Figure 1.--The photo was taken in 2014 at a primary school in Turmi, southern Ethiopia. It shows two Hamer children, a boy and a girl, attending the school. They learn Amharic, one of the national languages, notice the wall painting. Along with Amharic, they are taught their tribal mother tongue

The sheer number of Ethiopian tribal groups creates a multiplicity of proble ms for leaders trying to create a united nation and national ethos. Of course not every tribe unique lnguage. There are language groups, not every member of a lanuage group can understand each other. Ethiopia has perhaps the most diverse language structure of any country. Ethiopia is one of the world's oldest countries, with a history extending some 6,000 years. Many different ethnic groups are fouind in Ethiopia. The major groups are Oromo, Amhara, Tigray, Somali, Sidamo, Gurage, Welayta, and many smaller groups. This ethnic diversity is the root of the country's lingustic diversity. one of the reasons why Ethiopia is such a vibrant and exciting place. The precise number varies as to the source, but we are talking about nearly 90 languages. Most belong to the Afroasiatic family of languages (Semitic, Cushitic, Omotic) or Nilo-Saharan family (Nilotic). This mneans a rich culturall diversity, but a major problem in building a modern nation and national ethos. Ethiopia was never colonized by the Arabs who surrojunded it in the medieval era or Europeans during the Scranmle for Africa in the modern era, except briefly by Italy in the run-up to World War II (1935). Thus there is no lingua franca like other sub-Saharan African countries. Withhout a common language, how do you educate your population, especially beyomnd the primary level or pursue modern science. A paper published in one of the many languages will receive no attention becuse no one outside Ethiopia can read, and most of the Ethiopian population can not read it as there is no language spoken by a majority of the population. The two most important languages are Oromo speakers and Amharic speakers, but both are less than a majority, about a third of the population each. Oromo is the most populous language by native speakers, Amharic is the most populous by number of total speakers. We think Amharic was the first written languagegiven it a certin cache in the country. Amharic is thus important for historic and cultural reasons. It is the language of the Ethiopian Coptic Church and then it was the official language of the Empire. A many books published in Ethiopia are in Amharic and the library collections. We are less sure about popular literature like newsppers and magazines or media like movies and TV and radio. The modern situation os more complicated than in the past. The other third of spoken languages is a huge number of tribal languages, many with only 1 percent or less of the population. The primary foreign language is English and taught in mny schools. The language problem is an issue with many widely spoken languages (Arabic, Portuguese, and Spanish). And is major problem in Ethiopia. An Italian reader writes, "In many African countries there are several languages. Often the common tongue is the colonial one (English, French, Portuguese, or Spanish). In Ethiopia, Amharic is the language used in many schools, but there are several minority languages used. The school here seems to have made an effort to respect the differences, starting from the external appearance. The Hamar children have no to wear uniforms, and even can go to school with no clothes on."

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Created: 3:19 AM 6/19/2022
Last updated: 3:19 AM 6/19/2022