General overview of Omotic

Abstract This chapter provides a general overview of the Omotic language cluster, which has around 30 languages within it. Most of the Omotic languages are spoken and recorded in southwest Ethiopia, and are divided into Central Omotic and Peripheral Omotic. Moreover, Central Omotic is recognized as a genetic group. The chapter discusses the hypotheses for the affiliation of Cushitic, Cushomotic, non(Cushitic, non-Erythraean, and non-Afroasiatic languages. It covers the debates on the methods of classifying Omotic languages, including Greenberg’s mass comparison and Morris Swadesh’s lexicostatistics and glottochronology. The sources of Omotic languages range between Ometo, Gonga, Bench, Ts’aara, Yemsa, Aroid, Maoid, and Dizoid.