The Omotic languages are group of languages spoken in southwestern Ethiopia. The

The Omotic languages are group of languages spoken in southwestern Ethiopia. The Ge'ez script is used to write some of

The Omotic languages are group of languages spoken in southwestern Ethiopia. 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 complex tonal systems (for example, the Bench language). The languages have around 6.2 million speakers. The group is generally classified as belonging to the Afroasiatic language family, but this is disputed by some.

Four separate "Omotic" groups are accepted by Glottolog 4.0 and Güldemann (2018): Ta-Ne-Omotic, Dizoid (Maji), Mao, and Aroid ("South Omotic").^[1]

The North and South Omotic branches ("Nomotic" and "Somotic") are universally recognized, with some dispute as to the composition of North Omotic. The primary debate is over the placement of the Mao languages. Bender (2000) classifies Omotic languages as follows:

• South Omotic / Aroid (Hamer-Banna, Aari, Dime, Karo)
• North Omotic / Non-Aroid
  • Mao
    • Bambassi
    • West Mao (Hozo, Seze, Ganza)
  • Dizoid (Dizi, Sheko, Nayi)
  • Gonga–Gimojan
    • Gonga/Kefoid (Boro, Anfillo, Kafa, Shekkacho)
    • Gimojan
      • Yemsa
      • Ometo–Gimira
        • Bench
        • Chara
        • Ometo languages

Apart from terminology, this differs from Fleming (1976) in including the Mao languages, whose affiliation had originally been controversial, and in abolishing the "Gimojan" group.^{[clarification needed]} There are also differences in the subclassification of Ometo, which is not covered here.

Hayward (2003)

Hayward (2003) separates out the Mao languages as a third branch of Omotic and breaks up Ometo–Gimira:

• South Omotic
• Mao
• North Omotic
  • Dizoid
  • Ta–Ne languages
    • Gonga
    • Gimojan
      • Yemsa
      • Bench
      • Ometo–Chara

Blench (2006)

Blench (2006) gives a more agnostic classification:^[2]

• South Omotic
• North Omotic
  • Mao
  • Dizoid
  • Gonga (Kefoid)
  • Hayward (2003) separates out the Mao languages as a third branch of Omotic and breaks up Ometo–Gimira:
    • South Omotic
    • Mao
    • North Omotic
      • Dizoid

      Blench (2006) gives a more agnostic classification:^[2]

      • South Omotic
      • North Omotic
        • Mao
        • Dizoid
        • Gonga (Kefoid)
        • Yem
        • Gimira
        • Ometo (?Chara)

      Bosha† is unclassified; Ethnologue lists it as a dialect of Kafa but notes it may be a distinct language.

      Classification

      Omotic is generally considered the most divergent branch of the Bosha† is unclassified; Ethnologue lists it as a dialect of Kafa but notes it may be a distinct language.

      Classification

      Omotic is generally considered the most divergent branch of the Afroasiatic languages. Greenberg (1963) had classified it as the Western branch of Cushitic. Fleming (1969) argued that it should instead be classified as an independent branch of Afroasiatic, a view which Bender (1971) established to most ling

      Omotic is generally considered the most divergent branch of the Afroasiatic languages. Greenberg (1963) had classified it as the Western branch of Cushitic. Fleming (1969) argued that it should instead be classified as an independent branch of Afroasiatic, a view which Bender (1971) established to most linguists' satisfaction,^[3] though a few linguists maintain the West Cushitic position^[4] or that only South Omotic forms a separate branch, with North Omotic remaining part of Cushitic. Blench (2006) notes that Omotic shares honey-related vocabulary with the rest of Afroasiatic but not cattle-related vocabulary, suggesting that the split occurred before the advent of pastoralism. A few scholars have raised doubts that the Omotic languages are part of the Afroasiatic language family at all,^[5][6] and Theil (2006) proposes that Omotic be treated as an independent family.^[7] However, the general consensus, based primarily on morphological evidence, is that membership in Afroasiatic is well established.^[8][9][10]

      Glottolog

      Hamma

      Hammarström, et al. in Glottolog does not consider Omotic to be a unified group, and also does not consider any of the "Omotic" groups to be part of the Afroasiatic phylum. Glottolog accepts the following as independent language families.

      • Ta-Ne-Omotic
      • Dizoid (Maji)
      • Mao
      • These four families are also accepted by Güldemann (2018), who similarly doubts the validity of Omotic as a unified group.[1]

        Reconstruction

        Ben

        Bender (1987: 33-35)^[11] reconstructs the following proto-forms for Proto-Omotic and Proto-North Omotic, the latter which is considered to have descended from Proto-Omotic.

        English gloss	Proto- Omotic	Proto-North Omotic
        ashes	*bend
        bird	*kaf
        bite		*sats’
        breast	*t’iam Sample basic vocabulary of 40 Omotic languages from Blažek (2008):[12] Language eye ear nose tooth tongue mouth blood bone tree water eat name Basketo af waytsi sints ačči B ɪnts'ɨrs no·na suuts mεk'εts B mɪts B waːtse A moy- B sumsa Dokka af waytsi si·nts ačči ɨrs'ɪns no·na su·ts mik'әts mittse wa·tsi m- suntsa Male ’aːpi waizi sied‘i ’ači ’ɪndɪrsi daŋka sugutsi mεgεtsi mitsi waːtsi mo- sunsi Wolaita ayf-iya; A ayp'-iya haytta sir-iya acca; A acc'a int'arsa doona suutta; Ch maččamié mek'etta mitta hatta m- sunta Kullo ayp'-iya haytsa siid'-iya acc'a ins'arsa doona sutsa mek'etsa barzap'-iya hatsa m- sutta Cancha ayp'e hayts sire acc‘a ins‘arsa doona suts mek'etsa mits haats m- sunts Malo ’áɸe