Opuo language
The Opuo (Opuuo, Opo) language, or Tʼapo, is a Koman language spoken by the Opo people of Ethiopia and South Sudan. It has a lexical similarity of 24% with Komo. The language is also called Opo-Shita, Opo, Opuo, Cita, Ciita, Shita (along with Dana), Shiita, Ansita, Kina, and Kwina. The self-name for the language is Tʼapo. "Langa" is a derogatory term for its speakers used by the Anuak.[1]
| Opuuo | |
|---|---|
| Tʼapo | |
| Native to | Ethiopia |
| Region | Along the Ethiopia–South Sudan border |
| Ethnicity | Opo |
Native speakers | 5,000 in Ethiopia (2007 census)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | lgn |
| Glottolog | opuu1239 |
| ELP | Opuuo |
Ethiopian speakers live in five villages along the South Sudan border north of the Anuak and Nuer, and its South Sudanese in Upper Nile State, around Kigille and Maiwut;[1] however, of the 286 speakers the 1994 Ethiopian Census records, 183 are in the Oromia Region (mostly in the Mirab Shewa Zone), 32 in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region, and less than ten in either of the Regions closest to South Sudan.[2]
An early record of this language is a list of 32 village names and a wordlist dated February 1883 by Juan Maria Schuver, where he calls the language "Gambiel".[3]
References
- Opuuo at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- "The 1994 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia" Archived 2008-12-07 at the Wayback Machine (accessed 31 January 2009)
- Wendy James, et al., Juan Maria Schuver's Travels in North East Africa, 1880-1883 (London: Hakluyt Society, 1996), pp. 335-340