Alternate Names: Bambala, Bembala, Daashi
Dialects: None known. Lexical similarity: 41% with Sidamo , (most similar).
Genealogy:
Demographics: 46,400 in Ethiopia (2007 census). Population total all countries: 70,100. 29,300 monolinguals. L2 users: 3,050 in Ethiopia.
Language Use: 32,000 in ethnic group (2000 M. Brenzinger). Many in Ethiopia are older adults. Also use Amharic [amh].
Language Development: Literacy rate in L1: Below 1%. Literacy rate in L2: 29%. Dictionary. NT: 1993.
Typology: SOV; passives; middle voice; causatives; subject suffixes distinguish person, number, gender.
Writing System: Ethiopic
Nation of Origin: Ethiopia
Other Comments: Christian, Muslim.