Dime or Dima is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken in the northern part of the Selamago district in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNP) of Ethiopia, around Mount Smith.[1] 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 and has reduplication. Phonologically, it is noteworthy among the Omotic languages for having phonemic velar and uvular fricatives.[2] The basic word order is subject–object–verb (SOV), as in other Omotic languages, and indeed in all members of the core of the Ethiopian Language Area.
| Dime | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Ethiopia |
| Region | Debub (South) Omo Zone |
Native speakers | 11,000 (2007 census)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | dim |
| Glottolog | dime1235 |
| ELP | Dimé |
The language, as well as the Dime people themselves, reportedly decreased in number over the 20th century due to predations from their neighbors the Bodi, and both are in danger of extinction.[3] According to official Ethiopian figures, the 1994 census reported 6293 speakers of the Dime language in the SNNP region alone;[4] in the 2007 census, only 574 speakers were reported for all of Ethiopia.[5] 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.[2]
Phonology
editConsonants
edit| Bilabial | Alveolar | Alveo-palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosives | Voiceless | p | t | k | |||
| Voiced | b | d | g | ||||
| Ejective | p’ | t’ | k’ | ʔ | |||
| Implosive | ɗ | ||||||
| Fricatives | Voiceless | f | s | ʃ | x | χ | h |
| Voiced | z | ʒ | ɣ | ʁ | |||
| Ejective | s’ | ||||||
| Affricates | Voiceless | ts | tʃ | ||||
| Voiced | dʒ | ||||||
| Ejective | tʃ’ | ||||||
| Nasals | m | n | |||||
| Liquids | l | ||||||
| r | |||||||
| Glides | w | j | |||||
Vowels
edit| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | ɨ | U |
| Half-close | e | O | |
| Half-Open | ɛ | ə | ɔ |
| Open | a |
Free variation
editDime undergoes phonological processes when speaking and one of them is free variation. Free variation is a phenomenon of two or more sounds or forms appearing in the same environment without a change in meaning and without being considered as wrong by a native speaker of Dime.
h and ʔ are free variation word initially in some lexemes.
- ʔˈalfe and halfe Knife
- ʔˈaʁe and haʁe wood, knife
- ʔààke and hààke to pick up
- ʔaay and haay grass
- yízí and hízí to run
- yín or ʔín you (obj.)
Gemination
editDime has a lot of consonant gemination, which mostly occurs in the middle and final position of words, which distinguishes the meaning of lexemes.
- túmú (deep) - túmmú (stomach)
- ʔoloχ (quick) - ʔolloχ (slowly)
- ʔane (hand) - ʔanne (wild life)
Syllable structure
editDime has both closed and open syllables as well as super-heavy syllables. Most consonants can occur in the middle and at the end of the word.
| Syllable shape | examples | translation |
|---|---|---|
| CV | ná | 'she' |
| nú | 'he' | |
| CVC | káf | 'wait' |
| lág | 'friend' | |
| CVV | čúú | 'bottom' |
| loo.mú | 'lemon' | |
| CVVC | neey | 'hunger' |
| zuúb | 'red' | |
| CVCC | gušš | 'nails' |
| físt | mucu | |
| gɘrž | 'cat' | |
| CVVCC | lóokk | |
| c’íížž |
Dime also has consonant clusters, which are mostly made up of only two members.
At the end of the word:
- gušš nails
- físt sneeze
- tálk borrow
- sáánk floor
- túss pillar
In the middle of the word:
- dámpe tobacco
- básumb fearful
- gázde boundry
- bedze out
Morphology and Syntax
editDefiniteness
editA definite noun is one which refers to a specific entity. Morphologically, Dime distinguishes definite from indefinite nouns. Definiteness is marked by the suffix -is.
- ʔ́ehé a house - ʔ́éh-is the house
- nîts a child - nîts-is the child
- ʔiyýi a person - ʔiyýs-is the person
ʔámzi
woman
gúdúm-ind-is
tall-F-DEF
the tall woman
gúdúm-ub
tall
gǒst-is
man-DEF
the tall man
In the last example, there is a modifier in the noun phrase; the definite marker is suffixed to the modifier.
The definite marker -is may optionally be changed to -iz when followed by a voiced consonant.
- ʔéh-is the house
- gášš-is the road
- ʔámz-iz the woman
- zúùb-iz the red one
Number
editNouns and noun phrases make a distinction between singular and plural. Singular is morphologically unmarked, whereas plural is marked by the suffix -af. That a head noun is plural can be inferred from the morpheme -id, which is suffixed to a modifier.
ʔéh
house
-áf-is
-PL-DEF
the houses
dər
goat
-áf-is
-PL-DEF
the goats
guur
crocodile
-af-is
-PL-DEF
the crocodiles
Pronouns
edit| Subject | Object | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person |
singular | ʔaté | I | ʔis-im | me | |
| plural | wótú | we | won-im | us | ||
| 2nd person |
singular | yaay/yáye | you | yin-im | you | |
| plural | yesé | you all/you guys | yen-im | you all/you guys | ||
| 3rd person | singular | M | nú | he | kin-im | him |
| F | ná | she | kon-im | her | ||
| plural | kété | they | ken-im | them | ||
References
edit- ^ a b Dime at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ a b Seyoum, Mulugeta (2008). A grammar of Dime (Ph.D. thesis). Leiden University. hdl:1887/12833.
- ^ Fleming, Harold (1990). Richard Hayward (ed.). Omotic Language Studies. London: SOAS. p. 495. ISBN 9780728601666.
- ^ 1994 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia: Results for Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region, Vol. 1, part 1, Table 2.14
- ^ Central Statistical Agency. "Ethiopia - Population and Housing Census 2007 Report, National". International Household Survey Network.
External links
edit- 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 Structures information on Dime