the Semitic languages of Ethiopia and Eritrea, including Geʿez (Geʿez language), the liturgical language of the Ethiopian Orthodox church; Amharic (Amharic language), one of the principal languages of modern Ethiopia; Tigré (Tigré language), of northwestern Eritrea and Sudan; Tigrinya (Tigrinya language), or Tigrai, of northern Ethiopia and central Eritrea; Argobba; Hareri; and Gurage. Although some scholars once considered the so-called Ethiopic languages to be a branch within Semitic, these languages are now referred to as Ethio-Semitic. They are generally grouped together with the dialects of the South Arabic language as Southern Peripheral Semitic or South Arabic-Ethiopic.