http://www.imperialethiopia.org/languages.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Ethiopia
Although little was said about it, the issue, which language should be official and which one should not is as critical as any other issue related to the notions of identity, supremacy, and prestige. Few years ago, there was an appeal int the United States of America to introduce an African-American vernacular called Ebonics as an official language that should be taught at school. Amharic was the language of primary school instruction in Etyopia, but has been replaced in many areas by local languages such as Oromifa and Tigrinya as a consequence of so many demands and rebellions. Smilarly, in Algeria there is a continuous debate about using Berber as a national and official language.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Ethiopia
Although little was said about it, the issue, which language should be official and which one should not is as critical as any other issue related to the notions of identity, supremacy, and prestige. Few years ago, there was an appeal int the United States of America to introduce an African-American vernacular called Ebonics as an official language that should be taught at school. Amharic was the language of primary school instruction in Etyopia, but has been replaced in many areas by local languages such as Oromifa and Tigrinya as a consequence of so many demands and rebellions. Smilarly, in Algeria there is a continuous debate about using Berber as a national and official language.
Regarding these three examples, it may seem an absolute legitimacy to look for nationalizing one language for the protection of one’s cultural richness and identity. However, it would be more favorable to have one standard language for the sake of the union of the nation. It is commonplace that any kind of diversity including languages is invariably a sign of separateness and misunderstanding. It might be discriminatory to forbid people from speaking their vernacular language in every day life like what happened once in Algeria as Berber speakers were punished if they were heard using this language. Nevertheless, it would be irrational to call for nationalizing or “officializing” a small minority spoken language when the official most used language can be very expressive and sufficient for all administrative or academic need. Because Arabic, American English, or Amharic are spoken by the majority as well as they are more practical languages in everyday life, it would be logical to take them as official languages without imposing any sort of harassment or disrespect on the rest of languages spoken in one country.
It is important to add that language supremacy is not related to the political power of its nation or speakers but to the amount of its use. China, for instance is a quite powerful political country. However, hardly could we speak about Chinese language supremacy in comparison to Spanish, English, or Arabic. The linguist Max Weinreich once said that a language is a dialect with an army and a navy. I would refer to the army by the number of speakers of a language and the navy by its practicality and prestige. Accordingly, the fight for Ebonics, for example, to become an official language world be unjustifiable since American English is more used by people inside and outside the nation and more practical in everyday business.
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