Paper short abstract:

The paper deals with the song woddella, exclusively sang by women. Next to the usual function of work songs, i.e. to improve the efficiency of the work, and to relieve the boredom of a tedious job, woddella is also used to show knowledge of multiple languages.

Paper long abstract:

In most cultures, time-consuming, repetitive group activities are often accompanied by songs. The Zargula-Gamo (from the East-Ometo branch of Omotic in south-west Ethiopia), have various types of work-songs. In the present paper I analyze the structure and content of woddella, a work-song sang by two women engaged in a group work. The couplets in the song are highly structured, comprising four to six words in a unit. What constitutes a unit can be recognized by the repeated tunes/melodies and the constant final word woddella 'a young man'. Also, the women take turns at the end of a unit. The contents of the song involve utterances expressing wishes, describing characters or relationships of the singer herself or of other people including the one who is working and singing with her. Interestingly, the contents of the song also involve a form of a word-game, combining Zargula words with others borrowed from Amharic, Gamo and/or Zayse in a unit or a couplet. In this latter case, the singers compete in the recognition of words and their associated meanings across languages. I discuss language contact and bilingualism in the area as well as changes in the ways of performing day-to-day labor activities and the consequent vanishing of specific forms of verbal art.

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