Languages Spoken in Ethiopia :: essays research papers

There argon almost as many languages as there are peoples in Ethiopia, about 80 in all. The languages come from a variety of families - Semitic, Hamitic, Nilotic and Omotic. Amharic, spoken in the countrys heartland, is Ethiopias official language, but Tigrinya, spoken in the north, and Orominya, spoken in the south, have semi-official status. The Oromos are the largest ethnic group in the country, and are made up of a muddle of Christians, Muslims and traditional animists. Amharic and Tigrinya use the Geez script, with an understated 231 letter - keep an eye out for fabulously complex Amharic typewriters. Kids are taught English from junior high onward, and many people can speak a smattering or more.The Ethiopian Orthodox Church has dominated religious life in the country since the fourth century, when two brothers from Tyre began evangelizing with the blessing of the king. Ethiopian Orthodoxy has a strong monastic tradition, and until the Marxist revolution, there were Orthodox cl ergy in almost every town in the country. Orthodoxy combines more standard Christian beliefs in God, Catholic saints and Jesus (although there is more emphasis on the Old Testament than in many western churches) with traditional African beliefs about hard liquor and devils - church services often include dancing, astrology and fortune telling. Believers fast every Wednesday and Friday, avoiding meat, dairy and sometimes fish.Ethiopian literature is traditionally Christian, with the earliest belles-lettres in Geez being translations of Greek Christian industrial plant. Geez literary production really took off in the 13th century, when a stack of Coptic, Syriac and Greek religious works were translated from Arabic. About 200 years later, Geez writers branched out into original works, beginning with the lives of saints and moving onto apocalyptic books such as the Elucidation of Jesus and the Mystery of promised land and Earth. Amharic took over from Geez around the 16th century, a nd again, writers concentrated mainly on translations of religious works. It wasnt until the end of WWII that Amharic writers really began writing about other issues - Makonnen Endalkaches, Kebede Mikael and Tekle Tsodeq Makuria are notable postwar writers who addressed moral and patriotic themes.Injera is the mainstay of the Ethiopian diet. This phenomenally bouncy bread is made from the peculiarly Ethiopian tef cereal.