Omo–Tana languages

The Omo–Tana languages are a branch of the Cushitic family and are spoken in Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia, Somaliland and Kenya. The largest member is Somali. There is some debate as to whether the Omo–Tana languages form a single group, or whether they are individual branches of Lowland East Cushitic. Blench (2006) restricts the name to the Western Omo–Tana languages, and calls the others Macro-Somali.[1][2]

Omo–Tana
Geographic distribution	Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya
Linguistic classification	Afro-Asiatic Cushitic Lowland East Omo–Tana
Subdivisions	Rendille? Somali? Baiso? Girirra? Western Omo–Tana
Glottolog	omot1245

Internal classification

Mauro Tosco (2012)[3] proposes the following internal classification of the Omo-Tana languages. Tosco considers Omo-Tama to consist of a Western branch and an Eastern ("Somaloid") branch, which is a dialect chain of various Somali languages and the Rendille–Boni languages (see also Macro-Somali languages).

Omo-Tana

• Western ("Galaboid") branch
  • Dhaasanac
  • Arbore
  • Elmolo
• Eastern ("Somaloid") branch
  • Rendille
  • Karre–Boni
  • Tunni–Dabarre
  • Ashraaf
  • Maay
  • Somali

References

1. Roger Blench, 2006. The Afro-Asiatic Languages: Classification and Reference List (ms)
2. Vossen, Rainer; Dimmendaal, Gerrit J. (2020-03-19). The Oxford Handbook of African Languages. Oxford University Press. p. 296. ISBN 978-0-19-100737-8.
3. Tosco, Mauro (2012). The Unity and Diversity of Somali Dialectal Variants. In: Nathan Oyori Ogechi, Jane A. Ngala Oduor and Peter Iribemwangi (eds.), The Harmonization and Standardization of Kenyan Languages. Orthography and other aspects. Cape Town: The Centre for Advanced Studies of African Society (CASAS): 2012: 263-280.