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Which Afro-Asiatic languages are spoken in Ethiopia?
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Afro-Asiatic languages
Distribution of the Afro-Asiatic languages.
Ethiopia is home to a diverse array of languages belonging to the Afro-Asiatic language family. These languages are primarily categorized into three distinct groups within the country:1
Semitic Languages
Spoken largely in northern and central Ethiopia, these include:
* Amharic
* Tigrinya
* Gurage
* Hareri
* Ge'ez (used for liturgical purposes)12
Cushitic Languages
These are widely spoken across various regions of Ethiopia, with the most prominent being:
* Oromo
* Somali
* Afar1
Omotic Languages
These languages are primarily found in the extreme southwest of the country. The most notable example is Woylatta.1
While Ethiopia also contains Nilotic languages, these belong to the Nilo-Saharan language family rather than the Afro-Asiatic family.1