Some Observations on Hadiyyisa Orthography
This study attempts to identify aspects of the orthography of Hadiyyisa (one of the Highland East Cushitic languages) that need to be improved and to suggest possible solutions to this. Accordingly, a short Hadiyyisa paragraph was dictated to and was written by randomly selected elementary, high sch...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Oslo
2017-02-01
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| Series: | Oslo Studies in Language |
| Online Access: | https://journals.uio.no/osla/article/view/4425 |
| _version_ | 1819003724151914496 |
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| author | Shimelis Mazengia |
| author_facet | Shimelis Mazengia |
| author_sort | Shimelis Mazengia |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This study attempts to identify aspects of the orthography of Hadiyyisa (one of the Highland East Cushitic languages) that need to be improved and to suggest possible solutions to this. Accordingly, a short Hadiyyisa paragraph was dictated to and was written by randomly selected elementary, high school and first-year university students. The results showed that the students had a problem of distinguishing phonological quantity, that is, between simplex and geminate consonants as well as between short and long vowels. Consequently, representing geminates and long vowels as simple segments occurred frequently. Some aspects of orthographic inconvenience which require adjustments were encountered and solutions were suggested from the perspectives of regularity and economy. Yet another constraint was suggested in relation to the transferability of incompatible knowledge of Hadiyyisa to English. The performance of female students, especially at high school and university levels, was found to be lower than that of the male students and the study suggests that this needs to be further investigated. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-20T23:25:33Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1638e25186af48d19849085a26ebbdc0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1890-9639 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-20T23:25:33Z |
| publishDate | 2017-02-01 |
| publisher | University of Oslo |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Oslo Studies in Language |
| spelling | doaj.art-1638e25186af48d19849085a26ebbdc02022-12-21T19:23:25ZengUniversity of OsloOslo Studies in Language1890-96392017-02-018110.5617/osla.4425Some Observations on Hadiyyisa OrthographyShimelis Mazengia0ILOS, University of OsloThis study attempts to identify aspects of the orthography of Hadiyyisa (one of the Highland East Cushitic languages) that need to be improved and to suggest possible solutions to this. Accordingly, a short Hadiyyisa paragraph was dictated to and was written by randomly selected elementary, high school and first-year university students. The results showed that the students had a problem of distinguishing phonological quantity, that is, between simplex and geminate consonants as well as between short and long vowels. Consequently, representing geminates and long vowels as simple segments occurred frequently. Some aspects of orthographic inconvenience which require adjustments were encountered and solutions were suggested from the perspectives of regularity and economy. Yet another constraint was suggested in relation to the transferability of incompatible knowledge of Hadiyyisa to English. The performance of female students, especially at high school and university levels, was found to be lower than that of the male students and the study suggests that this needs to be further investigated.https://journals.uio.no/osla/article/view/4425 |
| spellingShingle | Shimelis Mazengia Some Observations on Hadiyyisa Orthography Oslo Studies in Language |
| title | Some Observations on Hadiyyisa Orthography |
| title_full | Some Observations on Hadiyyisa Orthography |
| title_fullStr | Some Observations on Hadiyyisa Orthography |
| title_full_unstemmed | Some Observations on Hadiyyisa Orthography |
| title_short | Some Observations on Hadiyyisa Orthography |
| title_sort | some observations on hadiyyisa orthography |
| url | https://journals.uio.no/osla/article/view/4425 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT shimelismazengia someobservationsonhadiyyisaorthography |