express anger and count in the traditional mother tongue. In Bulke, the interviewees exclusively use Shara when praying at home, but the other domains show the encroachment of North Gamo and
Amharic. Shara is still used in counting, along with North Gamo and Amharic, but the Shara respondents said that they dream in North Gamo or Amharic and express anger in Amharic.
4.1.4 Language attitudes
One of the objectives of these interviews was to investigate language attitudes in the Zayse-Zergulla and South Gamo areas in order to determine how a possible language development project in Zayse could
relate to neighboring speech varieties. This focused on attitudes toward varieties considered by the interviewees to be languages separate from the mother tongue.
Intermarriage patterns can be a good indicator of language attitudes. For example, the underlying attitudes that result in a high rate of intermarriage with another ethnic group are likely to correspond
with a positive attitude toward the variety spoken by that ethnic group. Likewise, the people of an ethnic group that rarely practices intermarriage with its neighbors are more likely to prefer their mother tongue
over other varieties. They are also less likely to shift to another variety, or to cooperate with another group in a language development project.
Most wives in each group come from surrounding villages. According to interviewees in the Gerbansa community of Soroge, intermarriage between Gerbansas and Dhaaches is rare. Interviewees in
the Balta community of Soke said that it is possible to marry a person from Kole, Bonke or Zeme. As far as outside marriage is concerned, there is no problem in the Ganta and Shara areas. The picture in the
Zayse, Zergulla or Mele areas, however, is different.
For the Zayse, intermarrying with the Koyra, Ganta, North Gamo and Dirashe is possible. Concerning intermarriage with North Gamos and Dirashes, however, Zayses have some restrictions.
Zayses marry North Gamo women, but they do not want to marry their daughters to North Gamo men. On the other hand, the Zayses are willing to give their daughters to Dirashe men, but they do not want
to marry Dirashe women. Zayses do not want to marry Zergullas at all.
Zergullas do not want to marry Males or Kosheles. Zergullas would prefer their children to intermarry with the Mele first, then the Zeme, followed by the Zayse. On the other hand, two individual
interviewees from Zergulla are against any outside marriage at all. According to group interviewees in the Mele community of Arba, Zergullas want to marry Meles,
but Meles do not want to marry Zergullas. They also added that they want to marry Zayses, but Zayses do not want to marry Meles. Two individual interviewees from Mele are against any outside marriage at
all. Zayses and Zergullas have positive attitudes both towards their mother tongue and Amharic. They
would like the language of instruction in local schools to be their mother tongue instead of Amharic or North Gamo. In the Ganta, Gerbansa and Shara areas, the people would like to learn in Amharic more
than any other language. However, the Shara, Mele and Zegetse interviewees stated that learning in North Gamo is acceptable. Balta Dhaache interviewees in Soke mentioned that their North Gamo is
different from the North Gamo used in schools.
4.1.5 Language vitality
Language vitality was also investigated as part of the objective to determine how the speech varieties of this area could relate to each other in terms of language development. The Zayse, Zergulla, Ganta, Balta,
Gerbansa, Zegetse and Mele varieties are still vital, based on the perceptions of those who were interviewed. As stated in section 4.1.3, Shara appears to be on its way to extinction, with only people
who are above 25 years old speaking it anymore. All Shara children now have North Gamo as their first language.
Though most of these speech varieties are still vital, this does not mean they are without challenges. In the Zayse area, children learn in Amharic; this in turn has a negative impact on the use of the Zayse
speech variety. According to interviewees, North Gamo is expanding, and therefore it is competing with
other speech varieties in the area. Except for in the Zayse area, education is conducted in North Gamo. This also has a negative impact on the use of the South Gamo varieties.
The younger people in all areas have a tendency to speak quite a bit of Amharic. Generally, almost all speech varieties in this area are competing with Amharic, North Gamo or both. Interviewees in all
locations doubt whether the generation to come will continue to use their traditional speech variety. However, most of them believe that it is possible to preserve their mother tongue if necessary measures
are taken.
4.1.6 Language development
In order to determine how these speech varieties could relate to each other in a possible language development program, interest in language development was explored. Group interviewees in the Zayse,
Zergulla, Ganta and Mele areas expressed their interest in the development of their respective varieties. They said that they would buy publications in their languages. Zayses and Zergullas specifically
mentioned that they would like publications on religion, their history and their culture. Two individual interviewees in the Mele community of Arba, however, were against the development of Mele.
4.2 Recorded Text Test RTT
