There are two main hypotheses on the origin of Amharic: it may be a descendent of a common Proto-Ethiosemitic language or it may have evolved as a Semitic-based pidgin, which became a creole and eventually developed into a full-fledged language. While the first hypothesis is commonly accepted in Semitic Studies, the second hypothesis - first proposed in the beginning of the 1980s - became popular very recently and has even entered Amharic textbooks. Girma clearly demonstrates that the pidgin hypothesis is blatantly implausible.
