Translated's Research Center

Ethiopia

Africa

To which language should you translate to localize in Ethiopia?

What we know from our community

“Located in the Horn of Africa, Ethiopia is a nation characterized by its rich linguistic and cultural diversity. With over 80 languages spoken, Ethiopia is one of the most linguistically diverse countries in the world. Despite this incredible variety, Amharic is Ethiopia’s sole official language. Amharic is a Semitic language that belongs to the Afro-Asiatic language family. Following the Arabic language, it is the second most-spoken Semitic language in the world. Amharic uses a unique script known as Ge’ez
(ሀ ለ ሐ መ ሠ ረ ሰ ሸ ቀ). Additionally, Ge’ez is used to write other Ethiopian languages, including Tigrinya and Gurage. The most popular other languages in terms of the number of speakers are Oromo, Somali, and Tigrinya. To localize in Ethiopia, Amharic can attract a sizable audience, especially the younger, educated demographic. However, due to issues of diversity and inclusiveness, individuals often prefer receiving messages in their native languages. As a result, when attempting to engage with an Ethiopian audience, it is crucial to prioritize creating content in the respective native language.”

Ahmaric

“በአፍሪካ ቀንድ ውስጥ የምትገኘው ኢትዮጵያ፣ በቋንቋ እና በባህል ብዝሃነት የምትታወቅ ሀገር ነች። ከ80 በላይ ቋንቋዎች የሚነገሩባት ሀገሪቱ ከዓለማችን ትልቅ የቋንቋ ብዝሃነት ካላቸው ሀገራት አንዷ ነች። ይህ በንዲህ እንዳለ አማርኛ የኢትዮጵያ ብቸኛ ኦፊሴላዊ ቋንቋ ነው።

አማርኛ የአፍሮ-እስያ ቋንቋ ቤተሰብ የሆነ ሴማዊ ቋንቋ ነው። የአረብኛ ቋንቋን ተከትሎ በዓለም ላይ ሁለተኛው ባለ ብዙ ተናጋሪ ሴማዊ ቋንቋ ነው። አማርኛ ግዕዝ (ሀ ለ ሐ መ ረ ሰ ሸ ቀ) በመባል የሚታወቅ ልዩ ፊደል ይጠቀማል። ግእዝ ከአማርኛ በተጨማሪ ትግርኛ እና ጉራግኛን ጨምሮ ሌሎች የኢትዮጵያ ቋንቋዎችን ለመጻፍ ይጠቅማል። ከተናጋሪ ብዛት አንፃር በጣም ትላልቅ የሆኑት ሌሎች ቋንቋዎች ኦሮምኛ፣ ሶማሊኛ እና ትግርኛ ናቸው።

ፅሑፍዎን ኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ ተደራሽ ለማድረግ፣ አማርኛ ቋንቋን መጠቀም ብዙ ተመልካቾችን በተለይም ለወጣት እና ለተማረው የሕብረተሰብ ክፍል እንዲደርስ ሊያደርግልዎ ይችላል። ሆኖም፣ በብዝሃነት እና አቃፊነት ጥያቄዎች ምክንያት ግለሰቦች መልእክቶች በአፍ መፍቻ ቋንቋቸው መቀበልን ይመርጣሉ። በዚህ ምክንያት መልእክትዎ ለኢትዮጵያውያን ታዳሚዎችዎ ለማድረስ በሚሞክሩበት ጊዜ፣ ፅሑፍዎን በሚመለከተው የአፍ መፍቻ ቋንቋ ማዘጋጀትን ቅድሚያ መስጠት አስፈላጊ ነው።”

Mihretab, English/Amharic translator

LANGUAGE INSIGHT

Official language

Amharic (29.3%; 35.56 mln)

Actual languages

Oromo (33.8%; 41.02 mln), Amharic (29.3%; 35.56 mln), Somali (6.25%; 7.58 mln), Tigrinya (5.86%; 7.11 mln), Sidamo (4.04%; 4.9 mln), Wellayatta (2.21%; 2.68 mln), Gurage (2.01%; 2.43 mln), Afar (1.74%; 2.11 mln), Haddiya (1.70%; 2.06 mln), Gamo (1.45%; 1.76 mln), other (13.09%; 15.88 mln)

What the top 150 best localized websites in the world do in Ethiopia

(Top 150 websites listed in the Global by Design ranking – published annually by Byte Level Research, this report provides a list of globally localized websites, showcasing best practices and emerging trends in their globalization)

  • 2/150 localize by translating into Amharic
  • 1/150 localizes by translating into Amharic, Oromo, Somali, Tigrinya, Sidamo, Haddiya and Ethiopian Sign Language
  • 1/150 localizes by translating into Amharic, Arabic and Oromo
  • 1/150 localizes by translating into Amharic, French and German
  • 1/150 localizes by translating into both Amharic and Arabic
  • 1/150 localizes by translating into both Amharic and Somali
  • 1/150 localizes by translating into both French and Portuguese
  • Localization not available 3M
  • Localization not available ABB
  • Localization not available Accenture
  • Localization not available Adidas
  • Localization not available Adobe
  • Localization not available Airbnb
  • Localization not available Aldi
  • Localization not available Amazon
  • Localization not available American Airlines
  • Localization not available American Express
  • Localization not available Apple
  • Localization not available Audi
  • Localization not available Autodesk
  • Localization not available Avis
  • Localization not available Bayer
  • Localization not available BMW
  • Localization not available Booking.com
  • Localization available Bosch
  • Localization not available British Airways
  • Localization not available Bumble
  • Localization not available Burberry
  • Localization not available BYD
  • Localization available Canon
  • Localization not available Capgemini
  • Localization not available Cartier
  • Localization not available Caterpillar
  • Localization not available Chevrolet
  • Localization not available Cisco Systems
  • Localization not available Citibank
  • Localization not available Coca-Cola
  • Localization not available Costco
  • Localization not available Dell
  • Localization not available Deloitte
  • Localization not available Delta
  • Localization not available DHL
  • Localization not available Disney+
  • Localization not available Dyson
  • Localization not available eBay
  • Localization not available Eli Lilly
  • Localization not available Emirates
  • Localization not available Ernst & Young
  • Localization available Facebook
  • Localization not available FedEx
  • Localization not available Ford
  • Localization not available Four Seasons
  • Localization not available Fujifilm
  • Localization not available GE
  • Localization not available Gillette
  • Localization not available GoDaddy
  • Localization available Google
  • Localization not available Gucci
  • Localization not available Haier
  • Localization not available Heineken
  • Localization not available Hermès
  • Localization not available Hertz
  • Localization not available Hilton
  • Localization not available Hisense
  • Localization not available Hitachi
  • Localization not available Honda
  • Localization not available Hotels.com
  • Localization not available HP
  • Localization not available HP Enterprise
  • Localization not available HSBC
  • Localization not available Huawei
  • Localization not available Hyatt
  • Localization not available Hyundai
  • Localization not available IBM
  • Localization not available IKEA
  • Localization not available Intel
  • Localization not available InterContinental Hotels
  • Localization not available J&J
  • Localization not available Jack Daniel's
  • Localization available Jehovah’s Witnesses
  • Localization not available John Deere
  • Localization not available Kellogg's
  • Localization not available Kia
  • Localization not available KPMG
  • Localization not available L'Oréal
  • Localization not available Land Rover
  • Localization not available LEGO
  • Localization not available Lenovo
  • Localization not available Lexus
  • Localization not available LG
  • Localization not available Louis Vuitton
  • Localization not available Lululemon
  • Localization not available LUSH
  • Localization not available Marriott
  • Localization not available MasterCard
  • Localization not available McDonald's
  • Localization not available Mercedes-Benz
  • Localization not available Merck
  • Localization not available Microsoft
  • Localization not available Mitsubishi Electric
  • Localization not available Nestlé
  • Localization not available Netflix
  • Localization not available Nike
  • Localization not available Nikon
  • Localization not available Nintendo
  • Localization not available Nio
  • Localization not available Nissan
  • Localization not available NIVEA
  • Localization not available Oracle
  • Localization not available Pampers
  • Localization not available Panasonic
  • Localization not available PayPal
  • Localization not available Pepsi
  • Localization not available Pfizer
  • Localization not available Philips
  • Localization not available Pitney Bowes
  • Localization not available Porsche
  • Localization not available Procter & Gamble
  • Localization not available PWC
  • Localization not available Revolut
  • Localization not available Rolex
  • Localization not available Royal Caribbean
  • Localization not available Salesforce
  • Localization not available Samsung
  • Localization not available Sanofi
  • Localization not available SAP
  • Localization not available Sephora
  • Localization not available Shopify
  • Localization not available Siemens
  • Localization not available