Afaan Oromo/Alphabet

85px|left|Oromo flag85px|right|Ethiopian flag Alphabet and Pronunciation ⇐ Back to Introduction Back to Contents Continue to Next Chapter ⇒ Qubee To play audio files, click the word, not the speaker icon. All audio files are OGG format, which are handled differently by different browsers. See help page for help playing these files. Letter Qubee Sound Sagalee Example Fakkeenya A a short ah sound as in again or what oromo_alpha_ex_abalu.ogg no abalu B b unstressed b as in body, about oromo_alpha_ex_bobauu.ogg no boba'uu C c hard, glottalized tch sound oromo_alpha_ex_ciccitaa.ogg no ciccitaa D d stressed d sound as in dad oromo_alpha_ex_dadaa.ogg no dadaa E e e sound as in pen or empty oromo_alpha_ex_eger.ogg no eger F f unstressed f as in five or after oromo_alpha_ex_faarfannaa.ogg no faarfannaa G g unstressed g as in game or ago oromo_alpha_ex_goggogaa.ogg no goggogaa H h unstressed h as in hammer oromo_alpha_ex_hahaaraa.ogg no hahaaraa I i short i as in hit or in oromo_alpha_ex_isin.ogg no isin J j unstressed j as in jump or agency oromo_alpha_ex_jejjuu.ogg no jejjuu K k unstressed k as in coco oromo_alpha_ex_kookii.ogg no kookii L l unstressed l as in little oromo_alpha_ex_laallee.ogg no laallee M m unstressed m as in member oromo_alpha_ex_mimmixa.ogg no mimmixa N n unstressed n as in none oromo_alpha_ex_naannoo.ogg no naannoo O o O sound as in sore or open oromo_alpha_ex_obboleessa.ogg no obboleessa P p unstressed p sound as in paper oromo_alpha_ex_paappaayyaa.ogg no paappaayyaa Q q hard, glottalized k oromo_alpha_ex_qaqqabuu.ogg no qaqqabuu R r slightly rolling, soft r as in sparrow oromo_alpha_ex_roorroo.ogg no roorroo S s unstressed s sound as in Susan oromo_alpha_ex_seenessa.ogg no seenessa T t unstressed t as in tape oromo_alpha_ex_tattaa'ii.ogg no tattaa'ii U u oo sound as in who or Spanish uno oromo_alpha_ex_udumuu.ogg no udumuu V v unstressed v as in avenue or very oromo_alpha_ex_viizaa.ogg no viizaa W w unstressed, soft w sound as in now or wind oromo_alpha_ex_wawwaachuu.ogg no wawwaachuu X x hard, glottalized t oromo_alpha_ex_xaaxee.ogg no xaaxee Y y unstressed y as in year or bayou oromo_alpha_ex_yayii.ogg no yayii Z z unstressed z as in zigzag oromo_alpha_ex_zeeroo.ogg no zeeroo Ch ch slightly stressed ch as in chase oromo_alpha_ex_cheenchii.ogg no cheenchii Dh dh glottalized d produced with the tongue curled back oromo_alpha_ex_dhadhaa.ogg no dhadhaa Ph ph glottalized p as in pope (said without breathing) oromo_alpha_ex_phaaphaasii.ogg no phaaphaasii Sh sh unstressed sh sound as in should oromo_alpha_ex_shaashii.ogg no shaashiiNy ny like the Spanish ñ, like onion or cognac oromo_alpha_ex_nyanyee.ogg no nyanyeeTs tsZh zh Diphthongs and Long Vowels aa — as in father, water, army aw — as in cow or ouch ay — as in aisle or pie ee — as in eight or gray ii — as in evil or teepee oo — long o as in oboe or sober oy — as in boy uu — long oo as in fool or spoon. Glottalized Consonants The glottalized consonants are c, q, x, and ph. These can be described as explosive ch, k, t, and p sounds, respectively. Leslau (1969) describes the pronunciation of glottalized consonants as follows: In pronouncing the glottalized consonants, the stream of air coming from the lungs is shut off by closure of the glottis. The air about it is then forced out through a stricture somewhere along the vocal organ. This stricture is a the lips for [ph], at the teeth for [x], at the palate for [c], and at the velum for q.Leslau Wolf An Amharic Reference Grammar 1969 U.S. Office of Education (DHEW) Washington, D.C. http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED036793.pdf Double Letters Vowels and consonants may be repeated to make the sound long. For example, to say the Oromo word annan (“milk”) one must hold the first n sound slightly longer than the second, as in the English word “pen-knife”. A doubled vowel makes the vowel long and can often change the meaning of the word, as in lafa (“ground”) and laafaa (“soft”). Dh, ch, ph, sh, and ny count as single consonants though they are written as two letters. Spelling Rules Traditionally, Oromo was written using Ge'ez script as used by Amharic. In 1991, the Oromo Peoples' Democratic Organization formally adopted a modified Latin alphabet (qubee) as shown at the beginning of this chapter. This qubee replaced the various other transliteration schemes of Oromo to Latin script and helped to standardize spelling of Oromo words. Spelling differences still occur, however, due to personal preferences and dialectal differences. Regardless, certain spelling rules can be observed that match speech patterns. A word in Oromo cannot begin or end with a double consonant. The word for “sport” is converted to isporti. Three consonants cannot occur in a row in a word. For this reason, certain suffixes may add an i to prevent this, as in arg (“see”) + na (1st per. plu. suffix) → argina (“we see”). Vowels cannot change without a break, either a consonant or apostrophe, between them. What breaks are used can differ with spelling preferences and dialects. For example, “very” can be baa'ee, baayee, baa'yee, or baay'ee, and “to hear” can be dhaga'uu or dhagahuu. The apostrophe indicates that the vowels are produced independently and not as a diphthong. Pronunciation Practice oromo_alpha_pr_bobaa.ogg no bobaa — “lap”     oromo_alpha_pr_bobbaa.ogg no bobbaa — “excrement”     oromo_alpha_pr_boba'aa.ogg no boba'aa — “fuel”     oromo_alpha_pr_bobba'a.ogg no bobba'a — “he will get out”     oromo_alpha_pr_boba'a.ogg no boba'a — “it's burning” oromo_alpha_pr_birraa.ogg no birraa — “Spring”     oromo_alpha_pr_bira.ogg no bira — “near”     oromo_alpha_pr_biiraa.ogg no biiraa — “beer” oromo_alpha_pr_dhugaa.ogg no dhugaa — “truth”     oromo_alpha_pr_dhuuga.ogg no dhuuga — “yogurt”     oromo_alpha_pr_duggaa.ogg no duggaa — “hymn book”     oromo_alpha_pr_duuga.ogg no duuga — “he whittles” oromo_alpha_pr_dhaala.ogg no dhaala — “inheritance”     oromo_alpha_pr_dhaalaa.ogg no dhaalaa — “heir”     oromo_alpha_pr_dhala.ogg no dhala — “child”     oromo_alpha_pr_dhalaa.ogg no dhalaa — “female”     oromo_alpha_pr_dallaa.ogg no dallaa — “fence” oromo_alpha_pr_coora.ogg no coora — “feeling”     oromo_alpha_pr_cora.ogg no cora — “gathering”     oromo_alpha_pr_coraa.ogg no coraa — “remnant” oromo_alpha_pr_jaallataa.ogg no jaallataa — “lover”     oromo_alpha_pr_jaallatta.ogg no jaallatta — “you love”     oromo_alpha_pr_jallataa.ogg no jallataa — “bent, curved” oromo_alpha_pr_haaraa.ogg no haaraa — “new”     oromo_alpha_pr_aara.ogg no aara — “smoke”     oromo_alpha_pr_har'a.ogg no har'a — “today”     oromo_alpha_pr_haraa.ogg no haraa — “trash” Notes ⇐ Back to Introduction Back to Contents Continue to Next Chapter ⇒