Harari language

Wolf Leslau discusses Harari–East Gurage phonology and grammar:[5] The noun has two numbers, Singular and Plural. The affix -ač changes singulars into plurals:

abōč, a man; abōčač, men.

wandaq, a servant; wandaqač, servants.

gar, a house; garač, houses.

Nouns ending in a or i become plural without reduplicating this letter:

gafa, a slave; gafač, slaves.

gubna, a harlot; gubnač, harlots.

liğği, a son; liğğač, sons.

mäqbärti, a grave; mäqbärtač, graves.

/s/ alternates with /z/:

färäz, a horse; färäzač, horses.

iraaz, toga; iraazač, togas.

Masculine nouns may be converted into feminines by three processes. The first changes the terminal vowel into -it, or adds -it to the terminal consonant:

rágá, an old man; rágít, an old woman.

buchí, male dog; buchít, female dog

wasíf, a slave boy; wasífít, a slave girl.

Animals of different sexes have different names. and this forms the second process:

bárá, an ox; lám, a cow.

The third and the most common way of expressing sex is by means of aboch, "male or man," and inistí: woman, " female, corresponding to English " he-" and " she-":

aboch faraz, a stallion; inistí faraz, a mare.

aboch č̣abar a he mule; inistí č̣abar, a she mule.

The affixed pronouns or possessives attached to nouns are:--

Singular.

1st Pers. - e, my or mine. : Gár-e, my house.

2nd Pers. - khá, thy or thine. Gár-khá, thy house.

3rd Pers. - zo, or - so, his. Gár-zo, his house.

Plural.

1st Pers. - zinya or sinya, our. : Gár-zinya, our house.

2nd Pers. - kho, your. Gár-kho, your house.

3rd Pers. - ziyu or siyu, their. Gár-ziyu, their house. (384)

In the same way attached pronouns are affixed to verbs:

Sit-ayn: give (thou to) me.

Sit-ana: give (thou to) us.

The demonstrative pronouns are:

Sing. Yí, this.

Yá', that.

Plur. Yíách, these.

Yá'ách, those.

The interrogative pronouns are the following:

Mántá: who?

Mintá: what?

Án atti'e hárkho: I myself went.

Akhákh attikha hárkhí: thou thyself wentest.

Azo attiizo hára: he himself went.

The following are the two auxiliary verbs:

Past Tense.

Sing. 1. I became: Án ikaní náarkho.

2. Thou becamest: Akhákh tikání nárkhí.

3. He became: Azo ikáni nárá.

Plur. 1. We became: Innách nikání nárná.

2. Ye became: Akhákhách tikání nárkhú.

3. They became: Aziyách ikání nárú.

Present Tense.

Sing. 1. I become: Án ikánákh.

2. Thou becomest: Akhákh tikánákh.

3. He becomes: Azo ikánál.

Plur. 1. We become: Inyách nikánáná.

2. Ye become: Akhákhách tikánákhu.

3. They become: Aziyách yikánálú.

Imperative.

Become thou, "Kanni". Become ye, "Kánnú".

Prohibitive.

Sing. 2. Become not, ikánnumekh.

Plur. 2. Become not ye, tikánnumekhu.

Past Tense.

(Affirmative Form.)

Sing. 1. I went, Án letkho.

2. Thous wentest, Akhákh letkhí.

3. He went, Azo leta.

Plur. 1. We went, Inyách letna.

2. Ye went, Akhákhách letkhú.

3. They went, Aziyách letú.

(Negative Form.)

Sing. 1. I went not, Án alletkhúm.

2. Thou wentest not, Akbákh alletkhím.

3. He went not, Azo alletám.

Plur. 1. We went not, Inyách aletnám.

2. Ye went not, Akhákách alletkhúm.

3. They went not, Azziyách alletúm.

Present Tense.

(Affirmative Form.)

1. I go, Án iletákh 1. Inyásh niletáná.

2. Thou goest, Akhákh tiletínakh 2. Akhákhách tiletákhú.

3. He goes, Azo yiletál 3. Azziyách yiletálú.

(Negative Form.)

Sing. 1. I go not, Án iletumekh.

2. Thou goest not, Akhákh tiletumekh.

3. He goes not, Azo yiletumel.

Plur. 1. We go not, Inyách niletumena.

2. Ye go not, Akhákhach tiletumekhú.

3. They go not, Azziyách iletuelú.

Sing. 1. I will go, Án iletle halkho.

2. Thou wilt go, Akháhk tiletle halkhí.

3. He will go, Azo iletle hal.

Plur. 1. We will go, Inyách niletle halns.

2. Ye will go, Akhákhách tiletle halkhú.

3. They will go, Azziyách niletle halns.

Harari can be written in the unmodified Ethiopic script as most vowel differences can be disambiguated from context. The Harari adaptation of the Ethiopic script adds a long vowel version of the Ethiopic/Amharic vowels by adding a dot on top of the letter. In addition certain consonants are pronounced differently when compared to the Amharic pronunciation.

The table below shows the Harari alphasyllabary with the Romanized & IPA consonants along the rows and the Romanized vowel markings along the columns.

• Abdurahman Garad and Ewald Wagner. 1998. Harari-Studien : Texte mit Übersetzung, grammatischen Skizzen und Glossar. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. ISBN 3-447-03937-X.
• Cerulli, Enrico. “La lingua e la storia di Harar” in Studi Etiopici, vol. I, 1936 (Roma).
• Gardner, Simon and Ralph Siebert. 2001. "Sociolinguistic survey report of the Zay language area." SIL Electronic Survey Reports, 2002-024. PDF
• Cohen, Marcel. 1931. Etudes d'éthiopien méridional. Paris. pp. 243–354.
• Leslau, Wolf (1937). "Contributions a l'etude du harari (Abyssinie meridionale)". Journal Asiatique. 229.
• Leslau, Wolf. 1958. The verb in Harari : (South Ethiopic). Berkeley: University of California Press.
• Leslau, Wolf (1965). Ethiopians speak: studies in cultural background. University of California Press. ISBN 9783515036573.
• Leslau, Wolf (1959). "An Analysis of the Harari Vocabulary". Annales d'Ethiopie. 3 (1): 275–298. doi:10.3406/ethio.1959.1310.
• Mondon-Vidailhet, François Marie Casimir. 1902. La langue Harari et les dialectes Ethiopies du Gouraghe. Paris: Imprimerie nationale.
• Wagner, Ewald. 1983. Harari-Texte in arabischer Schrift : mit Übersetzung und Kommentar. Wiesbaden: F. Steiner.