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The Omotic languages are a branch of the Afro-Asiatic family spoken in southwestern Ethiopia
Ethiopia

Ethiopia , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country situated in the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia is bordered by Eritrea to the north, Sudan to the west, Kenya to the south, Somalia to the east and Djibouti to the northeast....
. The Ge'ez alphabet
Ge'ez alphabet

Ge'ez , also called Ethiopic, is an abugida script that was originally developed to write Ge'ez language, a Semitic languages. In communities that use it, such as the Amharic language and Tigrinya language, the script is called , which means "script" or "alphabet"....
 is used to write some Omotic languages, the Roman alphabet for some others. They are fairly agglutinative, and have complex tonal systems (see Bench language
Bench language

Bench is a Northern Omotic languages language of the "Gimojan" subgroup, spoken by about 174,000 people in the Bench Maji Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region, in southern Ethiopia, around the towns of Mizan Teferi and Shewa Gimira....
).

Omotic Languages include:



The North and South Omotic branches ("Nomotic" and "Somotic") are universally recognized.






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The Omotic languages are a branch of the Afro-Asiatic family spoken in southwestern Ethiopia
Ethiopia

Ethiopia , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country situated in the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia is bordered by Eritrea to the north, Sudan to the west, Kenya to the south, Somalia to the east and Djibouti to the northeast....
. The Ge'ez alphabet
Ge'ez alphabet

Ge'ez , also called Ethiopic, is an abugida script that was originally developed to write Ge'ez language, a Semitic languages. In communities that use it, such as the Amharic language and Tigrinya language, the script is called , which means "script" or "alphabet"....
 is used to write some Omotic languages, the Roman alphabet for some others. They are fairly agglutinative, and have complex tonal systems (see Bench language
Bench language

Bench is a Northern Omotic languages language of the "Gimojan" subgroup, spoken by about 174,000 people in the Bench Maji Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region, in southern Ethiopia, around the towns of Mizan Teferi and Shewa Gimira....
).

Language List

The Omotic Languages include:

Anfillo
Ari (Aari)
Bambassi (Bambeshi)
Basketto
Bench (Gimira)
Boro (Shinasha)
Chara (C’ara)		 Dime
Dizzi
Dorze
Gamo-Gofa
Ganza
Hammer-Banna
Hozo		 Kachama-Ganjule
Kara
Kefa
Kore
Male
Melo
Nayi (Na’o)		 Oyda (Oyta)
Shakacho (Mocha)
Sheko (Shako)
Wolaytta (Welamo)
Yemsa (Yem, Janjero)
Zayse-Zergulla


The North and South Omotic branches ("Nomotic" and "Somotic") are universally recognized. The primary debate is over the placement of the Mao languages. Bender
Lionel Bender

Lionel Bender may refer to:*Lionel Bender , American author and co-author of several books, publications and essays regarding African languages...
 (2000) classifies Omotic as follows:
  • South Omotic/Aroid (Hamer–Banna
    Hamer-Banna language

    Hamer or Hamer-Banna is an Omotic languages language of the Afro-Asiatic languages. It is spoken primarily in the southern part of Ethiopia by the Hamer people....
    , Aari
    Aari language

    Aari is an Omotic languages language of Ethiopia. The speakers of this language are also known as Shankilla , a name which is considered derogatory....
    , Dime
    Dime language

    Dime is an Afro-Asiatic languages language spoken in the northern part of the Selamago district in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region of Ethiopia....
    , Karo
    Karo language

    Karo is an Omotic languages language spoken in the Debub Omo Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region in Ethiopia. Karo is described as being closely related to its neighbors, Hamer language and Banna language, with a lexical similarity of 81%....
    )
  • North Omotic/Non-Aroid
    • Mao
      • Bambassi
        Bambassi language

        Bambassi is an Afro-Asiatic languages language spoken in Ethiopia around Bambesi town in the area east of Asosa in Benishangul-Gumuz Region . The language is also called Bambeshi, Siggoyo, Amam, Fadiro, Northern Mao, Didessa....
      • West Mao (Hozo
        Hozo language

        Hozo is an Afro-Asiatic languages language spoken in Ethiopia near Begi, Ethiopia in the area south of Asosa of the Benishangul-Gumuz Region. The language is also called Begi-Mao....
        , Sezo, Ganza)
    • Dizoid (Dizi, Sheko
      Sheko language

      Sheko is an Omotic language of the Afro-Asiatic languages language family spoken in the area between Tepi and Mizan Teferi in western Ethiopia, in the Sheko district in the Bench Maji Zone....
      , Nayi
      Nayi language

      Nayi is an Omotic language of the Afro-Asiatic languages language family spoken in western Ethiopia. The 1998 census listed 3,656 speakers, with 1,137 identified as monolinguals....
      )
    • Gonga-Gimojan
      Gonga-Gimojan languages

      The Gonga-Gimojan or Ta-Ne languages belong to the Afro-Asiatic languages family and are commonly spoken in Ethiopia. ...
      • Gonga/Kefoid (Boro
        Boro language (Ethiopia)

        Boro is a North Omotic languages language spoken in western Ethiopia. Its speakers live in scattered areas north of the Abay River: in the Dangur, Dibate and Wenbera districts, which are parts of the Benishangul-Gumuz Region....
        , Anfillo
        Anfillo language

        Anfillo is a Northern Omotic languages language spoken in western Ethiopia by a few hundred people. The term Anfillo is used to refer both to the language and the people found in a small community in the Anfillo woreda, part of the Mirab Welega Zone....
        , Kafa
        Kafa language

        Kaffa is an Afro-Asiatic languages language spoken in Ethiopia around Bonga in the Keficho Shekicho Zone. The language is also called Kaficho, Kefa, Keffa, Kaffa, Caffino, Manjo....
        , Shekkacho)
      • Gimojan
        • Yemsa (Fuga lect perhaps a separate language)
        • Ometo-Gimira
          • Bench
            Bench language

            Bench is a Northern Omotic languages language of the "Gimojan" subgroup, spoken by about 174,000 people in the Bench Maji Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region, in southern Ethiopia, around the towns of Mizan Teferi and Shewa Gimira....
          • Chara
            Chara language

            Chara is an Afro-Asiatic languages language of the North Omotic languages variety spoken in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region of Ethiopia by more than 6,000 people....
          • Ometo languages


Apart from terminology, this differs from Fleming
Harold C. Fleming

Harold C. Fleming is an anthropology and historical linguistics. As an adherent of the Anthropology#The "four field" approach of American anthropology he stresses the integration of biological anthropology, linguistics, archaeology, and cultural anthropology in solving anthropological problems....
 (1976) in including the Mao languages, whose affiliation had originally been controversial, and in abolishing the "Gimojan" group. There are also differences in the subclassification of Ometo, which is not covered here.

Hayward (2003) separates out the Mao languages as a third branch of Omotic, and breaks up Ometo-Gimira:

  • South Omotic
  • Mao
  • North Omotic
    • Dizoid
    • Ta-Ne languages
      • Gonga
      • Gimojan
        • Yemsa
        • Bench
        • Ometo-Chara


Classification

Omotic is generally considered the most divergent branch of the Afro-Asiatic languages
Afro-Asiatic languages

The Afro-Asiatic languages constitute a language family with about 375 living languages and more than 300 million speakers spread throughout North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and Southwest Asia ....
. Greenberg (1963) had classified it as the Western branch of Cushitic
Cushitic languages

The Cushitic languages are a branch of the Afro-Asiatic languages language family spoken in the Horn of Africa. They are named after the Biblical figure Cush by analogy with Shem being the eponym origin of Semitic languages....
. Fleming (1969) argued that it should instead be classified as an independent branch of Afro-Asiatic, a view which Bender (1971) established to most linguists' satisfaction, though a few linguists maintain the West Cushitic position. Blench (2006) notes that Omotic shares honey-related vocabulary with the rest of Afro-Asiatic, but not cattle-related vocabulary, suggesting that the split occurred before the advent of pastoralism
Pastoralism

File:Nomadic Camping .jpgPastoralism or pastoral farming is the branch of agriculture concerned with the raising of livestock. It is animal husbandry: the care, tending and use of animals such as camels, goats, cattle, yaks, llamas, sheep, and so forth....
. A few scholars have raised doubts that the Omotic languages are part of the Afro-Asiatic language family at all, and Theil (2006) proposes that Omotic be treated as an independent family. However, the general consensus, based primarily on morphological evidence, is that membership in Afro-Asiatic is well established.

Sources cited

  • Bender, M. Lionel. 2000. Comparative Morphology of the Omotic Languages. Munich: LINCOM.
  • Fleming, Harold. 1976. Omotic overview. In The Non-Semitic Languages of Ethiopia, ed. by M. Lionel Bender, pp. 299-323. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University.
  • Newman, Paul. 1980. The classification of Chadic within Afroasiatic. Universitaire Pers Leiden.


General Omotic bibliography

  • Bender, M. L.
    Lionel Bender

    Lionel Bender may refer to:*Lionel Bender , American author and co-author of several books, publications and essays regarding African languages...
     1975. Omotic: a new Afroasiatic language family. (University Museum Series, 3.) Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University.
  • Blench, Roger. 2006. Archaeology, Language, and the African Past. AltaMira Press
  • Hayward, Richard J., ed. 1990. Omotic Language Studies. London: School of Oriental and African Studies.
  • Hayward, Richard J. 2003. Omotic: the "empty quarter" of Afroasiatic linguistics. In Research in Afroasiatic Grammar II: selected papers from the fifth conference on Afroasiatic languages, Paris 2000, ed. by Jacqueline Lecarme, pp. 241-261. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
  • Lamberti, Marcello. 1991. Cushitic and its classification. Anthropos 86(4/6):552-561.
  • Zaborski, Andrzej. 1986. Can Omotic be reclassified as West Cushitic? In Gideon Goldenberg, ed., Ethiopian Studies: Proceedings of the 6th International Conference, pp. 525-530. Rotterdam: Balkema.


See also

  • Languages of Ethiopia
    Languages of Ethiopia

    Ethiopia has many indigenous languages ), most of them Afro-Asiatic , plus some that are Nilo-Saharan.Charles Ferguson proposed the Ethiopian Language Area, characterized by shared grammatical and phonological features ....


External links

  • by Rolf Theil