Oromoid languages

Last updated
Oromoid
Oromo–Konsoid
Geographic
distribution
Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya
Linguistic classification Afro-Asiatic
Subdivisions
  • Oromo
  • Konsoid
Glottolog nucl1701

The Oromoid languages are a branch of Lowland East Cushitic languages that includes the most populous Cushitic language, Oromo, and the closely related Konsoid dialect cluster.

Oromo
Oromo, Eastern Oromo, Borana, Orma, Waata
Konsoid (Konso–Gidole)
Konso, Dirasha (Gidole), Bussa (Mossiya), Mashile, Turo, Gato

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Oromo language Cushitic language of Ethiopia and Kenya

Oromo is an Afroasiatic language that belongs to the Cushitic branch. It is native to the Ethiopian state of Oromia and spoken predominantly by the Oromo people and neighbouring ethnic groups in the Horn of Africa. It is used as a lingua franca particularly in Ethiopia and northeastern Kenya.

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Konso is a Lowland East Cushitic language spoken in southwest Ethiopia. Native speakers of Konso number about 200,000. Konso is closely related to Dirasha, and serves as a "trade language"—or lingua franca—beyond the area of the Konso people. Blench (2006) considers purported dialects Gato and Turo to be separate languages.

Bussa, or Mossiya, is a Cushitic language spoken in the Dirashe special woreda of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region located in southern Ethiopia. The people themselves, numbering 18,000 according to the 2007 census, call their language Mossittaata.

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Konso Place in Ethiopia

Konso is a town on the Sagan River in south-western Ethiopia. The administrative center of the Konso special woreda of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region, this town has a latitude and longitude of 5°15′N37°29′E and an elevation of 1650 meters. It is also called Pakawle by some of the neighboring inhabitants. The town and the surrounding villages were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2011 as a cultural landscape for its unique cultural traditions and importance for the Konso people.

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Southern Oromo, or Afaan Oromoo, is a variety of Oromo spoken in southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya by the Borana people. Günther Schlee also notes that it is the native language of a number of related peoples, such as the Sakuye.

The Tsamai people are an ethnic group of southwestern Ethiopia. They speak a Cushitic language called Tsamai, which is one of the Dullay languages, and thus related to the Bussa and Gawwada languages.

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Jiiddu is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken by the Jiiddu Tribe of the Digil, a Somali clan inhabiting southern Somalia. It is part of the family's Cushitic branch, and has an estimated 100,000 speakers mainly residing in the Lower Shabeelle, Bay and Middle Jubba regions.

Konso people

The Konso, also known as the Xonsita, are a Lowland East Cushitic-speaking ethnic group primarily inhabiting south-central Ethiopia.

Eastern Oromo is a dialect of the Oromo spoken in the East Hararghe Zone, West Hararghe Zone and northern Bale Zone of the Oromia Region of Ethiopia.

The Waata, or Sanye, are an Oromo-speaking people of Kenya and former hunter-gatherers. They share the name Sanye with the neighboring Dahalo.

The Somali calendar is based on both the solar and lunar calendar systems. The calendar was used by farmers and herders to determine the weather and seasons, it helped them in their needs. The Somali solar calendar is known as Amin-tiris or Shin-tiris while the lunar calendar was known as Dayax-tiriska.

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