Native to Ethiopia ISO 639-3 gdl | Native speakers 65,000 (2007) Glottolog dira1242 | |
Region Omo Region, in the hills west of Lake Chamo, around Gidole town. Language family Afro-Asiatic
Cushitic
Lowland East
Oromoid
Konsoid
Dirasha | ||
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
Dirasha language Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA