Konso | |
---|---|
Native to | Ethiopia |
Region | South of Lake Chamo in the bend of the Sagan River |
Native speakers
|
240,000 (2007) |
Ethiopic | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 |
|
Glottolog | kons1243 |
Konso (Komso, Khonso, also Af Kareti, Afa Karatti, Conso, Gato, Karate, Kareti) is a Lowland East Cushitic language spoken in southwest Ethiopia. Native speakers of Konso number about 200,000 (SIL 2005). Konso is closely related to Dirasha (also known as Gidole), and serves as a "trade language"—or lingua franca—beyond the area of the Konso people. Blench (2006) considers purported dialects Gato and Turo to be separate languages.
The most complete description of the Konso language is the dissertation by Ongaye Oda Orkaydo, completed in 2013.
The New Testament was published in the Konso language in 2002.