Sixteen Endangered Languages in Ethiopia (2025)
Ethiopia is home to a rich diversity of languages, with over 80 spoken across the country.

However, many are endangered due to social, political, and economic factors. Here’s an overview:

1. Ongota (Birale)

• Speakers: Fewer than 10.
• Location: Near the Omo River.
• Status: Critically endangered.
• Note the cultural significance of Ongota and its shift to Ts’amakko due to intermarriage and social pressures.

2. Mesmes

• Speakers: Extinct.
• Location: Gurage Zone.
• Status: No active speakers; only historic records.
• Note the challenges in preserving oral traditions and why documentation is crucial.

3. Zay

• Speakers: Fewer than 5,000.
• Location: Lake Ziway (Zay Islands).
• Status: Endangered.
• Note the island lifestyle and how isolation has helped maintain the language until recently.

4. Harro

• Speakers: Extremely low.
• Location: Karo community, Omo River region.
• Note how environmental changes (e.g., reliance on the river) impact the survival of languages.

5. Shabo (Mikeyir)

• Speakers: Fewer than 300.
• Location: Southwest Ethiopia near the Omo River.
• Unique Point: Believed to be a language isolate.
• Note how linguistic uniqueness contributes to understanding human history.

6. Qimant

• Speakers: Approximately 1,500–2,000.
• Location: Amhara Region.
• Status: Severely endangered.
• Cultural Link: Qimant people’s religion and traditions are tied to the language.
• Note the interplay between language and cultural preservation.

7. Anfillo

• Speakers: Fewer than 500.
• Location: Western Ethiopia.
• Language Family: Omotic.
• Note the risk to smaller Omotic languages due to encroachment by larger ones like Oromo.

8. Bayso

• Speakers: About 1,000.
• Location: Gidicho Island, Lake Abaya.
• Note how geography (island isolation) both preserves and threatens language survival.

9. Boro (Shinasha)

• Speakers: Approximately 35,000–50,000.
• Location: Benishangul-Gumuz Region.
• Status: Vulnerable.
• Note: The shift toward Amharic due to government integration efforts.

10. Bussa (aka Bussa-Donguro)

• Speakers: Fewer than 5,000.
• Location: Southern Ethiopia.
• Cultural Context: Associated with pastoral communities 
• Note the oral traditions that sustain the language.

11. Dime

• Speakers: Fewer than 6,000.
• Location: Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region (SNNPR).
• Note the language’s isolation in remote, mountainous areas.

12. Gafat

• Speakers: Extinct.
• Location: Near the Blue Nile.
• Relevance: Was once a widely spoken Semitic language.
• Note how languages like Gafat were absorbed by Amharic and why.

13. Ganjule

• Speakers: Fewer than 1,000.
• Location: Around Lake Chamo.
• Nits how other Omotic languages and cultural practices.

14. Gats’ame

• Speakers: Extremely low.
• Location: Near the Konso area.
•  Emphasis on its ties to local myths and heritage.

15. Kemant (alternate spelling: Qimant)

• Speakers: Around 2,000.
• Location: Near Gondar.
• Language as a marker of religious identity.

16. Kwegu

• Speakers: Fewer than 500.
• Location: Along the Omo River.
• Threat: Language overshadowed by Nyangatom

Efforts to preserve endangered languages in Ethiopia involve a mix of grassroots initiatives and academic work. Linguists have focused on recording oral histories, creating dictionaries, and analyzing grammar for endangered languages.

Unfortunately a language dies every two weeks. If this trend continues, half of the 7,000 languages spoken today could be lost by the end of this century.

Without urgent preservation efforts, these linguistic gems may disappear, taking with them invaluable insights into Ethiopia’s history and cultural fabric.