Daasanach (also known as Dasenech, Daasanech, Dathanaik, Dathanaic, Dathanik, Dhaasanac, Gheleba, Geleba, Geleb, Gelebinya, Gallab, Galuba, Gelab, Gelubba, Dama, Marille, Merile, Merille, Morille, Reshiat, Russia) is a Cushitic language spoken by the Daasanach in Ethiopia, South Sudan and Kenya whose homeland is along the Lower Omo River and on the shores of Lake Turkana.Raymond G. Gordon Jr., ed. 2005. Ethnologue: Languages of the World. 15th edition. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics.
Phonology
Consonants LabialDental/AlveolarPost-alveolarPalatalVelarGlottalPlosiveFricative()()()NasalTrillLateralApproximant
A glottal [h] may also occur in word-initial position, when preceding vowels in various positions /ð/ may freely alternate with an alveolar [z] among speakers. /w/ may be heard as a fricative [v] when before front vowels. Sounds /t̪, k/ can be heard as spiranted [ð, ɣ] in intervocalic positions. /k/ can also be heard as uvular [χ] when in between back vowel sounds. /k/ can be heard as a uvular [q] when before back vowel sounds. /ɗ̠/ in intervocalic positions can be deglottalized, and heard as either retroflex sounds [ɖ] or [ɽ].
Vowels FrontCentralBackClose Mid Open
Writing system Jim Ness and Susan Ness of Bible Translation and Literacy and Wycliffe Bible Translators devised a practical spelling and published a 1995 alphabet book. Yergalech Komoi and Gosh Kwanyangʼ published another alphabet book in 1995. An edition of the Gospel of Mark was published in 1997, and other Bible translations were published with this spelling in 1999. The alphabet was later revised, with the digraph replaced by a bowl-struck đ (approximately ).
+ Daasanach alphabet Letters ʼ a b ʼb ch d ʼd đ e f g ʼg h i ʼj k l m n ngʼ ny o r s sh t u v w y Pronunciation
Vowels can be given with the acute accent, , or the circumflex accent .
Notes
Further reading Sasse, Hans-Jürgen. 1976. "Dasenech" in: Bender, M. Lionel (ed.): The Non-Semitic Languages of Ethiopia. pp. 196–221. East Lansing: African Studies Center.
External links Linguistic map of Daasanach language at Muturzikin.com World Atlas of Language Structures information on Dhaasanac