Oromo language
| Afan Oromo | |
|---|---|
| Afaan Oromoo |
|
| Native to | Ethiopia, Kenya |
| Region | Oromia |
| Ethnicity | Oromos |
|
Native speakers
|
25 million people in Ethiopia (2015 census) 500,000 in Kenya (2015 census), 42,000 in Somalia (2015 census) |
|
Afro-Asiatic
|
|
| Latin (Qubee), formerly also Ethiopic syllabary | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-1 | om |
| ISO 639-2 | |
| ISO 639-3 |
Individual codes: gax – Borana–Arsi–Guji–Walagaa Oromo hae – Eastern Oromo orc – Orma gaz – West Central Oromo ssn – Waata |
| Glottolog | nucl1736 |
Oromo (pron. /ˈɒrəmoʊ/ or /ɔːˈroʊmoʊ/) is an Afroasiatic language. It is the most widely spoken tongue in the family's Cushitic branch. Forms of Oromo are spoken as a first language by more than 24.6 million Oromo people and neighboring peoples in Ethiopia, and by an additional half million in parts of northern and eastern Kenya. It is also spoken by smaller numbers of emigrants in other African countries such as South Africa, Libya, Egypt, and Sudan. Oromo is a dialect continuum; not all varieties are mutually intelligible. The native name for the Oromo language is Afaan Oromo, which translates to "mouth (language) of Oromo." It was formerly known as "Galla", a term now considered pejorative but still found in older literature.
Ethnologue (2015) divides the Oromo macrolanguage into four languages
It is divided into five languages in the ISO 639-3 listing:
Blench (2006) concurs, dividing Oromo into four languages:
About 85 percent of Oromo speakers live in Ethiopia, mainly in Oromia Region. In addition, in Somalia there are also some speakers of the language. In Kenya, the Ethnologue also lists 722,000 speakers of Borana and Orma, two languages closely related to Ethiopian Oromo. Within Ethiopia, Oromo is the language with the largest number of native speakers.
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