Omo–Tana languages

Not to be confused with Omo language.

The Omo–Tana languages are a branch of the Cushitic family and are spoken in Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia and Kenya. The largest member is Somali. There is some debate as to whether the Omo–Tana languages form a single group, or whether they are individual branches of Lowland East Cushitic. Blench (2006) restricts the name to the Western Omo–Tana languages, and calls the others Macro-Somali.^[1][2]

Omo–Tana
(disputed)
Geographic distribution	Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya
Linguistic classification	Afro-Asiatic Cushitic Lowland East Omo–Tana
Subdivisions	Eastern (Somaloid)? Western (Arboroid)
Language codes
Glottolog	omot1245

Internal classification

Mauro Tosco (2012)^[3] proposes the following internal classification of the Omo-Tana languages. Tosco considers Omo-Tama to consist of a Western branch and an Eastern ("Somaloid") branch, which is a dialect chain of various Somali languages and the Rendille–Boni languages (see also Macro-Somali languages).

• Omo-Tana
  • Western ("Galaboid" or "Arboroid") branch
    • Dhaasanac
    • Arbore
    • Elmolo
    • Yaaku
  • Eastern ("Somaloid") branch
    • Rendille
    • Karre–Boni
    • Tunni–Dabarre
    • Ashraf
    • Maay
    • Somali