Libido (also known as , Mareqo, Mareko, Marekinga) is an Afroasiatic language of Ethiopia, which is spoken in the Mareko special woreda in the Central Ethiopia Regional State, directly south-east of Butajira. According to the information of the Central Statistical Authority (2007) census, 64,381 people speak the language as their mother tongue. Most of them are multilingual, due to contact with other languages.
Classification It is closely related to Hadiyya (a dialect per Blench 2006) within the Highland East Cushitic languages.
Orthography Libido has become written in recent times, following motivation from the Ethiopian language policy to use the Latin script; the language has also been taught since 2002 for grades 1 to 4. +Libido alphabetLetterA aB bC cD dE eF fG gH hI iJ jK kL lM mN nIPA[a][b][ʧʼ][d][e][f][g][h][i][ʤ][k][l][m][n]LetterO oQ qR rS sT tU uW wX xY yZ zCH chPH phSh sh’IPA[o][kʼ][r][s][t][u][w][tʼ][j][z][ʧ][pʼ][ʃ][ʔ]
Grammar Its syntax is SOV; its verb has passive, reflexive and causative constructions, as well as a middle voice.
Notes
Further reading Korhonen, Elsa, Mirja Saksa, and Ronald J. Sim. 1986. A dialect study of Kambaata-Hadiyya (Ethiopia) [part 1]. Afrikanistische Arbeitspapiere 5: 5-41. Korhonen, Elsa, Mirja Saksa, and Ronald J. Sim. 1986. A dialect study of Kambaata-Hadiyya (Ethiopia), [part 2]: Appendices. Afrikanistische Arbeitspapiere 6: 71–121.