Talk:Culture of Ethiopia

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Some stuff can be mined from here, [1]. Falphin 23:45, 10 July 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Clothing

In spite of what the referenced external article says: I am almost positive that netela refers not to dresses, but to the large scarf that is worn about the shoulders by both men and women while inside of a church. (Actually I am certain it refers to the latter; what I'm less certain of is whether it also refers to a dress, I can find out for sure later). Additionally, women cover their hair with a scarf or shash while in church. In both cases, these are made from the same type of cloth, as described in the article, that is used for traditional clothes. Regarding special occasions: Older people, particularly women, whether urban or rural are more likely to wear traditional clothes on a day-to-day basis. Some people will wear Western-style clothes to church (again, a netela, or a shash and netella, are worn regardless of the type of clothing); not sure about Mosques. And while it is common to wear traditional clothes to a wedding, those in the wedding party (at least in cities) are just as likely to wear wedding gowns, tuxedos, etc. However I would probably be unable to cite a source for all this, other than my own experience (which I guess is original research). -- Gyrofrog (talk) 15:18, 11 July 2005 (UTC)

You are right about the neTela. Also, the headscarf is mentioned in the source as a "cloth on top". There must be a better name than that. I am still researching. --Fenice 16:00, 11 July 2005 (UTC)

The headscarf is a shash, though I'm not sure this is the same as what Muslim women wear (or if they call it a shash). I went ahead and added a little to the article. I was also curious about the capital "T" in neTela. -- Gyrofrog (talk) 04:54, 13 July 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Language

I added some things about language. Revolución 02:15, 13 July 2005 (UTC)

This brings up a discussion I had recently elesewhere on Wikipedia (I think Talk:Somali language and Talk:Ethiopia). Is Amharic still the official language of Ethiopia? I think someone suggested it was still official for nationwide communication, while the individual regions had different official languages. -- Gyrofrog (talk) 04:57, 13 July 2005 (UTC)

Here's the best answer I can find via Google: "Ethiopia is a multi-ethnic state with a great variety of languages spoken in the country, of which there are 83 with 200 dialects. The main three languages are Amharic, Tigrigna and Oromifa. English is also widely spoken. Amharic is the official language of FDRE. Besides the nine member states of the FDRE have the right to determine their working languages."

But what those "working languages" are by region, I can't find. You know, if anyone's library has Lonely Planet:Ethiopia or a similar guidebook (mine doesn't), it would probably cover everything needed for this culture article (and lots of good geography info besides)... --Dvyost 18:25, 14 July 2005 (UTC)