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
The Omotic languages are a group of languages spoken in southwestern Ethiopia, in the Omo River region. The Ge'ez script is used to write some of the Omotic languages, the Latin script for some others. They are fairly agglutinative and have com ...
and should be considered endangered according to Gurmu (2005). Speakers of the North Bussa variety are shifting to
Oromo,
Dirasha or
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 ...
, whereas speakers of the West Bussa variety are shifting to the Omotic languages Zargulla,
Zayse
Zay (also Lak'i, Laqi) is an Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language of the Semitic languages, Semitic branch spoken in Ethiopia. It is one of the Gurage languages in the Ethiopian Semitic languages, Ethiopian Semitic group. The Zay language ...
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 perceiv ...
include intermarriage with other ethnic groups and heavy contact with neighbouring people.
References
*Gurmu, Alemayehu
005'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