ETHIOPIC LANGUAGES

the Semitic languages of Ethiopia and Eritrea, including Ge'ez, the liturgical language of the Ethiopian Orthodox church; Amharic, one of the principal languages of modern Ethiopia; Tigre; Tigrinya, or Tigrai; Argobba; Hareri; and Gurage. Although some scholars formerly considered Ethiopic to be a separate branch of Semitic, these languages are now generally grouped together with the dialects of the South Arabic language as Southern Peripheral Semitic or South Arabic-Ethiopic. See also Ge'ez language; Amharic language.