Opuuo | |
---|---|
Native to | Ethiopia |
Region | Along the Ethiopia–South Sudan border |
Native speakers
|
5,000 in Ethiopia (2007 census) |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 |
|
Glottolog | opuu1239 |
The Opuo language is a Nilo-Saharan language spoken by the Shita of Ethiopia and South Sudan. It is a member of the Koman languages, and has a lexical similarity of 24% with Komo. The language is also called Opo-Shita, Opo, Opuo, Cita, Ciita, Shita, Shiita, Ansita, Kina, and Kwina. The self-name for the language is T'apo. "Langa" is a derogatory term for its speakers used by the Anuak.
Ethiopian speakers live in five villages along the South Sudan border north of the Anuak and Nuer, and its South Sudanese in Upper Nile State, around Kigille and Maiwut; however, of the 286 speakers the 1994 Ethiopian Census records, 183 are in the Oromia Region (mostly in the Mirab Shewa Zone), 32 in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region, and less than ten in either of the Regions closest to South Sudan.