Alternate Names: Gemu
Dialects: Dache. Lexical similarity: 79%–91% with Gofa ,, 82%–87% with Dorze ,, 73%–80% with Dawro ,, 79%–89% with Wolaytta ,, 49% with Koorete ,, 44% with Male ,.
Genealogy:
Demographics: 1,110,000 (2007 census), increasing. 600,000 monolinguals. L2 users: 24,400.
Language Use: Everyday rural life. Neutral attitudes. Also use Amharic [amh]. Used as L2 by Baiso [bsw].
Language Development: Literacy rate in L1: Below 1%. Literacy rate in L2: 18%. Church-based literacy program started 2007. Taught in primary schools. NT: 2011.
Typology: SOV; derived nouns formed by suffixation of verbs; passives; case suffixes; postpositions; tonal.
Writing System: Ethiopic, Latin
Nation of Origin: Ethiopia