Dime language
Encyclopedia
Dime is an Afro-Asiatic
language spoken in the northern part of the Selamago
district in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region of Ethiopia
, around Mount Smith. Dime divides into at least two dialects, which include Us'a and Gerfa. It has six case suffixes, in addition to an unmarked nominative. It is overwhelmingly suffixing, but uses prefixes for demonstratives. Phonologically, it is noteworthy for having velar and uvular fricative phonemes. The basic word order is SOV (subject–object–verb), as in other Omotic languages, indeed as in all the languages of the core of the Ethiopian Language Area
.
The language, as well as the Dime people themselves, reportedly decreased in numbers over the 20th century due to predation from their neighbors the Bodi, and both are in danger of extinction. According to Ethiopian census figures, the 1994 census reported 6293 speakers of the Dime language in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region alone; in the 2007 census, only 574 speakers were reported for all of Ethiopia. Further, because the Dime language still lacks a writing system and there are no local schools to promote the use of the language, it is even more threatened.
Afro-Asiatic languages
The Afroasiatic languages , also known as Hamito-Semitic, constitute one of the world's largest language families, with about 375 living languages...
language spoken in the northern part of the Selamago
Selamago
Selamago is one of the 77 woredas in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Debub Omo Zone, Selamago is bordered on the south by Kuraz, on the west and north by the Omo River which separates it from the Bench Maji and the Keficho Shekicho Zones and the...
district in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region of Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
, around Mount Smith. Dime divides into at least two dialects, which include Us'a and Gerfa. It has six case suffixes, in addition to an unmarked nominative. It is overwhelmingly suffixing, but uses prefixes for demonstratives. Phonologically, it is noteworthy for having velar and uvular fricative phonemes. The basic word order is SOV (subject–object–verb), as in other Omotic languages, indeed as in all the languages of the core of the Ethiopian Language Area
Ethiopian Language Area
Charles Ferguson first proposed the Ethiopian Language Area . He posited a number of phonological and morpho-syntactic features that were found widely across Ethiopia , including the Ethio-Semitic, Cushitic, and Omotic languages, Charles Ferguson first proposed the Ethiopian Language Area (1970,...
.
The language, as well as the Dime people themselves, reportedly decreased in numbers over the 20th century due to predation from their neighbors the Bodi, and both are in danger of extinction. According to Ethiopian census figures, the 1994 census reported 6293 speakers of the Dime language in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region alone; in the 2007 census, only 574 speakers were reported for all of Ethiopia. Further, because the Dime language still lacks a writing system and there are no local schools to promote the use of the language, it is even more threatened.
External links
- "Map of the Dime language", LL-Map website
- Yilma, Aklilu and Ralph Siebert (2002), "Sociolinguistic survey report of the Chara, Dime, Melo and Nayi languages of Ethiopia part 1." SIL Electronic Survey Reports 2002-029.
- Ralph Siebert (2002), "Sociolinguistic survey report on the Dime language of Ethiopia." SIL Electronic Survey Reports 2002-043
- World Atlas of Language StructuresWorld Atlas of Language StructuresThe World Atlas of Language Structures is a database of structural properties of languages gathered from descriptive materials. It was first published by Oxford University Press as a book with CD-ROM in 2005, and was released as the second edition on the Internet in April 2008...
information on Dime - EthnologueEthnologueEthnologue: Languages of the World is a web and print publication of SIL International , a Christian linguistic service organization, which studies lesser-known languages, to provide the speakers with Bibles in their native language and support their efforts in language development.The Ethnologue...
information on Dime