LEE Hoi Ching, Heidi

LEUNG Yik Fai, Eve

TSE Ching Ching, Cheryl

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Amharic has been the official language in Ethiopia since 1955. It is an antique language rumoured to be first spoken during first millennium BC and also a major language in present-day Ethiopia. This sociolinguistics paper examines the strategies of the modernisation of Amharic, and the motivations for the linguistic process. The paper will first illustrate four mechanisms of how new vocabulary is created in Amharic, and analyse what factors have driven the expansion of Amharic lexicon, with reference to its language status, language and culture contacts, as well as the introduction of culture-bound expressions and activities. Through modernization, Amharic has become an adequate device for its speakers to fully express ideas in the modern world. The analysis of the modernisation of Amharic is essential to understand how the language has preserved its dominance in Ethiopia.