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Eritrea is generally considered to have nine ethno-linguistic groups. Each of these has their own language: Afar, Arabic (spoken by the Rashaida), Beja (spoken by the Hedareb), Blin, Kunama, Nara, Saho, Tigre and Tigrinya.
Eritrea does not have any official languages but Tigrinya, and Arabic are the most used. Italian and English are also widely understood [1]. Tigrinya and Arabic were the official languages from 1952 to 1956 and continue to be the foremost second languages, Tigrinya among the Christians and Arabic among the Muslims.
As part of a gradual nullification of Eritrean autonomy under Ethiopian rule, Amharic became the official language in 1956. Today it is spoken predominately by people of Eritrean descent who were forced from their homes in Ethiopia.
A policy of primary school instruction being available in the mother tongue has met with variable success (Woldemikael, 2003).
Ge'ez is the liturgical language of the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahdo Church.
[edit] Language classification
Nilotic languages belong to the Nilo-Saharan language family while Cushitic and Semitic languages belong to the Afro-Asiatic language family.
Nilotic languages:
Cushitic languages:
Semitic languages:
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Languages of Eritrea - Tigrinya
[edit] External links
