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Burji

A language of Ethiopia

ISO 639-3: bji

Population	35,700 in Ethiopia (1994 census). 29,259 monolinguals. Population total all countries: 46,100. Ethnic population: 46,565 (1994 census).
Region	South of Lake Ciamo. Also in Kenya.
Language map	Southwestern Ethiopia, reference number 19
Alternate names	Bambala, Bembala, Daashi
Dialects	Lexical similarity: 41% with Sidamo [sid] (most similar).
Classification	Afro-Asiatic, Cushitic, East, Highland
Language use	3,045 L2 speakers. Many in Ethiopia are older adults.
Language development	Literacy rate in L1: Below 1%. Literacy rate in L2: 29.1%. Dictionary. NT: 1993.
Writing system	Ethiopic script.
Comments	SOV; passives; middle voice; causatives; subject suffixes distinguish person, number, gender. Christian, Muslim.

Also spoken in:

Kenya

Language name	Burji
Population	10,400 in Kenya (2006).
Region	Moyale, Marsabit Township area.
Language map	Kenya, reference number 3
Alternate names	Bambala
Language use	GIDS 7. Home, social gatherings without outsiders. Mainly adults. Positive attitude. Younger also use Borana [gax].
Language development	Literacy rate in L1: Below 1%. Literacy rate in L2: 15%–25%.
Comments	Brought from Ethiopia in the 1930s to build roads from Moyale to other north Kenya towns. Businessmen; agriculturalists. Christian, traditional religion.

Entries from the SIL Bibliography about this language:

Academic Publications

Gebre-Tsadik, Abebe and others. 1985. The verb morphophonemics of five highland east Cushitic languages, including Burji.

Payne, Doris L. 1992. "Towards a more adequate approach to ’focus’ phenomena (Review of ’Generating narratives: interrelations of knowledge, text variants, and Cushitic focus strategies, by Klaus Wedekind)."

Wedekind, Charlotte. 1985. "Burji verb morphology and morphophonemics."

Wedekind, Klaus. 1980. "Sidamo, Gedeo (Derasa), Burji: Phonological differences and likenesses."