Also Known As:
Birale, 'Ongota, Birelle, Ifa'ongota, "Shanqilla"
Dialects & Varieties
A sketch of Ongota, a dying language of southwest Ethiopia
Graziano Savà and Mauro Tosco. 2000. "A Sketch of Ongota, a Dying Language of Southwest Ethiopia." In Studies in African linguistics, 29: 59-136.
Critically Endangered
100 percent certain, based on the evidence available
8
Native Speakers Worldwide
Speaker Number Trends
Speaker Number Trend 5
A small percentage of the community speaks the language, and speaker numbers are decreasing very rapidly.
5
Domains of Use
Domain Of Use 5
Used only in a few very specific domains, such as in ceremonies, songs, prayer, proverbs, or certain limited domestic activities.
5
Transmission
Transmission 5
There are only a few elderly speakers.
5
Speakers
Native or fluent speakers:
No results found.
Second-language speakers and learners
No results found.
Semi-speakers or rememberers
No results found.
Children:
No results found.
Young adults
No results found.
Older adults
8
Elders
No results found.
Ethnic or community population
<100
Year information was gathered
No results found.
Comments on speakers
"The Ongota abandoned their language and ceased teaching it to their children in order to avoid being teased by the Ts'amakko and the Banna."
Location and Context
Countries
Muts'e, southwest Ethiopia
Location Description
No results found.
Government Support
None
Institutional Support
None
Speakers' Attitude
Poor
Other Languages Used By The Community
Ts'amakko, Hamar-Banna, Amharic, Borana Oromo
Number of Other Language Speakers:
All
Domains of Other Languages:
None
Writing Systems
Standard orthography:
No results found.
Writing system:
None
Other writing systems used:
No results text.
Comments on writing systems:
No results found.
Recent Resources
A short video about the work of linguist Graziano Savà, who is documenting the Ongota language of Et
A 432 word list found in the Rosetta Project archives
Broad survey of the south Omo area from 2001, with a wordlist of Arbore, Tsamai and Ongota.