Gumuz language

Gumuz
Native toEthiopia, Sudan
RegionBenishangul-Gumuz Region; Amhara Region; Blue Nile State
EthnicityGumuz
Native speakers
Ethiopia: 160,000 (2007 census)[1]
Sudan: 88,000 (2017)[1]
Dialects
  • Northern
  • Southern
  • Yaso
Ethiopic, Latin (in Ethiopia)
Language codes
ISO 639-3guk
Glottologgumu1244  Northern Gumuz
sout3236  Southern Gumuz
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Gumuz (also spelled Gumaz) is a dialect cluster spoken along the border of Ethiopia and Sudan. It has been tentatively classified within the Nilo-Saharan family. Most Ethiopian speakers live in Kamashi Zone and Metekel Zone of the Benishangul-Gumuz Region, although a group of 1,000 reportedly live outside the town of Welkite (Unseth 1989). The Sudanese speakers live in the area east of Er Roseires, around Famaka and Fazoglo on the Blue Nile, extending north along the border.[1] Dimmendaal et al. (2019) suspect that the poorly attested varieties spoken along the river constitute a distinct language, Kadallu.[2]

An early record of this language is a wordlist from the Mount Guba area compiled in February 1883 by Juan Maria Schuver.[3]

  1. ^ a b c Gumuz at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
  2. ^ Gerrit Dimmendaal, Colleen Ahland & Angelika Jakobi (2019) Linguistic features and typologies in languages commonly referred to as 'Nilo-Saharan', Cambridge Handbook of African Linguistics, p. 6–7
  3. ^ Wendy James, et al., Juan Maria Schuver's Travels in North East Africa, 1880-1883 (London: Hakluyt Society, 1996), pp. 340-43