C49 Chapter 49

arabic in et h i opia
Endris Mohammed and Andreas Wetter

C49S1 49.1 The Arabic period of Christian

literature in Geez

C49P1 After the Aksumite Kingdom accepted Christianity as state religion in the 4th century
of the Christian era, a special relationship developed between the Coptic Church in Egypt
and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Since Greek was the language of liturgy and particu-
larly the language in which Christian religious literature was written in Egypt, it was from
Greek that the first religious works in Geez were translated. After the Islamic conquest
of Egypt in the 7th century, Greek gradually lost its function as literary language in the
Coptic Church and was replaced by Arabic in 10th century (Müller & Störk 2003).
C49P2 Geez, having ceased to be a spoken language by that time, continued to survive as the lit-
erary and liturgical language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Some Christian Arabic lit-
erature from Egypt seems to have been translated during the Zagʷe period between the 10th
and 13th centuries, e.g. the kəbrä nägäśt ‘Glory of the Kings’ (Taddesse 1977: 124; Getatchew
2005: 737), but translation of Christian books from Arabic into Geez began in earnest with
the Solomonic period in the 13th century. The period between the 13th and the 18th centuries
is therefore called the “Arabic period of Gəʿəz literature” (Getatchew 2005: 737).
C49P3 During that period monks and clergy from Ethiopia used to travel to Egypt and stay in
Coptic monasteries and, vice versa, many Arabic speaking monks, but also craftsmen and
merchants, travelled to Ethiopia (Kropp 1986: 315). Thus, while most of the translations from
Arabic into Geez were done in Ethiopia, for example in the famous monastery of Däbrä
Hayq Ǝstifanos (Getatchew 2005: 737), some were also produced in Egypt. Besides books
with religious content many historical and hagiographical treatises were translated as well.
Some examples of important translations from Arabic into Geez are the gädlä sämaʾətat
‘Contending of the Martyrs’ and the mäsḥafä säʿatat ‘Book of Hours’ from the 13th cen-
tury (Bausi 2005a: 645; Zanetti & Fritisch 2014: 501), the gädlä ḥawaryat ‘Contending of the
Apostles’, the sənkəssar ‘Synaxarion’ and the zena Ǝskəndər ‘Story of Alexander’ from the
14th century (Bausi 2005b: 1049; Bausi & Colin 2010: 621; Lusini 2003: 195), and the fətḥa
nägäśt ‘Law of the kings’ from the 16th century (Tzadua 2005: 534).
 1176    Endris Mohammed and Andreas Wetter

C49P4 In the course of the translation process, Geez was significantly influenced by Arabic.
Many Arabic loanwords were incorporated into its lexicon. Furthermore, the Arabic sources
of the translated texts caused semantic expansions or meaning shifts of individual lexical
items, the “expansion of Ethiopic roots”, and the “formation of new and productive roots”
(Kropp 1986: 344). On the syntactic level, constructions typical of Geez are “less frequent” as
in the case of enclitics or even absent, as in the case of converbs.

C49S2 49.2 Arabic in Medieval Islamic Ethiopia

C49P5 The introduction of Islam in the territory of what is today modern Ethiopia preceded the
beginning of the Arabic period of Geez literature in the 13th century. From the first half of
the 7th century Muslim traders, preachers, and immigrant families from the Hijaz started
to travel along trade routes to the interior of Ethiopia (Hussein 2001: 37). One of these
routes must have led from the Red Sea coast into eastern Tigray. While the oldest Arabic
inscriptions have been found on the Dahlak Archipelago, inscriptions discovered in eastern
Tigray seem to be related to them in style and content (Schneider 1967; Smidt 2004; 2011).
A second route led from the port of Zeila to Central Ethiopia.
C49P6 The first establishment of an Islamic principality can be dated as early as the 9th century
in Central Ethiopia when the Sultanate of Shewa was founded in 896 ad by the Maḫzūmī
dynasty (Cerulli 1941). At the beginning of the 13th century the Sultanate of Ifat, ruled by the
Walasmaʿ dynasty, emerged as the most powerful Islamic state in medieval Ethiopia (Wagner
1976). In the following centuries several Muslim states emerged in the east and south of
Shewa, such as Arabäbni, Bale, Däwaro, Hadiyya and Sharka, and Adal, which succeeded
Ifat in the 15th century (Braukämper 2002: 19–​23).
C49P7 Most of the knowledge about the various Muslim states stems from Arabic and Ethiopian
sources. Moreover, archaeological investigations in recent years have enriched our know-
ledge about the medieval Islamic civilization in south-​central Ethiopia (e.g. Fauvelle-​Aymar
et al. 2006; Fauvelle-​Aymar & Hirsch 2008; 2011; Fauvelle, Hirsch & Chekroun 2017; Insoll,
Habtamu & Mahmoud 2014; Insoll 2017). Epigraphic findings discovered during these
archaeological studies have confirmed historical personalities known until now only from
Arabic sources. Ethiopian and French archaeologists have identified the necropolis of the
Walasmaʿ rulers of Ifat in eastern Shewa including the grave of at least one ruler known from
written sources (Fauvelle, Hirsch & Chekroun 2017: 277).
C49P8 Arabic must have played a significant role in the Islamic regions of medieval Ethiopia as
Arab sources tell us that the languages used in Ifat were “Abyssinian and Arabic” (Taddesse
1977: 146). Reports of Arab travellers and Arab participation in the wars between the
Christian kingdom and the Sultanates of Ifat and Adal suggest a certain level of linguistic
competence in Arabic in these regions (Fauvelle-​Aymar & Hirsch 2008: 366; Martin 1975).
C49P9 Inscriptions remain the only evidence of the use of Arabic as written language in Muslim
Ethiopia during the Middle Ages. About 60 Arabic inscriptions have been found in Ethiopia
so far. While Bauden (2011) mentions approximately 50 inscriptions, nine additional
inscriptions have been discovered and described by Fauvelle, Hirsch & Chekroun (2017).
Since archaeological investigation of the old Islamic regions in Ethiopia have only begun re-
cently it is quite possible that more inscriptions will be found in the future.
 arabic in ethiopia    1177

C49P10 Arabic inscriptions have been found mostly in areas with a long history of Islamic
presence: in eastern Tigray (Gori 2007; Smidt 2004; 2011; Smidt & Rashidy 2012), eastern
Shewa (Fauvelle, Hirsch & Chekroun 2017), southern Shewa (Gori 2007), and in Harar and
Chercher [Č̣ärč̣är] (Bauden 2011; Gori 2007). The age of Arabic inscriptions (all funeral
texts) extends from the 11th century until the 15th century, without considering the older
inscriptions on the Dahlak islands that are dated to the 10th century (Gori 2007).

C49S3 49.3 Arabic in modern Ethiopia

C49S4 49.3.1 Language of religion

C49P11 Arabic is the religious language of Ethiopian Muslims, i.e. it is the language of the religious
texts and is used by every Muslim during the five obligatory daily prayers. Arabic is also the
language of liturgy used in the ḫutba ‘weekly sermons’ during Friday prayers, and in indi-
vidual supplications.
C49P12 In modern Ethiopia, Muslims are the majority of the population in the following areas: in
eastern Ethiopia, including the Somali Region, the old city of Harar, and the Oromo area
east of the Rift Valley; in southwest Ethiopia around the city of Jimma; in northeast Ethiopia
including the eastern part of Wello and the Afar Region; in south Ethiopia including parts of
the Gurage and the Silt’e areas and in west Ethiopia including the Benishangul area. In add-
ition, Muslim communities of varying sizes can be found in most—​if not all—​urban centres
and cities. The daily call to prayer, performed in Arabic, can thus be heard in almost every
city of Ethiopia.

C49S5 49.3.2 Teaching of Arabic

C49P13 Every Muslim child learns to read the Arabic script, which provides him or her with just
enough knowledge to use Arabic as a ritual language for prayers, supplications (du’a) and the
recitation of the Qurʾān. Regarding more advanced levels of Arabic, two types of educational
institutions offer teaching in the language. Private schools for Muslim children called ma-
drasa began teaching in the 1960s in some cities with a modern curriculum including Arabic
courses (Haile Gabriel 1976: 360). With the start of a graduate programme in philology at
Addis Ababa University, which includes Classical Arabic, Arabic language and literature
were introduced in the curriculum in 2004 (Moges 2006: x).
C49P14 The teaching of Arabic in traditional centres, which—​with the exception of Harar—​
are usually located in rural areas, predates the teaching of Arabic in modern schools by
centuries. In these centres, Classical Arabic is essentially used as literary language among
scholars and students. Native Ethiopian languages are used as meta-​language for teaching
Arabic or for comments and explanations about the content of difficult literary works. The
use of Arabic as the basic means of instruction in traditional learning centres is evidence of
its strong presence in Ethiopia. The average time students need to proceed from a primary to
an advanced level is around 19–​23 years. In Ethiopia, the Islamic disciplines given in Arabic
in a pure manner are the following (Hussein 1988a: 103): al-​lafẓ al-​Qurʾān ‘reading skills’,
 1178    Endris Mohammed and Andreas Wetter

fiqh ‘Islamic jurisprudence’, ʿilm al-​kalām ‘theology’, naḥw ‘Arabic grammar’, ḥadīṯ ‘prophetic
traditions’, tafsīr ‘exegesis’, and the practical sciences ʿilm al-​nuǧūm ‘astrology’, ʿilm al-​ḥisāb
‘mathematics’, and ʿilm al-​ṭībb ‘medicine’.

C49S6 49.3.3 Arabic in the media

C49P15 In print media, Arabic was used for the first time in 1942 in al-​ʿAlam—​an Arabic newspaper
published by the Ministry of Information (Hussein 1994). Private magazines and newspapers
started to appear from the early 1990s, such as the bilingual (Amharic and Arabic) monthly
Bilal that was published between 1991 and 1995 (Gori 2008a: 73).
C49P16 When radio broadcasting was restarted after the Italian occupation in 1941, Arabic was
one of the three languages (besides Amharic and English) used in radio programmes. Since
then radio programmes in Arabic constitute an integral part of public broadcasting in
Ethiopia (Gartley 2003: 630). Recently, an Arabic programme has been added to television
broadcasting.

C49S7 49.4 Arabic literature in Ethiopia

C49S8 49.4.1 Centres of scholarship

C49P17 The emergence and spread of Islamic scholarship through different regions of Ethiopia
created the context necessary for the spread of knowledge in Arabic. Crucial agents in this
process were learned men, the ʿulamāʾ, who established numerous centres of Islamic schol-
arship. These centres played a pivotal role in the dissemination of linguistic competence and
the development of a literary tradition in Arabic.
C49P18 The two regions with the oldest centres of Islamic scholarship are Harar, and (eastern)
Wello and Ifat. In both regions, a long history of Islamic presence was the important precon-
dition for the emergence of an Islamic literary culture. Thus, while the only written Arabic
sources from earlier periods are inscriptions (§49.2), the oldest Arabic manuscripts found in
Ethiopia so far were written in the 18th century (Gori 2007: 747). Obviously writing in Arabic
must have started earlier, although older manuscripts have probably not been preserved due
to climate and other precarious circumstances.
C49P19 Parts of the population in southwestern, south-​central, and southeastern Ethiopia—​such
as Arsi, Jimma, Bale, Chercher, and the Gurage area—​converted to Islam mostly during the
19th century. Thus, Islamic scholarship started to thrive in those areas later than in Wello
and Harar (Drewes 1976; Gori 2007: 745; Hassan 2008). In fact, many Muslim scholars in
southern and southwestern Ethiopia went to Wello for their education.
C49P20 The various mystic orders, particularly the Qādirīya Ṣūfī, played a decisive role in the es-
tablishment of centres of scholarship. They increased the attraction of students and conse-
quently caused the expansion of teaching. This was particularly the case in Harar and the
important learning centres in Wello, such as Anna, Dana, Jama Nəgus, and Chali [Č̣ali].
 arabic in ethiopia    1179

C49S9 49.4.2  Harar

C49P21 Harar has probably the oldest uninterrupted tradition of Islamic scholarship in Ethiopia.
Archaeological excavations in the west of Harar indicate that there must have been a much
wider network of Muslim urban settlements in the Middle Ages (Insoll et al. 2017). But only
Harar, which had become the capital of the Adal Sultanate in the 16th century, survived as
a major cultural centre of Islam in eastern Ethiopia (Taddesse 1977: 149; Wagner 1997b: ix).
C49P22 Although Harar has its own indigenous language, Arabic was the written language for his-
toriographic works, as well as for administrative and secular purposes (Wagner 1974a). But
first and foremost, it was the language of religious literature. The literary wealth of Arabic
literature in Harar comprises imported books and locally composed works. The known
and attested production of Arabic manuscripts goes back at least three centuries (Drewes
1976: 172; Gori 2014: xlii).
C49P23 The fact of Harar being an urban centre and thus easily accessible certainly contributed
to the concentration of Western scholars of Islamic culture and history in the city.
Consequently, most of the extant Ethiopian Islamic literature written in Arabic has so far
been found in Harar (Gori 2003; 2014: xl). The city has been attracting foreign researchers
since the late 19th century (Gori 2007: 745). A considerable number of manuscripts from
Harar have been collected by libraries in Europe and North America (Wagner 1997b;
Gori 2007: 745; Fani 2016a: 124), and in the library of the Institute of Ethiopian Studies (at
Addis Ababa University), which contains 870 codicological units, mostly from Harar (Fani
2016a: 124). On his own initiative and with tireless efforts the local collector Abdallah Sharif
has built up a unique and important library in Harar with about 500 manuscripts.
C49P24 However, the majority of manuscripts in Harar, whether in Arabic or in the local language
Harari, are apparently privately owned. Books and manuscripts are highly valued in Harar
society (Drewes 1976: 172), and this is reflected in a remarkably sophisticated bookbinding
tradition (Wagner 1997b: ix). For a description of the inventory of the 19th century private
library of the last Sultan of Harar, Muḥammad ʿAli ʿAbd al-​Šakūr, which contains books of
various genres, see Drewes (1983).
C49P25 The Arabic literature of Harar comprises “a fair number of standard works by Arab
authors” (Drewes 1976: 174) about Islamic law, mostly šāfi’ī works and commentaries, books
about tafsīr ‘Quranic exegesis’ and ḥadīṯ ‘traditions of words and actions of the Prophet
Muḥammad’ (Drewes 1983: 70–​73; Wagner 1997b: x), works on grammar (Fani 2016a: 119–​
121), and some of “the classics of Arabic religious poetry and pious literature” (Drewes
1976: 174) like mawlid ‘texts composed for the recitation at celebrations of the Prophet
Muḥammad’s birthday’ and ṣalawāt ‘devotional poetry in praise of the Prophet Muḥammad’.
Two early authors from the 18th century are Abū ʿAbdallāh Hāšim ibn ʿAbdalʿAzīz, the author
of the Fatḥ ar-​raḥmānī, a famous collection of prayers (Drewes 1983: 76; Wagner 2005b), and
Ḥ āmid ibn al-​Faqīh Ṣiddīq al-​Hararī al-​Ḥ imyarī from whom three treatises with religious
content have been preserved (Brunschvig 1974; Wagner 2005c). Examples of local works in
Arabic are the historiographic work Fatḥ madīnat Harar, most probably written in the early
19th century by Yaḥya Nasrallāh (Wagner 1978), lists of local saints (Wagner 1973) and rulers
(Wagner 1974b; 1976; 1991) as well as prayers, panegyric poems, and songs (Wagner 1975;
Gori 2010).
 1180    Endris Mohammed and Andreas Wetter

C49S10 49.4.3 Wello and Ifat

C49P26 Islam was most probably introduced in Wello from neighbouring Ifat (Hussein 2001: 60;
Hussein, O’Fahey & Wagner 2003: 176). Islamic scholars have been present in Wello since
at least the 18th century (Hussein 2001: 83; Hussein, O’Fahey & Wagner 2003: 176). The
presence of Muslim communities in Wello seems also to be related to the Argobba people.
Although the exact historical development regarding their spread from Ifat is not yet known,
their immigration as far as Wärrä Babbo in southeastern Wello must have been an important
factor for the establishment of Islam in Wello. Argobba traders were engaged in long dis-
tance trade with the Red Sea region and had begun importing religious Arabic literature
from an early date. Due to the dominant role of Argobba traders for the dissemination of
Arabic literature many of these books are still being called Argobba books.1
C49P27 A second important factor for the spread of Islamic scholarship in Wello was the estab-
lishment of the Qādirīya Ṣūfī order through scholars from Harar. Beginning from the late
18th century Muslim scholars, who were often mutually connected through a Ṣūfī network,
started to establish teaching centres in various locations in Wello (Hussein 2001: 73–​75).
Through their reputation as teachers and spiritual personalities, they attracted huge numbers
of students (Abbink 2008: 123; Meron 2015: 44). Religious students came from other areas
in Wello and also from far away regions like Jimma, Bale, or Gurage (Fani 2016a: 115, 122;
Ishihara 2016: 154, 155). Thus, the scholars from Wello played a decisive role in disseminating
Islamic knowledge and consequently Classical Arabic in Ethiopia. Wello became a trad-
itional Islamic centre that can be considered the heart of Islamic scholarship and mysticism
in Ethiopia throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.
C49P28 A preliminary investigation in 2018 revealed more than 30 centres in just two districts of
Wello, namely Qallu and Gärfa.2 Projecting this figure to the whole of eastern Wello leads to
an estimate of up to one hundred locations where Islamic literature is or has been studied.
Nowadays, many scholars are better known under an eponym that refers to the centres they
had founded or made famous, the following being some of the most important:

• Mufti Dāwūd Abī Bakr from Gäddo, who studied in Zabid (Yemen) and became an in-
fluential šāfi’ī expert (Hussein 2001: 67);
• Muḥ ammad Šāfī Asqāri Muḥ ammad, who founded the centre Jama Nǝgus, in Albukko
(Hussein 2001: 83);
• Fāqih Zubayr in Gwagur, Yäǧ ǧ u, who introduced several well-known scholars into the
Qādirīya order;
C49P29 • `Šayḫ Ğamal al-​Dīn “al-​Anniyy”, who founded a Qādirīya centre in Anna, Rayya
(Hussein 2001: 69; Kemal 2012: 86–​88; Hussein, O’Fahey & Wagner 2003: 51);
C49P30 • His student Šayḫ Aḥmad Ādam “al-​Danī al-​Awwal” founded a centre in Dana, Yäǧǧu
(Hussein 1988a: 88);
C49P31 • Ḥāǧǧ Bušrā Ay Muḥammad “Getiyye” founded a centre near Gäta, Qallu (Hussein
2001: 89; Hussein, O’Fahey & Wagner 2003: 49);

1
Information provided by Šayḫ Siraǧ Muḥammad, Kemise October 2018.
2
Information provided by Šayḫ Siraǧ Muḥammad, Kemise October 2018.
 arabic in ethiopia    1181

C49P32 • Šayḫ Ǧawhar Ḥaydar “Abbaye Shonke” founded a centre in the Argobba village of
Shonke, Däwwe (Hussein 2001: 70; 2005: 50);
C49P33 • Šayḫ Sayyid Ibrāhīm “Šeh Č̣ali” in the famous centre in Chali, Wärrä Babbo (Hussein
2001: 137; Abbink 2008; Muhammed 2018: 170).

C49P35 This is only a small selection of scholars from Wello who were grammarians, teachers, and
authors of works in Arabic. While most are remembered primarily for the works they left
behind, they were equally influential as teachers and disseminators of knowledge amongst
their contemporaries (Gori 2008a).
C49P36 Imported Arabic books, mostly manuscripts and later also printed books, were
brought to Wello by traders, mainly via the route Tadjoura–​Aussa–​Däwwe, or by indi-
vidual scholars who had studied in Yemen, the Hijaz, or Egypt. As in Harar, all types
of classical literary genres can be found in Wello, including jurisprudence, exegesis,
grammar, religious poetry, and others (Gori 2008a; 2008b; Hussein 1988b). In particular,
scholars from Wello composed a large number of panegyric poems in the late 19th and
early 20th centuries (Endris 2016). In general, recent surveys of manuscripts in Wello in-
dicate that the vast majority of Arabic literature in the region has not yet been collected
or investigated.3
C49P37 In Ifat, which probably has a longer Islamic history than Wello, a number of centres were
established by important scholars, such as Goze, Arräf Ləbbe, Wäsiso, Bäṭṭe, Säkina, Arräf
Ləbbe, and Tiru Sina (Ahmed 2006; Meron 2015: 1–​3). As in Wello, the exact number of
centres, the wealth of Islamic literature, and the intellectual history of that region still needs
to be studied.

C49S11 49.4.4 Jimma and Gurage

C49P38 Research on Arabic literature in southwestern Ethiopia has hardly begun. Ethnographic
research informs us about the activities of the Tiǧānīya scholar Al-​Faqīh Aḥmad
ʿUmar who had been active in Ya’a in the Wollegga region (Ishihara 2009; 2010). First
reports indicate a surprisingly high number of centres that host a considerable number
of manuscripts. Centres are Warukko, Tije, Suuse, and Limmu-​Ennarea in the region
around Jimma (Fani 2015; 2016a; Petrone 2016) Muḥammad Abba Ruksī in Limmu-​
Gannat (Petrone & López 2016; Fani 2016a), Shekota Gumma, Abba Gulli, Abba Dura
(Haro Woreda), and Muhammad Sayf in the Muhammad Sayn area (Petrone & López
2016; Petrone 2016).
C49P39 One important centre in Gurage is Abret, which was established by Sayyid Bušrā
and continued by his son Sayyid Budallāh. Both studied in or visited Dana, Wello, and
were involved in copying and composing works in Arabic (Bustorf 2014). Other centres
in Gurage are the Qādirīya centre in Qatbäre founded by Šayḫ ʿIsa Ḥamza in the late
19th century (Bustorf 2010), Zebi Molla, and Säddäqa (Fani 2015; 2016a; Petrone &
López 2016).

3 Two digitization campaigns conducted in 2018 by the project IslHornAfr: Islam in the Horn of Africa,

A Comparative Literary Approach in Southern Wällo revealed an immense number of manuscripts in pri-
vate possession.
 1182    Endris Mohammed and Andreas Wetter

C49S12 49.5 Arabic as a lingua franca

C49P40 In the Middle Ages, Arabic was used as language of correspondence by Ethiopian Christian
rulers. Emperors like Zar’a Ya’qob [Zärʾa Yaʿəqob] (Krebs 2019: 264) or Fasilades [Fasilädäs]
(van Donzel 1986) sent letters written in Arabic to European and Arab rulers. Kasa Haylu,
later emperor Tewodros II, used Arabic in letters to engage with local rulers in the Sudanese-​
Ethiopian borderland (Rubenson 1984). Furthermore Arabic was used by some rulers in
their seals, e.g. Kasa Haylu, Ras Wäldä Səllase, Ras Ali Alula, Wäyzäro Mänän, Däǧazmač
Wəbe, and Yohannes IV (Rubenson 1984: 284).
C49P41 These examples illustrate the widespread use of Arabic in the region as a language of inter-
national communication, similar to the function of English today (Appleyard, Irvine &
Pankhurst 1985: 35–​39).

C49S13 49.6 Arabic varieties in Ethiopia

C49P42 At the beginning of the 1930s, Arabs—​mostly from Yemen—​migrated to Ethiopia. During
the following two decades more than 10,000 Yemenis were living in Ethiopia (Hussein
1997: 340; also Ferguson 1970: 118). The Yemeni immigrants became an integral part of
Ethiopian society and “were engaged in diverse occupations as merchants, butchers, truck
drivers, masons and teachers” (Hussein 1997: 339). Since they worked mostly in the commer-
cial sector, Colloquial Yemeni Arabic became a kind of market language locally called kalām
al suq ‘language of the market and shops’ (Drewes 1976: 169; Hussein 1997: 345). However,
when most of the Yemeni left Ethiopia after the revolution in 1974, Colloquial Yemeni
Arabic lost its function. Since then Arabic has not played any significant role in commercial
activities in Ethiopia.
C49P43 Sudanese Arabic is another Arabic variety spoken in Ethiopia. The population of
Benishangul, the most western region of Ethiopia, traditionally maintains close relations
with its Sudanese neighbours. Sudanese Arabic is therefore spoken by a considerable
number of the local Berta élite and by members of Wäṭawit families in the region (Abbink
2003c: 547; Ferguson 1970: 120; Triulzi 2003: 382).
C49P44 Since the mid-​1990s labour migration from Ethiopia to Arab countries, particularly the Gulf
states, has increased substantially (Fesseha 2013) and led to the emergence of Ethiopian immi-
grant communities in these countries. Over the years many former migrants, both Muslim and
Christian, returned to Ethiopia bringing back a certain competence in spoken Arabic.

C49S14 49.7 Linguistic influence on Ethiopian

languages

C49P45 The contact between speakers of Arabic and speakers of Ethiopian languages has left lin-
guistic traces in the latter. The most significant influence can be observed in the lexicons,
 arabic in ethiopia    1183

many of which contain a considerable percentage of Arabic loanwords. Their incorporation

into Ethiopian languages took place at different times and has different sources. In Geez,
most loanwords were incorporated during the translations of Christian Arabic literary works
(see §49.1; Getatchew 2005: 737; Leslau 1958d: 146). But since the same Arabic loanwords can
be found in many other Ethiopian languages, it is difficult to reconstruct the way they were
incorporated in individual cases.
C49P46 The origin of Arabic loanwords is not always clear. Leslau (1958d: 147) assumes that Geez
“undoubtedly incorporated into its vocabulary words of the spoken Arabic dialects. But
others are of literary origin only and might never have been used in spoken Geez.” Some
Arabic loanwords in Geez are shown in (1) (see Leslau 1958d; Weninger 2004).

(1) Geez Arabic Geez Arabic

a. bak’ela ‘bean’ baːqila i. märkäb ‘boat’ markab
b. däk’ik’a ‘minute’ daqiːqa j. muz ‘banana’ mauz
c. gäzirät ‘island’ ʤaziːra k. näft’ ‘musket, gun’ naftˁ
d. ħadit ‘iron’ ħadiːd l. nora ‘chalk’ nuːra
e. ħakim ‘doctor’ ħakiːm m. k’ämis ‘shirt’ qamiːs
f. kis ‘pocket’ kiːs n. sälit’ ‘oil extracted from seed’ saliːtˁ
g. läwz ‘almond’ lauz o. t’ut’, t’ət’ ‘cotton’ tˁuːtˁ
h. lomi ‘lemon’ liːmuːn p. wäba ‘malaria’ wabaʔ

C49P47 Loanwords belonging to the literary variety of Arabic must have subsequently found their
way from Geez into other languages like Amharic and Tigrinya (Brzuski 1974; Leslau 1956c;
1957a; 1988). But since spoken varieties of Arabic have been used as regional lingua franca,
many loanwords may have been borrowed by local languages through direct language contact.
C49P48 The number and type of Arabic loanwords in a language differ according to the reli-
gious orientation of the speaker communities. This is the case with Amharic, which is na-
tively spoken predominantly by Christians but also has a sizeable Muslim community in
Wello. Thus, there are differences between languages or varieties spoken by predominantly
Muslim communities and those spoken by non-​Muslims that nevertheless use a consider-
able number of Arabic loanwords (e.g. Leslau 1957a). To the former belong Harari (Leslau
1956d), Silt’e (Leslau 1999b), some Gunnän Gurage varieties (Leslau 1956e), Argobba (Leslau
1957b), the Amharic variety spoken by Muslims in Wello (Amsalu 1991; Wetter 2012), Somali
(Zaborski 1967), Afar (Leslau 1997c), and Oromo varieties spoken in Wello, Eastern Ethiopia,
and the Jimma region. In these languages and varieties, the number of Arabic loanwords is
considerably higher in the domains of religion, scholarship, social relations, and law. Some
examples of Arabic loanwords from Argobba serve to illustrate the point (2, 3):

(2) Argobba Arabic Argobba Arabic

a. ʕaruz ʕarūs ‘groom’ h. ʕɨlm ʕilm ‘knowledge’
b. ʤɨsm ʤɨsm ‘body’ i. kessäb kasaba ‘to work’
c. ʤahil ʤāhil ‘illiterate’ j. k’ärräʔ qaraʔa ‘to read, learn’
d. sobiy sˁabīy ‘small child’ k. xättäw kataba ‘to write’
e. täʕziya taʕziya ‘mourning’ l. ʕelläm ʕallama ‘to teach’
f. k’äħawa qahwa ‘coffee’ m. xälläkʼ xalaqa ‘to create’
g. asɨl asˁl ‘beginning’
 1184    Endris Mohammed and Andreas Wetter

(3) Argobba Arabic

a. wekk’äf ‘to give land’ < waqf ‘religious endowment’
b. neyyät ‘to intend’ < nīya(tu) ‘intention’
C49P49 The phonological integration of Arabic loanwords into Ethiopian languages depends on
the structure of the language concerned. Some languages, such as Argobba (and Tigrinya),
have pharyngeal consonants, while others, such as Amharic, do not, e.g. Argobba duʕa vs.
Amharic duʔa from Ar. duʕāʔ ‘invocational prayer’. Arabic consonants that do not exist in
Ethiopian languages are usually represented by consonants with a similar place of articula-
tion as shown in Table 49.1 for interdental, pharyngealized-​dental, velar-​uvular, and pharyn-
geal consonants (see Leslau 1956d; 1956c; 1957a; 1957c; 1999b).

C49T1 Table 49.1 Representation of Arabic consonants in the

borrowed words of selected Ethiosemitic
languages
Arabic Amharic Tigrinya Harari Silt’e

θ s, t s s, t s
ð z z, d z z
ðˁ d t’ z z, t
sˁ s, ʃ, sʷ s s, ʃ, sʷ s
tˁ t’ t’ t’ t’
dˁ d, t’ d d d
x k, kʷ, h k, x k, kʷ k, h
Ɣ k’, k’ʷ k’, [x’] x g, q, ∅
ħ h, -​ ħ, h ħ h, ∅, y
ʕ ∅, ʔ ʕ ∅, ʔ ∅, w, y
ʔ ∅ ʔ ∅, ʔ ∅, y

C49P50 A considerable number of borrowed verbs are derived from Arabic nouns rather than
verbs, e.g. in Argobba/​Amharic zeyyär/​zäyyärä ‘to visit, pay respect’ from the Arabic noun
ziyāra ‘visit’. Borrowed Arabic items are further used to derive new words in Ethiopian
languages, e.g. the Amharic verbs täkättäbä ‘to be written’ and askättäbä ‘to have someone
write, to write’, and täsonnäfä ‘to be composed’ are most probably derived from the Arabic
basic verbs kataba and sˁannafa, respectively. However, the verbs täkättäbä/​askättäbä could
also be derived from the borrowed noun kitab ‘book’.
C49P51 For specific features of the Arabic spoken in Ethiopia, see Wetter (2006a).

C49S15 49.8 Arabic-​based scripts in Ethiopia

C49P52 Texts in local languages written in an Arabic-​based script are called Ajäm [aʤäm] in
Amharic, an Arabic loanword based on ʕaʤam ‘non-​Arab’ (Mumin & Versteegh 2014: 1).
 arabic in ethiopia    1185

C49P53 With the exception of Harari (Wagner 1983a; Banti 2010c), research on Arabic-​based
scripts in Ethiopia is still in its infancy. Arabic-​based scripts have been used to write other
Ethiopian languages as well, among them Afar (Fani 2016b), Alaaba (Fatħalbārī 2011),
Amharic (Drewes 2007; Pankhurst 1994; Wetter 2012), Argobba (Wetter 2015), Oromo
(Mohammed 2016), Silt’e (Wagner 1983b), and Tigrinya (Amira 2016). Harari literature has
existed since at least the 18th century, Argobba and Amharic since the mid-​19th century in
Wello, and the remaining languages since the early 20th century.
C49P54 The actual quantity of manuscripts written in Arabic-​based scripts is not known. The
Amharic Ajäm literature is particularly voluminous. Kemal (2016: 409), for instance, lists
30 manuscripts authored by Šayḫ Ṭalḥa Ǧaʿfar (see also Hussein 1989). With the exception
of one of his poems (Kemal 2015), the majority of his works have not yet been investigated.
The Ajäm literature in Amharic is usually of religious content composed in various forms
of rhyme including panegyric manẓūma poems (Wetter 2007) and didactic poems locally
called tawhīd. Other prominent authors whose texts are widely read are Sayyid Ibrāhīm “Šeh
Č̣ali” who authored a number of manẓūma poems, and Šayḫ Bašīr Umar from Dällämäle in
Wärrä Babbo, who is author of a tawhīd poem (Wetter 2012).
C49P55 Oromo literature written in an Arabic-​based script has been attested in the Harar, Wello,
and Jimma regions. While a prominent work from Wello composed by Šayḫ Aḥmad Šayḫ
Sirāǧ, called Birillee-Ṣafā ‘the cleanest flask’, has been analyzed by Mohammed (2016), the
majority of Oromo manuscripts are still waiting to be researched.
C49P56 Most Ajäm literature, including didactic, panegyric, and polemic texts, were intended for
uneducated Muslims who do not understand Arabic. Hence, scholars used local languages
to reach this audience.
C49P57 When the Arabic script was adapted to Ethiopian languages, consonants that do not exist in
Arabic were often written with the addition of diacritic dots to an existing letter, e.g. g with ‫ڮ‬
(⟨k⟩+​three dots) or ‫⟨( ݘ‬ǧ⟩+​three dots), ʧ with ‫⟨( ݜ‬s⟩+​three dots) or ‫⟨( ݘ‬ǧ⟩+​three dots), ʧ’ with
‫⟨( ڟ‬ðˁ⟩+​three dots) and ɗ with ‫⟨( ڎ‬d⟩+​three dots). The kind of language used in the Ajäm litera-
ture exhibits some peculiarities, the most obvious being the high number of Arabic loanwords,
as in the following Amharic examples taken from a tawhīd poem (Wetter 2012: 193–​194):

(4) a. allah j-​aswädʤäb-​ä-​w ammɨst-​u-​n wäk’t näw

God rel-​make_​an_​obligation\pfv-​sbj. five-​def-​acc time cop.3sm
3sm-​def/​obj.3sm
‘It is five times, what God made an obligation’.

C49P58 b. arattäɲɲa-​w dämmo b-​anbi-​wotʧ-​u mamän

fourth-​def but loc-​prophet\pl-​pl-​def believe\inf
‘And the fourth is believing in the prophets.’

C49P59 In (4a), the relative verb jaswädʤäbäw ‘what he made an obligation’ is derived from Arabic
wāʤib ‘obligation’ (or the verb waʤaba), and the expression (bä-​)-​anbiwotʧu-​‘(in) the prophets’
in (4b) is an Arabic plural form combined with the Amharic plural suffix (see Drewes 2007: 10).
C49P60 In short, the Ethiopian languages written in an Arabic-​based script are heavily influenced
by Arabic. For Amharic Islamic poetry, Drewes (1976: 94) concludes that “the two languages
are merged into an Islamic idiom” which “is a form of Amharic.” Therefore, a thorough ana-
lysis of the particular register used in Islamic literature written in an Arabic-​based script will
be an important objective for future investigation and will certainly add to our knowledge
about the role of Arabic in the linguistic landscape of Ethiopia.