There is a rising sense that Amharic skills are fast deteriorating. We are talking about the sort of nonsensical Amharic the public is subjected to by especially the media - both state and private, on the air, in print and in cyberspace. Is this language going to be condemned to an urban death, solely to survive intact in monasteries like its great grandfather - Gee'z?

S.O.S- Amharic under attack!

I must first off apologize to all of my readers that do not speak Amharic. This is because writing on this topic perforce requires some understanding of this truly national language of Ethiopia spoken by over 15 million native speakers and at varying levels by proficiency of nearly all Ethiopians.
Amharic is a Semitic language and comes down to us thus: Sabean begat Aga'azi. Aga'azi begat Gee'z, who gave forth triplet sisters - Tigre, Tigrigna and Amharic. Very quickly, Amharic rose in prominence to rival and then surpass the ancient, much more beautiful and yet overly ceremonial Ge'ez. This melodious language is now confined to liturgy and scholarly pursuits. Derived from an exceptional line of languages, Amharic was once also a highly perfected tongue and possessed, long before many of the world's languages, an advanced alphabet, numeric system and a complex yet streamlined grammar.
So why are so many of us today worried that this rich language is an endangered species? I'll try to suggest a few ideas on the dimension of the problem as well as the factors that have led to this emerging threat. In doing so, I must draw heavily on 14 years of English language teaching in order to benefit from that socio lingual perspective. I noted a tremendous (and on-going) desire among most Ethiopians to be considered a speaker of English. This sentiment is so strong that many go to great lengths to avoid using their first language. Rare is the pure Amharic sentence (therefore, even the English 'spoken' by many is really not English that a non Ethiopian would understand-except long term foreign residents). Therefore, being a handballed teacher I made it a firm rule that I would not acknowledge any statement (reasonably) that needlessly includes words from another language. Like ‘Mazere Ferend Endalegn Betawek OK Nat’, would be one such. However, I would respond to ‘computer Aleh?’ (Do you have a computer?) since there is not as yet a popularized Ethiopian term for the infernal machines.
This bastardization of languages is doubly lethal. People who can't avoid sprinkling English in their Amharic sentence to foster a 'learned' image erode their knowledge base in the latter and as for the former, it will recede even further. I have also observed by the way, that only students who are insecure with their English skills pointedly avoid using any English words in an Amharic sentence unless absolutely necessary. This matter could (have been?) be handled better at schools and alleviated over time if it weren't for the fact that the cancer has metastasized and has infected vital organs.
Our leaders of state, government, parliament, opposition, the business community rate 'Guramayle' is everywhere and this makes the effort of a handful of enlightened teachers of English a vain exercise.

Is Amharic in danger of being fatally corrupted?

This is a very timely question and I’m glad I was asked to offer my opinion. I would first like to state that the problem is not confined to Amharic. Ethiopia has at least 80 other languages besides this official language of state and all of them are suffering from foreign language dilution, improper use or absence of any grammar and what is worse, bad language skills are on air. I’m sorry that I don’t have the intellectual ability to suggest remedies but I also feel that identifying and then admitting the existence of a problem is a vital step forward. By the way, I wish Amharic language newspapers will take up on your initiative and even open a dedicated columns. I admire your paper for bringing the issue to light.

Selam Zeray, 33,
M.D.

Given that Amharic is a language of state and the most conducive language Ethiopians use to communicate, it should have been developing instead of regressing. This problem is most evident on the media. For instance, tune your radio or TV to any show, especially interviews and you will find presenters and the invited guest (s) speak in a tongue heavy on the English (bad English by the way) and very skinny on the Amharic. This is done within one sentence! The majority of Ethiopians do not speak English and even then, nobody can understand what is said because two languages are being used simultaneously without conclusive endings.

Tesfaye Gebrehud, 32,
Banker

A second language is difficult to master and since Ethiopia is a land of many diverse peoples, I do not expect everybody to speak fluent Amharic. Since the issue is not of fluency but rather what is called in Amharic “Guramayle”, weaving English or other foreign language words into Amharic sentences in order to be considered ‘ arada’ (modern) or as an ‘intellectual’ person. This is the essence of Amharic degradation. The relevant authorities and the editors of electronic media should address the issue urgently.

Gashaw Alemayehu, 45,
Data analyst