Sidamo | Ethnologue

A language of Ethiopia

ISO 639: sid
Alternate Names: Sidaama, Sidaamu afii, Sidama, Sidaminya, Sidámo ’Afó
Autonym: Sidaamu Afoo
Population: 4,441,000, all users. L1 users: 4,340,000 (2018). L2 users: 101,000. 2,530,000 monolinguals. Ethnic population: 4,340,000 (2018).
Location:: Oromia region: southeast of Lake Awasa; Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ region: northeast of Lake Abaya.
Language Status: 4 (Educational).
Classification: Afro-Asiatic, Cushitic, East, Highland
Dialects: None known. Lexical similarity: 64% with Alaba-Kabeena [alw], 62% with Kambaata [ktb], 53% with Hadiyya [hdy].
Typology: SOV.
Language Use: Also use Amharic [amh].
Language Development: Literacy rate in L2: 20%. Taught in primary schools in grades 1–4 as the medium of instruction, in grades 5–10 as a subject. Literature. Radio. Dictionary. Grammar. Bible: 2015.
Language Resources: OLAC resources in and about Sidamo
Writing: Ethiopic script [Ethi], used until 1993. Latin script [Latn], used since 1993.

Location: Oromia region: southeast of Lake Awasa; Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ region: northeast of Lake Abaya.