# Mao languages

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Omotic languages spoken in Ethiopia and Sudan

Not to be confused with [Mao language (India)](/source/Mao_language_(India)), [Southern Mao language](/source/Southern_Mao_language), or the [ISO 639-2/B](/source/List_of_ISO_639_language_codes) code for [Māori](/source/M%C4%81ori_language).

Mao Blue Nile Mao Geographic distribution Ethiopia, Sudan[1] Linguistic classification Afro-Asiatic Omotic North? Mao Language codes Glottolog maoo1243

The **Mao languages** are a branch of the [Omotic languages](/source/Omotic_languages) spoken in [Ethiopia](/source/Ethiopia) and parts of [Sudan](/source/Sudan). The group had the following categories:

- [Bambasi](/source/Bambassi_language), spoken in the [Bambasi](/source/Bambasi) [woreda](/source/Woreda) of [Benishangul-Gumuz Region](/source/Benishangul-Gumuz_Region),

- [Hozo](/source/Hozo_language) and [Seze](/source/Seze_language) (often described together as 'Begi Mao'), spoken around [Begi](/source/Beica) in the [Mirab (West) Welega Zone](/source/Mirab_Welega_Zone) of the [Oromia Region](/source/Oromia_Region).

- [Ganza](/source/Ganza_language), which is spoken south of [Bambasi](/source/Bambasi) in the [Asosa Zone](/source/Asosa_Zone) of Benishangul-Gumuz Region, west of the Hozo and Seze languages and in [Blue Nile State](/source/Blue_Nile_State) in [Sudan](/source/Sudan).[1]

It is estimated that there are 5,000 speakers of Bambasi, 3,000 speakers each of Hozo and Seze and a few hundred Ganza speakers (Bender, 2000). During recent political upheavals, a few thousand Bambassi speakers established themselves in the valley of the [Didessa River](/source/Didessa_River) and [Belo Jegonfoy](/source/Belo_Jegonfoy) [woreda](/source/Woreda). Much of the Mirab Welega Zone was once the home of Mao languages, but they have lost speakers because of the increasing influence of [Oromo](/source/Oromo_language).

## Contact

Mao languages are in close and long-standing contact with [Koman languages](/source/Koman_languages), and linguistic affiliation does not always coincide with ethnic identity. Some Koman-speaking groups in western Ethiopia, like the [Kwama](/source/Kwama_people), are known as Mao[2], or vice versa, as in the case of the Ganza (also known as Koma).

Intensified contact between Mao, Koman, and [Kefoid languages](/source/Gonga_languages) dates to the formation of the Gonga kingdom of [Anfillo](/source/Anfillo_(woreda)) in the late sixteenth century, following the westward migration of Kefoid-speaking elites during the [Oromo expansions](/source/Oromo_expansion) into the [Gibe](/source/Gibe_River) basin around 1560–1570[3][4]. The establishment of Anfillo brought Mao populations into sustained and asymmetric contact with Kefoid languages as well as with neighboring Koman languages, whose speakers inhabited the surrounding lowlands.

Within the Gonga political system, Mao speakers formed a subordinate social category, which promoted widespread [bilingualism](/source/Bilingualism) and language shift toward [dominant languages](/source/Dominant_languages). Mao communities were integrated as [serfs](/source/Serfdom) or dependent clients of Gonga [elites](/source/Elite), creating daily interaction in labor, ritual, and military contexts, conditions known to facilitate [lexical borrowing](/source/Lexical_borrowing) and structural influence. In parallel, other Mao groups remained mobile at the margins of Gonga territories, maintaining master-client relations with [agricultural populations](/source/Agrarian_society) through the exchange of forest products, a setting that likewise favored multilingual repertoires[5][6].

The designation *Mao* historically functioned as a sociopolitical label applied to diverse subordinate populations (also known as Nao, Mawo, Manno, or Manjo) rather than a single linguistic entity[7][8]. This has contributed to the present-day linguistic diversity and fragmentation of Mao languages, as well as to their heavy contact-induced restructuring through prolonged interaction with Koman, Kefoid, and later [Oromo](/source/Oromo_language) languages.

## Numerals

Comparison of numerals in individual languages:[9]

Language 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Ganza (Gwàmì Nánà) (1) ʔìʃì kwéʔèn mámꜜbú tʼíꜜzí máꜜs’í k’wísʼí ʔìʃkìbínꜜ mámpʰìn wòbóꜜ ʃèléꜜ kónsó-báꜜ (litː 'hand-pair') Ganza (Gwàmì Nánà) (2) ʔìʃì kwéʔèn mámꜜbú tʼíꜜzí máꜜs’í k’wísʼí ʔìʃkìbínꜜ mámpʰìn wòbóꜜ ʃèléꜜ kónsó-báꜜ (litː hand-pair) Ganza (3) ʔíʃkúwéén mámbùʔ tíízìʔ más’s’ìʔ k’wíssíʔ ʔíʃkípín mámpín wóp’ò ʃéléʔ kónsóbààʔ Hozo (1) ʔónnà dòmbó sìjázì bétsʼì kwítsʼì (lit: 'hand') kwítsʼì ʔòttá ʔónnà (5 + 1) kwítsʼì ʔòttá dòmbó (5 + 2) kwítsʼì ʔòttá sìjázì (5 + 3) kwítsʼì ʔòttá bétsʼì (5 + 4) pʼóʃì Hozo (2) ʊnːa / onna dʊmbo / dombo sìɑːsi /siyazi bɛtsíː / betsʼi kʷɪtsí / kʼwitsi (lit: 'hand', kutsi) kɛniː / ota-onna (5 + 1) ʔɔːta / ota-dombo (5 + 2) ʔɔ̀ːtá / ota-siyazi (5 + 3) ʔɔ̀ːtì / ota-beːtsi (5 + 4) pʼɔ́ːʃi / poːši Northern Mao hishkì numbo teezè mesʼe kʼwíssí kyaansè kúlùmbò (litː hand-two ?) kúteezé (litː hand-three?) kúsmésʼe (litː hand-four ?) kúúsú Sezi (Seze / Sezo) (1) ʔìʃílè nòmbé sììzé besʼsʼé kʼwíssé (lit: 'hand', kusɛ) kʼwíssé ʔòòt ʔìʃílè (litː 5 remaining 1) kʼwíssé ʔòòt nòmbé (litː 5 remain. 2) kʼwíssé ʔòòt sììzé (litː 5 remaining 3) kʼwíssé ʔòòt besʼsʼé (litː 5 remain. 4) kúúsé Seze (Sezo) (2) ɪ̀ʃìlɛ / ɪšilɛ nɔ̀mbɛ́ / noːmbɛ sìːzí /siːzɛ bɛ̀sʼɛ́ / bɛtsʼɛ kʼúsɛ́ / kʼʊsse (lit: 'hand', kusɛ) dʒɑ;j / ot-šilɛ ʔɔːt nɔ̀mbɛ́ / ot-nombɛ ʔɔ̀ːt síːzí / ota-siːzɛ ʔɔ̀ːt bèːtsʼé / ota-bɛːsʼɛ ̞kʊ́ːsɛ̀ / kʊːsɛ

## See also

- [Mao word lists](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Mao_word_lists) (Wiktionary)

## Further reading

- Küspert, Klaus-Christian (2015). ["The Mao and Komo Languages in the Begi–Tongo area in Western Ethiopia: Classification, Designations, Distribution"](https://journals.dartmouth.edu/cgi-bin/WebObjects/Journals.woa/1/xmlpage/1/article/447). *Linguistic Discovery*. **13** (1). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1349/PS1.1537-0852.A.447](https://doi.org/10.1349%2FPS1.1537-0852.A.447).

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Omotic_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Omotic_1-1) ["Omotic languages"](https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/1085/). Ethnologue. Retrieved 6 March 2024.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Küspert, Klaus-Christian (2015). ["The Mao and Komo Languages in the Begi–Tongo area in Western Ethiopia: Classification, Designations, Distribution"](https://journals.dartmouth.edu/cgi-bin/WebObjects/Journals.woa/1/xmlpage/1/article/447). *Linguistic Discovery*. **13** (1). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1349/PS1.1537-0852.A.447](https://doi.org/10.1349%2FPS1.1537-0852.A.447).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Hassen, Mohammed (1994). *The Oromo of Ethiopia: A History 1570–1860*. Cambridge: [Cambridge University Press](/source/Cambridge_University_Press). pp. 33–36.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Gidada, Negasso (2001). *History of the Sayyoo Oromoo of Southwestern Wallaga, Ethiopia*. Addis Ababa: Mega Printing Enterprise. pp. 80, 86–88, 180–181, 237–240.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** González-Ruibal, Alfredo (2014). *An Archaeology of Resistance: Materiality and Time in an African Borderland*. Lanham, MD: [Rowman & Littlefield](/source/Rowman_%26_Littlefield). pp. 306–320.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Megenassa, Worku Derara (2019). *Forest-Based Livelihoods and Socioeconomic Relations in Southwestern Ethiopia*. Addis Ababa University.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Huntingford, G. W. B. (1955). *The Galla of Ethiopia: The Kingdoms of Kafa and Janjero*. London: International African Institute / Oxford University Press. p. 136. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.4324/9781315308111](https://doi.org/10.4324%2F9781315308111).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Lange, Dierk (1982). *Ancient Kingdoms of West Africa: Africa-Centred and Canaanite-Israelite Perspectives*. Dettelbach: J. H. Röll. pp. 242, 260.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-ChanNumeralsAA_9-0)** Chan, Eugene (2019). ["The Afro-Asiatic Language Phylum"](https://lingweb.eva.mpg.de/channumerals/Afro-Asiatic.htm). Numeral Systems of the World's Languages.

v t e Omotic languages Aroid Aari Dime Gayil Hamer Karo Mao Bambassi Ganza Hozo Seze Dizoid Dizin Nayi Sheko Damotic Gonga Anfillo Kafa Shakacho Shinasha Garo Ometo Central Dorze Gamo-Gofa-Dawro Melo Oyda Wolaitta East Kachama-Ganjule Koore Zayse-Zergulla Others Basketo Maale Others Bench Chara Yem Italics indicate extinct languages

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Mao languages](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mao_languages) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mao_languages?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.