Dirasha language

Dirasha
Ghidole, Diraasha, Dirayta, Gidole, Gardulla, Dhirasha
Spoken in	Ethiopia
Region	Omo Region, in the hills west of Lake Chamo, around Gidole town.
Native speakers	15,300 Dirasha dialect, 49,900 Gidole  (2007)
Language family	Afro-Asiatic Cushitic East Konso–Gidole Dirasha
Language codes
ISO 639-3	gdl

Dirasha (also known as Ghidole, Diraasha, Dirayta, Gidole, Gardulla, Dhirasha) is a member of the East Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic family. It is spoken in Ethiopia in the Omo Region, in the hills west of Lake Chamo, around Gidole town. A number of speakers also use Oromo or Komso. 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

• Ethnologue information on Dirasha
• 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)