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East Cushitic languages
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The East Cushitic languages comprise more than thirty languages belonging to the Cushitic family within the Afro-Asiatic phylum. East Cushitic languages are spoken mainly in Ethiopia but also in Somalia, Kenya and Djibouti.
The most prominent East Cushitic language is Oromo, with about 21 million speakers. Other prominent languages include Somali (in Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya,and Djibouti) with about 15 million speakers, Sidamo (in Ethiopia) with about 2 million speakers, and Afar (in Eritrea and Djibouti) with about 1.5 million.
In the internal classification of East Cushitic, the most common major division is between Highland East Cushitic and Lowland East Cushitic. Western Omo-Tana is a distinct branch, as are the two branches represented by Yaaku (extinct) and Boon (endangered).
- Highland East Cushitic
- Lowland East Cushitic
- Western Omo-Tana
- Arbore
- Baiso
- Daasanach
- El Molo/Elmolo (extinct; all speakers have shifted to Elmolo-Samburu)
- Yaaku (moribund; all speakers have shifted to Mukogodo-Maasai, only three fluent speakers left)
- Boon (endangered, possibly extinct)
- East Cushitic on the Ethnologue.
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