Day 10 Last day of Koorete Word Collection Nov. 21 - details

By shortly after coffee break, the word-collection teams completed the task of glossing (adding a one- or two-word translation in Amharic) all of the words that had been collected. Lydia then led everyone in a few word games: “Stump the Experts” and solving a new crossword puzzle. 

Then I asked everyone to reflect on their experience during this workshop and write down some of what they considered to be the highlights of the two weeks. Numerous individuals commented that they had learned new Koorete words that they had not known before. Another frequent comment was that Koorete had many more words than the participants had realized. This workshop gave them a greater esteem for their language; they now viewed it as having a status equal to any other, whereas in the past they felt that it was somehow inferior to other, more developed languages.

The electricity had gone off again by the time we concluded these activities and dismissed those working in the word-collection groups. That meant that the typists also could not work, so everyone left for an early lunch break. The power came back on sometime around 1:00 pm, so the typists reconvened and worked for much of the afternoon. A closing ceremony was planned for 4:30, so as that time approached, all the computers were packed away. In spite of all the power cuts over the course of the two weeks that words were being collected, the typists were able to complete the data entry from 60% of the folders. If we had had a constant supply of electricity, all of the data would have been entered by the end of the workshop. The hope is now that they can finish entering everything by the end of next week, but that will depend on whether there is electricity or not.

The closing ceremony consisted of speeches by administrative leaders from the Culture and Tourism office; a time for the participants to comment on the value of the workshop, how it had gone, and any problems that had manifested themselves; the presentation of certificates to each of the participants; distribution of gifts of appreciation to each one who had served as a consultant or consultant-in-training; and so on. I was asked to say a few words at one point, so I expressed my appreciation for the welcome I had received, as well as my joy at having had the opportunity to help the Koorete people launch their effort to publish a dictionary. At the end, the Director of Culture and Tourism for this area told me I should plan to come back when it came time to publish the final product. We were then all invited to a local restaurant for a meal. The festivities came to an end around 7:30, and we returned to our hotel, where the electricity was once again off for about an hour.

Tomorrow (Saturday), I will be traveling back to Addis Ababa. Our driver got a late start coming down here today, so he is staying overnight about two hours from where we are. We are planning to leave around 8:30 am. We may or may not be able to go all the way to the capital city tomorrow. In any case, it is very unlikely that I will be able to post an entry to my blog tomorrow.

In yesterday’s post, I promised some idiomatic expressions in Koorete, so here they are:

kayxi dakke (literally, “cut throw”) = tell a really big lie (i.e., tell a whopper)

washe esse (lit. “ear erect”) = pay close attention, listen well

washe olle (lit. “ear throw”) = listen closely

aafiya cade (lit. “eye-in stab”) = describes a blinding reflection from something shiny 

(It stabs me in the eye.)

gada utte (lit. “same-age-group sit”) = be circumcised

muulli ushe (lit. “dissolve drink”) = two meanings: 1) defeat; 2) love very much

pitti ooxe (lit. “sweep wipe-away”) = destroy completely

gixe birche (lit. “war-belt untie”) = give up; turn oneself in

aafe shohe (lit. “eye wash”) = two meanings: 1) pay a bribe; 2) pay a reward for finding a lost item

kafo keeme (lit. “bird have”) = have access to a source of secret information

kuche keeme (lit. “hand have”) = have sufficient resources

maata efe (lit. “grass take”) = receive a traditional title of honor

Kevin Warfel