Dirasha language

Dirasha
Dirasha
Gidole
D'iraassh
Native to	Ethiopia
Region	Omo Region, in the hills west of Lake Chamo, around Gidole town.
Native speakers	65,000 (2007)
Language family	Afro-Asiatic Cushitic Lowland East Oromoid Konsoid Dirasha; ; ; ; ;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	gdl
Glottolog	dira1242

Dirasha (also known as Ghidole, Diraasha, Dirayta, Gidole, Gardulla, Dhirasha) is a member of the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic family. It is spoken in the Omo region of Ethiopia, in the hills west of Lake Chamo, around the town of Gidole.

A number of speakers also use Oromo or Konso. According to Wondwosen, the "Dirasha" is the name of the people, and the name of the language is given variously as "Dirashitata, Dirayta and Diraytata" (2006:3,4).

The language has a three ejective consonant phonemes and two implosive consonant phonemes, fitting the pattern of the Ethiopian Language Area. It has two tones and five vowels. Duration (or gemination) is distinctive for both consonants and vowels (Wondwosen 2006:9,10).

Phonology ^[2]^[3]^[4][]

Phonetic Inventory: Consonant IPA Symbols[]

Dirayta transcription utilizes symbols that differ from those of the traditional IPA chart. Each ejective may be written two ways.

	Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	m	n	ɲ ⟨ñ⟩	ŋ
Plosive	p	t	c	k	ʔ
Ejective		t’ ⟨t'⟩ ⟨ṭ⟩	tʃ’ ⟨č'⟩ ⟨č̣⟩	k’ ⟨k'⟩ ⟨ḳ⟩
Implosive	ɓ	ɗ
Fricative	f	s	ʃ ⟨š⟩		h
Affricate			tʃ ⟨č⟩
Lateral		l
Flap		r
Glide	w		j ⟨y⟩

When /n/ and /ʔ/ occur as /nʔ/, they contract to form ŋ. /n/ and /ʔ/ must occur in that sequence, with no intervening vowels or consonants.

Phonetic Inventory: Vowel IPA Symbols[]

	Front	Back
High	i	u
Mid	e	o ɔ
Low	a

Low and High Tones[]

-Dirayta is a 2-tone language.

-Low Tone: Absence of accentual markings

Low Tone: Monosyllabic CVVC words
Vowel	Sample Word: Dirayta	Sample Word: English Translation
i	hiip	local beer
e	meet	child
a	paas	cleaver
u	Could not locate example
o	Could not locate example
ɔ	Could not locate example

-High Tone: Represented by acute accent diacritic above vowel (í, é, á, ú, ó, ɔ́)

-Mandatory for monosyllabic CVC and disyllabic CVC/CVVC words

High Tone Accentual Patterns: Monosyllabic CVC Words
Vowel	Sample Word: Dirayta	Sample Word: English Translation
í	Could not locate example
é	hén	five
á	káp	mouth
ú	Could not locate example
ó	pón	dry season
ɔ́	Could not locate example

-For disyllabic words, only one syllable may contain high tone.

-High tone is (mostly) assigned to the first vowel within the initial syllable. However, high tone may be assigned to the first vowel within the ultimate syllable.

High Tone Accentual Patterns: Disyllabic CVC/CVVC Words
Vowel	Sample Word: Dirayta	Sample Word: English Translation
í	šíra ʃíra	liver
é	ʔérpa	lie
é	ʔéetot	evening meal
é	saytét	oil
é	waalét	long-necked calabash
á	párat	year
á	máakot	snake
ú	kúnɗa	fruit
ó	sóha	meat
ó	móohot	sky-god
ó	porrót	barley
ɔ́	Could not locate example

-For trisyllabic words, high tone is (mostly) assigned to the ultimate syllable. However, high tone may be assigned to BOTH initial and ultimate syllables.

High Tone Accentual Patterns: Trisyllabic CVC/CVVC Words
Vowel	Sample Word: Dirayta	Sample Word: English Translation
í	ɗímaʔmaʔ	rib-cage
é	mat'aatét	round white potato
á	káč̣erra	cloth
á	palawwát	type of bird
á, á	háwallát	type of dumpling
á, ó	k'áalalót ḳáalalót	thin ale-gruel
ú	mút'ura múṭura	heart
ú, é	k'úrt'ummét ḳúrṭummét	fish
ó	kópila	shield
ó, á	k'óhanát ḳóhanát	afternoon coffee session
ɔ́	Could not locate example

References[]

Wondwosen Tesfaye Abire. 2006. Aspects of Diraytata Morphology and Syntax: A Lexical-Functional Grammar Approach. University of Trondheim, doctoral thesis.

External links[]

Klaus Wedekind, "Sociolinguistic Survey Report of the Languages of the Gawwada (Dullay), Diraasha (Gidole), Muusiye (Bussa) Areas" SIL Electronic Survey Reports: SILESR 2002-065 (contains a word-list of Dirasha, with 320 entries)

^ Ethiopia 2007 Census
^ Abire, W.T. (2006). "Aspects of Diraytata: Morphology and Syntax" (PDF).
^ Wedekind, K. (2002). "Sociolinguistic Survey Report of the Languages of the Gawwada (Dullay), Diraasha (Gidole), Muusiye (Bussa) Areas". SIL (Société International de Linguistique).
^ Hayward, R. J. (February 1981). "Nominal suffixes in Dirayta (Gidole)". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. 44 (1): 126–144. doi:10.1017/s0041977x00104446. ISSN 0041-977X.

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[1] Ethiopia 2007 Census

[2] Abire, W.T. (2006). "Aspects of Diraytata: Morphology and Syntax" (PDF).

[3] Wedekind, K. (2002). "Sociolinguistic Survey Report of the Languages of the Gawwada (Dullay), Diraasha (Gidole), Muusiye (Bussa) Areas". SIL (Société International de Linguistique).

[4] Hayward, R. J. (February 1981). "Nominal suffixes in Dirayta (Gidole)". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. 44 (1): 126–144. doi:10.1017/s0041977x00104446. ISSN 0041-977X.

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Dirasha
Gidole
D'iraassh
Native to	Ethiopia
Region	Omo Region, in the hills west of Lake Chamo, around Gidole town.
Native speakers	65,000 (2007)^[1]
Language family	Afro-Asiatic Cushitic Lowland East Oromoid Konsoid Dirasha
Language codes
ISO 639-3	`gdl`
Glottolog	`dira1242`