Afaan Oromo/Chapter 09

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Chapter 9: Jussive

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Narrative

Better Health Begins with You!(Fayyaan gaariin si irraa jalqaba!)

[Adapted from the Nutrition Education for New Americans Project of the Department of Anthropology and Geography at Georgia State University. Funded by the USDA Food and Consumer Service.] Play all

1. play Guyyuma guyyaatti daabboo waan dhadhaa hedddu hin qabne; akayi, ruzza yookin paasta dhiheessaa jaha hanga kudha tokko nyaadhu. Fakkeenyaaf, ganama matajaboo, guyya sandwich galgala immoo ruzza duwwa nyaadhu.
2. play Ija mukkatti fi kuduraa dhiheessaa shan nyaadhu. Fakkenyaaf, cuunfaa birtukaanii dhugi, salaaxaa nyaadhu, galgala immoo dinnichaa affeelama fi ija wayinii nyaadhu.
3. play Guyyaatti yoo xinnaate bishaan burcuqqo saddeet dhuuggi.
4. play Foon diimaa kan baay'ee cooma hin qabne isaa akaa hanqaaqoo yookiin qurxummii nyaadhu.
5. play Waan sa'a kan dhadhaa yartuu qabu kan akka aanaan raafamaa fi itittuu filadhu.
6. play Nyaata waan mi'aawaa fi dhugaatii alkoolii hin baay'isiin.
7. play Guyyaa hunda sosocho'a godhi. Dirree keessa adeemi, yookiin sirba bu'i, taphadhu.
8. play Nyaata kolestrol hin qabne fi, zayitii waan sa'a fi kan cooma horii irra hojjatamu mana zayitii kuduraa filadhu.

[For translation see here]

The Imperative

The 2nd person jussive, better known as the imperative, is used for issuing commands. In Oromo, there are two forms for the imperative, the singular (ati) and the plural/polite (isin). For all verbs except -chuu verbs, the pattern for forming imperatives is as follows:

Formation of Imperatives
	Affirmative	Negative
	suffix	prefix	suffix
ati	-i	hin	-in
isin	-a	hin	-ina

For -chuu verbs, where the verb stem is the infinitive minus the -chuu ending, the imperatives are formed as follows:

Imperatives for -chuu verbs
	Affirmative	Negative
	suffix	prefix	suffix
ati	-dhu	hin	-tin
isin	-dha	hin	-tina

Examples:
English	Ati	Isin
sit	taa'i	taa'a
don't sit	hin taa'in	hin taa'ina
eat	nyaadhu	nyaadha
don't eat	hin nyaatin	hin nyaatina
go	deemi	deema
don't go	hin deemin	hin deemina
give	kenni	kenna
don't give	hin kennin	hin kennina

Exceptions

The main exception is “come” (“to come” – dhufuu) which is koottu, kootta (not dhufi, dhufa) in the affirmative. The negative imperative (“don't come”) follows the standard pattern, hin dhufin, hin dhufina. The imperative “go” can also be beenu, beena in addition to the regular forms deemi, deema.

“Please”

The standard word for “please” is maaloo, though in conversation this is used mostly for making requests and as a response, as in “yes, please”. Adaraa (“in the name of”) is also sometimes used as “please” in this context. For imperatives and other jussive forms, mee is most commonly used.

Examples:
“Koottu mee” — “come here, please”
“Mee waa'ee obbolaawwan kee natti himi” — “Please tell me about your brothers”
“Mee nama sun gaafadhu” — “Please ask that person”
“Mee suuta dubbadhu” — “Please speak slowly/slower”
“Mee irra naa deebi'i” — “Please repeat for me”
“Mee guddisii dubbadhu” — “Please speak loudly/louder”

More Indirect Objects: The Dative

The dative case is used to indicated recipients and benefactors, where in English we would use “to” or “for”. The dative may be formed by one of the following methods:

1. For nouns that end in a short vowel (in their dictionary form), the vowel will be lengthened and, optionally, an -f suffix added. “Give it to the boy” can thus be expressed as “isa ilmaa kenni” or “isa ilmaaf kenni”.
2. For nouns ending in a long vowel, either -f or -dhaa(f) suffixes may be attached. “It's good for eating” can be expressed as “nyaachuuf gaarii dha”, “nyaachuudhaa gaarii dha”, or “nyaachuudhaaf gaarii dha”
3. For nouns ending in a consonant, the suffix -iif will be attached. For example, “give it to Jim” would be “isa Jimiif kenni”.

The dative forms for the personal pronouns are given below.

Subject Pronouns		Dative Pronouns
I	ani	to/for me	naa, naaf
we	nuti	to/for us	nuu, nuuf
you	ati	to/for you	sii, siif
you (pl.)	isin	to/for you (pl.)	isinii, isiniif
he, it	inni	to/for him, it	isaa, isaaf
she	isheen	to/for her	ishee, isheef
they	isaan	to/for them	isaanii, isaaniif

The locative -tti suffix can sometimes be used in a dative-like manner. For instance, “tell him” would be “isatti jedhi” [lit. “say at him”] rather than “isaaf jedhi” [lit. “say for him”].

Double Imperatives

Where English would use an adverb to modify an imperative, Oromo most often uses two imperatives in a row, with the first modifying the second. The first imperative is given a long final vowel.

Examples:
“Speak loadly/loader” — “Guddisii dubbadhu” (sg.) or “Guddisaa dubbadha” (plu./pol.)
“Run faster” — “Baay'isii fiigi” (sg.) or “Baay'isaa fiiga” (plu./pol.)
“Work harder” — “Cimsii hojjadhu” (sg.) or “Cimsaa hojjadha” (plu./pol.)

The adverbal imperatives are almost always causatives (discussed in Chapter 16). Guddisuu is “to make big”, baay'isuu is “to make many/much”, and cimsuu is “to make strong”.

To express a sequence of commands, imperatives are simply put together. For example, “go (and) eat” is deemi nyaadhu (no elongation of the final vowel on the first imperative).

The Jussive Forms

The 1st and 3rd person jussive forms express suggestions, translated roughly as the English “let”. The jussive forms would thus be “let me”, “let us”, “let him”, etc. The jussive forms use the preverb haa and attach a suffix to the verb stem.

Formation of the Jussive
	Prefix	Suffix	Suffix (for -chuu verbs)
ani	haa	-u	-dhu
nuti	haa	-nu	-nnu
inni	haa	-u	-tu
isheen	haa	-tu	-ttu
isaan	haa	-anu/ani/an	-tanu/tani/tan

Examples:
haa ta'u — okay [lit. “let it be”]
haa nyaannu — “let's eat”
inni haa deemu — “let him go”
si haa gargaaru — “Let me help you”

For irregular verbs, the verb stem changes just as it does in the present and past tenses. The example of taa'uu (“to sit”) is given below.

Oromo	English
ani haa taa'u	let me sit
inni haa taa'u	let him sit
(nuti) haa teenyu	let us sit
(isheen) haa teessu	let her sit
(isaan) haa taa'anu	let them sit

Note that only the regular stem is used in imperatives, even for irregular verbs (e.g., the imperative “sit” is taa'i/taa'a, not teessi/teessa which mean “she sits”/“you sit” as declaratives).

The 1st person jussive, while understood, is not common, especially in the singular. It is more common to use the present-future tense, as in “ofi koon of barsiisa” (“I will introduce myself”) rather than “ofi koon haa of barsiisu” (“let me introduce myself”), or “achitti wal agarra” (“we will meet there”) rather than “achitti wal haa agarru” (“let's meet there”).

In a question, the jussive works like the English “shall”, as in “haa deemnu?” for “shall we go?”.

Other Forms of Requests

Other than using imperative or jussive forms, it is often polite to use the infinitive with danda'uu (“to be able, possible”). Forms using the subordinate tense and if-then clauses (“could you…”, “would you…”, “I would appreciate it if…”) are discussed in Chapter 17.

Examples:
“Can you lend it to me, please” — “Isa naa ergisuu dandeessa, maaloo?”
“Can you (pl.) please help me?” — “Maaloo, naa gargaaruu dandeessu?”
“Can I open a window?” — “Foddaa banuu danda'a?”

Responding to Commands and Suggestions

The receiver of a command or suggestion has a variety of ways to accept or refuse.

Some Common Responses

Okay	tole, haa ta'u
Sure	sirritti, dhuguma
Of course	dhugaadhuma
All right, fine	bayeessa
Sorry	dhiifama, nan gadda
Sorry, I can't	dhiifama hin danda'u
It's possible	danda'ama
It's not possible	hin danda'amu
I don't have time	yeroo hin qabu
“I can't, I have to go”	“Hin danda'u, deemuun qaba”
“Another time. Now I must go”	“Yeroo biraa. Amma deemuutu narra jira.”
“No, I need to go”	“Lakki, deemuun barbaada”

Expressing Needs

The last three examples above show excuses by expressing needs. There are a number of ways of doing this. The four main ways are:

Method 1: <infinitive> + <present tense qabuu>, as in “xumuruu qabti” for “she has to finish”.
Method 2: <infinative> + <present tense barbaaduu>, as in “nyaachuu barbaanna” for “we need to eat” (also means “we want to eat”)
Method 3: <acc. pers. pronoun> + barbaachisa, as in “birciqqoo isa barbaachisa”, which literally means “a glass is necessary for him”. For plural needs, barbaachisu is used to mean “are needed/necessary”, as in “birciqqooleen isaani barbaachisu” (“glasses are necessary for them”).
Method 4: <infinative>+tu + <acc. pers. pronoun>+rra + jira. This construction works like the English “must” or “should”, as is “barachuutu sirra jira” for “you should/must learn” [lit. “it's on you to learn”].

Chapter Vocabulary

jedhi/jedha	bye (informal) [lit. “speak”]
of eeggadhu/eeggadha	be careful
daabboo	bread
dhadhaa	butter
waan dhadhaa hedddu hin qabne	low-fat
akayi	cereal
ruzza	rice
dhiheessaa	serving
fakkeenyaaf	“for example”
matajaboo	oatmeal
duwwaa	blank, empty, plain
ija mukka, fuduraa	fruit
kuduraa	vegetable
cuunfaa	juice
birtukaanii	Orange (color and fruit)
dhuguu	to drink
dhugaatii	drink, beverage
salaaxaa	salad
dinnichaa	potato
affeelama	boiled
ija wayinii	grape
yoo xinnaate	“at least”
burcuqqo	glass, cup
foon	meat
cooma	fat
isaa akaa	“such as”
hanqaaqoo	chicken
qurxummii	fish
sa'a	cow
yartuu	few, small amount
aanaan	milk
aanaan raafamaa	skim milk
itittuu	yogurt
filachuu	to choose
mi'aawaa	sweet
baay'isuu	to make many
socho'uu	moving, active
godhuu	to do
dirree	field
adeemuu	to walk
sirba bu'uu	to dance
taphachuu	to play
zayitii	oil
cooma horii	animal fat

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