Elamur Research⌕
☰
home / papers / 2012 / The Argobba of Ethiopia are not the Language they Speak

The Argobba of Ethiopia are not the Language they Speak

Paper · 2012 · Abbebe Kifleyesus

Summary

This ethnographic study asks whether a community can keep its ethnic identity after its language has largely disappeared. The author draws on fieldwork carried out between 1986 and 1996 among the Argobba, Muslim farmers and traders of northeastern Šäwa and southeastern Wällo. He interviewed fifteen consultants in the two areas where Argobba is still spoken and recorded and transcribed a 150-item word list. He combines this with historical travel accounts and the earlier literature.

Over roughly seven centuries of contact, Amharic and Afaan Oromoo have displaced Argobba. Amharic is now the first language in Šäwa, and Oromo dominates even in Argobba areas of Wällo. Argobba survives only inside a few villages. Yet people still call themselves Argobba and others recognise them as such. That identity rests on:

  • Islam and Sufi shrine visits
  • food customs
  • weaving and stone masonry
  • endogamy
  • a shared history of displacement

The author concludes that the neighbours' languages have become culturally neutral tools. In this region ethnicity is cultural, not linguistic, which challenges the common assumption that language loss means assimilation.

Key points

  • The PDF header dates the article to Aethiopica 09 (2006), pp. 7–22. The author was at the University of Asmara. The title answers Sobania's (1978) question of whether we are the language we speak.
  • The field sites were Aliyyu-Amba/Wärk-Amba/Särbädin/Č̣änno (Ankobär, northeastern Šäwa) and Essoyyä Hijirota (Kämissé, southeastern Wällo). The fieldwork produced 15 consultants and a 150-term word list.
  • The author estimates about 30,000 Argobba. He rejects a published figure of 40,000 because it cites no source and implies implausible growth during years of drought and famine.
  • Leslau classifies Argobba as South Ethio-Semitic and the closest relative of Amharic, while Bender, Hetzron and Hudson treat it as an Amharic dialect. The author leaves the question open until a linguist studies Essoyyä Hijirota.
  • Local markets have no trade lingua franca: sellers speak the customer's first language. Argobba speakers use their own language in markets mainly to keep price talk hidden from other traders.

Interesting ideas

  • I1. The paper separates speaking a language from belonging to a group and shows the two can drift apart over centuries.
  • I2. The author rejects a population figure because it has no source and its implied growth is impossible in famine years, a simple consistency check on numbers.
  • I3. A dialect verdict is called tentative because its data came from outside the core speech community, which is a warning about unrepresentative samples.
  • I4. Language choice works as a social act: traders accommodate the addressee's language, and switching to Argobba deliberately excludes a third party from the conversation.
  • I5. The author keeps the language-versus-dialect label explicitly undecided rather than forcing a classification on weak evidence.

For Mova

How these ideas could serve Mova, our small open language model — its files, stages and tests:

  • I1 (world): Model "speaks L" and "is member of group G" as distinct relations in the entity store and ontology, so the world of a text never infers one from the other.
  • I2 (world): Attach plausibility constraints, such as growth rates and time spans, to compiled measures and values, so suspicious quantities in a text are flagged with an explicit reason.
  • I3 (learn): Record the provenance (region, genre) of silver data and evaluation sets, and refuse to generalise a parser result beyond the slice the data actually covers.
  • I4 (frames): Treat code choice or addressee accommodation as a pragmatic signal in speech-act analysis, so concealment or inclusion intent can be inferred and explained.
  • I5 (tree): During UD dialect conversion, let variety labels carry an "unresolved" status, so conversion rules are not applied on an assumed classification.

Our summary of the paper, in our own words — not its text. The work belongs to its authors; read it at the links above.

 Institutions

Also on the byline: University of Asmara.

📚 Shelves 4The field of science this work belongs to (OpenAlex fields).Arts and Humanities · 9,296 worksLanguage and Linguistics · 9,206 worksSocial Sciences · 744 worksPolitical Science and International Relations · 72 works

Cite

Cite as Abbebe Kifleyesus. 2012. The Argobba of Ethiopia are not the Language they Speak. Aethiopica 9.

The paper itself, not this page. BibTeX from the library's record of the work. DOI 10.15460/aethiopica.9.1.238

@inproceedings{kifleyesus2012argobba,
  title = {{The Argobba of Ethiopia are not the Language they Speak}},
  author = {Abbebe Kifleyesus},
  booktitle = {Aethiopica 9},
  year = {2012},
  doi = {10.15460/aethiopica.9.1.238},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.15460/aethiopica.9.1.238}
}

References

30 references, 0 of them with a card of ours. ↗ leads to the work, «find» searches for one we have no id for yet.

  1. A BBEBE K IFLEYESUS 1995. ߋSufism and the Rural and Urban Reality of Argobba Mysticismߌ. Islam et SociÈtÈs Au Sud du Sahara (9) 27߃46. ߃߃߃߃߃ 2002. ߋMuslims and Meals: The Social and Symbolic Function of Foods in Changing Socio-Economic Environments.ߌ Africa (72) 2: 245߃ 276. find
  2. Aethiopica 9 (2006) Abbebe Kifleyesus ߃߃߃߃߃ 2003. ߋArgobba ethnographyߌ. In Encyclopaedia Aethiopica, Vol. I, ed. S. U HLIG , pp. 332߃334. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag. find
  3. A PPLEYARD , D. 1998. ߋLanguage Death: The Case of Qwarenya (Ethiopia)ߌ. In Endangered Languages in Africa, ed., M. B RENZINGER , pp. 143߃162. Cologne: KÕppe. find
  4. B ENDER , L. 1976. Languages in Ethiopia. Oxford: Oxford University Press. find
  5. B LACKHURST , H. 1980. ߋEthnicity in Southern Ethiopia. The General and the Particularߌ. Africa (50) 1: 55߃65. ߃߃߃߃߃ 1996. ߋAdopting an Ambiguous Position. Oromo, Relationships with Strangersߌ. In Being and Becoming Oromo, eds., P.T.W. B AXTER et al., pp. 239߃250. Lawrenceville, NJ.: Red Sea Press. B RAUK£MPER , U. 1977. ߋIslamic Principalities in Southeastern Ethiopia Between the Thirteenth and Sixteenth Centuriesߌ. Ethiopianist Notes (1)1: 17߃55, 1(2): 1߃43. B RUCE , J. 1790. Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile. Edinburgh. find
  6. D ORIAN , C. 1980. ߋLinguistic Lag as an Ethnic Markerߌ. Language in Society (9) 33߃41. find
  7. F ERGUSON , A. 1982. ߋReligious Factors in Language Spreadߌ. In Language Spread: Studies in Diffusion and Social Change, ed., R.L. C OOPER , pp. 361߃383. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. find
  8. G ILES , H. et al. 1977. Language, Ethnicity and Intergroup Relations. New York: Academic Press. find
  9. G RAGG , G. 1980. ߋLexical Aspects of Oromo߃Amharic Language Contact: Amharic Loanwords in Western Oromoߌ. In Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference of Ethiopian Studies, pp. 107߃124. Nice, France. find
  10. G UMPERZ , J. et al. 1990. ߋLanguage and the Communication of Social Identityߌ. In Language and Social Identity, ed. J. G UMPERZ , pp. 1߃21. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. find
  11. H ARRIS , W.C. 1844. The Highlands of Aethiopia. Vol II. London. find
  12. H AYWARD , R. 1998. ߋEndangered Languages of Ethiopia: What is at Stake for the Linguistߌ. In Endangered Languages in Africa, ed. M. B RENZINGER , pp Cologne: KÕppe. find
  13. H ETZRON , R. 1973. Ethiopian Semitic: Studies in Classification. Manchester: Manchester University Press. ߃߃߃߃߃ 1997. ߋOuter South Ethiopicߌ. In The Semitic Languages, ed. R. H ETZRON , pp. 535߃549. London: Routledge. find
  14. Aethiopica 9 (2006) The Argobba of Ethiopia Are Not The Languages They Speak H UDSON , G. 1997. ߋAmharic and Argobbaߌ. In The Semitic Languages, ed. R. Hetzron, pp. 457߃485. London: Routledge. find
  15. K EEFE , E. 1989. ߋNegotiating Ethnicity: The Impact of Anthropological Theory and Practiceߌ. Napa Bulletin (8) 1߃8. find
  16. K OENIG , E. 1980. ߋEthnicity: The Key Variable in a Case Study of Language Maintenance and Language Shiftߌ. Ethnicity (7) 1߃14. find
  17. L ESLAU , W. 1959. ߋA Preliminary Description of Argobbaߌ. Annales d߈Ethiopie (13) 1: 253߃273. ߃߃߃߃߃ 1970. ߋClassification of the Semitic Languagesߌ. In Proceedings of the Third International Conference of Ethiopian Studies, Addis Ababa, vol. 2, pp. 5߃22. L OBO , J. 1735. Relation Historique d߈Abissinie. Trans. J. Le Grand. Paris. find
  18. M ANUEL , P. 1993. Cassette Culture. Popular Music and Technology in North India. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. find
  19. M ANZINI , L. 1935. Panorama Etiopica. L߈Etiopia Nelle Sue Caratteristiche Geografiche,Economiche e Sociali. I Trattati Italo߃Etiopici. Milano: La Stampa. find
  20. M ULUGETA S EYUM 1986. ߋThe Development of the National Language in Ethiopia. A Study of Language Use and Policyߌ. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, George Town University. find
  21. P ANKHURST , A. 1994. ߋIndigenising Islam in Wallo: Ajam Amharic Verse written in Arabic Scriptߌ. In Proceedings of the Eleventh International Conference of Ethiopian Studies, Addis Ababa, vol. II. pp. 257߃273. R OCHET D ߈ HERICOURT , C.E.X. 1841. Voyage sur la cÓte orientale de la Mer rouge, dans le pays d߈Adal et le royaume de Choa. Paris. find
  22. S CHLEE , G. 1987. ߋSomaloid History: Oral Tradition, Kulturgeschichte and Historical Linguistics in an area of Oromo/Somaloid Interactionߌ. In Proceedings of the Fourth International Hamito߃Semitic Congress, eds., H. J UNGRAITHMAYR et al., pp. 265߃315. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: Benjamins. find
  23. S HACK , W. 1974. The Central Ethiopians: Amhara, Tigrina and Related Peoples. London: International African Institute. find
  24. S IEBERT , R. et al. 1994. ߋArgobbaߌ. In Survey of Little-Known Languages of Ethiopia. Linguistic Reports (22), pp. 1߃20. Institute of Ethiopian Studies, Addis Ababa University. find
  25. S OBANIA , W. 1978. ߋThe Problem of Origins: Linguistic Hypotheses and Oral Tradition, or: Are We The Language We Speak?ߌ Abbay (9) 87߃99. find
  26. Aethiopica 9 (2006) Abbebe Kifleyesus S PEAR , T. et al. 1993. Being Massaai. Ethnicity and Identity in East Africa. Athens: Ohio University Press. find
  27. S TITZ , V. 1970. ߋAmhara Resettlement of Northern Shoa During the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuriesߌ. Rural Africana (11) 70߃81. ߃߃߃߃߃ 1974. ߋThe Western Argobba of Yifat, Central Ethiopiaߌ. In Proceedings of the First United States Conference on Ethiopian Studies, ed. H. M ARCUS . African Studies Centre, pp. 185߃192. Michigan State University. find
  28. W ALDRON , S. 1984. ߋArgobbaߌ. In Muslim Peoples: A World Ethnographic Survey, ed., V. W EEKES , vol.1., pp. 49߃54. Westport, CON.: Greenwood Press. find
  29. Z ELALEM L EYEW 1998. ߋSome Structural Signs of Obsolescence in Qemantߌ. In Endangered Languages in Africa, ed., M. B RENZINGER , pp. 163߃186. Cologne: KÕppe. find
  30. Z ELALEM L EYEW et al. 1994. ߋArgobbaߌ. In Survey of Little-Known Languages of Ethiopia. Linguistic Reports (22), pp. 1߃20. Institute of Ethiopian Studies, Addis Ababa University. Summary find

Updated

↑ back to top

This page in Markdown → https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/kifleyesus-2012-argobba-ethiopia-language-they-speak/