Afar Language

Afar (also known as Canfar; Afar language) is a language belonging to the Afroasiatic family, within the Cushitic branch. It is spoken by the Afar people living in Djibouti, southern and eastern Eritrea, and the Afar region of eastern Ethiopia.

The language is closely related to Saho and is part of the East Cushitic group, which includes Somali and Oromo. Similarities in grammar structure and some basic vocabulary demonstrate this relationship, though mutual intelligibility is not complete.

Geographic distribution and official status

In Djibouti, Afar is one of the two major vernacular languages (alongside Somali), while Arabic and French are the official languages. In Ethiopia, it is used in local administration and primary education in the Afar region. In Eritrea, it is recognized as one of the national languages.

Linguistic features

Afar has a grammatical gender system distinguishing masculine and feminine, with variation in noun and verb endings to express grammatical cases. Some verbs change through prefix conjugation, a feature common to ancient Cushitic languages; others change through suffix modification. Like other languages in the region, tone and integrated grammar play a role in meaning.

Writing systems

Today Afar is typically written in an adapted Latin alphabet suited to its phonemes. A system called 'Qafar Feera' was developed in the 1970s, using both uppercase and lowercase letters to distinguish certain sounds. There have also been attempts to write it using Arabic and Ge'ez scripts.