Table Of Content

Ert-ketaga porsh maxsap English-Benc’non-Amharic School Dictionary Trial Edition 2015/2008 E.C Mizan-Aman Translated into Bench by: Tekle Gizaw Ert-ketaga porsh maxsap English-Benc’non-Amharic School Dictionary Trial Edition 2015/2008 E.C Mizan-Aman Translated into Bench by: Tekle Gizaw This dictionary is a product of SIL Bench Maji Multilingual Education Project, which is a joint project between: SNNPR Education Bureau, Bench maji zone Education Department and SIL Ethiopia. Title: Ert-ketaga Porsh maxsap English title: English – Benc’non-Amharic School Dictionary Language: Bench, spoken in Ethiopia Type of book: School Dictionary Year of publication: 2015 Illustrations are : SIL international copyrighted by SIL Ethiopia, SNNPREducation Bureau and Bench Maji Zone Education Department. Table of contents Title page Introduction .......................................................ii Rationale for dictionary ......................................ii Acknowledgment ...............................................iii How to use this dictionary..................................iv Alphabetical order of English ..............................iv Alphabet of Benc’non ..........................................v Explanation of a word entry ...............................vi Abbreviations of parts of speech ........................vi Vowel and consonant difference between Bench and English..............................................vii Bench grammar .................................................vii Nouns ................................................................vii Gender ..............................................................vii Number..............................................................viii Definite and indefinite nouns............................... ix Demonstratives................................................... xi Personal pronouns ..............................................xii Possessive nouns................................................ xiii Subjects ...............................................................xv i Lists of words borrowed from English, Amharic and their correct spelling .......................xvi Punctuation in Bench language .............................xvi Tones................................................................... xvii English- Benc’non-Amharic Dictionary............ .......1 Benc’non-English ..... ..........................................224 ii Introduction The Language and the People Benc’non is the name of the language spoken by the Bench people in the South western part of Ethiopia. Benc’non belongs to the Omotic languages family. The name Omotic was derived from the Omo river. According to the 2007(1999 E.C) census the number of people speaking the Bench language is at least 400,000.The Bench people are said to have come from a place in southern Ethiopia called Gamo-Gofa, from where they migrated to the Kafa area and stayed in Goba Chara for a short period. After that they stayed in a place called Z’az’, currently in the She Bench Worada, and increased in number. The leader who called himself Shetet remained there, while the others moved on and split up. One leader called himself Mertet, another Benchtet. Their descendants are leaders up to this day. At present, the Bench population live in three Woradas (Shey Bench, Semen(North) Bench and Debub(South) Bench and mizan-aman town administration. There are also Benc’non speakers outside of these Woradas. Like other peoples the Bench people have specific customs for which they are known, such as customs pertaining to marriage, funerals, clothing, food, belief, work etc. Like other peoples the Bench people are agriculturalists. Among other crops they grow maize, coffee, cocoyam, iii teff. Likewise they breed livestock- like cows, sheep, goats,horses and poultry production. Rationale for the Dictionary This school dictionary was developed primarily to help Bench students better manage and understand instruction in English. In addition, this dictionary should provide a spelling reference for Bench students. As students are expected by grade five to be able to learn with English as the medium of instruction, research was done into what English words and language is expected from a grade five student. The results of this research created the foundation for the content of this book. The dictionary contains 3365 entries. While this is a substantial amount, it is not by any means an exhaustive list. Although this school dictionary should prove to be helpful for many people, the target readers in developing this book was for children in grade five. The order of this school dictionary is English – Benc’non – Amharic. In this section the user of the dictionary must use the English term to conduct their search. This approach was taken because the target audience for this book is grade 5 children. Grade five instruction and textbooks are in English. As such, students will most likely encounter English words which they have learned in Benc’non classes but have not yet encountered in English. This dictionary is a key tool in providing students with the necessary information to fill this language gap. This section was placed first in iv this publication because it is anticipated that this will be the greater need for grade five children. Following the dictionary and word finders list there is some additional information provided to give guidance on how to write the Bench language. These sections address spelling, grammar, punctuation and tone. These are included as a reference for beginning and emerging writers. When compared to languages such as English or Amharic, Bench does not have a long written history. As a result, spellings and what word should be used for some terms may cause debate. As this school dictionary is considered a trial edition, debate over such points should be seen as a positive exercise in the further development of the Bench language. Although contents of the dictionary are the result of a collaborative effort and has been checked over by many people, a test or trial of the book must be done before it can become a first edition school dictionary. The test of this dictionary comes through use by the larger Bench community. Therefore, should there be a question as to the spelling or use of certain terms used, the reader should keep in mind that this is a trial and revision will need to take place. v AAAAcccckkkknnnnoooowwwwlllleeeeddddggggmmmmeeeennnntttt This school dictionary has been made possible through the effort of many people. As the focus for this dictionary is to help grade five students, the initial data for the dictionary was acquired by examining grade five textbooks and syllabi (Arts, English, Science, Social Studies, Mathematics, and Physical Education). This preliminary data was collected in English and translated in Amharic by SIL Benishangul Gumuz Project. SIL Benishangul Gumuz Project also done the work of selecting and inserting relevant illustrations obtained from SIL international. In addition a training was conducted by Sussan Neudorf on how to use soft ware for Benc'non, Sheko, Meen and Dizi Dictionaries. The Benc'non translation was initially conducted by a Benc'non mother tongue book writer: Tekle Gizaw This work was also evaluated and edited through a workshop of Bench elites from Shey-Bench, Semen(North) Bench and Debub(South) Bench Woredas, Benc'non Maji Zone Education Department, Benc'non Maji Zone Culture and Informatiom Department and SIL BMZP Material Production Unit experts. Those who contributed in evaluaing the draft are Melkamu Meshesha, Alemayehu Wona, Almaz Alemgena, Ambel Faris, Girma Gelaye, Habtamu ii