Bussa, or Mossiya, is a
Cushitic
The Cushitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken primarily in the Horn of Africa, with minorities speaking Cushitic languages to the north in Egypt and the Sudan, and to the south in Kenya and Tanzania. As o ...
language spoken in the
Dirashe special woreda
Dirashe is one of the woredas in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region (SNNPR) of Ethiopia. Prior to 2011, Dirashe was not part of any Zone in the SNNPR and was therefore considered a Special woreda, an administrative subdivisi ...
of the
located in southern
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
. The people themselves, numbering 18,000 according to the 2007 census, call their language ''Mossittaata''.
Blench (2006) reclassified Bussa from the
Dullay to Konsoid branch of Cushitic, but left the Mashole, Lohu, and Dobase (D'oopace, D'opaasunte) dialects in Dullay as the
Dobase language
Dobase is a Cushitic language spoken in the Dirashe special woreda of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region located in southern Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, ...
. He considers Mashile (Mashelle) to be a distinct language within Konsoid.
[Blench, 2006]
The Afro-Asiatic Languages: Classification and Reference List
(ms)
Bussa is highly influenced by surrounding
Cushitic
The Cushitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken primarily in the Horn of Africa, with minorities speaking Cushitic languages to the north in Egypt and the Sudan, and to the south in Kenya and Tanzania. As o ...
and
Omotic languages and should be considered endangered according to Gurmu (2005). Speakers of the North Bussa variety are shifting to
Oromo,
Dirasha or
Amharic, whereas speakers of the West Bussa variety are shifting to the Omotic languages Zargulla,
Zayse and
Gamo. Important factors for the ongoing
language shift
Language shift, also known as language transfer or language replacement or language assimilation, is the process whereby a speech community shifts to a different language, usually over an extended period of time. Often, languages that are percei ...
include intermarriage with other ethnic groups and heavy contact with neighbouring people.
References
*Gurmu, Alemayehu
005
''005'' is a 1981 arcade game by Sega. They advertised it as the first of their RasterScan Convert-a-Game series, designed so that it could be changed into another game in minutes "at a substantial savings". It is one of the first examples of a ...
'Some Notes on Sociolinguistic Aspects of Bussa' (unpublished paper presented at ''International Conference on Endangered Ethiopian Languages'', Addis Ababa 27–30 April 2005)
*Wedekind, Klaus (ed.) (2002) 'Sociolinguistic survey report of the languages of the Gawwada (Dullay), Diraasha (Gidole), Muusiye (Bussa) areas.
SIL Electronic Survey Reports 2002-065
External links
Languages of Ethiopia
East Cushitic languages
Endangered languages of Africa
{{Ethiopia-stub