Bench

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A language of Ethiopia

ISO 639-3
bcq
Alternate Names
Bencnon, Dizu, “Ghimarra” (pej.), “Gimarra” (pej.), “Gimira” (pej.)
Autonym
Bèntʂ nòn‎ (Benc’non)
Population

370,600, all users. L1 users: 348,000 (2007 census). 14,300 Mer. L2 users: 22,600. 150,000 monolinguals. Ethnic population: 352,000 (2007 census).

Location

Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ region: Mizan Teferi area.

Language Maps
Language Status

4 (Educational).

Classification
Afro-Asiatic, Omotic, North, Gonga-Gimojan, Gimojan, Ometo-Gimira, Gimira
Dialects

Bench (Bencho, Benesho), Mer (Mieru), She (Kaba, Sce).

Typology

SOV; tonal, 5 level tones, 1 glide.

Language Use

Also use Amharic [amh]. Used as L2 by Sheko [she].

Language Development
Literacy rate in L2: 12% in Amharic [amh]. Pilot education project begun in 2008. Taught in primary schools as medium of instruction for grades 1–3. Grade 4 materials are being developed. Radio. NT: 1990.
Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Bench
Writing

Ethiopic script [Ethi], used until 2008. Latin script [Latn], used since 2008.

Other Comments

Traditional religion.

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