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Opuo language

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Opuuo
Native toEthiopia
RegionAlong the EthiopiaSouth Sudan border
Native speakers
5,000 in Ethiopia (2007 census)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3lgn
Glottologopuu1239
ELPOpuuo

The Opuuo language is a Nilo-Saharan language spoken by the Shita of Ethiopia and South Sudan. It is a member of the Koman languages, and has a lexical similarity of 24% with Komo. The language is also called Opo-Shita, Opo, Opuo, Cita, Ciita, Shita, Shiita, Ansita, Kina, and Kwina. The self-name for the language is T'apo. "Langa" is a derogatory term for its speakers used by the Anuak.[1]

Ethiopian speakers live in five villages along the South Sudan border north of the Anuak and Nuer, and its South Sudanese in Upper Nile State, around Kigille and Maiwut;[1] however, of the 286 speakers the 1994 Ethiopian Census records, 183 are in the Oromia Region (mostly in the Mirab Shewa Zone), 32 in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region, and less than ten in either of the Regions closest to South Sudan.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c Opuuo at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ "The 1994 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia" (accessed 31 January 2009)