Afaan Oromo/Chapter 04

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Chapter 4: Present-Future Tense Verbs

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Daniel: Haloo? play
Etana: Eessa jirta? play
Daniel: Manan jira. Maal barbaadde? play
Etana: Kaameraa qabdaa? play
Daniel: Eeyyeen qaba. Maaliif? play
Etana: Naaf ergistaa? Mana barumsaatti footon kaafadha. Kaameraa hin qabnu. play
Daniel: Tole. Siifan fida. play
Etana: Kan biraa, galmee Ingliffaa qabdaa? play
Daniel: Hin qabu. Amiin tokko qabdi. play
Etana: Tole. Ishee nan gaafadha. Galatoomi. play
Daniel: Rakkoon hin qabuu. play

[For translation see here]

Verb Groups for Conjugation

Most Oromo dictionaries will list verbs in their infinitive (e.g., beekuu - “to know”), and all infinitives end in -uu. The verb stem is this infinitive form with the final -uu dropped. The stem of beekuu is therefore beek-, and the verb is conjugated by adding suffixes to this stem (e.g., beekti - “She knows”). Oromo verbs fall into one of four groups based on their stem ending.

Group 1: Regular Verbs

Most verbs in Oromo are “regular”, that is, they attach the regular person- and number-based suffix to their stem without any changes to the stem or suffix. These are verbs with stems that do not end in: a double consonant, ch, a vowel, y, or w. The present-future conjugations for deemuu are shown below as an example with suffixes in bold.

Deemuu – 'to go'
ani	deema	nuti	deemna
ati	deemta	isin	deemtu
inni	deema	isaan	deemu
isheen	deemti

Verbs that don't fall into one of the other three categories follow this pattern of conjugation.

Group 2: Double-consonant Ending Stems

If the verb stem ends in a double consonant, a slight modification of the regular verb conjugation must be made because Oromo does not allow three consonants to occur in a row. For nuti, ati, isin, and isheen forms, an i is added to the regular suffix. The example of arguu is given below with suffixes in bold.

Arguu – 'to see'
ani	arga	nuti	argina
ati	argita	isin	argitu
inni	arga	isaan	argu
isheen	argiti

Other verbs that follow this pattern include: gadduu, rommuu, and gorsuu.

Group 3: -chuu Verbs

Many verb infinitives end with -chuu. For these verbs, the ch changes to dh in the ani form and to t for all other forms. Then the standard suffixes are applied. The example of nyaachuu is given below with stem changes and suffixes in bold.

Nyaachuu – 'to eat'
ani	nyaadhaa	nuti	nyaanna
ati	nyaatta	isin	nyaattu
inni	nyaata	isaan	nyaatu
isheen	nyaatti

Note that the t changes to n for the nuti form. This morphology is covered in the next section of this chapter.

Other verbs in this group include: jirachuu, fudhachuu, argachuu, guddifachuu, barachuu, and gubachuu.

Group 4: Vowel-Ending Stems (Irregular Verbs)

Infinitives that end with -a'uu , -o'uu, -u'uu, -e'uu, and -i'uu behave as regular verbs for ani, inni, and isaan forms. However, for the other forms, the stem and/or suffix will deviate from regular conjugations. Irregular verbs are discussed in more depth in the grammar appendix. Below are examples of the main patterns of irregular verb conjugation.

Du'uu – 'to die'
ani	du'a	nuti	duuna
ati	duuta	isin	duutu
inni	du'a	isaan	du'u
isheen	duuti

Haasa'uu – 'to talk'
ani	haasa'a	nuti	haasoofna
ati	haasoofta	isin	haasooftu
inni	haasa'a	isaan	haasa'u
isheen	haasoofti

Boo'uu – 'to cry'
ani	boo'a	nuti	boonya
ati	boosa	isin	boosu
inni	boo'a	isaan	boo'u
isheen	boosi

Danda'uu – 'to be able to'
ani	danda'a	nuti	dandeenya
ati	dandeesa	isin	dandeesu
inni	danda'a	isaan	danda'u
isheen	dandeesi

The verb “To be”

The verb for “am/are/is” in the present tense is expressed by dha, which does not conjugate. Often, it is left off for simple sentences. One can say, for example, “nuti duwwattoota” or “nuti duwwattoota dha” to mean “we are visitors”. Sentences and questions where the subject is left off typically use dha, as in “fayyaa dha?” and “gaarii dha”. Questions using interrogative pronouns do not typically include dha.

Examples:
“Maal inni?” — “What (is) it?”
“Maqaan kee eenyu?” — “What [lit. Who] (is) your name?”
“Gatiin saa meeqa?” — “How much (is) its price?”
“Akkam ati?” — “How (are) you?”

Morphology

Certain consonants will change when placed before or after other particular consonants. These morphological changes are predictable and follow the table below. The most common changes are: 1) an initial t in a suffix will change to d if the stem ends in b, g, d, and 2) an initial n in a suffix will change to an r or l if the stem ends in r or l, respectively.

Morphology Table
original		morphed
bt		bd
gt		gd
dt		dd
xt		xx
qt		qx
tn/xn/dn/dhn		nn
dht		tt
st		ft
sn		fn
rn		rr
ln		ll

Examples:

verb stem	suffix		final verb	English meaning
qab +	ta	→	qabda	'you have'
bit +	na	→	binna	'we (will) buy'
jir +	na	→	jirra	'we are'
ilaal +	na	→	ilaalla	'we see'
nyaat +	na	→	nyaanna	'we eat'
fix +	ti	→	fixxi	'she finishes'
baas +	tu	→	baaftu	'you (pl.) remove'

Verbs in the Affirmative

For the first person singular (ani) form, the suffix -n (or -an to a consonant) must be added to the word preceding the verb, or the preverb nan must be used to express the verb in the affirmative. In speaking, the first method is the most common.

Examples:
“I live in Jimma” — “Jiman jiraadha” or “Jima nan jiraadha”
“I want to eat” — “Nyaachuun barbaada” or “Nyaachuu nan barbaada”
“Yes, I have” — “Eeyyeen qaba” or “Eeyyee, nan qaba”

For other forms, an optional preverb ni^[1] may be used. Typically, if there is no object in the sentence, the ni is mandatory.

Examples:
“Do you want a bijaj [motorcycle taxi]?” — “Baajajii ni barbaadda?” or “Baajajii barbaadda?”
“He works” — “Inni ni hojjeta” (but not “Inni hojjeta”)
“It's enough” — “ni ga'a”

Verbs in the Negative

To express “not/don't/doesn't” in Oromo the word hin is added before the verb (either as an attached prefix or as a separate word), and the last vowel in the verb conjugated in the affirmative changes as follows: a → u, i → u, u → an. Deemuu is given as an example below.

Deemuu – 'to go'
ani	hin deemu	nuti	hin deemnu
ati	hin deemtu	isin	hin deemtan
inni	hin deemu	isaan	hin deeman
isheen	hin deemtu

Examples:

Affirmative	Negative
Ani nan beeka – “I know”	Ani hin beeku – “I don't know”
Isaan ni deemu – “They go”	Isaan hin deeman – “They don't go”
Isheen ni dandeessi – “She can”	Isheen hin dandeessu – “She can't”
Isin ni haasoofta – “You (pl.) will talk”	Isin hin haasooftu – “You (pl.) will not talk”

The exception to this is the negative form of dha, which is miti meaing “am not/are not/is not”. Like dha, miti does not conjugate for person or number.

Examples:
Rakkoo miti — “It's not a problem”
Sun kitaaba koo miti — “That is not my book”
Ani lammii Itoophiyaa miti — “I am not Ethiopian”

Chapter Vocabulary

jiruu	to be present
nyaachuu	to eat
jirachuu	to live
deemuu	to go
dhufuu	to come
barbaaduu	to want
jaalachuu	to like, love
qabuu	to have
ergifachuu	to borrow
ergisuu	to lend
kaafachuu	to take a picture
fiduu	to bring
gaafachuu	to ask, inquire
galmee jechoota	dictionary
kan biraa	also, in addition
rakkoo	problem
“rakkoon hin jiru”, “rakkoo hin qabu”	“no problem”

Notes

↑ The ni is often pronounced “in”, which unfortunately sounds very similar to the negative marker hin. For instance, ni ga'a for “it's enough” is typically pronounced in ga'a. One must listen to the conjugation of the verb to determine if it's in the affirmative or negative (e.g., hin ga'u “it's not enought”).

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[1] The ni is often pronounced “in”, which unfortunately sounds very similar to the negative marker hin. For instance, ni ga'a for “it's enough” is typically pronounced in ga'a. One must listen to the conjugation of the verb to determine if it's in the affirmative or negative (e.g., hin ga'u “it's not enought”).

[1]