This
piece has 12 parts. It describes the propagation of language, gives the names
of most languages of Ethiopia, with emphasis on Amarigna, Oromigna, Somaligna,
and Tigrigna. It also indicates difficulties of organizing Ethiopians on a
federal structure composed of language-based regions.
1. Language
does not indicate which group of people ruled over other groups, nor does it
change the ethnicity or origin of people.
A language
(superstratum) propagates over another (substratum). Consider the following
English phrase as a way of examining a superstratum and substratum. [1]
Superstratum: "the
southern people"-- as spoken
by an Englishman.
Substratum-a: "ze saz'n
pipl"-- as spoken by a non-Englishman.
Substartum-b: "za souzern
bibl"--as spoken by another non-Englishman.
The same language (superstratum)
propagating on different languages (substrata) may result in separate dialects,
or even different languages if the substrata are different from each other. For example, different Roman legions
(speaking Latin) ruled over Western Europe that resulted in the Spanish,
Portuguese, and French languages. The propagation of a language does not change
the origin of people, as the Portuguese are not Italians or Frenchmen though
their speech is rooted in Latin (superstartum). This would be an example of how the language of the rulers
propagated on the subjects. Yet, there are cases where the language of the subjects propagated on
the rulers. An example of the latter case would be the Manchurians that invaded
China and ruled over them for centuries. The nannies, house employees and field workers spoke Chinese causing the
employers to speak Chinese. Consequently, the Chinese language propagated over the ruling Manchurians. Clearly, the propagation of a language
does not indicate what group of people ruled over others.
2. Superposing
of a superstratum over a substratum of languages does not necessarily indicate
the superposing of one culture over others.
In the recent
past, Imperial Britain had colonized India. The Indians have liberated themselves, but have elected to
use English as their national language. The English language (superstratum) is
propagating over the different languages (substrata) of India. However, though
language is part of culture, the Indian culture has not been erased or
diminished, or otherwise subordinated. Within India, the English culture is not a superstructure and the Indian
a substructure, though the English language is a superstratum and the various
Indian languages are the substrata.
3- The Semitic
language propagated from Ethiopia to the Middle East.
The study of
languages (linguistics) has allowed specialists to determine world language
groups, and the propagation of languages. Such a study has placed Ge'ez,
Hebraic, and Arabic as Semitic languages. It is also suggested that the Semitic
language propagated from Ethiopia to the Middle East from which the Hebraic and
Arabic sprang. [2]
4. Propagation of Ge'ez over the rest of
Ethiopian languages- intermarriage and the inability to identify a people
called Ge'ez.
The Agaw who spoke
Cushitic languages are said to have occupied a large territory of Ethiopia
including the northern parts. Those who spoke Ge'ez also lived in Ethiopia. The
Agaw and those who spoke Ge'ez were so thoroughly intermarried that, except for
the existence of the Ge'ez language, there are no otherwise separately knowable
people called the Ge'ez in any part of Ethiopia or the world. We cannot even be
sure the GeÕez as spoken now is the same as that done in ancient times. Some of
the words in GeÕez may even be hybridized. For instance, it has been suggested that the name of the ancient
Ethiopian city of Aksum likely is a hybridized word
from the languages of the Agaw (Ah^w) for water and the Semite (Siyyum) for
Chief. Thus, it is beleived that
"Water chiefÓ was called Ò Ah^w SiyyumÓ, which developed to the name
Aksum. [3]
5. Propagation
of the Ge'ez over the rest of Ethiopian languages- the designation of the Semitic
people of Ethiopia.
The propagation of
the Ge'ez (superstratum) over other languages (substrata) have resulted in the
Semitic languages of Ethiopia that include the following: Amharic, Arabic, Argobba, Gurage, Harari -Aderigna, Ino'r, Sebat Bet
Gurage, Silti, Tigrigna, TigrŽ. [4] The people who speak these languages
are said to be Semitic.
6.
Amharigna/Amharic - a Semitic language and its evolution.
Though the
linguistic characteristics make Amharic a Semitic language, its evolution is
not well known. Before emperor
Ezana accepted the Christian religion and placed the cross on his coinage with
the phrase "Servant of God", the coinage of Aksumite emperors had the
crescent and the phrase " Son of the invincible god Mahrem." [5] The
Ethiopian monarchs always referred to their mission by conceptually aligning it
with that of God. The question is:
does "Mahrem" have anything to do with the appellation Amhara? Scholars have suggested that the Ge'ez
origin for the term is "am" for people and "hara" for free,
so that Amhara refers to free people, or people that value freedom. [6] The Amhara then would be a free
people that served under the "Son of the invincible god Mahrem" in
those times before the Aksumite emperor accepted Christianity, or as Christians
under the "servant of God" afterwards. However, because there is a place called Amara Saynt in
Welo, other scholars have proposed Amhara is the language of the Amara Saynt
that has propagated over Ethiopia. [7] In the latter interpretation, the Amhara
would be those from Amara Saynt, while those of other regions that may speak
Amharic are not Amhara by origin. Yet, many Ethiopians identify themselves as Amhara, though not as an
ethnic identity other than that they are Ethiopians. Whatever its origin, Amharigna is a national language, and
those who speak it are Ethiopians and do not belong to any particular ethnic
group. [Are there people who call themselves Amhara in Ethiopia? Yes there are. Are they a Gossa, tribe,
or clan. No they are not. They are
Ethiopians that speak Amharigna. They are Amhara because they speak Amharigna that propagated over the
languages of their progenitors. Commonly, in most regions the Amhara peasant uses his identity as Amhara
to imply that s/he is Christian, and uses the name Gala to Ethiopians who are
of a Moslem faith. Yet, there are
Moslems who also identify themselves as Amhara in other regions. Hence, the meaning of Amhara is quite complex,
and not agreed upon by all.]
One of the major
languages in Ethiopia is Oromigna /Oromiffa, a Cushitic language. It is a
language that has propagated over Ethiopians mostly of central and southern
regions, whose progenitors spoke different other languages. Many different languages spoken by
Ethiopians that lived in those regions served as the substrata for the Oromiffa
superstratum, and produced the different dialects of Oromiffa of Ethiopia. Whereas Amharigna propagated over other
languages as the Ethiopian Christian Kingdom ruled over those regions, Oromiffa
propagated over other languages pursuant to the Ahmad Gragn Jihad Wars of
Ethiopia in early 16th century and thereafter. As Gragna and/or his soldiers marched over the Christian
Kingdom from the southeast to the center, the west and the north, the Oromiffa
language propagated along with and in the wake of Gragn's conquest. Ahmad Gragn had killed many Christians
but he did not annihilate the entire population he conquered, neither did the
Gala (now called Oromo) that spoke Oromiffa wipe out the preexisting Ethiopian in the regions they
settled. Much before the Jihad Wars of Gragn it is likely that some Oromo might
have settled in Ethiopia even though they likely had assimilated the local
language. With the serious weakening of the control of the Christian kingdom
during and after the Jihad Wars by Gragn, and the consequent northerward
migration of the Oromo, their language, Oromiffa, propagated over the
preexisting Ethiopian languages of the conquered regions. It might be a case of
the majority accepting the language of the minority, and turning it into a
language of the majority. Consider Welega Province that was likely inhabited by
the Agaw. Medieval Damot and Innary are well known places in Ethiopian history.
However, neither the people of these regions were referred as Gala/Oromo, nor was the
Oromigna/Oromiffa language mentioned as the language of Ethiopians in these or
other regions in the literature of Ethiopia before the Jihad. Before the
propagation of Oromigna/Oromiffa over Welega in the 16th century, northern
Welega was called Damot, while the other was part of Innarya. The propagation
of Oromiffa over the people of medieval Damot [subsequently, Damot became the
name of a region in Gojam] and Innary gave the Oromigna/ Oromiffa of Welega. The Oromigna that propagated over the language of the Inhabitants between River Didessa and River Omo and south of RiverGibie resulted in the Mecha dialect, while that over Shewa resulted in the Tulama. It is not clear how many
Oromigna/Oromiffa speaking people moved to medieval Damot and Innary or shewa for the
Ormiffa to propagate over the earlier languages. It is remarkable that excluding the Gada culture of the Oromo,
which is not practised now, the culture of most of the inhabitants of Welega, as recounted in stories
shared during times of mourning such as how the ancients hunted, dated,
defended their families during squabbles, et cetera, are indistinguishable from
those shared by inhabitants of Gojam and Begemedir. The Tulama speaking Oromos have a lot in common with the cultures of other Ethiopians of Shewa. The Welega, Mecha, and Tulama dialects are different from the Borena dialects of the center, and the Qottu of the eastern regions. The Borena dialects result from the propagation of Oromifa on the the language of the inhabitants of ancient Ethiopians of Bali, Dawaro and part of Fatager (now Arsi) and Welo. The subdialects of the Borena Oromifa dialect include the Borena, Arsi, Guji, Ittu, Annia and Welo. In the Vicinity of the City of Harar and eastwards the Qottu dialect include the Nola,Babbile, and the Jarso. [4] In these same regions it is
likely that a Semitic language had propagated over the ancient inhabitants
before Oromiffa did. After all, the the semitc Adare language is preserved at least in the Walled city of Harar. Moreover, in southern regions there are several
strong languages in which the substrata (e.g., Welayeta, Gumuz, Gurghigna,Hadiyya, Sidama,
etc.) survived extinction by accommodating some words from the superstrata
(Amharic or Oromiffa). [Are there
people who call themselves Oromo in Ethiopia? Yes
there are. Are they a Gossa, tribe, or clan. No, they are not. They are Ethiopians that speak
Oromigna/Oromiffa of different dialects depending on the language spoken by previous Ethiopians. They are
Oromo because they speak Oromign/Oromiffa that propagated over the
languages of their progenitors. Are the Oromo Habasha? Absolutely yes. They are
descendents of ancient Ethiopians whose progenitors spoke languages before
Oromiffa propagated over them. The
new people (Gala) that migrated to the region were thoroughly intermarried, and
it would be difficult to single out the non-Habasha among the Oromiffa-speaking
Ethiopians.]
8.
Somali/Somaligna
The
Somali speak languages and dialects most of which are intelligible to Standard
Somali that is based on the dominant language of Northern Somalia. [8]The
Somali languages and dialects include Standard Somali, Af-Soomaali, Af-Maxxaad
Tiri, Af-Ashraaf, Degodia, Ogaden,
Maay, and Digil. [8]All the
dialects of the Somali language belong to the Cushitic branch of the
Afro-Asiatic languages. Some of
the Somali dialects are intelligible with eastern Oromigna [9], though other
authorities disagree with such an assertion.[10]
Linguistic study has reportedly led Heine (1979) to
propose that a people called "Sam" about 1000 to 500 B.C, spoke a
version of the Cushitic language. [11] The "Sam" lived east of the
Omo River and north of River Tana in Kenya. The "Sam" migrated northeastward into what is now
Somalia and Ethiopia, and their language propagated over other languages of
previous inhabitants ultimately resulting in a people called Samaale or Somaal
based on the language they spoke.
9. The Tigrey
as a name of a language, a people, and a region.
As indicated
above, Tigrigna is a Semitic language. It likely resulted from the propagation
of Ge'ez over the Agaw. The people that speak Tigrigna are called Tigre
(Tigerawe, Tigrai). Moreover,
outside of Eritrea, a large number of the people who live in the province of
Tigrey are Tigrey people (Tigrawe). Thus, the Tigrey (Tigrawe) may be said to have a homeland. However, the
homeland conception apparently results in serious problems in the conception of
citizenship by many Tigrey (Tigrawe) individuals of Tigrey Province, and Tigrey
regions of Eritrea (Hamasen, Serae, Akaleguzae) that include, 1) an identity
crises between allegiance to Tigrey (the province, or the Hamasen and adjoining
highlands) versus to Ethiopia (the country), and 2) an inability to fathom that
other regions of Ethiopia are not divided into homelands inhabited by people
that speak one major language within each homeland. The problem is compounded by the use of the terms (derived
from Ge'ez) such as b'her and b'hereseb.
So long as the word Tigrey (Tigrawe) refers to people that live in the
Tigrey province, no amount of discussion on b'her and b'herseb can clarify to
many a "Tigrawe intellectual" the distinction in the meanings of the
two words as that may seem to them to be a distinction without a
difference. Given the political
upper hand, as we observed since 1991 to 2005, such ÒTigrawe
intellectuals" would just as easily raise in their imagination the
political structure that they are used to in their native province, and group
Ethiopians into different homelands. However, outside of Tigrey a homeland
designation is wrong because the designation is not founded on history, or the
ease of administration, or on a desire of the people of the pertinent regions. The designation of homeland outside of
Tigrey was used before the TPLF implemented it by Fascist Italy to disunite and
weaken Ethiopia.
10. The Semitic
and Cushitic designations.
Sem and Ham and
Japeth were children of Noah. Ham is supposed to be cursed by Noah for having
told to Sem and Japeth the nakedness of their father. Descendents of Ham
include Cush or Ethiopia (Genesis 10:6). Mitsrayan or Egypt, PuT or Libya, and
Canaanites. This then is the origin for the linguistic designation of Semites
and Cushities. The Semitic, which
is an Afro-Asiatic language propagated from Ethiopia to the Middle East,
indicating that Semites also lived in Ethiopia a long time ago. [7]
Irrespective of the presumed origin of the names Semitic, Cushitic, et cetera,
there nonetheless are such languages that have distinguishable characteristics.
11. The
languages of Ethiopians.
The national language of Ethiopia is Amharigna (or Amharic).
However, Ethiopians speak subsets of the three major Afroasiatic languages
namely the Cushitic, Semitic, and Omotic, and a fourth one, Nilotic, totaling
more than eighty languages, some of which are adapted from authorities [4] and
are given below.
Aari
(Omotic), Afar (Cushitic), Alaba (Cushitic), Amharigna (Semitic) Anfillo
(Omotic), Anuak (Nilotic), Arabic (Semitic), Arbore (Cushitic), Argobba
(Semitic), Awngi (Agaw, Cushitic), Baiso (Cushitic), Bambassi (Omotic),
Basketto (Omotic), Bedawi (Cushitic), Bench (Omotic), Berta (Nilotic), Bilen
(Cushitic), Birale (unclassified, Omotic?), Boro (Omotic), Burji (Cushitic),
Bussa (Cushitic), Chara (Omotic), Daasanach (Omotic), Dime (Omotic), Dirasha
(Cushitic), Dizi (Omotic), Dorze (Omotic), Gamo-Gofa-Dawro (Omotic), Ganza
(Omotic), Gawwada (Cushitic), Gedeo (Cushitic), Gumuz (Nilotic), Gurage, East (Semitic), Gurage, Soddo
(Semitic), Gurage, West (Semitic), Hadiyya (Cushitic), Hamer-Banna (Omotic),
Harari -Aderigna (Semitic), Hozo (Omotic), Ino'r (Semitic), Kachama-Ganjule
(Omotic), Kacipo-Balesi (Nilotic), Kafa (Omotic), Kambaata (Cushitic), Karo
(Omotic), Komo (Nilotic), Komso (Cushitic), Koorete (Omotic), Kunama (Nilotic),
Kunfal (Cushitic), Kwama (Nilotic), Kwegu (Nilotic), Libido (Cushitic), Majang (Nilotic), Male
(Omotic), Me'en (Nilotic), Melo (Omotic), Mesmes (Semitic), Murle (Nilotic),
Mursi (Nilotic), Nara (Nilotic), Nayi (Omotic), Nuer (Nilotic), Nyangatom
(Nilotic), Opuuo (Nilotic), Oromo, Borena-Arsi-Guji (Cushitic), Oromo, Eastern,
Qottu (Cushitic), Oromo, West-central (Cushitic), Oyda (Omotic), Qimant
(Cushitic), Rer Bare (unclassified, Gode?), Saho (Cushitic), Sebat Bet Gurage
(Semitic), Seze (Omotic), Shabo (Nilotic), Shakacho (Omotic), Sheko (Omotic),
Sidamo 'Afo (Cushitic), Silti
(Semitic), Somali (Cushitic), Suri (Nilotic), Tigrigna (Semitic), TigrŽ (Semitic),
Tsamai (Cushitic), Uduk (Nilotic), Wolaytta (Omotic), Xamtanga (Cushitic),
Yemsa (Omotic), Zay (Semitic), Zayse-Zergulla (Omotic).
12. Problems of
assigning the language of people as the basis for naming regions and forming a
federation of such regions.
HG
revised 12/23/2006
References
(reminders)
[1]
Prof. Getatchew Haile, EEDN discussion
[2]
Prof. Greenberg, 1963
[3][Prof.
Taddesse Tamrat, 1988]
[4]-
URL:"http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=Ethiopia".
[5]-
Munuro-Hay, 1992
[6]
Prof, Mesfin- yekehdet qulqulet
[7]
Prof. Donald Levin, 2004
8-19 -
cccg 2003
9-20 -
cccg 2003
10-21-
GH-Persnal Comm
11-22-
cccg 2003
--