The Gurage languages are a group of Ethiopian Semitic languages of the Afroasiatic family, spoken by the Gurage people of the Gurage and East Gurage zones in central Ethiopia, about 125 kilometers southwest of Addis Ababa. They divide into three groups, Western Gurage, including Chaha, Inor, Ezha, Muher and Masqan, Northern Gurage, the Soddo dialects, and Eastern Gurage, comprising Silte, Wolane and Zay, and are spoken by roughly 1.9 million people per the 2007 Ethiopian census, with further Gurage-speaking communities in Addis Ababa, Oromia, Harari and Dire Dawa.
Facts
Partially Attested
Speaker Countfigure is total Gurage ethnic population per the 2007 census, used as a proxy for speaker count RegionGurage Zone and East Gurage Zone, Central Ethiopia, about 125 kilometers southwest of Addis Ababa 1 Connections
Descends From
Gurage is a cluster of languages within Ethio-Semitic (Ethiopian Semitic), itself the branch of Afroasiatic native to the Ethiopian highlands; linked here to the direct Ethio-Semitic parent rather than the remoter Afroasiatic ancestor.
Sources
1. Gurage languages - Wikipedia
Wikipedia, Region section
the Gurage Zone and East Gurage Zone, a fertile, semi-mountainous region in Central Ethiopia Regional State, about 125 kilometers southwest of Addis Ababa
Wikipedia, Speaker count section, 2007 census
the total Gurage population was 1,867,350
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