Afar is a Lowland East Cushitic language spoken by a about 2.5 million people mainly in Ethiopia, and also in Djibouti and Eritrea. In 2018 there were about 1.8 million speakers of Afar in the regions of Afar, Amhara and Somali in eastern Ethiopia. There were about 505,000 Afar speakers in the Northern Red Sea and Southern Red Sea regions of eastern Eritrea in 2020, and there were about 196,000 speakers of Afar in Djibouti in 2018,
Afar is also known as 'Afar Af, Afaraf or Qafar af. It is closely related to the Saho language, and is also related to Somali.
Afar is recognised as a national language in Djibouti and in Eritrea. There are radio broadcasts in Afar in both countries. Afar is recognized as an official working language in the Afar Region of Ethiopia.
The Afar alphabet or Qafar Feera was created by Dimis and Redo, two Afar intellectual nationalists who published their work in the early 1970s.
| A a | B b | T t | S s | E e | C c | K k | X x |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| a | ba | ta | sa | e | ca | ka | xa |
| I i | D d | Q q | R r | F f | G g | O o | L l |
| i | da | qa | ra | fa | ga | o | la |
| M m | N n | U u | W w | H h | Y y | ||
| ma | na | u | wa | ha | ya |
Download an Afar alphabet chart (Excel)
Karaamat kee garwawagittaamal seehada inkih gide akkuk, currik taabuke. Usun kas kee cissi loonuuh, keenik mariiy mara lih toobokinni kasat gexsitam faxximta.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They
are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another
in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)
Source: https://www.ohchr.org/EN/UDHR/Pages/Language.aspx?LangID=aar
Information about Afar | Numbers in Afar
Information about the Afar language
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afar_language
https://www.ethnologue.com/language/aar
https://www.somalinet.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=353321
http://www.language-archives.org/language/aar
AFARAF - Manuel de langue afare (online Afar lessons, in French)
http://afaraf.free.fr
Language courses for Afar (en français)
Afar history
http://harowo.com/2006/03/18/afar-history/
Afaan-Oromo, Afar, Awngi, Beja, Blin, Daasanach, Dirasha, Gawwada, Hadiyya, Iraqw, Maay Maay, Rendille, Saho, Sidama, Somali, Southern Oromo, Waata, Xamtanga, Yaaku
Languages written with the Latin alphabet
Page last modified: 01.05.21
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