THE GAFAT AND ARGOBBA OF ETHIOPIA: A HISTORICAL SURVEY OF THE TWO ETHIO SEMITIC LINGUISTIC COMMUNITIES

Authors : Ahmed Hassen

Pages : 401-413

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Publication Date : 2023-10-21

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :The objective of this article is to present a brief ethno-historical and linguistic survey of the Gafat and Argpobba Semitic communities and the status of their languages in Ethiopia. Available evidences show that Gafat is an extinct language both in the country and in elsewhere in the world. The Argobba language, on its part, is in the process of decline. Today, no one speaks Gafat language on the planet. Nevertheless, Argobba and its dialects are still trickling though they completely lost their market and educational roles. We, however, still see families and villagers or in some urban pockets of Ethiopia, people do communicate with it. The intensive social interactions and integrations with their neighbors seem to have eventually worked against both Gafat and Argobba to extinct (Gafat language) and decline (Argobba language) in favor of the languages of their neighbors such as the Amhara, Oromo, and Afar. In addition, that we are living with not only the living language and cultures but also with the enshrined heritages, culture and fragments of the literary sources of both the extinct Gafat and the declining Argobba. Ethno historical research method employed a case study based on qualitative sources to handle this topic. The article properly evaluates the current state of literature on the two communities and their languages. However, Gafat language is extinct and we do not have speakers of it; the Argobba is in state of declining, their contribution both as social heritage and serving as sources of linguistic and ethno historical research remains quite vital.
Keywords : Ethiopia, Gafat, Argobba, Extinct Language, Declining Language, Ethno History