| Gumuz | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Ethiopia, Sudan |
| Region | Benishangul-Gumuz Region; Amhara Region; Blue Nile State |
| Ethnicity | Gumuz |
Native speakers | Ethiopia: 160,000 (2007 census)[1] Sudan: 88,000 (2017)[1] |
| Dialects |
|
| Ethiopic, Latin (in Ethiopia) | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | guk |
| Glottolog | gumu1244 Northern Gumuzsout3236 Southern Gumuz |
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]
- ^ a b c Gumuz at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ 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
- ^ Wendy James, et al., Juan Maria Schuver's Travels in North East Africa, 1880-1883 (London: Hakluyt Society, 1996), pp. 340-43
