Language
The official language in Ethiopia is the Amharic language, a Semitic language which is spoken by 21,631,370 people or 29.33% of the population (2.7 million expatriate). Amharic is written with the Ge'ez script, which derives its name from the ancient Semitic Ge'ez language. Ge'ez is largely extinct as a productive language but is still in liturgical use by the Beta Israel Jewish community and the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. However, the largest language in Ethiopia is the Oromo language, a Cushitic language spoken by 33.8% of the population. The Tigrinya language is related to Amharic, but mostly spoken in northern Ethiopia in the state of Tigray.
Read more about this topic: Culture Of Ethiopia
Famous quotes containing the word language:
“I suggested to them also the great desirability of a general knowledge on the Island of the English language. They are under an English speaking government and are a part of the territory of an English speaking nation.... While I appreciated the desirability of maintaining their grasp on the Spanish language, the beauty of that language and the richness of its literature, that as a practical matter for them it was quite necessary to have a good comprehension of English.”
—Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933)
“The style of an author should be the image of his mind, but the choice and command of language is the fruit of exercise.”
—Edward Gibbon (1737–1794)
“It is silly to call fat people “gravitationally challenged”Ma self-righteous fetishism of language which is no more than a symptom of political frustration.”
—Terry Eagleton (b. 1943)