Argobba language

Argobba language

‘’‘Argobba’’’ (native name: ‘‘Argobigna’’ or ‘‘Argobba’’) is an Ethiopian Semitic language spoken in scattered communities in the Afar, Amhara, and Oromia regions of Ethiopia by the Argobba people. It belongs to the South Ethiopic subgroup of the Afroasiatic language family and is closely related to Amharic, with which it shares significant lexical and grammatical similarities. The language is considered endangered, as many speakers have shifted to Amharic, Oromo, or Afar for economic and social reasons.

## History

Argobba is spoken by the Argobba, a Muslim ethnic group historically associated with trade and early Islamic sultanates in the Horn of Africa, such as the Sultanate of Ifat and Adal. The language diverged from Amharic likely after the 9th century due to religious and geographic factors. Historical pressures, including conflicts, migrations (e.g., Oromo expansions), and assimilation policies, have contributed to its decline. In the mid-20th century, scholars noted it was rapidly disappearing in favor of Amharic, with only elderly speakers remaining fluent in some areas.

## Classification

Argobba is part of the Transversal South Ethiopic branch, alongside Amharic and Harari. It is not a dialect of Amharic but a distinct language, though mutual intelligibility with Amharic is high in some varieties (lexical similarity around 75–84%).

## Geographic distribution

Speakers are found in isolated villages northeast of Addis Ababa, including areas like Ankober, Shewa Robit, Shonke, Tollaha, and parts of the Harari Region. Dialectal variations exist, with some communities shifting entirely to neighboring languages.

## Phonology

Argobba has 25–26 consonant phonemes (varying by dialect) and typically five vowels. It features ejective consonants common in Ethiopian Semitic languages. Syllable structures include V, VC, CV, CVC, and CVCC.

## Grammar

Argobba is agglutinative, using prefixes and suffixes for inflection. Verbs are conjugated in perfective, imperfective, jussive, and converb forms. Nouns distinguish singular, plural, and transnumeral forms, with definite markers.

## Writing system

Argobba is traditionally written using a variant of the Ge’ez script (Ethiopic abugida), though literacy is low, and most documentation uses Latin transcription.

## Status and revitalization

Classified as endangered (EGIDS level varies by community), Argobba faces shift among younger generations. Efforts include documentation by linguists like Wolf Leslau and Girma Awgichew Demeke, as well as community projects for dictionaries and revitalization.

## References

•  Leslau, Wolf. (1997). ‘‘Ethiopic Documents: Argobba. Grammar and Dictionary’’.

•  Demeke, Girma Awgichew. Works on Argobba varieties.

•  Ethnologue: Languages of the World (Argobba entry).

•  Wikipedia sources on Argobba language and people (as of 2025).

This is a neutral, encyclopedic draft you can copy and adapt for a Wikipedia page or similar use. Note that Wikipedia has strict rules on notability and requires reliable published sources for new articles—Argobba already has a page under “Argobba language” (sometimes spelled “Argobba”), so this could serve as expansion material if needed. If “Abgobba” is meant as a variant spelling, it aligns with the same language.
 orange (EGIDS 6b):

## Infobox (language)

- **name**: Argobba
- **nativename**: Argobigna
- **states**: Ethiopia
- **region**: Afar, Amhara, Oromia regions
- **ethnicity**: Argobba people
- **speakers**: Approximately 40,000–200,000 ethnic Argobba, but far fewer fluent speakers (estimates vary; many are bilingual)
- **date**: Recent estimates (2020s)
- **familycolor**: Afro-Asiatic
- **fam2**: Semitic languages, Semitic
- **fam3**: West Semitic languages, West Semitic
- **fam4**: South Semitic languages, South Semitic
- **fam5**: Ethiopian Semitic languages, Ethiopian Semitic
- **fam6**: South Ethiopic
- **script**: Ge’ez script (Ethiopic script; traditionally adapted)
- **iso3**: agj
- **glotto**: argo1244
- **glottorefname**: Argobba


## Infobox (language)

- **name**: Argobba
- **states**: Ethiopia
- **ethnicity**: Argobba people
- **speakers**: fifty thousand
- **date**: twenty twenty-five
- **familycolor**: Afro-Asiatic
- **fam2**: Semitic
- **fam3**: South Semitic
- **fam4**: Ethiopian Semitic
- **fam5**: South Ethiopic
- **iso3**: agj
- **glotto**: argo1244
- **glottorefname**: Argobba
- **status**: 6a