How many languages are spoken in Ethiopia and what are they?

Ethiopia is home to five official languages: Afar, Amharic, Oromo, Somali and Tigrinya. The country also has several local sign languages.

How many language families are in Ethiopia?

four language families
… are 73 distinct languages in Ethiopia (Girma 2009), belonging to four language families: Semitic, Cushitic, Omotic and Nilo-Saharan. Table 1 shows the total number of mother-tongue speakers of each of the four language families, as well as totals for the most populous language for each group (cf.

How many languages are in Ethiopia?

There are between 45 and 86 languages spoken in Ethiopia. Amharic is the government’s official language and a widely used lingua franca, but as of 2007, only 29\% of the population reported speaking Amharic as their main language.

What is the first language in Ethiopia?

Amharic
Amharic is the government’s official language and a widely used lingua franca, but as of 2007, only 29\% of the population reported speaking Amharic as their main language. Oromo is spoken by over a third of the population as their main language and is the most widely spoken primary language in Ethiopia.

Is Italian spoken in Ethiopia?

How Many People In Africa Speak Italian? There are at least some Italian speakers, or at least people who understand the language, in Africa. They are found primarily in the former colonies of Italian Libya (now just Libya) and Italian East Africa (now part of Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia).

What languages do people speak in Ethiopia?

– Semitic. The Semitic languages are spoken in northern, central and eastern Ethiopia (mainly in Tigray, Amhara, Harar and northern part of the Southern Peoples’ State regions). – Cushitic. The Cushitic languages are mostly spoken in central, southern and eastern Ethiopia (mainly in Afar, Oromia and Somali regions). – Omotic. – Nilo-Saharan.

What is the official language of Ethiopia?

Though it is the official language of Ethiopia, only about 29\% of the population speak Amharic, compared to the approximately 34\% who speak Oromo. Amharic is a Semitic language, and comes in right behind Arabic as the most spoken Semitic language.

What do Ethiopians speak?

Ethiopians have no choice but to use Amharic as their lingua franca. It is the only one language that most Ethiopians understand and speak, and hence the only language that could conveniently serve as a working language for Ethiopians, especially if Ethiopians begin to perceive the language as a tool for communication.