Languages in ethiopia pdf

Ethiopian languages ethiopian heritage society in north. Each individual language that has an entry for ethiopia is included in the profile. The vast majority of languages belong to the semitic, cushitic, or omotic groups, all part of the afroasiatic language family. These are semitic, cushitic, omotic, and nilosaharan. Ethiopia, even though it survives as the main language of the ethiopian orthodox church. Jul 27, 2017 this video is about amharic a semitic language related to arabic, hebrew, and others. Although the blue nile is much shorter than the white nile, it contributes about 80% of the flow of the river. Ethiopic writing system is syllabic and is one of the greatest cultural accomplishments of ethiopians.

And this paper mainly shows how and when foreign languages are introduced into ethiopia following the footsteps of the. I recently lived in the oromo region for 2 years, and i wish i had this. Media in category languages of ethiopia the following 8 files are in this category, out of 8 total. More than 80 languages and 200 dialects are spoken throughout the country. An enjoyable and easy to use book that facilitates learning afan oromo, one of the most widely used languages in ethiopia.

This video is about amharic a semitic language related to arabic, hebrew, and others. Thanks to the discovery of the hominid fossil lucy, ethiopia is much touted as the cradle of humanity. The article as it was prepared for a special occasion where. The oromo moved north through the southern highlands, bypasssing the sidama on the west, and into the central highlands, where they settled in the center and west on land, some. Library of congress federal research division country profile. Amharic is rooted from the ancient language geez geez. The dahlak archipelago is seen off the red sea coast of eritrea. Pdf issues in ethiopian language policy and education. Report submitted on 28 september, 2014 by mike kewer teaching english in addis ababa, ethiopia. Issues in ethiopian language policy and education article pdf available in journal of multilingual and multicultural development october 15. The impact of language policy and practice on childrens learning argues that improved evidence, networking, southtosouth learning and advocacy are going to be crucial to create a focus on mothertongue education environments. The impact of language policy and practice on childrens learning. The nonsemitic languages of ethiopia internet archive. Languages of ethiopia download ebook pdf, epub, tuebl, mobi.

The article as it was prepared for a special occasion where detailed analysis was due time and other inconveniences. According to the ethiopian census of 2007, the first languages and the largest are the oromo with about 24,930,424 of the population speaking the language which is equivalent to 33. Ugo zanetti languages in ethiopia a nd in t h e h or n o f africa it is often heard that the horn of africa is a paradise for linguists. Pdf this study has explored the working language choice of prospective graduate students in some selected public universities of ethiopia. The languages of ethiopia refers to the various spoken forms of communication in ethiopia. It is between murle and majang culturally and linguistically bender 1983. Sep 21, 2015 the four most spoken languages in ethiopia are.

Teaching english in ethiopia addis ababa teach english. It is a dialect continuum, or a spectrum of dialects that are spoken across a region. The most notable paleoanthropological find in the country was lucy, a female australopithicus afarensis discovered in 1974 and referred to as dinqnesh you. Ethiosemitic languages, the semitic languages of ethiopia and eritrea, including ge. The largest ethnic and linguistic groups are the oromos, amharas and tigrayans.

The constitution consists of 106 articles in 11 chapters. Besides, in the west and southwest, a number of languages belong to various families of the nilo. Although geez is ceased to be spoken popularly sometime between 900 and 1200 ad, it continues as a language of ethiopian church. Click download or read online button to get languages of ethiopia book now. This site is like a library, use search box in the widget to get ebook that you want. Other languages in ethiopia are spoken in rural areas throughout ethiopia.

Amharic is also spoken by 40,000 people in israel as well as people in egypt and sweden. To this day, english still ranks as the most popular and widely spoken language for most secondary schools and universities. The endangered languages project is a collaborative online platform for sharing knowledge and resources for endangered languages. As part of the land of punt, the people here enjoyed trade with the ancient egyptians some 5,000 years ago and then, around 3,500 years ago, ethiopias first great civilisation arose. Ethiopian semitic also ethiosemitic, ethiosemitic, ethiopic or abyssinian is a family of languages spoken in ethiopia, eritrea and sudan. Abstract ethiopia is a country which was never colonised in the era of colonisation when most were. This graph shows the profile of languages in ethiopia with respect to their status of language development versus language endangerment. Among the four language phyla in africa, two of them are. Omotic languages are also spoken, but their classification as afroasiatic remains disputed. Learn about the rich history, language and culture in ethiopia. The most widely spoken language in ethiopia is oromo. The semitic languages are spoken in northern, central and eastern ethiopia mainly in tigray, amhara, harar and northern part of the southern peoples state regions.

The most widely spoken language in ethiopia is oromo, which around 33. Primary schools are taught in amharic and other local languages. Geez is the ancient language, and was introduced as an official written language during the first aksumite kingdom when the sabeans sought refuge in aksum. Ethiopian languages semitic, cushitic, omotic and nilo. The report provides a critical evidence base for responding to the changing development context. The current constitution of ethiopia, which is the supreme law of the federal democratic republic of ethiopia, came into force on 21 august 1995. Of the other 85 languages spoken in ethiopia the following are most prevalent. About the constitution of the federal democratic republic of ethiopia. The 1 official language of ethiopia is amharic, spoken by about 30% of the population. There are 86 individual languages indigenous to ethiopia according to ethnologue, with the 1994 ethiopian census indicating that some 77 tongues were spoken locally. Most of these languages belong to the afroasiatic family semitic and cushitic languages. Choosing a working language in multiethnic nations. Other foreign languages in ethiopia include arabic and.

They form the western branch of the south semitic languages, itself a subbranch of semitic, part of the afroasiatic language family. The official national language of ethiopia is amharic, but 87 other languages are spoken in the country. I put ethiopia in my choices to make up the 10 options and it was the only job offer that. How can teachers find teaching jobs in addis ababa, ethiopia. Amharic also known as amarinya, amarigna is a semitic language spoken in ethiopia. Geez was the official language of ethiopia before amharic. View nilosaharan languages of ethiopia, opuuo research papers on academia. Currently already 25 of the 84 languages spoken in ethiopia are told to be used as media of instruction in the primary education. Amharic, one of the principal languages of modern ethiopia. Youll receive credits toward complimentary access to ethnologue for every contribution that is vetted and accepted.

Ethiopia is a mosaic of about 100 languages that can be classified into four groups. So one of its indigenous languages, amharic, has maintained the. Ethiopia has 83 different languages with up to 200 different dialects spoken. If so, we invite you to join our contributor program. According to the constitution of 1994, amharic is the official language of the country, however, the constitution also directs that all ethiopian languages.

The beginning of the modern education and the introduction of the foreign languages in ethiopia are the two faces of a single coin. There are over 83 languages spoken in the country with 200 dialects. Ethiopia was home to some of the earliest hominid populations and possibly the region where homo erectus evolved and expanded out of africa to populate eurasia 1. Ethiopians are ethnically diverse, with the most important differences on the basis of linguistic categorization.

Nilosaharan languages of ethiopia, opuuo research papers. Other languages spoken in the state are, gamoigna, malo, goffa, gedeo and many others. The book layout is logical and comprehensive allowing readers to quickly acquire vocabulary and phrases for use in conversation with native speakers. Current language policy the path chosen by ethiopias current government with regard to language policy was, and remains, progressive. Profile of language status for ethiopia ethnologue. Ethiopia history, language and culture history of ethiopia. Oromo is an afroasiatic language, specifically part of the cushitic branch of the language family, that is spoken in ethiopia, somalia, and kenya. English is the most widely spoken foreign language. All our expanded pdfs are included with a standard plan. According to the 1994 census result, the predominantly spoken languages include, sidamigna 18%, gruagigna 14. Palmer, university of reading to a large extent, the nonsemitic languages of ethiopia are coextensive with those that were formerly all called cushitic, but have more recently been divided into cushitic and omotic. The current semitic languages of ethiopia, namely, amharic, tigrinya, guragigna, harari, and argoba are the descendants of the geez language. Pdf on sep 1, 2006, getachew anteneh and others published language policy in ethiopia.

Pdf language policies and the role of english in ethiopia 1. The influence of cushitic on the semitic languages of. There is no one single national language of ethiopia. Project muse the nonsemitic languages of ethiopia ed. They form the western branch of the south semitic languages, itself a subbranch of semitic, part of the afroasiatic language family amharic, the official working language of federal government of ethiopia and amhara region, has about 21 million speakers. These ethnic groups have their own way of clothing, hair styles, songs, dances and arts ethiopians have unique calendar, and unique alphabet. Ethiopian languages semitic, cushitic, omotic and nilosaharan.

Olam is in southwest ethiopia and on the sudan border. Aug 01, 2017 the most widely spoken languages of ethiopia. Languages of ethiopia project gutenberg selfpublishing. Changes in ethiopias language and education policy. The languages of ethiopia constitute a linguistic area in the sense that they tend to share a number of features which, taken together, distinguish them from any other geographically defined group of. Ethiopia, languages, language policy, amharic, constitution. The new ethiopia is known as a country of mosaic of cultures. The impact of language policy and practice on childrens. Culture of ethiopia history, people, traditions, women. Unlock this profile with an essentials plan see the details on every language spoken in ethiopia, plus. Current language policy the path chosen by ethiopia s current government with regard to language policy was, and remains, progressive. Dialects spoken in neighboring regions are similar, but.