The Wiles of Reptiles

Here are eight sentences in Dime.¹ The first seven are given along with their English translations.

Notes:

In this problem, an accent above a vowel (e.g., in “kété”) indicates that the vowel has high tone. Unmarked vowels have low tone. A consonant or vowel written twice in a row (e.g., in “guurafis”) is pronounced for a longer time by the speaker. An apostrophe following a consonant (e.g., in “s’anubim”) indicates that the consonant is pronounced ejectively (i.e., with air pressure produced in the throat instead of the lungs).

The six sentences below were uttered by a linguist who had been trying to learn Dime. Unfortunately, only three of them were fully understood by native speakers; the other three were deemed incorrect, meaning they contained mistakes or were not understood at all.

(a) ʔaté s’ááme s’anubim kóχin

• W. The sentence is correct as is (change nothing).
• X. Change “kóχin” to “kóχit”.
• Y. Change “s’anubim” to “s’anudim”.
• Z. Change “s’ááme” to “s’áámaf”.

(b) wúdúraf gúdúmid zime kitimubisim ʔóllóχ šuiftin

• W. The sentence is correct as is (change nothing).
• X. Change “wúdúraf gúdúmid” to “wúdúrid gúdúmaf”.
• Y. Change “šuiftin” to “šuiftit”.
• Z. Change “ʔóllóχ” to “ʔámzi”.

(c) goštú zitáfisim koχsim yefin

• W. The sentence is correct as is (change nothing).
• X. Change “goštú zitáfisim” to “goštáfis zitáfid”.
• Y. Change “zitáfisim” to “zitidim”.
• Z. Change “zitáfisim koχsim” to “zitáf koχsimidisim”.

(d) wúdúris guuru s’anisubim maddin

• W. The sentence is correct as is (change nothing).
• X. Change “s’anisubim” to “s’anindisim”.
• Y. Change “s’anisubim” to “s’anubisim”.
• Z. Change “s’anisubim” to “s’anisim”.

(e) goštú čək’k’ubis kénim šiʔin

• W. The sentence is correct as is (change nothing).
• X. Change “čək’k’ubis kénim” to “čək’k’im kété”.
• Y. Change “goštú čək’k’ubis” to “goštaf čək’k’idis”.
• Z. Change “šiʔin” to “šiʔit”.

(f) kété s’ááme bášmubisim ʔólóχ gáʔin

• W. The sentence is correct as is (change nothing).
• X. Change “ʔólóχ” to “ʔámzi”.
• Y. Change “s’ááme” to “s’áámim”.
• Z. Change “bášmubisim” to “bášmidisim”.

¹ Dime is an Afroasiatic language spoken in Ethiopia. Estimates of the number of speakers of Dime vary from a few hundred, on the low end, up to a few thousand; all studies agree, however, that the number of speakers is decreasing, and the language is threatened with extinction. Dime speakers live in a series of farming communities located along a mountain range and have relatively little contact with outside groups. The speakers are skilled metal producers, with techniques for extracting and smelting ores forming an important part of their traditional cultural knowledge.