<div dir="ltr"><h1 style="margin:0px 0px 35px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(1,1,0);font-weight:500;font-size:6.82em;font-family:Oswald_web,Oswald,Lato,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;line-height:0.984223">How Haile Selassie made the Amharic language Ethiopia’s lingua franca in the 1930s</h1><div class="gmail-cols-a gmail-mb-c" style="margin:0px 0px 40px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:Lato,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:10.001px"><div style="margin:0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;float:left;width:600px"><p class="gmail-mobile-only" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;font-size:1.374em;font-style:italic">May 14, 2019 at 02:00 pm | <a href="https://face2faceafrica.com/history" rel="category tag" tabindex="-1" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;font-size:1em;background:none;color:rgb(138,9,69);text-decoration-line:none;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-family:Lato,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;text-transform:uppercase">HISTORY</a></p><div class="gmail-author gmail-small" style="margin:11px 0px 22px;padding:0px 0px 18px 82px;box-sizing:border-box;overflow:hidden;border-width:0px 0px 1px;border-style:solid;border-color:rgb(228,228,228);line-height:1.5;min-height:76px;color:rgb(37,37,37)"><img src="https://cdn.face2faceafrica.com/www/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/EUROPA.jpg" width="70" height="70" alt="Mildred Europa Taylor" class="gmail-avatar gmail-avatar-70 gmail-wp-user-avatar gmail-wp-user-avatar-70 gmail-alignnone gmail-photo" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; transition: visibility 0.4s ease-in-out 0s, color 0.4s ease-in-out 0s, background-color 0.4s ease-in-out 0s, color 0.4s ease-in-out 0s, border-color 0.4s ease-in-out 0s, color 0.4s ease-in-out 0s, opacity 0.4s ease-in-out 0s; transform-origin: center center; font-size: 1em; max-width: 100%; border: 1px solid rgb(228, 228, 228); vertical-align: middle; border-radius: 99px; height: auto;"><p style="margin:0px 0px 6px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;font-size:1.3em;float:none;width:518px;font-family:Lato,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span class="gmail-strong gmail-text-uppercase" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;font-size:1em;font-weight:700;text-transform:uppercase">MILDRED EUROPA TAYLOR</span> | Staff Writer</p><p class="gmail-link-a gmail-a" style="margin:0px 9px 6px 0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;font-size:1.103em;float:left;width:auto;font-family:Lato,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><a class="gmail-a" href="https://face2faceafrica.com/article/" style="margin:0px;padding:5.5px 8px;box-sizing:border-box;font-size:12px;background:none;color:rgb(189,172,31);text-decoration-line:none;display:inline-block;min-width:0px;border-radius:0px;border:1px solid rgb(189,172,31);font-weight:700;line-height:1.0125;text-align:center;text-transform:uppercase;float:left"><span style="margin:0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;font-size:1em">FULL BIO</span><span class="gmail-hidden" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;font-size:1em">CLOSE</span></a></p><ul class="gmail-social-a" style="margin:0px;padding:2px 0px 0px;box-sizing:border-box;list-style:none;font-family:Oswald_web,Oswald,Lato,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-weight:700;line-height:1;float:left;clear:none;width:auto"><li class="gmail-fb" style="margin:0px 2px 0px 0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;font-size:7px;display:inline-block;width:21px;height:21px"><a rel="external noopener" href="https://web.facebook.com/mildred.e.taylor" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;font-size:1em;background:none;color:rgb(95,95,95);text-decoration-line:none;display:inline-block;overflow:hidden;width:21px;height:21px;border-radius:40px;border:1px solid rgb(229,229,229);font-weight:400"><span class="gmail-icon-facebook" style="padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;font-size:1em;speak:none;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;line-height:30px;font-family:i;display:block;width:19px;height:auto;text-align:center;text-indent:0px"></span>Facebook</a></li> <li class="gmail-tw" style="margin:0px 2px 0px 0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;font-size:7px;display:inline-block;width:21px;height:21px"><a rel="external noopener" href="https://twitter.com/europataylor" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;font-size:1em;background:none;color:rgb(95,95,95);text-decoration-line:none;display:inline-block;overflow:hidden;width:21px;height:21px;border-radius:40px;border:1px solid rgb(229,229,229);font-weight:400"><span class="gmail-icon-twitter" style="padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;font-size:1em;speak:none;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;line-height:30px;font-family:i;display:block;width:19px;height:auto;text-align:center;text-indent:0px"></span>Twitter</a></li> <li class="gmail-li" style="margin:0px 2px 0px 0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;font-size:7px;display:inline-block;width:21px;height:21px"><a rel="exter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px 0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;text-align:center"></div><div class="gmail-mobile-hide gmail-text-center gmail-nr-ad-block gmail-nr-ad-inside-article" style="margin:15px 0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;text-align:center"><span id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-103" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box"></span><span class="ezoic-ad gmail-medrectangle-3 gmail-adtester-container gmail-adtester-container-103" style="padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;min-height:250px;min-width:300px;margin:10px 0px;display:block;float:none"><span id="gmail-div-gpt-ad-face2faceafrica_com-medrectangle-3-0" class="ezoic-ad ezfound" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;display:inline-block;min-height:250px;min-width:300px"><div id="gmail-google_ads_iframe_/1254144/face2faceafrica_com-medrectangle-3_0__container__" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;display:inline-block;border:0pt none;width:300px;height:250px"></div></span></span></div><p style="margin:0px 0px 30px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;font-size:1.7em">Yet, experts say that the fact that it was imposed on the people by elites from a particular ethnic group will sometimes fuel feelings of division among the populace.</p><div class="gmail-show-visitor" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box"><p class="gmail-link-block gmail-mobile-only" style="margin:0px 0px 3px;padding:5px 12px;box-sizing:border-box;font-size:1.2em;color:rgb(255,255,255);font-weight:600;line-height:1.66667;background:linear-gradient(to right,rgb(64,41,161) 0%,rgb(141,30,110) 50%,rgb(175,28,80) 100%);display:flex">Support Pan-African Journalism<a href="https://face2faceafrica.com/membership" tabindex="-1" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 10px;padding:0px 7px;box-sizing:border-box;font-size:1em;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;color:rgb(117,10,93);text-decoration-line:none;display:block;border-radius:20px;font-weight:500;text-transform:uppercase">SUBSCRIBE</a></p></div><div class="gmail-module-box" style="margin:0px 0px 30px;padding:16px 39px 19px;box-sizing:border-box;background:rgb(238,240,239)"><h2 style="margin:0px 0px 19px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(138,9,69);font-size:1.58em;line-height:1.0125;text-transform:uppercase">MORE ABOUT THIS</h2><ul class="gmail-list-related" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;list-style:none;line-height:1.23355"><li style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px 0px 0px 11px;box-sizing:border-box;font-size:1.58em"><a href="https://face2faceafrica.com/article/nigerian-man-develops-worlds-first-ai-portal-that-can-translate-over-2000-african-languages" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;font-size:1em;background:none;color:rgb(37,37,37);text-decoration-line:none">Nigerian man develops world’s first AI portal that can translate over 2,000 African languages</a></li><li style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px 0px 0px 11px;box-sizing:border-box;font-size:1.58em"><a href="https://face2faceafrica.com/article/5-caribbean-mother-tongues-that-developed-from-west-african-languages" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;font-size:1em;background:none;color:rgb(37,37,37);text-decoration-line:none">5 Caribbean mother tongues that developed from West African languages</a></li><li style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px 0px 0px 11px;box-sizing:border-box;font-size:1.58em"><a href="https://face2faceafrica.com/article/nigerias-yoruba-language-is-second-most-spoken-foreign-language-in-baltimore-schools" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;font-size:1em;background:none;color:rgb(37,37,37);text-decoration-line:none">Nigeria’s Yoruba language is second most spoken foreign language in Baltimore schools</a></li><li style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px 0px 0px 11px;box-sizing:border-box;font-size:1.58em"><a href="https://face2faceafrica.com/article/how-to-say-hello-in-23-african-languages" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;font-size:1em;background:none;color:rgb(37,37,37);text-decoration-line:none">How to say hello in 23 African languages</a></li></ul></div><p style="margin:0px 0px 30px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;font-size:1.7em"><span id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-115" class="ezoic-adpicker-ad" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;font-size:1em"></span>Amharic, a Semitic language developed within the Afro-Asiatic language family, traces back to 1st millennium B.C. to the days of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. According to historians, immigrants from southwestern Arabia crossed the Red Sea into present-day Eritrea and mixed with the Cushitic population.</p><p style="margin:0px 0px 30px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;font-size:1.7em">“This union resulted in the birth of Ge’ez (ግዕዝ), which is the language of the Axum Empire of Northern Ethiopia. It existed between the 1st Century A.D. and the 6th Century A.D. When the power base of Ethiopia shifted from Axum to Amhara between the 10th Century A.D. and the 12th Century A.D., the use of the Amharic language spread its influence,” writes <em style="margin:0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;font-size:1em"><a href="http://amharic.com/wp/amharic/" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;font-size:1em;background:none;color:rgb(138,9,69);text-decoration-line:none">Amharic.com.</a></em></p><p style="margin:0px 0px 30px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;font-size:1.7em">Ethiopia currently has over 80 ethnic groups and almost a hundred languages. The Amhara ethnic group constitutes only about 27 per cent of the population, but their mother tongue is what is spoken among nearly 22 million people in the country as a first language.<span id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-108" class="ezoic-adpicker-ad" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;font-size:1em"></span><span class="ezoic-ad gmail-medrectangle-4 gmail-adtester-container gmail-adtester-container-108" style="padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;font-size:1em;float:none;min-height:250px;min-width:300px;margin:10px 0px;display:block;text-align:center"><span id="gmail-div-gpt-ad-face2faceafrica_com-medrectangle-4-0" class="ezoic-ad ezfound" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;font-size:1em;display:inline-block;min-height:250px;min-width:300px"></span></span></p><div id="gmail-google_ads_iframe_/1254144/face2faceafrica_com-medrectangle-4_0__container__" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;font-size:1em;display:inline-block;border:0pt none;width:300px;height:250px"></div><p></p><p style="margin:0px 0px 30px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;font-size:1.7em">Amharic has over 4 million second-language speakers within the country and a further 3 million around the world, <a href="https://www.ethiopiaonlinevisa.com/amharic-the-ethiopian-language/" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;font-size:1em;background:none;color:rgb(138,9,69);text-decoration-line:none">according to records</a>. In other words, even though the regional governments can use different languages in their constituencies, the federal government operates on Amharic.</p><p style="margin:0px 0px 30px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;font-size:1.7em"><em style="margin:0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;font-size:1em"><span style="margin:0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;font-size:1em;font-weight:700">So how did Amharic supersede the various languages to become Ethiopia’s first language:</span></em></p><p style="margin:0px 0px 30px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;font-size:1.7em">Since the late 12th century, Amharic has been spoken in Ethiopia in various industries, including the legal system, commerce, communications, the military and religion. However, the actions of various emperors in the 19th and 20th centuries gave the language the importance it has at the moment.</p><p style="margin:0px 0px 30px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;font-size:1.7em">According to an article on <em style="margin:0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;font-size:1em"><a href="https://africanarguments.org/2019/05/08/how-amharic-unites-and-divides-ethiopia/" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;box-sizing:border-box;font-size:1em;background:none;color:rgb(138,9,69);text-decoration-line:none">African Arguments</a></em>, Emperor Tewodros II (1855-1868) was the first to make Amharic a literary language, elevating it into written form. Unlike his predecessors, he ensured that his royal chronicles were written in Amharic rather than Ge’ez.</p></div></div></div><div><br></div>-- <br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies                     <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone:  (215) 898-7475<br>Fax:  (215) 573-2138                                      <br><br>Email:  <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a>    <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div></div>