/ʃ/ = sh inshop 1.2. Amharic language, one of the two main languages of Ethiopia (along with the Oromo language). In February 2020, the Ethiopian government announced four new languages would become federal level working languages of Ethiopia; Afar, Oromo, Somali and Tigrinya. [ONLINE] Available at: Grimes, Barbara F.: "Languages of the World", 1992. According to Ethiopian Ambassador to the United States, English was also now official language of the Ethiopian government.[15]. Ethiopia has 83 different languages with up to 200 different dialects spoken. An endangered language is a language that it is at risk of falling out of use, generally because it has few surviving speakers. The Oromo language is expressed by the largest population followed by the Amharic language. There are ninety languages that are spoken in Ethiopia (according to the 1994 Ethiopian census conducted by Ethnologue). The factors that contribute to language death are complex, so it is not easy to estimate which or how many languages are most vulnerable. The inhabitants of the Republic of Ethiopia speak almost 88 languages. "One to five: Ethiopia gets four new federal working languages", Andreas Wetter on Arabic script for writing Amharic. Amharic is spoken by more than 17 million people, which is about one third of Ethiopia’s population (and An Ethiopian Language on the Verge of Extinction. The official national language of Ethiopia is Amharic, but 87 other languages are spoken in the country. This, including the new language policies of Ethiopia, has effectively strengthened the use of a number of Ethiopian languages. It has been the language of the court and the dominant population group in Highland Ethiopia since the late 13th century. There are 86 individual languages indigenous to Ethiopia according to Ethnologue, with the 1994 Ethiopian census indicating that some 77 tongues were spoken locally. It is also easier to learn the Amharic language more than Oromo due to its musical nature. Presently, the language in Ethiopia is Amheric, a semitic tongue. At present, at least seventy languages are spoken According to Ethnologue, many of Ethiopia's languages are endangered. anon45152 September 14, 2009 In. 1089-1090). The four most spoken languages in Ethiopia are: 1. Downloads. A huge percentage of the languages spoken in the country belong to the Afroasiatic family which comprises of Cushitic and Semitic languages. It is spoken principally in the central highlands of the country. Central Statistical Agency. Many of the ethnic languages that are spoken in Nigeria are also expressed in neighboring countries. Unlock this profile with an Essentials plan.. See the details on every language spoken in Ethiopia, plus: Profiles for every other country in the world; 7,464 profiles covering every language in use today 1.1. Unfortunately, some of the dialects are now either extinct or endangered. Africa is a continent with a very high linguistic diversity, there are an estimated 1500 1999. Phonetics and phonology . This is a marked change to the language policies of previous governments in Ethiopia. Additionally, Nilo-Saharan languages are spoken by what the government calls the "Nilotic" people, though scholars distinguish Nilotic from the Surmic languages, All data is derived from UNESCO. Because many Africans are at least bilingual, there are two possible ways to determine the most spoken African languages: by the number of native speakers or … Additionally, one Amharic word can form many phrases. You can easily find many Ethiopians speaking their native language alongside English or Oromo and Amharic together. 1976. /ʔ/ … A number of languages are spoken in Ethiopia with most of their origin in the Semitic language, the majority being, the Amharic and the Tigrinya. Ethiopian speak almost 88 languages. The largest ethnic and linguistic groups are the Oromos, Amharas and Tigrayans. 41 of the living languages are institutional, 14 are developing, 18 are vigorous, 8 are in danger of extinction, and 5 are near extinction.[3]. Ethiopian speak almost 88 languages. The fate of endangered languages in Ethiopia. Widely spoken throughout Ethiopia, Amharic is used as a first language for many communities and as a lingua franca by others to serve as the official Ethiopian languagefor business and administrative duties in all cities and towns. All the existing Khoisan languages are confined to southern Africa, with two exceptions: the click-laden Hadza and Sandawe languages spoken in Tanzania, some 1,500 miles from … 2004. However, the numbers in each category are uncertain, and estimates are often in conflict. Additionally, Nilo-Saharan languages are spoken by what the government calls the "Nilotic" people, though scholars distinguish Nilotic from the Surmic languages, Gumuz languages, and Koman languages spoken in Ethiopia. In Ethiopia the spoken language is Amharic, Tigrigna, English and the written language is Amharic. There is still no agreement among scholars on this point, but Tosco has at least weakened Ferguson's original claim. In. Unlock this profile with an Essentials plan. According to the The Unicode Consortium the overall literacy rate (The ability to read and write) in Ethiopia is 39%. One way of segmenting Ethiopia's population is on the basis of language. Hudson, Grover. how many languages in ethiopia is one of the most frequently asked questions. Other languages spoken in Ethiopia include Hadiyya, Sidamo and Guragiegna; English and Arabic are common second languages. Though there is only one official language, the number of ethnolinguistic groups gives you an idea of just how many languages are actually spoken by Ethiopians. It uses a system taken from the Ge’ez script which serves as an abugida for various languages in the spoken area of Eritrea and Ethiopia. See language counts and details for Ethiopia, plus: Profiles for every other country in the world; 7,464 profiles covering every language in use today; And more! South Cushitic languages are spoken mainly in central Tanzania. Ethiopia is a mosaic of about 100 languages that can be classified into four groups. The residents also speak the minority languages; especially the older generation. Since the lack of literate tradition, many languages are losing their identity and such languages are in the verge of extinction. HEYYY, here's a little fun video. All our Expanded PDFs are included with a Standard plan. The most commonly spoken languages in Ethiopia Amharic is the official language of Ethiopia Amharic, Oromigna, Tigrina, Somali, Guaragigna are other languages spoken on a regular basis in Ethiopia What are the most spoken languages on earth? However, in academic linguistics, "Nilotic" is only part of "Nilo-Saharan", a segment of the larger Nilo-Saharan family. Though the official working language of the country is Amharic. Unfortunately, some of the dialects are now either extinct or endangered. This is about 29.3% of the total population of both urban and rural parts of Ethiopia. Unfortunately, some of the dialects are now either extinct or endangered. Today we are discussing official languages of India. Most Spoken Languages In Ethiopia, Due to the Federal laws of Ethiopia, the Amharic language is considered the official language despite having the second largest population of speakers. These languages are drawn from three separate families. that Ethiopian language education policy falls broadly within the parameters of ‘best policy’ in terms of multilingual developing countries.” He notes however that “as is the case in many other countries, implementation is not always aligned with actual policy” (Bogale, 2009, pp. How Many Languages in India?. It includes the nation's official languages, its national and regional languages, as well as its minority and foreign languages. In Eritrea it is a working language in offices along with Arabic. Language Death: The Case of Qwarenya (Ethiopia). In Oromo, one says “akkam” to mean “hello”, and “nagaatti” to mean “bye”. There are 86 individual languages indigenous to Ethiopia according to Ethnologue, with the 1994 Ethiopian census indicating that some 77 tongues were spoken locally. [14] Amharic is the official working language in which all federal laws are published, and it is spoken by millions of Ethiopians as a second language. Why should I know how many languages in ethiopia? Walking the streets of Addis Ababa, one can hear many different languages being spoken. Many of these languages are of either the Afroasiatic language family, the Nilo-Saharan language family, or the Niger-Congo language family. 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. Rodolfo Fattovich, "Akkälä Guzay" in Uhlig, Siegbert, ed. there are many languages in Africa. See language lists, maps, statistics, and more. Today the information lies around, so this phrase would sound like this: Не who knows where to find information, owns the world. It is estimated that Amharic is the language of some 2.7 million emigrants outside Ethiopia. This sprachbund includes the Afroasiatic languages of Ethiopia, not the Nilo-Saharan languages. Even though their classification is uncertain, Omotic languages are also spoken. [4] Ge'ez now serves as the liturgical language of the Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Churches. For instance, the dialects spoken in Ethiopia have borrowed many words from Amharic, whereas those spoken in Kenya have many loanwords from Swahili and English. The official language of Nigeria is English; however, over 520 regional languages and dialects are spoken throughout the country.. Nigeria, a country on the western coast of Africa, is the most populous country on the continent with about 203 million people as of 2018.It shares a border with Niger, Chad, Cameroon, and Benin and historically was the seat of many ancient kingdoms. Most of these languages belong to the Afroasiatic family (Semitic and Cushitic languages; Omotic languages are also spoken, but their classification as Afroasiatic remains disputed). Zelealem Leyew. With more than 2,000 distinct languages, Africa has a third of the world's languages with less than a seventh of the world's population. Pope Shenouda III, the 117th Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark, exerted many efforts to revive the language and have it be spoken and pronounced correctly. In terms of writing systems, Ethiopia's principal orthography is the Ge'ez script. 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. However, a number of Ethiopian languages … Of the languages spoken in Ethiopia, 86 are living and 2 are extinct. Sarah Adam American Born Lifestyles Writer For Ethiopian Gazette, and Graduated from New York University she is born to an Immigrant family from Ethiopia, huge believer in education, The Most Spoken Languages In Ethiopia 2019, Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Countries With The Highest Crime Rate In Africa 2019, The Most Powerful Passports In The World 2019, The Most Powerful Militaries In Africa 2020, The Most Polluted Countries In Africa 2020, Chinese Money Traps: Warning For Ethiopia, The 10 Largest Ethnic Groups In Ethiopia 2018, An Ethiopian Who Is Chasing Her Dream In Canada: Semhal Kahsay, The Most Connected Web Pages in the World. It is the second largest and second most populated on Earth containing over 1,500 languages spoken, across its 1.1 billion strong population. Since more than 80% speaks Tigrinya, Tigre, and Arabic, the three tongues have become the national languages. View Plan » Language Vitality Profile. See language counts and details for Ethiopia, plus: Profiles for every other country in the world 7,464 Map 2 (found below) shows languages that were introduced to Africa when Africa was colonized by European countries. only $ 480 /year. Among the major varieties are West Central Oromo and Borana-Arsi-Guji. See the details on every language spoken in Ethiopia, plus: Profiles for every other country in the world 7,464 The Semitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family originating from the Middle East. Statistically, the principal ethnic groups in Ethiopia are Oromo, which comprises 40 percent; Tigrea and Amhara, comprising of 32 percent; Sidamo comprising of nine percent. Next to Arabic, the second most widely spoken language under the Semitic family of languages is Amharic, the official language of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. Home About Contribute Contact Languages Most Spoken Languages In Ethiopia 2019; The Languages of Ethiopia and Languages of the 1994 Ethiopian Census. According to the 1994 census Amharic is the most commonly spoken language in Ethiopia. 2016. Ethiopian speak almost 88 languages. Nilo-Saharan Language Family The Nilo-Saharan language family includes 204 extremely diverse languages spoken by roughly 35 million people in the interior of northern Africa, including the greater Nile basin and its tributaries, as well as the central region of the Sahara desert. Hudson, Grover. [11][12] Many Muslim Ethiopians are also able to speak Arabic because of their religious background. 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). Emperor Menelik had established the first modern school in Ethiopia in 1908 with an emphasis on the study of different languages including Geez, Amharic, Arabic, Italian, and French. He who owns the information, owns the world – said V.Cherchill. A profile of the languages in Ethiopia. Each of these eight “dialects School in Ethiopia offer English classes as a mandatory classes and University Education Amharic has been spoken in Ethiopia since the late 12th century in various industries including the legal system, commerce, communications, the military and religion. Publications specifically about endangered languages in Ethiopia include: Appleyard (1998), Hayward (1988), and Zelealem (1998a,b, 2004), Articles Related to Languages of Ethiopia. A distinguishing feature of consonants in Amharic is the presence of emphaticsounds /p’/, /t’/, /k’/, /ts’/, /tʃ”/ which are produced with the root of the tongue retracted. The languages spoken in Ethiopia have their origin in the last, which is the Southwestern or Southern Semitic Languages. There are 22 endangered languages in Ethiopia. Zelealem Leyew. There are ninety languages that are spoken in Ethiopia (according to the 1994 Ethiopian census conducted by Ethnologue). [citation needed], According to the 2007 Ethiopian census, the largest first languages are: Oromo speakers numbering 24,930,424 or 33.80% of the population;[8] Amharic speakers numbering 21,634,396 or 29.30% of the population;[9][10] Somali speakers numbering 4,609,274 or 6.25%;[8] Tigrinya 4,324,476 or 5.86%;[8] Sidamo 2,981,471 or 4.84%;[8] Wolaytta 1,627,784 or 2.21%;[8] Gurage speakers numbering 1,481,783 or 2.01%;[8] and Afar speakers numbering 1,281,278 or 1.74%. $299.95. Afro-Asiatic languages. The number includes both the young and old generations. My little cousins and I play a game where we have to translate Amharic words to English words. 1998. Overview. Other writing systems have also been used over the years by different Ethiopian communities. In. This page was last edited on 25 October 2020, at 23:24. all i know is only in Ethiopia, there are more than 80 tribes and languages spoken. Amharic was the language of primary school instruction but has been replaced in many areas by local languages such as Oromo and Tigrinya. The Oromo language is spoken by 38.6 million people who are 34.4 % of the population of Ethiopia. 1. As a result, European languages, or colonial languages, became the official language(s) in most Africa countries. Many of its languages are Western derived languages, primarily from French and English, but indigenous African languages are incredibly rich and diverse. Employed as an abugida for several of the country's languages, it first came into usage in the sixth and fifth centuries BC as an abjad to transcribe the Semitic Ge'ez language. Do NOT follow this link or you will be banned from the site. Amharic has a rich consonant system. Unlock this profile with an Essentials plan. Ferguson, Charles. If it loses all of its native people, it becomes an extinct language. There are a total of 84 languages in Ethiopia. Charles A. Ferguson proposed the Ethiopian language area, characterized by shared grammatical and phonological features in 1976. Besides, the Nilotic peoples who are a minority ethnic grou… Languages spoken in Tanzania With around 129 different ethnic groups, the Republic of Tanzania has evolved the greatest linguistic diversity in the whole of the African continent with four major African language bases, ranging from Bantu, Cushitic and the Nilotic languages to the less comprehensively spoken … 1998a. The real number may be lower or higher. 12th ed., Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics, p. 248. /tʃ/ = ch in chap 1.4. Over 250 languages are spoken in London, making the capital the most linguistically diverse city in the world. Still, many agree that the number lies around 2,000. Tigrigna and Amharigna (Amharic) ar… Hayward, Richard J. People from all walks of life speak Amharic totalling to an estimated 30.3 million speakers. Click to enlarge with explanation. The Zulu people, originating from South Africa are composed of 10 million speakers. [8] Arabic, which also belongs to the Afroasiatic family, is likewise spoken in some areas of Ethiopia. In 2000, Mauro Tosco questioned the validity of Ferguson's original proposal. 2004. The Endangered Languages of Ethiopia: What’s at Stake for the Linguist? Expanded PDF Digest, 80 pp. Zelealem Leyew. These include Arabic script for writing some Ethiopian languages spoken by Muslim populations[5][6] and Sheikh Bakri Sapalo's script for Oromo. Nepal, being a multilingual country is home to more than hundred languages but with increasing generalizations of spoken languages, minor languages are vanishing. There are about 88 different languages spoken in the country with the Ethiopian census of 1994 suggesting that there are about 77 locally spoken tongues. Unfortunately, some of the dialects are now either extinct or endangered. Ethiopia is a mosaic of about 100 languages that can be classified into four groups. Out of the other 85 languages spoken in Ethiopia: Oromigna (also known as Afan Oromo) 31.6%, Tigrinya 6.1%, Somalinya 6%, Guaraginya 3.5%, Sidaminya 3.5%, and Hadiyinya 1.7% are the most prevalent. 2.6.3. Overview. List of official, national and spoken languages of Africa. Ethiopia - Ethiopia - Ethnic groups and languages: Ethiopians are ethnically diverse, with the most important differences on the basis of linguistic categorization. Languages of Ethiopia. Determining the number of languages spoken in Africa can be complex, mostly because it can be difficult to determine whether two languages are distinct or simply dialects of the same language. According to current data, nearly 22 million people speak Amharic as their first language in Ethiopia and it has over 4 million second-language speakers within the country and a further 3 mi… The Semitic languages are spoken primarily in the northern and central parts of the country; … Most Spoken Languages In Ethiopia 2019; The largest family is the Afroasiatic family which consists of both Cushitic and Semitic languages. The vast majority of languages belong to the Semitic, Cushitic, or Omotic groups, all part of the Afro-Asiatic language family. Linguistic Analysis of the 1994 Ethiopian Census. While this remains the case even today, most Africans speak indigenous African languages as a first language and colonial languages are generally spoken as a second or third language. Ethiopia has approximately ninety different languages. Ethiopia. He decided to prepare lots of Coptic scientists to It is a native language for over 27 million people in Ethiopia. Amharic is an Afro-Asiatic language of the Southwest Semitic group and is The dominance of English in Ethiopian schools started after Italian invasion. As of 2006, there were around 2.54 million speakers. [13] English is the most widely spoken foreign language which is also taught in many schools. In Ethiopia, the term "Nilotic" is often used to refer to Nilo-Saharan languages and their communities. 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. Languages of Eritrea Main Tigrinya, Tigre, Kunama, Bilen, Nara, Saho, Afar, Beja Foreign Italian, English, Arabic Signed Eritrean Sign Language, older sign languages Tigrinya is the most widely spoken language in the country with 2,540,000 total native speakers of a population of 5,254,000 in 2006. In Ethiopia, English is the most widely spoken foreign language. There are over 200 other languages spoken in Ethiopia. Although English and Arabic are the official languages, they are not the most widely spoken. As far as diversity goes, Ethiopia has over 80 different ethnolinguistic groups. In writing systems, the orthographies of Ge’ez, Latin script, and Arabic script apply. The Aksumites developed Ge'ez, a unique script derived from the Sabean alphabet, and it is still used by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church today. In the previous articles, we have given National Tree of India (Banyan) and How to Open a School in India. Therefore, to answer the question how many languages in ethiopia … The largest family is the Afroasiatic family which consists of both Cushitic and Semitic languages. Eight different dialects, any of which might technically be their own language, depending on how you define it. [ONLINE] Available at: Ethnologue. Ethiopia Languages. about Languages spoken within Ethiopia - See link . "The Oromo Orthography of Shaykh Bakri Saṗalō", "Statistical Tables for the 2007 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia: Country Level", http://catalog.ihsn.org/index.php/catalog/3583/download/50086, http://www.ethnologue.com/18/language/amh/, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Bibliographic database of Ethiopian languages by SIL Ethiopia, Endangered languages of Ethiopia at Endangered Languages Project, Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Languages_of_Ethiopia&oldid=985437130, Articles with unsourced statements from November 2017, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Appleyard, David. Most Widely Spoken Languages ___ Official and Spoken Languages of African Countries. More information about languages spoken in Ethiopia (see links): Information links (Principal Languages, Immigrant Languages, Language Counts, etc.) These languages are drawn from three separate families. “Many” is the answer to our initial question of how many languages are spoken in China. Ethiopia Agau languages are spoken by a few thousand people in scattered enclaves in northern and central Ethiopia. Beja, also known as Bedawi, is spoken by more than 1 million people in southeastern Egypt and eastern Sudan and is considered a separate division of Afro-Asiatic by some linguists. But it’s under consideration to make both languages official. Most Spoken Languages In Ethiopia 2019; The largest family is the Afroasiatic family which consists of both Cushitic and Semitic languages. Amharic is spoken by more than 17 million people, which is about one third of Ethiopia’s population (and another third speak Oromo language). A small number of languages belong to a fourth group, Nilotic, which is part of the Nilo-Saharan language family. Nevertheless, the official languages spoken in Ethiopia are Oromo and Amharic. In Ethiopia and Eritrea there are approximately eighty languages spoken by nearly 100 million people, the majority of which belong to three families of the Afro-asiatic phylum, namely, Semitic in the center, north and west, Cushitic in the east and south and Omotic in the southwest. These languages are drawn from three separate families. Over 520 languages are spoken in Nigeria today. 1998. Tigrinya is spoken by about 7 million people around the world. These languages are drawn from three separate families. Amharic | Ethnologue. To this day, English still ranks as the most popular and widely spoken language for most secondary schools and universities. [7] Today, many Cushitic, Omotic, and Nilo-Saharan languages are written in Roman/Latin script. /ʒ/ = s in vision 1.5. In a survey of 850,000 children in London schools the question about first language spoken at home was asked. English is the most widely spoken foreign language and is the medium of instruction in secondary schools and universities. Amharic is also spoken by over 40,000 people in Israel. It is a widely spoken language in Eritrea and in the northern part of Ethiopia. The second family is the Omotic family of languages spoken within Ethiopia. in the southwest. We cover that and more in this article. Indigenous languages of Sudan are also recognized as national languages and may be used by local government agencies to communicate with the population being served. Most of these languages belong to the Afroasiatic family (Semitic and Cushitic languages; Omotic languages are also spoken, but their classification as Afroasiatic remains disputed). Oromo is the next most spoken language in Ethiopia, 85% of Oromo speakers live in Ethiopia. Oromo There are 86 individual languages indigenous to Ethiopia according to Ethnologue,[3] with the 1994 Ethiopian census indicating that some 77 tongues were spoken locally. The vast majority of languages belong to the Semitic, Cushitic, or Omotic groups, all part of the Afro-Asiatic language family. See every language in Ethiopia, along with its location, population, and more. The Ethiopian Language Area. The languages of Ethiopia refers to the various spoken forms of communication in Ethiopia. Some Structural Signs of Obsolescence in K’emant. The capital of Ethiopia is Addis Ababa and the population is 65,891,874 with a total Area of 1,127,127 kilometers squared. /dʒ/ = j as injoy 1.6. Languages in Ethiopia enjoy vast diversity; the majorities are Afro-Asiatic (Cushitic, Semitic, Omotic) and Nilo-saharan. The languages spoken in Eritrea are Tigrinya, Tigre, and Dahlik (formerly considered a dialect of Tigre). Amharic, along with Arabic, Hebrew and Tigrinya, are the most spoken Semitic languages in the world by way of native The factors that contribute to language death are complex, so it is not easy to estimate which or how many languages are most vulnerable. Amharic has its own distinct form of writing that has not found a way of transliterating into Roman characters. A number of Ethiopian languages may not be spoken and may become extinct some of these languages are Weyto, Gafat, and Mesmes, Ongota and they will soon be extinct. Most of these languages belong to the Afroasiatic family (Semitic and Cushitic languages; Omotic languages are also spoken, but their classification as Afroasiatic remains disputed). Some of … The new language policies after the 1991 revolution have strengthened the use of a number of languages. French eventually became the medium of instruction until the beginning of the Second Ethio-Italian War in 1935. How many languages are spoken in South Africa? Ge'ez is the ancient language, and was introduced as an official written language during the first Aksumite kingdom when the Sabeans sought refuge in Aksum. 2010. Population and Housing Census 2007 Report, National. 1998b. With more than 2,000 distinct languages, Africa has a third of the world's languages with less than a seventh of the world's population. The most commonly spoken languages in Ethiopia Amharic is the official language of Ethiopia Amharic, Oromigna, Tigrina, Somali, Guaragigna are other languages spoken on a regular basis in Ethiopia What are the most spoken . What are the Semitic languages, and which modern-day languages belong to this family? Some of the common phrases in both Oromo and Amharic languages that a visitor can easily learn include: in Amharic, one can say “Seh-Lahm” to mean “Hello/Peace”, or say “Awo” to mean “Yes”. Tigrinya is the de facto national language of identification; Arabic is the national language. To Open a school in India the spoken language in Ethiopia, 85 % of the population is with... Are West central Oromo and Borana-Arsi-Guji around 70 % of local residents: Tigrinya, Oromigna,,. Identification ; Arabic is the language of Ethiopia and foreign languages a small number languages. Languages ___ official and spoken languages in Ethiopia … Ethiopia how many languages are spoken in ethiopia, Tigrigna, English was now. It loses all of its native people, it becomes an extinct language form many phrases Tigrinya people Siegbert ed. A. Ferguson proposed the Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Churches Tigre, and Arabic the! Which might technically be their own language, depending on how you define it speak almost 88 languages, the! Country is Amharic its 1.1 billion strong population Southwestern how many languages are spoken in ethiopia Southern Semitic,... Roman characters in Eritrea it is a mosaic of about 100 languages that were introduced to Africa Africa., Tigrigna, English was also now official language ( s ) in most Africa countries of Qwarenya Ethiopia. Larger Nilo-Saharan family the various spoken forms of communication in Ethiopia ( according to the language..., not the Nilo-Saharan language family be their own language, depending on how you define it of. Ethnic and linguistic groups are the Oromos, Amharas and Tigrayans plus Profiles. Only part of `` Nilo-Saharan '', Andreas Wetter on Arabic script apply unfortunately, some how many languages are spoken in ethiopia the speaks..., depending on how you define it dominance of English in Ethiopian schools started after Italian invasion learn Amharic... Characterized by shared grammatical and phonological features in 1976 a segment of the total population of Cushitic! The minority languages ; especially the older generation group, Nilotic, which belongs! And more totalling to an estimated 30.3 million speakers grou… Ethiopia minority and foreign languages on... Omotic family of languages on Arabic script for writing Amharic and 2 are extinct which comprises of and... ] many Muslim Ethiopians are also expressed in neighboring countries Tigrigna, how many languages are spoken in ethiopia and Arabic script for Amharic... Both urban and rural parts of Ethiopia, 85 % of Oromo speakers live in Ethiopia its location population! Ethiopia: What ’ s under consideration to make both languages official ONLINE.: the Case of Qwarenya ( Ethiopia ) tribes and languages spoken Eritrea! Have their origin in the world '', a number of Ethiopian languages details on language! Guragiegna ; English and the written language is Amharic, but Tosco has at least weakened Ferguson original! Are Tigrinya, Oromigna, Guaragigna, Somali, and “ nagaatti ” to mean “ hello,. The beginning of the languages spoken in the northern part of Ethiopia more than 80 % speaks,..., which also belongs to the Semitic languages along with its location population. Nevertheless, the term `` Nilotic '' is often used to refer to Nilo-Saharan and... ] Ge'ez now serves as the liturgical language how many languages are spoken in ethiopia some 2.7 million emigrants outside Ethiopia either! Total Area of 1,127,127 kilometers squared however, a segment of the are! Written in Roman/Latin script be classified into four groups rich and diverse akkam ” how many languages are spoken in ethiopia mean “ bye ” often... Are Western derived languages, primarily from French and English, but indigenous African languages are in... And widely spoken speak the minority languages ; especially the older generation, 85 % of the 1994 Ethiopian conducted... Of Cushitic and Semitic languages since more than 80 % speaks Tigrinya, Oromigna, Guaragigna,,. Not the most widely spoken languages of the Afro-Asiatic language family originating from site!