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Nearly one-third of the world’s languages – 2,000 languages and dialects – are spoken in Africa. The rich linguistic and cultural diversity that the continent has been bestowed with, offers a rare and less explored space to study, understand and document the continent and its people with all its historical and cultural complexities and connections. 

On Wednesday, January 11, 2023, the Africa Institute opened its Seminar Series for the academic term with two leading scholars of Amharic and Arabic to talk about the historical development and sociolinguistics of the two respective languages.

Munther Younes, Reis Senior Lecturer in Arabic Language and Linguistics and Director, Arabic program, Department of Near Eastern Studies, Cornell University and Moges Yigezu, Associate Professor of Linguistics, Department of Linguistics and Philology, Addis Ababa University jointly shared their research and insights on Arabic and Amharic in context of their respective major historical and cultural significance in Africa. 

The seminar evaluates the significance and contributions of the teaching and study of African languages to the understanding of Africa and its diaspora as well as discusses the implications to efforts of establishing an African language teaching program at The Africa Institute.

The discussion was moderated by Binyam Sisay Mendisu, Associate Professor of the African Languages & Linguistics, The Africa Institute.

Which Arabic Variety to Teach for Daily Conversation? The Integrated Arabic Program at Cornell University

Professor Younes has developed an Arabic program at Cornell that is radically different from Arabic programs elsewhere in its integration of spoken Arabic with Modern Standard Arabic in a way that reflects the use of the language by native speakers. Munther has published several articles in Arabic linguistics, teaching Arabic as a foreign language, and the language of the Qur’an. He is also the author of two scholarly books: The Integrated Approach to Arabic Instruction and Charging Steeds; Maidens Performing Good Deeds: In Search of the Original Qur’an; and the following three textbooks: The Routledge Introduction to Qur’anic Arabic, Kalila wa Dimna for Students of Arabic, and RiHla ilaa Bilaad al-‘Arab. He is also the lead author of the four-part ‘Arabiyyat al-Naas textbook series.

“Like any other language spoken over a large geographical area, Arabic has a variety of regional and social dialects, with four major dialect groups broadly distinguished: Gulf, Levantine, Egyptian-Sudanese, and Maghribi (North African). An important difference between Arabic, on the one hand, and the majority of world languages on the other, is the existence in Arabic of the phenomenon known as “Diglossia”: the colloquial dialect lives side by side and in a complementary fashion with Classical Arabic or Modern Standard Arabic known in Arabic as Fuṣḥā,” said Professor Younes, who is also the Academic Director of the newly established Akadimiyyat Arabiyyat al-Naas.

Fuṣḥā is used for reading, writing and scripted speech and is the same throughout the Arabic-speaking world, while the colloquial dialects, which differ from one region to another, are used for ordinary conversation. This situation is different from “normal” language situations like English, French, Spanish, etc., where there is a standard variety that is both spoken and written and regional and social dialects. 

“When designing a program to teach what has been referred to as “normal” languages to foreigners, the choice of which variety to introduce is straightforward: what is considered the “Standard” variety is chosen. In the case of Arabic, however, the choice has proved to be quite challenging to Arabic-as-a-foreign language programs.  The common practice until the late 20th century was to introduce Fuṣḥā and Fuṣḥā only. However, when only Fuṣḥā was introduced, students learned to read and write Arabic well and they mastered the intricacies of classical Arabic grammar, but they did not learn how to converse normally with Arabic speakers. Hence the realization that a colloquial variety is needed,” said Professor Younes who in addition to directing the Arabic program, teaches different levels of Arabic specialized courses in Arabic linguistics and the language of the Quran. 

The debate shifted from whether a colloquial variety was needed to which variety and how and when to introduce it: before, after, or simultaneously with, Fuṣḥā? The debate remains unresolved.  

Professor Younes further shared that “at Cornell University, we’ve made the decision to introduce the colloquial variety simultaneously with Fuṣḥā. In developing the textbooks for what has become known as the Integrated Approach, we have tried two models: one that introduces Levantine and another that introduces Egyptian for the conversational component, with a unified Fuṣḥā component for reading, writing and scripted speech.  We believe that this is the most efficient way to prepare students of Arabic to deal with the sociolinguistic realities of the language.”

Before joining the Cornell faculty in 1990, Professor Younes taught Arabic at the Défense Language Institute in Monterey, California and prior to that, he taught English and linguistics in Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Professor Munther earned a B.A. in English and a diploma in education from the University of Jordan (1974), and a Ph.D. in linguistics from the University of Texas at Austin (1982).

The Amharic Language: its Origin, History and Current Status and Functions

Moges Yigezu, Associate Professor of Linguistics at the Department of Linguistics and Philology, Addis Ababa University traces the origin, history, and current functional status of Amharic as an official working language of the federal government of Ethiopia, a multilingual and multi-ethnic state in which more than 70 distinct languages are spoken as first languages. 

Nearly 22 million people speak Amharic as their first language in Ethiopia and it has over 4 million second-language speakers within the country and a further 3 million around the world. Next to Arabic, Amharic has the largest number of speakers within the Semitic family of languages.

Linguistically, Amharic belongs to the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic language phylum. Having served as a spoken lingua franca in Ethiopia for much of the 16th and 17th century, it started to develop a new function as a written language in the middle of the 19th century and, thus, to replace Ge‘ez in its function as a written language. Amharic adopted the Ethiopic script with some modifications to represent new sounds. Initially, Gǝʿǝz – the language of the royal court and later of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church – was the only language written in the Ethiopic script. 

Amharic as a language was highly promoted by the Ethiopian state from the end of the 19th century. When printed books and newspapers were introduced in Ethiopia, it started to replace Ge‘ez in the function of a written language. Amharic was used as the language of education and administration and, consequently, developed until the 1990s as the main lingua franca in Ethiopian towns and became, thus, part of a greater ‘Ethiopian’ identity. 

A change in the status of Amharic only occurred after 1991 when a new language policy was implemented. This yielded an empowerment of other Ethiopian languages as a means of instruction in primary education and as languages used in administration. But even under these new circumstances, Amharic still functions as the lingua franca in Ethiopian urban areas and as the language of wider communication among the various ethnic groups as well as the working language of the federal government.

“Even if Amharic is one of the most developed languages in Ethiopia and one of the few languages in the continent that are visible and vibrant as a language of administration, education and literature, it has its own complicated history of being hegemonic and controversial,” said Professor Yigezu has been involved in various research programs and developed a unique mix of experiences by working at the intersection of language, culture and education as well policy formulations and practices. 

He has been working in two broad disciplinary areas – sociolinguistics and educational linguistics (including literacies), both at his own institution and with collaborators in Norway (funded by NORAD).

“For instance, since the 19th century Ethiopian rulers actively promoted Amharic and the Ethiopic script as a unifying bond for the Ethiopian nation, by either suppressing the use of other local languages in official domains and/or prohibiting the use of other scripts for writing local languages. As a result, many ethno-linguistic groups in Ethiopia chose to write their language in what is assumed to be a socio-cultural ‘neutral’ Roman-based orthography to signal their linguistic and cultural autonomy and resentment within the current Ethiopian state,” Professor Yigezu added. 

Nearly one-third of the world’s languages – 2,000 languages and dialects – are spoken in Africa. The rich linguistic and cultural diversity that the continent has been bestowed with, offers a rare and less explored space to study, understand and document the continent and its people with all its historical and cultural complexities and connections. 

Nearly one-third of the world’s languages – 2,000 languages and dialects – are spoken in Africa. The rich linguistic and cultural diversity that the continent has been bestowed with, offers a rare and less explored space to study, understand and document the continent and its people with all its historical and cultural complexities and connections. 

On Wednesday, January 11, 2023, the Africa Institute opened its Seminar Series for the academic term with two leading scholars of Amharic and Arabic to talk about the historical development and sociolinguistics of the two respective languages.

Munther Younes, Reis Senior Lecturer in Arabic Language and Linguistics and Director, Arabic program, Department of Near Eastern Studies, Cornell University and Moges Yigezu, Associate Professor of Linguistics, Department of Linguistics and Philology, Addis Ababa University jointly shared their research and insights on Arabic and Amharic in context of their respective major historical and cultural significance in Africa. 

The seminar evaluates the significance and contributions of the teaching and study of African languages to the understanding of Africa and its diaspora as well as discusses the implications to efforts of establishing an African language teaching program at The Africa Institute.

The discussion was moderated by Binyam Sisay Mendisu, Associate Professor of the African Languages & Linguistics, The Africa Institute.

Which Arabic Variety to Teach for Daily Conversation? The Integrated Arabic Program at Cornell University

Professor Younes has developed an Arabic program at Cornell that is radically different from Arabic programs elsewhere in its integration of spoken Arabic with Modern Standard Arabic in a way that reflects the use of the language by native speakers. Munther has published several articles in Arabic linguistics, teaching Arabic as a foreign language, and the language of the Qur’an. He is also the author of two scholarly books: The Integrated Approach to Arabic Instruction and Charging Steeds; Maidens Performing Good Deeds: In Search of the Original Qur’an; and the following three textbooks: The Routledge Introduction to Qur’anic Arabic, Kalila wa Dimna for Students of Arabic, and RiHla ilaa Bilaad al-‘Arab. He is also the lead author of the four-part ‘Arabiyyat al-Naas textbook series.

“Like any other language spoken over a large geographical area, Arabic has a variety of regional and social dialects, with four major dialect groups broadly distinguished: Gulf, Levantine, Egyptian-Sudanese, and Maghribi (North African). An important difference between Arabic, on the one hand, and the majority of world languages on the other, is the existence in Arabic of the phenomenon known as “Diglossia”: the colloquial dialect lives side by side and in a complementary fashion with Classical Arabic or Modern Standard Arabic known in Arabic as Fuṣḥā,” said Professor Younes, who is also the Academic Director of the newly established Akadimiyyat Arabiyyat al-Naas.

Fuṣḥā is used for reading, writing and scripted speech and is the same throughout the Arabic-speaking world, while the colloquial dialects, which differ from one region to another, are used for ordinary conversation. This situation is different from “normal” language situations like English, French, Spanish, etc., where there is a standard variety that is both spoken and written and regional and social dialects. 

“When designing a program to teach what has been referred to as “normal” languages to foreigners, the choice of which variety to introduce is straightforward: what is considered the “Standard” variety is chosen. In the case of Arabic, however, the choice has proved to be quite challenging to Arabic-as-a-foreign language programs.  The common practice until the late 20th century was to introduce Fuṣḥā and Fuṣḥā only. However, when only Fuṣḥā was introduced, students learned to read and write Arabic well and they mastered the intricacies of classical Arabic grammar, but they did not learn how to converse normally with Arabic speakers. Hence the realization that a colloquial variety is needed,” said Professor Younes who in addition to directing the Arabic program, teaches different levels of Arabic specialized courses in Arabic linguistics and the language of the Quran. 

The debate shifted from whether a colloquial variety was needed to which variety and how and when to introduce it: before, after, or simultaneously with, Fuṣḥā? The debate remains unresolved.  

Professor Younes further shared that “at Cornell University, we’ve made the decision to introduce the colloquial variety simultaneously with Fuṣḥā. In developing the textbooks for what has become known as the Integrated Approach, we have tried two models: one that introduces Levantine and another that introduces Egyptian for the conversational component, with a unified Fuṣḥā component for reading, writing and scripted speech.  We believe that this is the most efficient way to prepare students of Arabic to deal with the sociolinguistic realities of the language.”

Before joining the Cornell faculty in 1990, Professor Younes taught Arabic at the Défense Language Institute in Monterey, California and prior to that, he taught English and linguistics in Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Professor Munther earned a B.A. in English and a diploma in education from the University of Jordan (1974), and a Ph.D. in linguistics from the University of Texas at Austin (1982).

The Amharic Language: its Origin, History and Current Status and Functions

Moges Yigezu, Associate Professor of Linguistics at the Department of Linguistics and Philology, Addis Ababa University traces the origin, history, and current functional status of Amharic as an official working language of the federal government of Ethiopia, a multilingual and multi-ethnic state in which more than 70 distinct languages are spoken as first languages. 

Nearly 22 million people speak Amharic as their first language in Ethiopia and it has over 4 million second-language speakers within the country and a further 3 million around the world. Next to Arabic, Amharic has the largest number of speakers within the Semitic family of languages.

Linguistically, Amharic belongs to the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic language phylum. Having served as a spoken lingua franca in Ethiopia for much of the 16th and 17th century, it started to develop a new function as a written language in the middle of the 19th century and, thus, to replace Ge‘ez in its function as a written language. Amharic adopted the Ethiopic script with some modifications to represent new sounds. Initially, Gǝʿǝz – the language of the royal court and later of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church – was the only language written in the Ethiopic script. 

Amharic as a language was highly promoted by the Ethiopian state from the end of the 19th century. When printed books and newspapers were introduced in Ethiopia, it started to replace Ge‘ez in the function of a written language. Amharic was used as the language of education and administration and, consequently, developed until the 1990s as the main lingua franca in Ethiopian towns and became, thus, part of a greater ‘Ethiopian’ identity. 

A change in the status of Amharic only occurred after 1991 when a new language policy was implemented. This yielded an empowerment of other Ethiopian languages as a means of instruction in primary education and as languages used in administration. But even under these new circumstances, Amharic still functions as the lingua franca in Ethiopian urban areas and as the language of wider communication among the various ethnic groups as well as the working language of the federal government.

“Even if Amharic is one of the most developed languages in Ethiopia and one of the few languages in the continent that are visible and vibrant as a language of administration, education and literature, it has its own complicated history of being hegemonic and controversial,” said Professor Yigezu has been involved in various research programs and developed a unique mix of experiences by working at the intersection of language, culture and education as well policy formulations and practices. 

He has been working in two broad disciplinary areas – sociolinguistics and educational linguistics (including literacies), both at his own institution and with collaborators in Norway (funded by NORAD).

“For instance, since the 19th century Ethiopian rulers actively promoted Amharic and the Ethiopic script as a unifying bond for the Ethiopian nation, by either suppressing the use of other local languages in official domains and/or prohibiting the use of other scripts for writing local languages. As a result, many ethno-linguistic groups in Ethiopia chose to write their language in what is assumed to be a socio-cultural ‘neutral’ Roman-based orthography to signal their linguistic and cultural autonomy and resentment within the current Ethiopian state,” Professor Yigezu added. 

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