Argobba is an

Ethiopian Semitic language Ethiopian Semitic (also Ethio-Semitic, Ethiosemitic, Ethiopic or Abyssinian) is a family of languages spoken in Ethiopia, Eritrea and Sudan. They form the western branch of the South Semitic languages, itself a sub-branch of Semitic, part of th ...

spoken in an area north-east of

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...

by the

Argobba people The Argobba are an ethnic group inhabiting Ethiopia. A Muslim community, they are spread out through isolated village networks and towns in the northeastern and eastern parts of the country. Group members have typically been astute traders and m ...

. It belongs to the

South Ethiopic languages Ethiopian Semitic (also Ethio-Semitic, Ethiosemitic, Ethiopic or Abyssinian) is a family of languages spoken in Ethiopia, Eritrea and Sudan. They form the western branch of the South Semitic languages, itself a sub-branch of Semitic, part o ...

subgroup along with

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 ...

and the

Gurage languages The Gurage languages (Gurage: ጉራጌ), also known as Guragie, is a dialect-continuum language, which belong to the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken by the Gurage people, who inhabit the Gurage Zone within t ...

. Writing in the mid-1960s, Edward Ullendorff noted that it "is disappearing rapidly in favour of Amharic, and only a few hundred elderly people are still able to speak it." Today, many Argobba in the

Harari Region The Harari Region ( Harari: ሀረሪ ሁስኒ; ; ), officially the Harari People's National Regional State ( Harari: ዚሀረሪ ኡምመት ሁስኒ ሁኩማ; am, የሐረሪ ሕዝብ ብሔራዊ ክልላዊ መንግሥት; om, Moo ...

are shifting to the

Oromo language Oromo ( or ; Oromo: ''Afaan Oromoo''), in the linguistic literature of the early 20th century also called Galla (a name with a pejorative meaning and therefore rejected by the Oromo people), is an Afroasiatic language that belongs to the Cushiti ...

.Kifleyesus, Abbebe. 2006. The Argobba of Ethiopia are not the Language They Speak. ''Aethiopica: International Journal of Ethiopian Studies'' 9:7-22. The language is spoken in a number of pockets and has at least four regional variations (

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety of a language that is ...

s) in

Harar Harar ( amh, ሐረር; Harari: ሀረር; om, Adare Biyyo; so, Herer; ar, هرر) known historically by the indigenous as Gey (Harari: ጌይ ''Gēy'', ) is a walled city in eastern Ethiopia. It is also known in Arabic as the City of Saint ...

(extinct), Aliyu Amba,

Shewa Robit Shewa Robit (Amharic: ሸዋ ሮቢት)also known as Robi, Shah Robit, Shoa Robit or Robit is a town in north-central Ethiopia. Located in the Semien Shewa Zone of the Amhara Region, this town has a longitude and latitude of with an elevation of ...

and Shonke.

Notes

References

* Cohen, Marcel (1931) ''Études d'éthiopien méridional'' (Collection d'ouvrages orientaux). Paris: Geuthner. * Cohen, Marcel (1939) ''Nouvelles Études d'éthiopien méridional''. Paris: Ancienne Honoré Champion. * Leslau, Wolf (1997) ''Ethiopic Documents: Argobba. Grammar and dictionary''. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. . * Zelealem Leyew and Ralph Siebert (1994) ''Argobba. S.L.L.E. Linguistic Reports no. 22''. Addis Ababa: SIL/Institute of Ethiopian Studies, Addis Ababa University. * Zelealem Leyew, Ralph Siebert (2002), ''Sociolinguistic Survey Report of the Argobba Language of Ethiopia'' SIL Electronic Survey Reports, SILESR 2002-026
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Languages of Ethiopia Transverse Ethiopian Semitic languages Endangered languages of Africa {{Ethiopia-stub