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Mao languages

African Language Families

The Mao languages are a branch of the Omotic languages, themselves possibly part of the Afro-Asiatic family, spoken in Ethiopia's Benishangul-Gumuz Region and Mirab Welega Zone of Oromia Region, and in Sudan's Blue Nile State. The branch comprises four languages, Bambasi with about 5,000 speakers, Hozo with about 3,000, Seze with about 3,000, and Ganza with several hundred, and has been provisionally placed within North Omotic.

Facts
Region
Ethiopia (Benishangul-Gumuz Region and Oromia Region) and Blue Nile State, Sudan 1
Speaker Count
11,300 1
Combined approximate total of Bender (2000) estimates for the four Mao languages as reported by the source: Bambasi 5,000; Hozo 3,000; Seze 3,000; Ganza a few hundred (taken here as 300). The source gives no single family-wide total.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Mao Languages
Wikimedia Foundation
  • Lead section
    The Mao languages are a branch of the Omotic languages spoken in Ethiopia and parts of Sudan.
  • Lead section, Bender 2000 estimate sentence
    It is estimated that there are 5,000 speakers of Bambasi, 3,000 speakers each of Hozo and Seze and a few hundred Ganza speakers (Bender, 2000).
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