Ethiopian Semitic (also Ethio-Semitic, Ethiosemitic, Ethiopic or Abyssinian) is a family of languages spoken in Ethiopia,

Eritrea Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia ...

and

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

. They form the western branch of the South Semitic languages, itself a sub-branch of

Semitic Semitic most commonly refers to the Semitic languages, a name used since the 1770s to refer to the language family currently present in West Asia, North and East Africa, and Malta. Semitic may also refer to: Religions * Abrahamic religions ** ...

, part of the

Afroasiatic language family The Afroasiatic languages (or Afro-Asiatic), also known as Hamito-Semitic, or Semito-Hamitic, and sometimes also as Afrasian, Erythraean or Lisramic, are a language family of about 300 languages that are spoken predominantly in the geographic su ...

. With 21,811,600 total speakers as of 2007, including around 4,000,000 second language speakers,

Amharic Amharic ( or ; (Amharic: ), ', ) is an Ethiopian Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amharas, and also serves as a lingua franca for all oth ...

is the most widely spoken language of Ethiopia and second-most commonly spoken Semitic language in the world (after Arabic). Tigrinya has 7 million speakers and is the most widely spoken language in Eritrea. There is a small population of Tigre speakers in Sudan, and it is the second-most spoken language in Eritrea. The Ge'ez language has a literary history in its own Ge'ez script going back to the first century AD. It is no longer spoken but remains the liturgical language of the Ethiopian and

Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church The Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church ( ti, ቤተ ክርስትያን ተዋህዶ ኤርትራ) is one of the Oriental Orthodox Churches with its headquarters in Asmara, Eritrea. Its autocephaly was recognised by Pope Shenouda III of Alexandri ...

es, as well as their respective Eastern Catholic counterparts. The "homeland" of the South Semitic languages is widely debated, with sources such as A. Murtonen (1967) and Lionel Bender (1997), suggesting an origin in Ethiopia and others suggesting the southern portion of the

Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate ...

. A study based on a Bayesian model suggested the latter. This statistical analysis could not estimate when or where the ancestor of all Semitic languages diverged from Afroasiatic but it suggested that the divergence or East, Central, and South Semitic branches occurred in the Levant. The modern Ethiopian Semitic languages all share

subject–object–verb Subject ( la, subiectus "lying beneath") may refer to: Philosophy *'' Hypokeimenon'', or ''subiectum'', in metaphysics, the "internal", non-objective being of a thing **Subject (philosophy), a being that has subjective experiences, subjective con ...

(SOV) word order as part of the Ethiopian language area, but Ge'ez had verb-subject-object (VSO) order in common with other Semitic languages spoken in what is now Yemen.

Classification

The division of Ethiopic into northern and southern branches was proposed by Cohen (1931) and Hetzron (1972) and garnered broad acceptance, but has been challenged by Rainer Voigt, who concludes that the northern and southern languages are closely related. Semitic languages genealogy

* North Ethiopic ** Geʽez (Classical Ethiopic) † *** Dahalik *** Tigre ** Tigrinya * South Ethiopic ** Transversal South Ethiopic *** Amharic–Argobba ****

– Amharic is the working language of the Federal Government of Ethiopia. **** Argobba *** Harari–East Gurage **** Harari **** East Gurage ***** Silt'e (Silt'e; dialects Ulbare, Wolane, Inneqor) *****

Zway Batu ( om, Baatuu), formerly Zway or Ziway,Gafat The Gafat language is an extinct South Ethiopic language once spoken by the Gafat people along the Blue Nile in Ethiopia, and later, speakers pushed south of Gojjam in what is now East Welega Zone. Gafat was related to the Harari language and E ...

– extinct ****

Soddo Soddo (autonym ''kəstane'' "Christian"; formerly called ''Aymälläl'' in Western sources, after a particular dialect of it) is a Gurage language spoken by a quarter million people in southeastern Ethiopia. It is an Ethiopian Semitic language o ...

(Kistane) *** tt-group: **** Mesmes – extinct (sometimes considered Inor) **** Muher **** West Gurage ***** Mesqan (Masqan) ***** Sebat Bet ******

Sebat Bet Gurage Sebat Bet ("Seven houses") is an Afroasiatic language spoken in Ethiopia. Overview One of the Gurage languages, Sebat Bet is divided into several dialects. The latter are spoken in the western Gurage Region: * Chaha (Cheha) is spoken in Cheha a ...

(dialects

Chaha Chaha or Cheha (in Chaha and Amharic: ቸሃ ''čehā'' or ''čexā'') is a Gurage language spoken in central Ethiopia, mainly within the Gurage Zone in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region. It is also spoken by Gurage settlers ...

Ezha Ezha is one of the woredas in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region of Ethiopia. This woreda is named after the sub-group of the Sebat Bet Gurage, the Ezha. Part of the Gurage Zone, Ezha is bordered on the south by Gumer, on the ...

Gumer Gumer ( Amharic: ጉመር) is one of the woredas in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region of Ethiopia. This woreda is named after one of the sub-groups of the Sebat Bet Gurage, the Gumer. Part of the Gurage Zone, Gumer is border ...

, Gura) ******

Inor Inor can refer to: * Inor language Inor (pronounced ), sometimes called Ennemor, is an Afroasiatic language spoken in central Ethiopia. One of the Gurage languages, it is mainly spoken within the Gurage Zone in the Southern Nations, Nationalitie ...

(dialects Ennemor nor proper Endegegn, Gyeto)

Hudson (2013)

Hudson (2013) recognises five primary branches of Ethiosemitic. His classification is below. ;Ethiosemitic * North ** Ge'ez ** Tigre– Tigrinya *

Gafat The Gafat language is an extinct South Ethiopic language once spoken by the Gafat people along the Blue Nile in Ethiopia, and later, speakers pushed south of Gojjam in what is now East Welega Zone. Gafat was related to the Harari language and E ...

(†) *

– Mesqan– Gurage **

** Mesqan– Gurage *** Mesqan *** Gurage **** Muher ****

–

* Silt'e– Zay– Harari ** Harari ** Silt'e, Zay * Argobba–

References

Bibliography

* * * {{Authority control Semitic languages Western South Semitic languages Languages of Ethiopia Languages of Eritrea Subject–verb–object languages