Sidamo - Sidámo 'Afó

1. Classification / Classification

Sidamo is a language of the Highland East Cushitic Group spoken by the Sadamain. (Webbook)

Ethnologue lists the classification as: Afro-Asiatic, Cushitic, East, Highland

2. Where Spoken / Localisation géographique

Southern highlands east and west of Lake Awasa, Ethiopia. (Webbook)

3. Number of Speakers / Nombre de locuteurs

According to Ethnologue:

• 1,876,329 (1998 census)
• 101,340 second-language speakers

4. Dialect Survey / Enquête de dialecte

No dialect survey is known to us; however, Hudson (in Bender 1976, p.233) says that Sidamo "is ... little differentiated into dialects" and that "the differences are minimal." (Webbook)

Concerning other related languages, Ethnologue says: Lexical similarity 64% with Allaaba, 62% with Kambaata, 53% with Hadiyya.

5. Usage / Utilisation

Literacy rate (according to Ethnologue):

• L1: 1% to 5%
• L2: 20.3%

6. Orthography / Orthographe

6.1 Status / Statut

Very little is written in Sidamo. As far as we know, the only printed literature to date is the Bible, written in Amharic characters. (Webbook)

A very brief and probably dated discussion of the orthography in Italian is available on the Rosetta Project site at http://www.rosettaproject.org/archive/sid/ortho-1

6.2 Sample Alphabet / Alphabet exemple

7. Use in ICT / Utilisation dans les TIC

7.1 Fonts / Polices

7.2 Keyboard layouts / Dispositions de clavier

7.3 Content on computers & internet / Contenu en informatique et sur l'Internet

None known.

7.4 Localized software / Logiciels localisés

Not aware of any localisation efforts.

7.5 Language codes / Codes de langue

• ISO 639-1: -
• ISO 639-2: sid
• ISO/DIS 639-3: sid

7.6 Other / Autre

8. Localisation resources / Ressources pour localisation

8.1 Individuals (experts) / Individuelles (experts)

8.2 Institutions / Institutions

8.3 On the internet / Sur la toile

9. Comments / Remarques

10. References / Références

Dwyer, David (1997), Webbook of African Languages, http://www.isp.msu.edu/AfrLang/hiermenu.html (page on "Sidamo," http://www.isp.msu.edu/AfrLang/Sidamo_root.html )

SIL International, Ethnologue: Languages of the World, "Sidamo," http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=sid

U.S. Library of Congress, "ISO 639.2: Codes for the Representation of Names of Languages: Alpha-3 codes arranged alphabetically by the English name of language," http://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/php/English_list.php

Wikipedia, "Sidamo language," http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidamo_language

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