Languages of Ethiopia - wikipedia Languages of Ethiopia Languages of Ethiopia Main languages Oromo ( 33.8 % ), Amharic ( 29.3 % ) Main foreign languages English Sign languages several local sign languages The languages of Ethiopia refers to the various spoken forms of communication in Ethiopia. It includes the nation 's official languages, its national and regional languages, as well as its minority and foreign languages. Contents 1 Overview 2 Languages 2.1 Afroasiatic 2.2 Nilo - Saharan 2.3 Unclassified 3 Endangered languages 4 References 5 Further reading 6 External links Overview Distribution of languages of Ethiopia ( 2007 ) Oromo 33.8 % Amharic 29.3 % Other languages 8.1 % Somali 6.2 % Tigrinya 5.9 % Sidamo 2 % Wolaytta 2.2 % Gurage 2 % Afar 1.7 % Hadiyya 1.7 % Gamo 1.5 % Gedeo 1.3 % Kafa 1.1 % There are 88 individual languages of 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 ; Omotic languages are also spoken, though their classification is uncertain ). 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 and spoken in Ethiopia. Of the languages spoken in Ethiopia, 86 are living and 2 are 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. 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. English is the most widely spoken foreign language and is the medium of instruction in secondary schools and universities. Amharic was the language of primary school instruction but has been replaced in many areas by local languages such as Oromo and Tigrinya. 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. 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, it first came into usage in the sixth and fifth centuries BC as an abjad to transcribe the Semitic Ge'ez language. Ge'ez now serves as the liturgical language of the Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo 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 's script for Oromo. Today, many Cushitic, Omotic, and Nilo - Saharan languages are written in Roman / Latin script. Languages According to the 2007 Ethiopian census, the largest first languages are : Amharic 21,634,396 or 29.30 % ; Oromo language 24,930,424 speakers or 33.80 % of the total population Somali 4,609,274 or 6.25 % ; Tigrinya 4,324,476 or 5.86 % Sidamo 2,981,471 or 4.84 % Wolaytta 1,627,784 or 2.21 % ; Gurage 1,481,783 or 2.01 % and Afar 1,281,278 or 1.74 %. Arabic, which also belongs to the Afroasiatic family, is likewise spoken in some areas of Ethiopia. Many Muslim Ethiopians are also able to speak Arabic because of their religious background. English is the most widely spoken foreign language which is also taught in many schools. 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. In most regions it is the primary second language in the school curriculum. Afroasiatic Sign in Amharic at the Ethiopian millennium celebration. Afroasiatic Ethiopian Semitic North Tigrinya language ( also in Eritrea ) Ge'ez language ( extinct, liturgical ) South Transverse Amharic language Argobba language Harari language East Gurage languages Silt'e language ( Ulbareg, Inneqor ) Wolane language Zay language Outersouth North Gurage languages Gafat language ( extinct ) Goggot language Soddo language West Gurage languages Chaha ( Sebat Bet Gurage ) Ezha language Gumer language Gura language Gyeto language Inor language Indegen 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, 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 * ( AA 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 Nilo - Saharan 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 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 ) Unclassified 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 ) 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, 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 ), Zelealem ( 1998a, b, 2004 ) References Jump up ^ `` Ethiopian Constitution ''. Article 5 Ethiopian constitution. APAP. Archived from the original on 4 March 2012. Retrieved 3 December 2011. Jump up ^ `` Country Level ''. 2007 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia. CSA. 13 July 2010. Archived from the original on 14 November 2010. Retrieved 18 January 2013. Jump up ^ `` Africa : : ETHIOPIA ''. CIA The World Factbook. ^ Jump up to : Ethnologue page on Ethiopian languages Jump up ^ Rodolfo Fattovich, `` Akkälä Guzay '' in Uhlig, Siegbert, ed. Encyclopaedia Aethiopica : A-C. Wiesbaden : Otto Harrassowitz KG, 2003, p. 169. Jump up ^ ( Alula Pankurst Pankhurst, 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. Jump up ^ Andreas Wetter on Arabic script for writing Amharic Jump up ^ Hayward and Hassan, `` The Oromo Orthography of Shaykh Bakri Saṗalō '', Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 44 ( 1981 ), p. 551 Jump up ^ Central Statistical Agency. 2010. Population and Housing Census 2007 Report, National. ( ONLINE ) Available at : http://catalog.ihsn.org/index.php/catalog/3583/download/50086. ( Accessed 13 December 2016 ). Jump up ^ Ethnologue. 2016. Amharic Ethnologue. ( ONLINE ) Available at : http://www.ethnologue.com/18/language/amh/. ( Accessed 13 December 2016 ). ^ Jump up to : `` Statistical Tables for the 2007 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia : Country Level ''. Central Statistical Agency. 2007. pp. 91 -- 92. Archived from the original on 2012 - 11 - 13. Retrieved 2011 - 08 - 12. Jump up ^ Yigezu, Moges ( 2012 ). Language Ideologies and Challenges of Multilingual Education in Ethiopia. African Books Collective. p. 143. ISBN 9994455478. Jump up ^ United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees : Ethiopia : Information on whether Arabic is used in the Oromo and Ogaden regions, 1 January 1996, Retrieved 19 November 2017 Jump up ^ Grimes, Barbara F. : `` Languages of the World '', 1992. 12th ed., Dallas : Summer Institute of Linguistics, p. 248. Jump up ^ `` Ethiopia ''. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Further reading 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. ) 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. External links Ethnologue page on Ethiopian languages PanAfriL10n page on Ethiopia Bibliographic database of Ethiopian languages by SIL Ethiopia Endangered languages of Ethiopia at Endangered Languages Project Languages of Ethiopia Official language Amharic Regional languages Semitic Argobba Ge'ez Gurage Harari Inor Mesqan Muher Sebat Bet Gurage Silt'e Soddo Tigrinya Zay Cushitic Afar Alaba Arbore Awngi Baiso Bussa Burji Daasanach Dirasha Gawwada Gedeo Hadiyya Kambaata Konso Libido Oromo Qimant Saho Sidamo Somali Tsamai Xamtanga Omotic Aari Anfillo Bambassi Basketo Bench Boro Chara Dime Dizi Dorze Gamo - Gofa - Dawro Ganza Gayil Hamer - Banna Hozo Kachama - Ganjule Kafa Karo Koorete Maale Melo Nayi Oyda Seze Shekkacho Sheko Wolaytta Yemsa Zayse - Zergulla Nilo - Saharan Anuak Berta Daats'iin Gumuz Kacipo - Balesi Komo Kwama Kwegu Majang Me'en Murle Mursi Nuer Nyangatom Opuuo Shabo Suri Uduk Sign languages Ethiopian sign languages Articles Related to Languages of Ethiopia Ethiopia articles History By topic Constitutional Military Chronology Kingdom of Dʿmt Kingdom of Aksum Zagwe dynasty Kingdom of Kaffa Abyssinian -- Adal War Zemene Mesafint Second Italo - Abyssinian War World War II Derg Civil War Ogaden War Geography Cities Districts Earthquakes Lakes Languages Mountains Rivers Volcanoes Regions Addis Ababa Afar Amhara Benishangul - Gumuz Dire Dawa Gambela Harari Oromia Somali Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples ' Region Tigray Politics Constitution history Foreign aid Foreign relations Political parties President List Prime Minister List Human rights LGBT Ogaden Military History Army of the Empire Air Force National Defense Force Navy Economy Agriculture Banks Birr ( currency ) Companies Energy Foreign aid Industrial development International rankings Land reform Manufacturing Telecommunications Trade unions Transport Society Demographics Education Ethnic groups Flag Health Public holidays Culture Art Cuisine Dishes and foods Literature Media Music Religion Orthodox Tewahedo Church Sport Outline Index Portal Languages of Africa Sovereign states Algeria Angola Benin Botswana Burkina Faso Burundi Cameroon Cape Verde ( Cabo Verde ) Central African Republic Chad Comoros Democratic Republic of the Congo Republic of the Congo Djibouti Egypt Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Ethiopia Gabon The Gambia Ghana Guinea Guinea - Bissau Ivory Coast ( Côte d'Ivoire ) Kenya Lesotho Liberia Libya Madagascar Malawi Mali Mauritania Mauritius Morocco Mozambique Namibia Niger Nigeria Rwanda São Tomé and Príncipe Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Somalia South Africa South Sudan Sudan Swaziland Tanzania Togo Tunisia Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe States with limited recognition Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic Somaliland Dependencies and other territories Canary Islands / Ceuta / Melilla ( Spain ) Madeira ( Portugal ) Mayotte / Réunion ( France ) Saint Helena / Ascension Island / Tristan da Cunha ( United Kingdom ) Western Sahara Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Languages_of_Ethiopia&oldid=855015658 '' Categories : Languages of Ethiopia Hidden categories : All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from November 2017 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Languages አማርኛ বাংলা Brezhoneg Deutsch Esperanto Français Magyar Norsk Norsk nynorsk Русский 3 more Edit links This page was last edited on 15 August 2018, at 10 : 20 ( UTC ). 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Question: language which has an official designation in ethiopia
Answer: Amharic