Oromo, West Central

A language of Ethiopia

Afan Oromo, Ittu, Ituu, Oromiffa, Oromoo, “Galla” (pej.)

Afaan Oromoo

19,100,000 in Ethiopia (2018). 36,600,000 all Oromo speakers in Ethiopia (2018 World Factbook). Ethnic population: 30,000,000. Total users in all countries: 19,196,000.

Location

Widespread.

Language Maps

Djibouti, Eritrea and Ethiopia

Southwestern Ethiopia

Language Status

2 (Provincial). De facto language of provincial identity in Oromia Region. West Central Oromo [gaz] is lingua franca of the area.

Classification

Afro-Asiatic, Cushitic, East, Oromo

Dialects

Western Oromo, Central Oromo. Subdialects are Mecha (Maccha, Wellaga, Wallaga, Wollega), Raya, Wello (Wollo), and Tulema (Tulama, Shoa, Shewa). Harar and Borana are most divergent. A member of macrolanguage Oromo [orm].

Typology

SOV; postpositions; gender (masculine/feminine); case-marking (7 cases); verb affixes mark person, number, gender of subject; passives (active, middle, passive); tense and aspect; 25 consonant and 10 vowel phonemes; pitch accent.

Language Use

Also use Amharic [amh]. Used as L2 by Anfillo [myo], Gumuz [guk], Gwama [kmq], Hozo [hoz], Komo [xom], Màwés Aasʼè [myf], Seze [sze].

Language Development

Literacy rate in L2: 22%. Taught in primary and secondary schools in grades 1–10. Taught as a major at the university level. Literature. Newspapers. Radio. TV. Dictionary. Grammar. Bible: 1899–1998.

Language Resources

OLAC resources in and about Oromo, West Central

Writing

Ethiopic script [Ethi], used until 1990s. Latin script [Latn], used since 1990s.

Other Comments

In Ethiopia, Oromo is viewed as one people who speak one language. Traditional religion, Christian, Muslim.