zone of the Benishangul-Gu ...

* Kacipo-Balesi language (also in South Sudan) *

Komo language Komo is a Nilo-Saharan language spoken by the Kwama (Komo) people of Ethiopia, Sudan and South Sudan. It is a member of the Koman languages. The language is also referred to as Madiin, Koma, South Koma, Central Koma, Gokwom and Hayahaya. Many i ...

Kunama language The Kunama language has been included in the proposed Nilo-Saharan languages, Nilo-Saharan language family, though it is distantly related to the other languages, if at all. Kunama is spoken by the Kunama people of the Gash-Barka Region in wester ...

(also in Eritrea) * Kwama language *

Kwegu language Kwegu (also Bacha, Koegu, Kwegi, Menja, Nidi) is a Surmic, Surmic language spoken in the Southwest of Ethiopia, on the west bank of the Omo River. References * Hieda, Osamu. 1998. "A sketch of Koegu grammar: Towards reconstructing Proto-Southea ...

Majang language The Majang language is spoken by the Majangir people of Ethiopia. Although it is a member of the Surmic language cluster, it is the most isolated one in the group (Fleming 1983). A language survey has shown that dialect variation from north ...

Me'en language Me'en may refer to: * The Me'en language, a Surmic language of east Africa; * The Me'en people, a Surma people of east Africa; {{Disambiguation ...

Murle language Murle (also Ajibba, Beir, Merule, Mourle, Murule) is a Surmic Language spoken by the Murle people in the southeast of South Sudan, near the Ethiopian border. A very small number of Murle live across the border in southwestern Ethiopia. The basic ...

(also in South Sudan) *

Mursi language Mursi (also Dama, Merdu, Meritu, Murzi, Murzu) is a Southeast Surmic language spoken by the Mursi people who live in the South Omo Zone on the eastern side of the lower Omo valley in southwest Ethiopia. The language is similar to Suri, another ...

Nuer language The Nuer language (''Thok Naath'', "people's language") is a Nilotic language of the Western Nilotic group. It is spoken by the Nuer people of South Sudan and in western Ethiopia (region of Gambela). The language is very similar to Dinka and ...

(also in South Sudan) *

Nyangatom language Nyangatom (also Inyangatom, Donyiro, Dongiro, Idongiro) is a Nilotic language spoken in Ethiopia by the Nyangatom people The Nyangatom also known as Donyiro and pejoratively as Bumé are Nilotic agro-pastoralists inhabiting the border of south ...

Opuuo language The Opuo (Opuuo, Opo) language, or Tʼapo, is a Koman language spoken by the Opo people of Ethiopia and South Sudan. It has a lexical similarity of 24% with Komo. The language is also called Opo-Shita, Opo, Opuo, Cita, Ciita, Shita (along with ...

Shabo language (or preferably ''Chabu''; also called Mikeyir) is an endangered language and likely language isolate spoken by about 400 former hunter-gatherers in southwestern Ethiopia, in the eastern part of the South West Ethiopia Peoples' Region. It was f ...

Suri language Suri (''Churi, Dhuri, Shuri, Shuro''), is a Surmic language spoken in the West Omo Zone of the South West Ethiopia Peoples' Region in Ethiopia, to the South Sudan border by the Suri. The language has over 80% lexical similarity to Mursi. The ...

Uduk language Uduk, also known as Twʼampa (Tʼwampa), is a Koman language spoken in Sudan near the border with Ethiopia. Nearly the entire population fled to a refugee camp in Ethiopia during the Second Sudanese Civil War The Second Sudanese Civil War ...

(also in Sudan)

Unclassified

* Weyto language (extinct — could have been Cushitic or Semitic) *

Ongota Ongota (also known as Birale, Birayle) is a moribund language of southwest Ethiopia. UNESCO reported in 2012 that out of a total ethnic population of 115, only 12 elderly native speakers remained, the rest of their small village on the west bank ...

(

moribund Moribund refers to a literal or figurative state near death. Moribund may refer to: * ''Moribund'' (album), a 2006 album by the Norwegian black metal band Koldbrann * " Le Moribond", a song by Jacques Brel known in English as "Seasons in the Sun ...

— possibly Omotic or an independent branch of Afroasiatic or not Afroasiatic at all) * Rer Bare language (extinct — maybe

Bantu Bantu may refer to: *Bantu languages, constitute the largest sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages *Bantu peoples, over 400 peoples of Africa speaking a Bantu language * Bantu knots, a type of African hairstyle *Black Association for National ...

)

References

External links

''Ethnologue'' page on Ethiopian languages''PanAfriL10n'' page on EthiopiaBibliographic database of Ethiopian languages by SIL EthiopiaEndangered languages of Ethiopia at Endangered Languages Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Languages Of Ethiopia

Overview

Number of languages

Languages

Commonly used and official languages

Writing systems

Special status of Amharic

Endangered languages

List of languages

Afroasiatic

Cushitic

Omotic

Nilo-Saharan

Unclassified

References

Further reading

External links