The Omo–Tana languages are a branch of the Cushitic family and are spoken in

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

Djibouti Djibouti, officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to the east. The country has an area ...

Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...

and

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

. The largest member is Somali. There is some debate as to whether the Omo–Tana languages form a single group, or whether they are individual branches of

Lowland East Cushitic Lowland East Cushitic is a group of roughly two dozen diverse languages of the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic family. Its largest representatives are Oromo and Somali. Classification Lowland East Cushitic classification from Tosco (2020:2 ...

. Blench (2006) restricts the name to the

Western Omo–Tana languages The (Western) Omo–Tana or Arboroid languages belong to the Afro-Asiatic family and are spoken in Ethiopia and Kenya. The languages are: *Arbore Arbore () is a commune located in Suceava County, Bukovina, northeastern Romania. It is compo ...

, and calls the others Macro-Somali.

Internal classification

Mauro Tosco (2012)Tosco, Mauro (2012). The Unity and Diversity of Somali Dialectal Variants. In: Nathan Oyori Ogechi, Jane A. Ngala Oduor and Peter Iribemwangi (eds.), The Harmonization and Standardization of Kenyan Languages. Orthography and other aspects. Cape Town: The Centre for Advanced Studies of African Society (CASAS): 2012: 263–280. proposes the following internal classification of the Omo-Tana languages. Tosco considers Omo-Tama to consist of a ''Western'' branch and an ''Eastern'' ("Somaloid") branch, which is a

dialect chain A dialect continuum or dialect chain is a series of language varieties spoken across some geographical area such that neighboring varieties are mutually intelligible, but the differences accumulate over distance so that widely separated variet ...

of various

Somali languages The Somali languages form a group that are part of the Afro-Asiatic language family. They are spoken as a mother tongue by ethnic Somalis in Horn of Africa and the Somali diaspora. Even with linguistic differences, Somalis collectively view th ...

and the Rendille–Boni languages (see also Macro-Somali languages). *Omo-Tana **Western ("Galaboid" or "Arboroid") branch *** Dhaasanac ***

Arbore Arbore () is a commune located in Suceava County, Bukovina, northeastern Romania. It is composed of three villages: namely Arbore, Bodnăreni, and Clit. The commune is located in the central-north part of the county, northwest of the county s ...

*** Elmolo *** Yaaku **Eastern ("Somaloid") branch *** Rendille ***

Karre Karre is a Dutch language, Dutch surname, derived from the Gaulish language, Gaulish word ''carrum'' meaning 'cart' or 'wagon', most likely left over from Gallia Belgica. Found in France as ''Carron'' or ''Carrier,'' which both have the same meaning ...

– Boni ***

Tunni The Tunni ( Somali: Tunni) are a Somali clan that make up part of the wider Digil-Rahanweyn branch. It is one of the major clans that inhabit the South West State of Somalia and can also be found in Jubbaland. Overview The Tunni clan are spli ...

– Dabarre ***

Ashraf Sharīf or Sherif (, 'noble', 'highborn'), also spelled shareef, feminine sharīfa (), plural ashrāf (), shurafāʾ (), or (in the Maghreb) shurfāʾ, is a title used to designate a person descended, or claiming to be descended, from the famil ...

*** Maay *** Somali

References

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