Gurage people

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from
Gurage languages
)
Gurage
Somali
  • Saho
  • other Ethiopian Semitic and Cushitic peoples[4]

    • The Gurage (

    Hora-Dambal
    in the east.

    According to the 2007 Ethiopian national census the Gurage can also be found in substantial numbers in

    Oromia Region and Dire Dawa.[6]

    Origin

    According to the historian

    Harla people. Indeed, there is evidence that Harla architecture may have influenced old buildings (pre-16th c.) found near Harar (eastern Ethiopia), and the Gurage East group often cite kinship with Harari (Hararghe) peoples in the distant past.[8]

    Braukhamper also states King

    Harla groups which migrated and settled in that region for different reasons and at various times.[8]

    Another stated that the

    Gurage were originated from a place called Gura, Eritrea. This believed that linguistically by citing a southward Semitic migration during the late classical and medieval period; however more historical research needed.[9]

    A single military expedition explanation is likely possible for soldiers to implant their language in the region effectively.

    Oromo migrations into the central Highlands.[11]

    History

    In the late 1870s Menelik led a campaign to incorporate the lands of the Gurage people into Shewa. In 1878, the Soddo Gurage living in Northern and Eastern Gurageland peacefully submitted to Menelik and their lands were left untouched by his armies, likely due to their shared Ethiopian Orthodox faith and prior submission to Negus Sahle Selassie, grandfather of the Emperor. However, in Western Gurageland which was inhabited by the Sebat Bet, Kebena and Wolene fiercely resisted Menelik.[12] They were led by Hassan Enjamo of Kebena who on the advice of his sheiks declared jihad against the Shewans. For over a decade Hassan Injamo fought to expel the Shewans from the Muslim areas of Gurage until 1888 when Gobana Dacche faced him in the Battle of Jebdu Meda where the Muslim Gurage army was defeated by the Shewans, and with that all of Gurageland was subdued.[13][14]

    Language

    The Gurage languages are a subgroup of the Ethiopian Semitic languages within the Semitic family of the Afroasiatic language family. They have three subgroups: Northern, Eastern and Western.

    Gurage languages include

    Endegegn, Chaha, and Soddo, Masqan, Zay. Like other Ethiopian Semitic languages, the Gurage languages is heavily influenced by the surrounding non-Semitic Afroasiatic Cushitic languages.[citation needed] Gurage is written left to right using a system based on the Geʽez script.[citation needed
    ]

    Gurage region

    According to the 1994 census, the six largest ethnic groups reported in Gurage Zone were the

    Catholic.[15] According to the 1994 Ethiopian census, self-identifying Gurage comprise about 2.7% of Ethiopia's population, or about 1.4 million people.[16][17] The populations of Gurage people are not exactly known because approximately half of the population live outside of the Gurage zone.[citation needed
    ]

    The Gurage people

    Gurage artist Mahmoud Ahmed

    The Gurage, the writer

    Horatio Alger, Jr.": "He began his career selling old bottles and tin cans; the Emperor Haile Selassie rewarded his achievement in creating his plantation by calling him to Addis Ababa and decorating him."[19]

    The Gurage people are highly entrepreneurial people with a culture of social mobility that celebrates hard work. As a result, the Gurage are represented in all business sectors in Ethiopia, ranging from shoe shiners to owners of big businesses. Commonly, the Addis Ababa Merkato attributed to them. They are model of good work culture in the whole Ethiopia. One of the most famous Ethiopian musicians, Mohamoud Ahmed, still recalls how he started out in life shining shoes in the city before he got his break and joined the music orchestra that allowed him to capture the imagination of millions of admirers both in Ethiopia and abroad.[citation needed]

    Agriculture

    A Gurage teenager picking potatoes on one of the Ethiopian highlands

    The Gurage live a sedentary life based on agriculture, involving a complex system of

    Ensete is the main staple food, Teff and other cash crops are grown, which include coffee and khat which used as traditional stimulants. Animal husbandry
    is practiced, mainly for milk supply and dung. Other foods consumed include green cabbage, cheese, butter, roasted grains, meat and others.

    The principal crop of the Gurage is ensete (also enset, Ensete edulis, äsät or "false banana plant"). This has a massive stem that grows underground and is involved in every aspect of Gurage life. It has a place in everyday interactions among community members as well as specific roles in rituals. For example: the ritual uses of ensete include wrapping a corpse after death with the fronds and tying off the umbilical cord after birth with an ensete fiber; the practical uses include wrapping goods and fireproofing thatch.[20] Ensete is also exchanged as part of a variety of social interactions, and used as a recompense for services rendered.[21]

    Ensete is totally involved in every aspect of the daily social and ritual life of the Gurage, who, with several others tribes in Southwest Ethiopia, form what has been termed the Ensete Culture Complex area... the life of the Gurage is enmeshed with various uses of ensete, not the least of which is nutritional.[20]

    Ensete can be prepared in a variety of ways. A normal Gurage diet consists primarily of kocho, a thick bread made from ensete, and is supplemented by cabbage, cheese, butter and grains. Meat is not consumed on a regular basis, but usually eaten when an animal is sacrificed during a ritual or ceremonial event.[20] The Gurage pound the root of the ensete to extract the edible substance, then place it in deep pits between the rows of ensete plants in the field. It ferments in the pit, which makes it more palatable. It can be stored for up to several years in this fashion, and the Gurage typically retain large surpluses of ensete as a protection against famine.[21]

    In addition to ensete, cash crops are maintained (notably

    teff and eat injera (which the Gurage also call injera).[22]

    The Gurage raise zebu. These cattle are primarily kept for their butter, and a typical Gurage household has a large quantity of spiced butter aging in clay pots hung from the walls of their huts. Butter is believed to be medicinal, and the Gurage often take it internally or use it a lotion or poultice. A Gurage proverb states that "A sickness that has the upper hand over butter is destined for death." Different species of ensete are also eaten to alleviate illness.[23]

    The Gurage regard overeating as coarse and vulgar, and regard it as poor etiquette to eat all of the ensete that a host passes around to guests. It is considered polite to leave at least some ensete bread even after a very small portion is passed around.[24]

    Cuisine

    The Gurage in rural highland areas centers their lives on the cultivation of their staple crop ensete. Kocho is made by shaping the ensete paste into a thick circle and wrapping it in a thin layer of ensete leaves. Its baked in a small pit with coals. Sometimes the paste is just cooked over a griddle. Kitfo a minced raw beef mixed with butter and spicy pepper is commonly attributed to the Gurage. It is also supplemented by cabbage, cheese, butter, and grains.[citation needed]

    Notable Gurages

    Notes

    1. ^ Central Statistical Agency, Ethiopia. "Table 2.2 Percentage Distribution of Major Ethnic Groups: 2007" (PDF). Summary and Statistical Report of the 2007 Population and Housing Census Results. United Nations Population Fund. p. 16. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 March 2009. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
    2. ^ a b G. W. E. Huntingford, "William A. Shack: The Gurage: a people of the ensete culture"
    3. ^ Lebel, Phillip. 1974. "Oral Traditional and Chronicles on Guragé Immigration".
    4. ISBN 1581120001
      .
    5. ^ "Gurage". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary.
    6. ^ Table 3.1 on 2007 Ethiopian Regional States Census Data Archived 2016-08-24 at the Wayback Machine
    7. ^ Henze, Layers of Time (New York: Palgrave, 2000), p. 112.
    8. ^
      ISBN 9783825856717
      . Retrieved 25 June 2016.
    9. OCLC 1083468654
      .
    10. OCLC 1083468654
      .
    11. ^ Michael Vinson [1] THE STRUGGLE FOR RECOGNITION: A CRITICAL ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY OF THE ZAY
    12. ^ "The Introduction and Legacy of Menelik's life". 20 August 2018.
    13. ^ Approved, Indus Foundation International Journals UGC. "Change and Continuity of Traditional System of Governance: The Case of Oget among the Qebena, South Ethiopia". indusedu.org – via www.academia.edu.
    14. ^ "Fanonet: Ethnohistorical Notes on the Gurage Urban Migration in Ethiopia" (PDF).
    15. CSA. November 2007. Archived from the original
      on 2012-11-13. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
    16. ^ Ethiopia: A Model Nation of Minorities Archived 2011-07-18 at the Wayback Machine (accessed 6 April 2006)
    17. ^ Statistical report Part 1 csa.gov.et [dead link]
    18. ^ Nega Mezlekia, Notes from the Hyena's Belly (New York: Picador, 2000), p. 227.
    19. ^ Kenney, "Ethiopian Adventure", National Geographic, 127 (1965), p. 582.
    20. ^ a b c Shack, Dorothy. "Nutritional Processes and Personality Development among the Gurage of Ethiopia" in Food and Culture: A Reader. Ed. Carole Counihan and Penny van Esterik. (New York: Routledge, 1997). p117.
    21. ^ a b Shack, Dorothy. "Nutritional Processes and Personality Development among the Gurage of Ethiopia" in Food and Culture: A Reader. Ed. Carole Counihan and Penny van Esterik. (New York: Routledge, 1997). p121.
    22. ^ Girma A. Demeke; Ronny Meyer (14 June 2011). "Contact-induced language change in selected Ethiopian Semitic Languages" (PDF). Centre français des études éthiopiennes. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-11-06. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
    23. ^ Hunger, Anxiety, and Ritual: Deprivation and Spirit Possession Among the Gurage of Ethiopia Author(s): William A. Shack Source: Man, New Series, Vol. 6, No. 1 (Mar., 1971), pp. 30-43
    24. ^ Hunger, Anxiety, and Ritual: Deprivation and Spirit Possession Among the Gurage of Ethiopia Author(s): William A. ShackSource: Man, New Series, Vol. 6, No. 1 (Mar., 1971), pp. 30-43

    References

    External links
    Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gurage_people&oldid=1218612559"