Amharic-Argobba Dictionary (original) (raw)

2013

Abstract

Argobba is a South Ethio-Semitic language. Its closest relative is Amharic. Once a vibrant language, it is now considered endangered, with only a few thousand speakers. According to the latest national census of Ethiopia, the number of ethnic Argobba are 140,134. UNESCO considers Argobba a critically endangered language, estimating the number of Argobba speakers at 8,000. In response to this situation, the Argobba Development Association in collaboration with the Argobba community and the present author is currently undertaking a revitalization project. This dictionary is part of the revitalization efort. This bilingual dictionary gives Argobba equivalent translations to Amharic entries. It is prepared mostly based on the previously published Argobba-Amharic dictionary by the same author. Argobba has four varieties which can be categorized into two broad dialects: Shonke-T’ollaha and Aliyu Amba-Shoa Robit. e former dialect includes the varieties spoken in Wollo province, especially in villages such as Shonke, T’ollaha and Asyniya. e latter includes all the varieties spoken in the other Argobba inhabited lands mainly in the following villages and their surrounding areas: Gacheni, Aliyu Amba, and Shoa Robit. In this dictionary the Shonke-T’ollaha dialect is abbreviated as Shonke and the Aliyu Amba- Shoa Robit as Aliyu. All the varieties within the Aliyu Amba-Shoa Robit dialect entered under Aliyu and the Shonke-Tollaha dialect under Shonke.

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