Ethiopia

To which language should you translate to localize in Ethiopia?

“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

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