Afaan Oromo/Chapter 10

85px|left|Oromo flag85px|right|Ethiopian flag Chapter 10: Prepositions and Conjunctions ⇐ Back to Previous Chapter Back to Contents Continue to Next Chapter ⇒ Giving Directions (Karaa Agarsiisuu) 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. [Adapted from Geetaachoo (2011), pg. 52-53] oromo_ch10_playall.ogg no Play all Meetii: Akkami Kadir? oromo_ch10_line01.ogg no play Kadir: Fayyaa dha. Akkam jirta? oromo_ch10_line02.ogg no play Meetii: Homaa hin jedhu. Bor waaree booda hojii qabda? oromo_ch10_line03.ogg no play Kadir: Lakki, maaliif? oromo_ch10_line04.ogg no play Meetii: Gaarii dha. Laaqana mana kootti si affeeruun barbaade. oromo_ch10_line05.ogg no play Kadir: Dhufuuf baay'een gammada, garuu iddoo mana kee isa haaraa hin beeku. oromo_ch10_line06.ogg no play Meetii: Buufata konkolaataa kan cinaa mana bilbilaatti beekta? oromo_ch10_line07.ogg no play Kadir: Eeyyee, nan beeka. oromo_ch10_line08.ogg no play Meetii: Taaksii Lagahaaritti qabadhu fi bakka buufata konkolaalaatti bu'i. oromo_ch10_line09.ogg no play Kadir: Tole. oromo_ch10_line10.ogg no play Meetii: Sana booda, gara mirga gori hanga qaxxaamura karaa geessutti karumarra deemi. oromo_ch10_line11.ogg no play Kadir: Naaf gale. oromo_ch10_line12.ogg no play Meetii: Gara fuuldura qaxxaamura karaatti hanga daqiiqaa shaniif deemi. Messalemiyaan karaa mirgaa jira. oromo_ch10_line13.ogg no play Kadir: Gara mirgaa jette? oromo_ch10_line14.ogg no play Meetii: Eeyyee. Sirrii dha. Achitti sa'aatii kudha tokko fi walakkaatti wal agarra. oromo_ch10_line15.ogg no play Kadir: Tole. Kun gaarii dha. Wal agarra. Nagaatti. oromo_ch10_line16.ogg no play Meetii: Nagaatti. oromo_ch10_line17.ogg no play [For translation see here] Prepositions and Postpositions A preposition links a noun to an action (e.g., “go from there”) or to another noun (“the pen on the table”). For the purpose of clarity, this chapter will divide Oromo prepositions into two categories: true prepositions and postpositions, with true prepositions coming before the noun and postpositions coming after the noun they relate to. Some Common Prepositions and Postpositions: Postpositions Prepositions ala — out, outside gara — towards bira — beside, with, around eega, erga — since, from, after booda — after haga, hanga — until cinaa — beside, near, next to     hamma — up to, as much as dur, dura — before akka — like, as duuba — behind, back of waa'ee — about, in regard to irra — on irraa — from itti — to, at, in jala — under, beneath jidduu — middle, between keessa — in, inside malee — without, except wajjin — with, together gubbaa — on, above fuuldura — in front of gad(i) — down, below ol(i) — up, above Examples: boqonnaarra [boqonnaa irra] – “on vacation” mana keessa – “in the house” waaree booda – “afternoon” irra deebi'i – “repeat” [lit. “return on it”] Yuunivarsitii Haroomayaatti barsiissaa – “teacher at Haromaya University” mana nyaataa kanatti – “at this restaurant” “waa'ee fiilmii sun natti himi” – “tell me about that film” “Chaaltuun akka Hawwiituu baratuu dha.” – “Chaltu is a student like Hawitu.” hanga torban dhufu – “until next week” gammachuu wajjin – “with pleasure” shaayee annan malee – “tea without milk” “Ani meetirii lama gadi.” – “I am below [shorter than] 2 meters.” “Keeniyaan Itoophiyaarraa (gara) kibbatti argamti” – “Kenya is located (to the) south of Ethiopia” From the examples above, you may notice that the postpositions itti, irra, and irraa most often occur as suffixes, -tti, -rra, and -rraa, on the nouns they relate to. Often with place names, no preposition or postposition is used to be mean “in”. Therefore, one can say “Finfinnee jiratta” for “you live in Finfinnee [Addis Ababa]”, or “hospitaalan ture” for “I was in the hospital”, using no preposition. Personal pronouns are not used with prepositions. Instead, possessive pronouns are used as personal pronouns. Examples: “toward me” — gara koo(tti) [not gara na] “like us” — akka keenya “according to him” — akka isaatti “about you” — waa'ee kee Postpositions, on the other hand, take the accusative form of personal pronouns. Examples: “at you” — sitti “from me” — narraa “under him” — isa jala When an adjective modifies a noun, the postposition follows the adjective, as in “nama guddarraa” (“from the big man”). Conjunctions Whereas prepositions link nouns to other parts of the sentence, conjunctions usually link more complete thoughts together. Some Common Conjunctions: and fi [also -f suffix] but garuu, immoo or yookin (for declaratives), moo (for questions) however haa ta'u malee though ta'us so, therefore kanaaf, kanaafu because sababiin isaa, sababiinsa [lit. “its reason”] so that, in order to     akka Conjunctions come between the two clauses they connect, though garuu and immoo (“but”) can also come after the first noun or nounal phrase in the second clause. Examples: “Inni shee jaalata ta'us amanamaa miti.” – “Though he loves her, he is unfaithful.” “Daadhii moo biiraa dhuguu barbaadda?” – “Do you want tej [alcoholic honey drink] or beer?” “Ani kochee nyaadhe kanaafu gara kasan qaba.” – “I ate kitfo [raw meat] so I got diarrhea.” “Nyaatan barbaada sababiinsa nan beela'e.” – “I want food because I am hungry.” “Ani nan deema akka inni dhufuuf.” – “I will go so that he will come.” “Ittoo shiroon jaaladha garuu ittoo misira caalaa jaaladha.” or “Ittoo shiroon jaaladha ittoo misira garuu caalaa jaaladha.” – “I like shiro watt, but I like lentil watt more.” “Innis gara biyya isaa dhufe, sabni isaa garuu isa hin simanne.” – “And he came to his country, but his people did not accept him [John 1:11].” Vocabulary: Directions kaaba north kibba south baha east lixa west mirga right bitaa left goruu to turn gara bitaatti/mirgatti gori turn left/right karaa kami? which way bitaa/mirgaa jira it's on the left/right argachuu to find argamuu to be found eessatti argama? where is it found? kuunnoo there it is ce'uu to cross riqqicha ce'i cross the bridge laga river bira, cinaa, dhiyoo near fagoo far aanuu to be next to naannoo surroundings as(i) here achi there karaa road, path, way karaa muummee main road addababa'ii round-about walakkaa magaalaatti town center, downtown ammas again ibsaa tiraafikii traffic light qabachuu to take (a bus or taxi) seenuu to get on (a vehicle) bu'uu to get off (a vehicle) “Iddon jira?” “Is there a seat?” ka'uu to depart ga'uu [-eess- verb] to arrive affeeruu to invite buufata konkolaataa bus station mana bilbilaa telephone office bakka place, area, site qaxxaamura karaa cross-roads, intersection geessutti karumarra along the road gara fuuldura straight ⇐ Back to Previous Chapter Back to Contents Continue to Next Chapter ⇒