Afaan Oromo/Chapter 10

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Chapter 10: Prepositions and Conjunctions

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Giving Directions (Karaa Agarsiisuu)

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[Adapted from Geetaachoo (2011), pg. 52-53] Play all
Meetii: Akkami Kadir? play
Kadir: Fayyaa dha. Akkam jirta? play
Meetii: Homaa hin jedhu. Bor waaree booda hojii qabda? play
Kadir: Lakki, maaliif? play
Meetii: Gaarii dha. Laaqana mana kootti si affeeruun barbaade. play
Kadir: Dhufuuf baay'een gammada, garuu iddoo mana kee isa haaraa hin beeku. play
Meetii: Buufata konkolaataa kan cinaa mana bilbilaatti beekta? play
Kadir: Eeyyee, nan beeka. play
Meetii: Taaksii Lagahaaritti qabadhu fi bakka buufata konkolaalaatti bu'i. play
Kadir: Tole. play
Meetii: Sana booda, gara mirga gori hanga qaxxaamura karaa geessutti karumarra deemi. play
Kadir: Naaf gale. play
Meetii: Gara fuuldura qaxxaamura karaatti hanga daqiiqaa shaniif deemi. Messalemiyaan karaa mirgaa jira. play
Kadir: Gara mirgaa jette? play
Meetii: Eeyyee. Sirrii dha. Achitti sa'aatii kudha tokko fi walakkaatti wal agarra. play
Kadir: Tole. Kun gaarii dha. Wal agarra. Nagaatti. play
Meetii: Nagaatti. 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

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