Afaan Oromo/Chapter 03

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Chapter 3: Pronouns

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Introductory Conversation

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Girma: Maqaan kee eenyu? play
Jim: Maqaan koo Jim. Ati hoo? play
Girma: Girmaan jedhama. Eessaa dhufte? play
Jim: Lammii Ameerikaati. Ati hoo? play
Girma: Jimman jiraadha. Ani barataa yunivarsiitii dha. Hojiin kee maal? play
Jim: Jaallee nagaatif hojjedha. Maal gosa barnootaa qu'atta? play
Girma: Qorichan qo'adha. Fuute jirtaa? play
Jim: Miti, hin fuune. Ati hoo? play
Girma: Anis hin fuune. play
Jim: Deemuun qaba. Baga wal agarre. play
Girma: Anis baga wal agarre. Nagaatti. play

[For translation see here]

Personal Pronouns

The personal pronouns as subjects and direct objects are listed below along with possessive markers.

Subject Pronouns		Direct Object Pronouns		Possessive Pronouns
I	ani	me	na	my, mine	koo
we	nuti, nu'i	us	nu	our, ours	keenya
you	ati	you	si	your, yours	kee
you (pl.)	isin	you (pl.)	isini	your, yours (pl.)	keessan(i)
he, it	inni	him, it	isa	his, its	(i)saa
she	isheen	her	ishee	her, hers	ishee
they	isaan	them	isaani	their, theirs	(i)saani

Like English, Oromo uses different forms of personal pronouns to indicate their role in the sentence. While “he” and “him” may refer to the same person, English uses “he” for subjects and “him” for objects. Oromo has several forms for all nouns, including pronouns, though for now we will only deal with the subject (nominative) and direct object (accusative) forms.

Examples:
“She likes him” — “Isheen isa jaalatti”
“He likes her” — “Inni ishee jaalata”
“We buy it” — “Nuti isa binna”
“Do you hear me?” — “Ati na dhageessa?” or more commonly “Na dhageessaa?”

Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns go after the nouns they modify. The word kan can optionally be used to show possession.

Examples:
My shoes — kophee koo or kophee kan koo
Our country — biyyi keenya or biyyi kan keenya
Its price — gatii (i)saa or gatti kan isaa

“And”, “Also”

To express “too, also”, Oromo uses the suffix -s for sentences and the word hoo for questions.

Examples:
“And you/ what about you?” — “Ati hoo?”
“And yours/ what about yours?” — “Kee hoo?” or “Kan kee hoo?'”
“Me, too” — “Anis”
“She, as well” — “Isheenis”
“And they are: …” — “Isaanis: …”

Polite Forms

Oromo uses plural pronouns (isin and isaan) also as the polite/formal pronouns. Mostly, one uses the polite form when talking to/about older and respected members of the community. In many areas of southern Oromia, ati is rarely used (and considered rude) and only the polite form of “you”, isin, is used.

Interrogative Pronouns

Interrogative pronouns are used in questions, and come before the verb and either before or after the subject. Often, if the verb is “is/are”, this verb is dropped when using an interrogative pronoun. The main interrogative pronouns are:

What — Maal(i)
Why [lit. “for what”] — Maaliif(i)
How — Akkam(i)
When — Yoom
Where — Eessa
From where — Eessaa
Who — Eenyu
Whose — Kan eenyu
How much, many — Meeqa
Which — Kam(i)

Vocabulary

maqaa	name
“Maqaan kee eenyu?”	“What is your name?”
“___ jedhama”	“I am called ____”, “My name is ___”
umurii	age
“Umuriin kee meeqa?”	“How old are you”
“Eessaa dhufte?”	“Where are you from?”
lammii	citizen
“___ lammii Ameerikaati”	“___ am/are/is American”
“___ lammii Itoophiyaati”	“___ am/are/is Ethiopian”
biyyi	country
“Biyyi kee eessa?”	“Where is your country?”
lammummaa	nationality
“Lammummaan kee maali?”	“What is your nationality?”
“Ati eessa jiraata?”	“Where do you live?”
jiraadha	I live
barataa yunivarsiitii	university student
hojii	work, job
“Hojiin kee maal?”	“What is your job?”
Jaallee nagaati	Peace Corps
“Jaallee nagaatif hojjedha”	“I work for the Peace Corps”
“Maaliif asi dhufte?”	“Why did you come here?”
“Gara Itoophiyaa maaliif dhufte?”	“Why did you come to Ethiopia?”
gosa barnootaa	school subject
qoricha	medicine
“Fuute jirta” (m) / “Heerumte jirta?” (f)	“Are you married?”
eeyyee	yes
miti, lakki	no
Fuudheera (m) / heerumeera (f)	“I am married”
Hin fuunne (m) / hin heerumne (f)	“I am not married”
“Deemuun qaba”	“I have to go”
“Baga wal agarre”	“It was nice to meet you”
Nagaatti	“Take care”

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