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Afar

A language of Ethiopia

ISO 639-3: aar

Population	979,000 in Ethiopia (1994 census). 905,872 monolinguals (1994 census). Population total all countries: 1,078,200.
Region	Eastern lowlands, Afar region. May be in Somalia. Also in Djibouti, Eritrea.
Language map	Djibouti, Eritrea and Ethiopia, reference number 2
Alternate names	’Afar Af, Adal, Afaraf, “Danakil” , “Denkel”
Dialects	Northern Afar, Central Afar, Aussa, Baadu (Ba’adu). Related to Saho [ssy].
Classification	Afro-Asiatic, Cushitic, East, Saho-Afar
Language use	22,848 L2 users. Also use Arabic [apd].
Language development	Literacy rate in L1: Below 1%. Literacy rate in L2: 3%. Radio programs. Dictionary. Grammar. NT: 1994.
Writing system	Ethiopic script, used in Ethiopia. Latin script.
Comments	Called “Danakil” in Arabic and by others, but that is considered offensive by the Afar. Called ‘Adal’ in Amharic. Nomadic. People have suffered from recent famines. SOV. Pastoralists; agriculturalists. Muslim, Christian.

Also spoken in:

Djibouti

Language name	Afar
Population	99,200 in Djibouti (2006).
Region	Red Sea coast.
Language map	Djibouti, Eritrea and Ethiopia, reference number 2
Alternate names	Afaraf, “Danakil”
Language development	Literacy rate in L2: Below 1%.
Comments	Called “Danakil” by others, but this is considered offensive. Nomadic. Pastoralists. Muslim.

Eritrea

Language name	Afar
Region	Southern parts.
Language map	Djibouti, Eritrea and Ethiopia, reference number 2
Alternate names	Afaraf, “Danakil” , “Denkel”
Dialects	Central Afar, Northern Afar, Aussa, Ba’adu.
Language use	Also use Arabic.
Language development	Literacy rate in L2: 8%.
Comments	Called “Danakil” by others, but that is considered offensive by the Afar. Nomadic. May also be in Somalia. Muslim, Christian.

Entries from the SIL Bibliography about this language:

Academic Publications

ABRAHA, John; BARIAGHABER, Tesfai; BEYED, Sullus; HAMMADU, Osman; MAHMUD, Saleh; MOHAMMED, Ibrahim; TECLEMARIAM, Daniel; WEDEKIND, Charlotte; WEDEKIND, Klaus, authors. 1997. Eritrea Dialect Survey (December 1996-May 1997) Report.

ABUSHUSH, Dawd Adem; ASHKABA, John Abraha; AWED, Sulus Beyed; DAVIS, Patricia M.; GHEBREMEDHIN, Tesfai Bariagaber; HAMMADU, Osman; HOATSON, Kristen; HOATSON, Todd; IDRIS, Saleh Mahmud; MOHAMMED, Ibrahim; OKBATSION, Solomon Berhane; OSMAN ALI, Mohammed; TEKRURAY, Daniel Teclemariam; WALTER, Stephen L., authors. 2005. Eritrea national reading survey, September 2002.

BLIESE, Loren F., author. 1981. A generative grammar of Afar.