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Soddo LanguageSoddo (autonym kəstane "Christian"; formerly called Aymlll in Western sources, after a particular dialect of it) is a Gurage language spoken by about 300,000 people in southeastern Ethiopia. It is a South Ethiopian Semitic language of the Northern Gurage subfamily. Grammar As in most Ethiopian languages, noun qualifiers generally precede the noun. The definite article is expressed by the suffix -i, eg: go "boy" > go-i "the boy"; tit "sister" > titi "the sister"; bayyočč "children" > bayyočč-i. If the noun ends in -a or -, it normally loses this vowel when -i is suffixed: angačča "cat" > angačč-i "the cat". A noun ending in -i usually stays the same: abi "(the) father, proprietor". A noun ending in -e, -o, -u adds a y before the suffix: ge "house" > geʸi "the house"; wllho "neighbor" > wllhoʸi "the neighbor". If the noun has a qualifier, the article is used with the first element: malk' ge "big house" > malk'-i ge "the big house"; y-um-i ge "the house of the official" (lit. "of-official-the house"); y-mtt-i məss "the man who came" (lit. "who-came-the man".) There is no real indefinite article, though indefiniteness can be expressed by preposing the word attə or k'una, meaning "one". Nouns have two genders, masculine and feminine, which affect verb concord. Nouns which are definite objects (direct or indirect) are both marked with the prefix y- or n-: eg y-geʸi ao "he saw the house"; y-zmmihʷan abnnət "he gave it to his brother" (lit. "to-his-brother he-gave-him"). Direct objects may additionally be marked by adding the object suffix pronouns to the verb: eg yabiddi takkunnət "I asked my father" (lit. "my-father-obj. I-asked-him".) A possessed noun is marked by the prefix y-, and the possessor precedes the possessed: y-um-i ge "the house of the official" (lit. "of-official-the house"). If the possessed noun has a preposition prefixed to it, this y- is omitted: babiddi frz rather than *b-y-abiddi frz for "on my father's horse". | Standalone form | Possessive suffix (consonant-final nouns) | Possessive suffix (vowel-final nouns) | | I | di | -əddi | -ddi | | you (m. sg.) | dh | -d | -d | | you (f. sg.) | d | -d | -d | | he | kʷa | -w, -kʷan | -w, -hʷan | | she | kʸa | -ki | -hi | | we | əa | -əa | -a | | you (m. pl.) | dhəm | -dhəm | -dhəm | | you (f. pl.) | dhma | -dhma | -dhma | | they (m.) | kənnm | -kənnm | -hənnm | | they (f.) | kənnma | -kənnm | -hənnm | Possessives can also be formed by simply adding y- to the standalone pronouns, eg: ydhəm t'əb "your clan". Reflexive pronouns are formed by ras-, gubba-, k'um- plus the possessive suffixes, eg di ras-əddi mt'afi t'afkunnət "I myself wrote the book". Proximal: zi "this, these"; zini "this one". Eg: zi məss "this man", zi mət "this woman", zi sbočč "these men". Distal: za "that, those, that one, those ones"; zani "that one there". Eg t-za məss goy mt't'ahi "I came with that man". - ma "who?" (man before the copula): man mt't'a? "who came?"
- yma "whose?"
- mən "what?"; ymən "why?"
- yitta, yittat "which?" Eg yitta bayy mt't'am "which child came?"
- yittani "which one?"
- (yhona) sb "someone, somebody"
- mannəm (sb) "any(one)" ("no one" with negative verb)
- attəm "any" (="no one, nothing" with negative verb); attəmu "no one" (as pronoun)
- lela (sb) "other"
- yk'irr k'y "other" (lit. "remaining thing")
- attə "a certain"
- ləyyu "different"
- k'una, zam, zəč'ə "same"
- blo (f. blit) "so-and-so"
- zihom "such"
kulləm = "all" (placed before or after the noun); kulləm-u, b-mollaw = "whole". yt'oma = "only, alone". "Each, every" is expressed by noun reduplication. The copula (positive and negative) is irregular in the present tense: | be | not be | | I am | nw(h) | dbukk | | you (m. sg.) are | nh | dbəkk | | you (f. sg.) are | n | dbəčč | | he is | -n, -ən (after a consonant) | dbəll | | she is | na | dbəlla | | we are | nn | dbəlln | | you (m. pl.) are | nhəm | dbəkkəm | | you (f. pl.) are | nhma | dbəkkəma | | they (m.) are | nm | dbəllm | | they (f.) are | nma | dbəma | Example: zmmidi nh "you are my brother". The past tense ("he was", etc.) is expressed by the verb nbbr conjugated regularly in the perfect; "he was not" etc. is with annbr. The future tense is expressed by the imperfect of hono: yəhonu "he will be", etc. The negative future tense is likewise expressed by tihon. The present copula in subordinate clauses is expressed by the subordinate perfect of hon, eg: dffr yhon tdi-goy yalfu "he who is courageous will go with me. "It is he", etc. can be expressed by adding an element -tt between the pronoun and the copula: eg kʷa-ttə-n "it is he". The existential verb "be at", "exist" in the present is: | be at/there | not be at/there | | I am | yinhi | yellhu | | you (m. sg.) are | yinəho | yellh | | you (f. sg.) are | yinin | yell | | he is | yino | yell | | she is | yintti | yellt | | we are | yinno | yelln | | you (m. pl.) are | yinhmun | yellhəm | | you (f. pl.) are | yinhman | yellhma | | they (m.) are | yinmun | yelləm | | they (f.) are | yinman | yelləma | In the past and future, it is expressed just like the copula, with nbbr and hon. In subordinate clauses the present is expressed with -all conjugated in the perfect (negative -lell), eg: bmeda yalləmi sbočč ara nm "the people who are in the field are farmers". The possessive verb "he has" etc. is expressed with the existential verb yino "it is" (agreeing with the object possessed) plus object suffix pronouns (ie "it is to him" etc.) A Soddo verb may have anywhere from one to four consonants, or may be a compound with balo "say" (eg bək'k' balo "appear".) In the former case, they fall into three "conjugations" differing in their vowels and in gemination of the imperfect, illustrated for a three-consonant verb: - sbbro, imperfect yəsbru
- tikklo, imperfect yətikkəlu
- č'affro, imperfect yəč'affəru
Derived stems can be formed in several ways: - reduplicative: eg gddlo "kill" > gədaddlo. This form has a wide variety of meanings, mostly intensifying the verb in some way.
- passive/reflexive/intransitive t- prefix: eg kfflo "pay" > t-kfflo "be paid". A reciprocal action can be expressed by this prefix attached to a transitive verb with the vowel a after the first radical, or a reduplicative form, eg t-gddl-mun or t-gdaddl-mun "they killed each other".
- causative or transitive of intransitive verbs a-: eg skkro "be drunk" > a-skkro "get someone drunk"; ndddo "burn (intr.)" > a-ndddo "burn (tr.)".
- causative of transitive or passive verbs at- (+ -i-): eg kddno "cover" > at-kiddno "cause to cover" or "cause to be covered". Added to the -a- form, it expresses reciprocity and adjutative (helping): atgaddlo "cause to kill one other" or help to kill".
- Some verbs are formed with initial ən- or tn-; the only derived stem from these is the a- stem, with a- replacing ə- or t-. Eg ənkrttto "be bent" > ankrttto "bend".
There are two tenses, perfect (past) and imperfect (non-past); each has distinct forms for main versus subordinate clauses, and positive versus negative. There are also distinct jussive, imperative, and impersonal forms. Conjugations Perfect | main clause | subordinate clause | relative clause | subordinate with -m | | I measured | sffr-ki | sffr-kʷ | y-sffr-k-i | sffr-kum | | you (m. sg.) measured | sffr-ko | sffr-k | y-sffr-k-i | sffr-km | | you (f. sg.) measured | sffr-in | sffr- | y-sffr--i | sffr-əm | | he measured | sffr-o | sffr- | y-sffr-i | sffr-m | | she measured | sffr-tti | sffr-t | y-sffr-tt-i | sffr-ttəm | | we measured | sffr-no | sffr-n | y-sffr-n-i | sffr-nm | | you (m. pl.) measured | sffr-əmun | sffr-kəmu | y-sffr-kəm-i | sffr-kəmum | | you (f. pl.) measured | sffr-kəman | sffr-kəma | y-sffr-kəma-yi | sffr-kəmam | | they (m.) measured | sffr-mun | sffr-m | y-sffr-m-i | sffr-mum | | they (f.) measured | sffr-man | sffr-ma | y-sffr-ma-yi | sffr-mam | The form with suffixed -m is used in subordinate clauses to connect verbs not otherwise connected, in a way analogous to Japanese -te; it can be translated as "and", as a gerund, or as a resultative. The perfect in -m followed by nbbr forms the pluperfect. The negative perfect is formed by prefixing al-, with vowel change; for the conjugations mentioned above, the resulting forms are al-sfr, al-tkkl, and al-č'afr. Examples: ge ar䚚o "he built a house"; bantw k'ən awnna-m bmida tonnaw "having put butter on the top of his head, he sat outside". Imperfect | main clause | subordinate clause | | I advance | bdru | bdər | | you (m. sg.) advance | təbdru | təbdər | | you (f. sg.) advance | təbdri | təbʸedər | | he advances | yəbdru | yəbdər | | she advances | təbdri | təbdər | | we advance | (ən)nəbdru | (ən)nəbdər | | you (m. pl.) advance | təbdrəmun | təbdrəm | | you (f. pl.) advance | təbdrəman | təbdrəma | | they (m.) advance | yəbdrəmun | yəbdrəm | | they (f.) advance | yəbdrəman | yəbdrəma | Like the perfect, the subordinate forms can take the suffix -m to express a series of non-past actions. This can be combined with nbbr to express a habitual past action. Examples: aho gbya nalfu "today we shall go to the market"; yəgdəl məss "the man who kills"; mas tənsa-m yibara wawt'a tək'rsi "she picks up the sleeping mats and begins to remove the dung." It can be augmented by -ən, with no obvious change in meaning. | negative main clause | negative subordinate clause | | I do not begin | tk'rs | annək'rs | | you (m. sg.) do not begin | təttək'rs | attək'rs | | you (f. sg.) do not begin | təttək'er | attək'er | | he does not begin | tik'rs | ayk'rs | | she does not begin | təttək'rs | attək'rs | | we do not begin | tənnək'rs | annək'rs | | you (m. pl.) begin | təttək'rsəm | attək'rsəm | | you (f. pl.) advance | təttək'rsəma | attək'rsəma | | they (m.) advance | tik'rsəm | ayk'rsəm | | they (f.) advance | tik'rsəma | ayk'rsəma | Examples: aho yəmt'a timsəl "it does not seem that he will come today"; dahʷan t-aykfəl allfo "he left without paying his debt". | conjugation A | conjugation B | conjugation C | | 1st sg. | nsfər | nkkət | ngalb | | 2nd m. sg. | səfr | kkət | galb | | 2nd f. sg. | səfer | kkič | galʸib | | 3rd m. sg. | yesfər, ysfər | yekkət | yegalb | | 3rd f. sg. | tesfər | tekkət | tegalb | | 1st pl. | (ən)nəsfr | nəkkət | nəgalb | | 2nd m. pl. | səfrəm | kkətəm | galbəm | | 2nd f. pl. | səfrma | kkətma | galbəma | | 3rd m. pl. | yesfərəm | yekkətəm | yegalbəm | | 3rd f. pl. | yesfərma | yekkətma | yegalbəma | These are negated by the prefix ay-: ayəsfr, aykkət, aygalb. The 2nd person forms then change to conform to the others: attəsfr, attəsfer, attəsfrəm, attəsfrma. Eg: y-wzlawan-hom yewsəd "let him take according to his work"; ysb waga attəlgd "don't touch someone's property"; rəf-əm tona "rest and sit down" (sit down quietly). References * Wolf Leslau, Gurage Studies: Collected Articles, Otto Harrasowitz: Wiesbaden 1992.
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