Kambaata | Ethnologue

A language of Ethiopia

ISO 639: ktb
Alternate Names: Donga, Kambara, Kambata, Kambatta, Kemata, Kembata
Autonym: Kambaatissata
Population: 822,300, all users. L1 users: 743,000 (2007 census). 30,100 Donga, 97,800 Timbaro (2007 census). L2 users: 79,300. 330,500 monolinguals. Includes 279,000 Kambaata, 51,600 Timbaro. Ethnic population: 761,000 (2007 census). Includes 35,200 Donga, 98,600 Timbaro (2007 census).
Location:: Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ region: southwest Gurage, Kambaata, and Hadiyya zones; Durame is main town.
Language Status: 4 (Educational).
Classification: Afro-Asiatic, Cushitic, East, Highland
Dialects: Tambaro, Timbaro (T’imbaaro, Timbaaro, Timbara, Timebaro). Lexical similarity: 95% between dialects, 81% with Alaba-Kabeena [alw], 62% with Sidamo [sid], 57% with Libido [liq], 56% with Hadiyya [hdy].
Typology: SOV; passive, middle, causative verbs; subject suffixes distinguish person, number, gender.
Language Use: Positive attitudes. Also use Amharic [amh].
Language Development: Literacy rate in L2: 44%. Taught in primary schools in grades 1–4 as the medium of instruction, in grades 5–10 as a subject. NT: 1992.
Language Resources: OLAC resources in and about Kambaata
Writing: Ethiopic script [Ethi]. Latin script [Latn], primary usage.
Other Comments: Timbaro is now officially recognized as a seprate language in Ethiopia, although it is linguistically very close to Kambaata. Christian.

Location: Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ region: southwest Gurage, Kambaata, and Hadiyya zones; Durame is main town.