Hadiyya

A language of Ethiopia

ISO 639-3

Alternate Names

Adea, Adiya, Adiye, Hadia, Hadiya, Hadya

Population

1,250,000 (2007 census). 595,000 monolinguals.

Location

Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNPR), Gurage, Kambaata, and Hadiyya zones, between Omo and Billate rivers, Hosaina town area.

Language Status

6b (Threatened).

Classification

Dialects

Leemo, Soro. Lexical similarity: 82% with Libido [liq], 56% with Kambaata [ktb], 54% with Alaba-Kabeena [alw], 53% with Sidamo [sid].

Typology

SOV; passive, reflexive, causative, middle verbs

Language Use

150,889 L2 speakers. Also use Amharic [amh].

Language Development

Literacy rate in L1: Below 1%. Literacy rate in L2: 34%. Used in education. New media. NT: 1992.

Language Resources

Writing

Ethiopic script, used in Church literature. Latin script, official usage.

Other Comments

Christian, Muslim.