The language has basic SOV (subject–object–verb) word order, tones, and is largely suffixing. Phonologically, "Features of the Dizin sound system include glottalized consonants, syllabic nasals, lengthened vowels, three phonemic tone levels and contour tones. Western Dizin has phonemic retroflex consonants. The glottal stop is analyzed as phonemic word initially before nasals, but not phonemic elsewhere". (Beachy 2005:iv)
Dizin, together with the Sheko and Nayi languages, is part of a cluster of languages variously called "Maji" or "Dizoid".
Allan, Edward. 1976. Dizi. In The Non-Semitic Languages of Ethiopia, M. Lionel Bender, ed., pp. 377–392. East Lansing, Michigan: African Studies Center, Michigan State University.
Breeze, Mary. 1988. Phonological features of Gimira and Dizi. In Marianne Bechhaus-Gerst and Fritz Serzisko (eds.), Cushitic – Omotic: papers from the International Symposium on Cushitic and Omotic languages, Cologne, January 6–9, 1986, 473–487. Hamburg: Helmut Buske Verlag.
Muldrow, William. 1976. Languages of the Maji area. In Language in Ethiopia, ed. by Bender, Bowen, Cooper, and Ferguson, pp. 603–607. Oxford University Press.
Beachy, Marvin Dean (2007). An Overview of Central Dizin Phonology and Morphology (MA thesis). University of Texas at Arlington. hdl:10106/206.
Savá, Graziano and Mauro Tosco. An Annotated Edition of Father G. Toselli’s Dizi Grammar. (Cushitic and Omotic Studies, 5.) Köln: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag, 2016); viii,185 pp., 3 maps, 128illus., 9 tables, graphs.
