Dirasha language

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[2]

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).

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)

1. Ethiopia 2007 Census
2. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian, eds. (2016). "Dirasha". Glottolog 2.7. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.