Afro-Asiatic · ISO 639-3 sid
Sidamo Language Sidaamu Afoo
Sidamo is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken by about 3.8 million people in 1 country. It is written in the Latin script.
Where Sidamo is spoken
- Official language
- Regional official
- Spoken by 10%+
- 1–10%
- Smaller communities
Countries that speak Sidamo
Language family
- Afro-Asiatic
- Cushitic
- East Cushitic
- Highland East Cushitic
- Sidaama-Hadiyya-Kambaata
- Sidaama-Gedeo
- Sidamo
Writing system
Latin script
Related languages
About the Sidamo language
Sidamo (Sidaamu Afoo) is spoken by about 3.8 million people, which makes it the 218th most spoken language in the world — just behind Bosnian (3.8 million) and ahead of Hassaniyya (3.8 million). It belongs to the Afro-Asiatic language family and, more precisely, to the Sidaama-Gedeo group within the East Cushitic branch.
Where is Sidamo spoken?
Sidamo is used in 1 country. The largest communities live in Ethiopia (4.1 million).
Sidamo is not a national official language anywhere.
Writing system and status
Sidamo is written in the Latin script. It is a safe, widely transmitted language: children still learn it at home as their first language.
Its closest relatives in the same branch of the family are Oromo, Somali, Eastern Oromo, Borana-Arsi-Guji Oromo, Maay and Afar.
ISO codes: ISO 639-3 sid.
Frequently asked questions about Sidamo
How many people speak Sidamo?
Where is Sidamo spoken?
What language family does Sidamo belong to?
What is Sidamo called in Sidamo?
Is Sidamo an endangered language?
Data: Languages of the World dataset (MIT) — ISO 639-3, Glottolog (CC BY 4.0), Unicode CLDR, Google LinguaMeta (CC BY 4.0) and Wikidata; country lists: samayo/country-json (MIT). Speaker numbers include first- and second-language speakers where sources report them.