Afroasiatic languages: The Cushitic and Omotic Languages

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Encyclopedia—Afroasiatic languages

The Cushitic and Omotic Languages

The two principal Cushitic languages are Oromo, the tongue of 20 million people in Ethiopia and Kenya, and Somali, spoken by 9 million people in Somalia, Ethiopia, and Djibouti. Among the many other Cushitic languages are Agaw, Bedawi, Burji, Daasanach, Komso, Saho-Afar and Sidamo. Oromo is written in the Ethiopic script (see discussion of writing below); Somali, in the Roman alphabet. The Omotic languages were formerly classified with the Cushitic and are spoken by perhaps 3 million people who live in SW Ethiopia in the Omo River region. Dizi, Gonga, Gimira, Janjero, Kaficho, and Walamo are among the Omotic languages.

Sections in this article:

Introduction
The Egyptian Languages
The Semitic Languages
The Berber Languages
The Cushitic and Omotic Languages
The Chadic Languages
The Role of Semitic Languages in the Development of Writing Systems
Bibliography

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Related content from HighBeam Research on: Afroasiatic languages: The Cushitic and Omotic Languages

Reference Grammar of Amharic. (The Journal of the American Oriental Society)

Sem Cam Iafet: Atti della 7(super a) giornata di studi Camito-Semitici e Indoeuropei (Milano, 1(super o) giugno 1993). (The Journal of the American Oriental Society)

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