SDLC 110 Cultural Post #2

[Berhaun Fesshaye]

After talking to my language partner, I learned that in addition to having different variations for male, female, and plural there is also a way to address elders.  The language that is used to address elders seems to be the only type of formal language.  Also, I believe this formality only applies to those that are elderly, not simply older than you.  The formal language applies to the actual words that are being said in Amharic but not in how someone is specifically addressed.  In Habesha (Eritrean and Ethiopian) culture, although people are respectful to one another, they usually call one another by their first names no matter their age. Growing up around Amharic, that’s something that I have always noticed.  An example of this is that I have been calling my aunts, uncles, and family friends by their first names all my life.  Even as a child in elementary, I would address adults by their first name and it was not seen as disrespectful.  I have never heard anyone use “Mr.” or “Mrs.” in Amharic to address someone older as is done in English.  Amharic seems to have more distinctions for gender than for formality which is an interesting comparison to English.