An Outline of the PHONEMICS and MORPHOLOGY of the Afar (Dankali) Language of Eritrea, Ethiopia, and...

8/19/2019 An Outline of the PHONEMICS and MORPHOLOGY of the Afar (Dankali) Language of Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Djibouti

1/54

t

f.

.

V

/

c

.

-Vr

v

y'r-M

u

i

.,

A

-ÿÿ'

t

V)

1

-

1

i

An

Outline of

the

-A-

i

A

PHONEMICS

and MORPHOLOGY

4

A:

iv

of

the

;

r

Afar

(Lankali)

Language

. of

A

A

Eritrea,

Ea.st

Afr ica,

/

’

A-

%

4

A

v:,.-

.

.;.4Vi\V*

St

k-

-A*-

V

A

i.'

fc

V

'A

'

.A

,

r

•

V

.VI

a

.V

It

Erancis

E.

Mahaffy.

American

Evangelical

Mission

V

Orthodox

Presbyterian

Church

1

Ghinda,

Eritrea,

Ea,st

Africa

«.

'

'-4

.

4

V

A

A

4

1

rV '

v

i

J

i?

*>ÿ

)

Vi

i

Vÿ

-4s

J

¥

A

4

V

V-

V:V'

M

V

Ac

k*:

vSI%

i

4

V:V-V


2/54


3/54

\

Note

This

description of the

Phononics

end

Morphology

of

the

Afar

(Dankali)

language

makes

no claims

at

being

complete or

faultless.

Since

writ ing

this

section

of the phonemics

and

morphology,

have

discovered

sections

and

statements

that

need

revision

and a

fuller

description.

Por

example

there

probably

needs

to be a fuller

description

of

the

phonetic

alterants

of the

phonemes

/d/

and

/r/.

A fuller

investigation

must

be made

of

the

class

II

causitivos.

It

may

be

that,

there

is

some

semantic

distinction

between

the cla.ss

II

causitives

that take the

regular

cla-ss

II

indicators

and

those which

take class

indicators

or a com.bina.tion

of

both,

A

fuller

description

needs

to

be

made

of

the

uses of the gerund,

infinit ive

and

participle,

etc.

The sections

2.2.2

on

Derivation

of

the noun

and

2.3

on

Particles has

no t

been

included

in this

paper,

?

i

*

i

i

;7-

;

i

i


4/54

\

TABLE OE CONTENTS

0

1

ntroduction

The

Afar

People

and Language

Dialects

Relation

to

Saho

In f

ormants

Phonemic

s

Phonemic

Alphabet

of

the

Afar

(Dankali)

language

0.1

1

0.2

1

0*3

1

0.4

2

1

3

1.1

3

1.1*1

1.1.2

3

o.nvocoids

Phonemes

used

only

in

foreign

loan

words

Voiced

syllabic

vocoids

Suprasegmental phonemes

Nonphonemic phonetic

phenomena

Distribution

of

the

phonemes

General

distribution in

relation

to the

word

Specific

distribution

in

re¬

lat ion

to

the word

The

fol lowing consonant clusters

may

occu r

The fol lowing

vowel

clusters

may

occur

Morphophonemic changes

Phonologically

defined

Morphologically

defined

Morphology

The Verb.

Division

into

Class

and

Class

II

verbs

3

1.1.3

1.1.4

4

4

1.2

4

1.3

4

1.3.1

4

1.3.2

5

1.3.

2.1

5

1.3.

2.

2

5

1.4 5

1.4.1

1.4.2

5

6

2

7

2.1

7

2,1.0

7

2.1.1

2.

1.1.1

2.1.1.

1.1

Inflection

Regular

verbs

Pormation

of

the

four

stems

of

the

verb

7

7

7

2.

1.1.

1.1.1

2.

1.1.

1.1.

2

2.

1.1.

1,1.

3

2.

1,1.

1.1.

4

2.

1,1.1.

2

2.

1.1.

1.3

2.

1.1.

1.4.

2.

1.1.

1.5

2.1.1.

1.6 .

2.1.1.

1.7

The Perfect

Stem

Imperative

Stem

Imperfect

Stem

The

Jussive

Stem

Intensive

s

Causative

Benef

active

Passive

In f

initive

Personal Pronominal

Subject

Indicator

Plural

izer

of

personal

Pro¬

nominal subject

Gerund or

Substantive

Negativizer

Part ic iple

7

8

9

10

11

12

15

18

20

21

2.1.1.1.8

22

2.

1.1.

1.9

2.1.1.1.10

2.1.1.1.11

23

24

25


5/54

''t

27

.1.1.1.12

2.1.1..1.13

2.1.1.1.14

2.1.1.1.15

2,1,1,1.16

2.1.1.1.17

2.1.2

2.1.

2.1

Immediate

Future

About to

Conditional

Indicator

Pronominal Object

Positional

Prefix

Adverbial

suffixes

/-ka/and

/ksa/

Object suffix

/-im/

Derivation

Inf inative

indicator

of

Glass

verb imperfeat

Verbal Nouns Derived

from

Class

II

Verbs

Verbal Adjectives

/-ak/

and

/-uk/

plus

/a'ne/

Imperfect

Participle

of

Class

Verb

Future

action

/li'o/

and

/-yo/

Negativizer

Outline

Conjugation o f Defective

Verbs

Conjugation o f

/a'ne/

'to

l ive,

be

present

Conjugation of

/kinni

'yo/

'I

am'

Conjugation

of

/- inni 'yo/

Conjugation of

/li

'yo/

'I

have'

Conjugation

of

/-yo/

Nouns

Inflection

Introduct ion,

Uses

of Singular,

Plural

and

Unit

28

29

29

29

30

.

30

30

2.1.2.2

30

2.1.2.

3

2,1.

2.

4

2.

1.2.

5

31

31

32

2.1.

2. 6

2.1.

2.7

2.1.1.

2

32

33

33

2.1.1.

2.1

33

2.1.1.

2.

2

2.1.1,

2*3

2.1.1.

2,4

2.1.1.2.

5

34

34

34

35

2.2

35

2.2.1

2. 2.1.0

35

35

2.

2.1.1

2.

2.1.

2

Distinction

of sex

Gender of subject

indicator

in

the

verb governed by

the

form

of

the

noun

Subject-object

Relation

Formation of

Singular

From

Unit

Form

Formation

of

plural

from

Unit

Form

39

36

36

2.2.

1.3

2.

2.

1.4

39

39

2. 2.1.

5

Native

Texts


6/54


7/54


8/54

“3 -

be

considered

the extreme Northern

dialect.

The

nat ive texts

are written

in

the

Southern

dialect.

There

seems

to

he.

very

little differences in

the

morphology between

the Southern

and

Northern dialects

bu t

th e m ain differ¬

ences

are in

certain

items

of

vocabulary.

1. Phonemic s

Phonemic

Alphabet

of

the

Afar

(Dankali)

Language

Nonvocoids;

1.1

1.1.1

/

hab/

'd r

op

5

let

go

Voiced bilabial

unaspirated

stop.

Voiced interdental

unaspirated, stop,

/'duma/

'before

t

a

r

Voiceless

interdental

aspirated

stop,

/a’tu/

'you

Voiceless

alveolar

glottal ized stop.

/'ti?o/

'Thio

vi l lage

t

I

t

f

Voiced

alveolar

retroflex

stop.

Th e

tip

of

the tongue

touches

just

behind

the hard

palate

and

is curled

back.

The

contact

is

longer

than

fo r the

/d/.

When

the

/d/

follows

a

vowel?

there is

a

transit ional

sound

l ike

an

American

/r /

preceeding

it

very

much like

the

(rd)

in

American

(hardy)

only

slightly further

back.

In

some

dialects

the

contact

is

no t

as

strong

and

there

is a sl ight

forward f lap though

the

tongue contacts

the

same

place,

/ede'ge/

'I

know

'

Voiced

velar

unaspirated

stop,

/di'gib/

'wedding

Voiceless

velar

aspirated stop,

/ 'ussuk/

'he'

Voiceless

back

velar

glottal ized stop,

/soq/

.

'market

Voiced tense

pharyngeal spirant.

/ar'?ot/

'yoke1

Voiceless

tense

pharyngeal spirant,

/ha'de/

'I,

he

poured

Voiceless

lab iodenta l centra l flat

fricative,

/fa

'he/

'it

boiled'

Voiceless

alveolar

grooved

fricative,

/fas/

'axe

Voiced

alveolar grooved

fricative,

/'zambi/

'sin'

Voiceless

alveopalatal

grooved

fricative.

//ira'?a/

'sail

Voiced

palata l

central,

flat

fricative,

/yeme

'te/

'he

came

Voiceless

glottal

central

flat

fricative,

/bah/

'bring

Voiced

bilabial

rounded

fricative,

/alu'wa/

'animal

Voiced

bilabial

fr ictionless

nasal ,

/da;

'me/

'I

bought

Voiced

alveolar

fr ict ionless

nasal ,

/'danan/

'donkey'

Voiced alveolar

lateral .

Tongue touches

slightly

further,

back

than

in the

American

/l/.

It

resembles more closely the final

/l/

in

(little).

/

'hay

la/

'powers

strength

Voiced

alveolar tap.

The

tongue

tip

touches the alveolar

ridge

once

between

vowels. Word initially and finally

and

before

consonants

it

becomes an

alveolar

trill,

/ra'kub/

'adult male-

camel

'

d

i

S

k

i

1 .

?

h

r

f

t

S

Z

t

I

y

h

i

i

w

i

m

n

1

i

r

Voiceless

alveolar

glottal ized

grooved

affricate.

1.1.2

Phonemes

used

only in

foreign

loan

words;

(Becuase

of rarity

of

occurrance

can

h ardly yet

be

considered

true Afar

johonemes.)

Voiced

alveopalatal

affricated

stop.

/

'

jubba/

'coat

Voiced

retroflex

grooved

fricative,

/ro'zan/

'storied

house

Voiceless

velar central

flat

fricative,

/yuqulu'xe/ 'he created

D

I

l

v

Z

f

X

J


9/54

-4-

Voiceless

alveopalatal

unaspirated

grooved

affricate

Voiced

syllabic

voco.ids:

Voiced

high

close

f ront

-unrounded

vocoid.

/li'o/

'I

have'

Voiced

mid' close f ront

unrounded

vocoid,.

/ye

me

'te/

'he

came

Voiced

low

open

central

unrounded vocoid.

/a'tu/

'you

Voiced high close

hack

rounded

vocoid.

/a'nu/

'I1

Voiced

mid

close hack rounded

vocoid.

/rob/

' rain'

Suprasegmental

phonemes:

Stress,

/'bada/

length,

of vowel.

Vowel

length

is

phonemic and may not

be ana¬

lyzed

as

VV

because a

long

vowel

may

be followed

by

a

short

vowel

and the

'

language pattern

permits

clusters

of only

two

vowels

or

two

consonants,

/fife/

'I

swept'

1.1.3

e

i

a

u

o

1.1.4

son

1.2

Nonphonemic phonetic phenomena:

Th e vowel fol lowing

the

tense

pharyngeal

spirants

becomes,

tense,

/kay'?et/

becomes

(kay

1

?e

t

)

go

across'.

When one of

the

alveolar consonants

preceeds

the voiced alveolar

/gen'de/

becomes

(gen'de),

etroflex

stop,

/&/,

it becomes

retroflex.

will

go' .

Word initial

vowels

are

preceeded regularly by a glottal

stop.

/

'ay/o/

'hay'

(J'ay/o)

A glottal stop

occurs

regularly after the

imperative

form

of the

verb

when

it

ends

in

a

vowel,

stop,

or

spirant

or

/y/.

/fu

:?/

'suck out'

(fu:?.')\

/gar'?a/

(gar

1

?a

.'

)

Word final

stress is

accompanied by a

high

tone,

/giti 'te/

steal

paths

(giti

'

te

)

The

free

alterants

of the

conditional

morpheme

/-k/,

which

are

/-ka/,

/-ki/, /-hi/,

and

/-yi/,

are

accompanied

by

a

sharply

rising

tone

which

is

usually

given

considerable

extra

length. This is

a matter of sentence

intonation

and is not

phonemic.

An

/n/

that comes

before

a

/g /

or

/k/

within

a

word

becomes

phoneti-

cally

(

tig)

and

(

o

k

)

.

1.3 Distribution of

the

phonemes:

General

distribution

in relation

to

the

word.

a.

There

are

consonant

clusters

of two

consonants

only.

These

may

consist of

a

double

consonant,

/or

'be/

'I

entered,

arrived

at',

/off

oyderdi

'

te/

'I

breathed

hard'.

When

in

affixation,

three

consonants

come

together, the

second

and third consonant

are

separated

by

a

vowel.

b.

There

are

vowel clusters

of

two

vowels

only

.

/mahi

'

a/

'wages

When in affixation

three vowels

come

together, one

of-

the

vowels,

usually

the

third,

is

often dropped.

c.

Any

consonant

may

occur word initially,

word medially,

or

word

finally,

/bah'sis/

'cause

to

bring'.

d.

A

consonant

cluster

may

occur

word

medially

or

word

finally.

/da'gayg/

'minutes',

/is'kir/

'get

drunk'.

e. A

double

consonant may

occur

word

medial ly,

/dadday'te/

'I

1.3.1

1.

t

i

is

used

to

indicate

a

non-phonemic

glottal

stop,

writ ing

is

enclosed in

'

(

)

'

Phonetic

:s


10/54

-5 -

Word

finally

it

is

reduced

to

a

single consonant.

'storied

spent

the

cool

season'.

Vowel

clusters

may occur

word medially, /roa;

'/ini/

..

1

house',

or

word

finally,

/li'o/

I

have

'

,

(This informa-

.3.2

t ion. is

based

upon

the

examination of from eight hundred

to a thousand

further examination may reveal o ther

possible

clusters.)

Specific

distribution in

relation

to the word*

words.

1.3.

2.1 Th e

fol lowing

consonant

clusters

may.

occur;

The

possible occurrence

of

stop

plus'

continuant,

continuant

plus-

stop,

or

of continuant

plus

continuant

is so

undistr ibuted that

have

a.

listed

only

the

combinations

that

appear

to

be

l imited in

occurrence.-

b.

The

fol lowing

combinations

of

stop

plus

stop

have'

been

observed;

bt

/hab 'habte/

'watermelon

bd

/istib'de/

'I

began

b?

/qab'?ita/

' leopard

tb

/'?otbi/

'south'

tk

/itki'bir/

'be

proud

dg

/ idgi ' f is/

'cause

to

kill'

kt

/tik'tik/

'drink rapidly

k?

/bak'?e/

'crush,

break,

consume

?t

/e?ti'te/

'it

became

sour '

I

I

I

r

i

i

The

fol lowing

double

consonants

have

been

observed;

/osb'be/

'I

heard'

/botto?

'te/

'it

became full of holes

/duddu'be/

'it

swelled

up'

(as

a

sprain)

/haggay'te

li'o/

'I

will

spend

the

ho t

season

/ekke'le/

'I

think

/haffu'e/

'it

bloated

up

/ 'ussuk/

'he

'

c

.

bb

tt

i

dd

«

g

kk

i

BB

//

/i/'/e/

she said'

(some, dialects)

/

'f

ayya/

'up

/'ramma/

'down

/kin

'ne/

'he

is

'

/mosl'le/

'I

shaved

/

waharri'e/

'he

respected,

was

shy

The

fol lowing

vowel

clusters

may

occur;

/ramli'e/

'he

divined

by

shells

/mahi

'a/

/li

'

o/

/hembo ‘ele/

/roa;

'/ini/

yy

i

mm

nn

11

I

rr

1.3.

2.

2

.ie

i

ia

«

wages

have

o

i

t

it

will

froth

up

'storied house

/haffu'e/

'it

bloated

up

/kumbui

'se/

t i

oe-

i

oa

i

ue

ui 'he

clenched

his

fist

f

1.4

Morphophonemic

changes

Phonologic

ally

defined;

Assimilation

is found

in

the

fol lowing

circumstances;

When

in

affixation

a

/g /

preceeds

an

/s/

or

/t/,

the voiced

/g /

is

replaced

by

voiceless

/k/.

/dag/

root of

verb

'd ig '

plus

the

causative

suffix

/sis/

becomes

1.4.1

a.

...J


11/54

-6 -

/dak'sis/

'cause to

dig '

/bu'rug/

root

of

verb 'to

die

of

itself'

plus

the

suff ix

/te/

becomes

/buruk'te/

'it,

she died of itself'

/ha'lig/

root of

verb

'to swell '

(as

grain in

water)

plus

the suffix

/te/

becomes

/balik'te/

'it swelled

up' .

/sug/

root of

verb 'to

stay,

stop,

remain'

plus

/te/

becomes

/suk'te/

'you

stopped'.

b.

In aff ixation when

/m /

preceeds

/t/,

the

/m/

may

be replaced by

The

/m/

and

/n/

are

in free

variation

though

the change

to

/n/

before

/t/

is

more

common in the Southern

Afar

dialect

than in the

Northern-

dialect

.

/dam/

stem

of verb

'to

buy'

plus

the suffix

/te/

becomes

/dain'te/

in free

variation

with

/dasm'te/

'she

bought'.

c.

When

an

/n/

preceeds

an

/l/

at

word

boundaries,

the

/n/

may be

replaced

by

/l/. /

'f

ahut tan

let/

may become

/'fahut

tal

lei/

'the water

that is

coming

to

a

boil'

d.

When

/t/

is

suffixed to

a stem

final

/s/,

/d/,

or

/d/,

the

/t/

Thus

;

s

replaced

by

the

final

consonant

of

the stem.

/mahas

'se/

instead

of

/mahas'te/

'how

are

you

(morning)

/had'da/

instead

of

'/had'ta/

'you

(sg.

)

poured'

/ebbid'de/

instead

of

/ebbid'te/

'you (sg.)

sweated'

/ged'da/

instead

of /ged'ta/

'you

(sg.

)

go'.

1.4.2

Morphologically

defined;

a. In the

verbs

when a word

final

stressed syllable

ends

in

/a/,

/e/,

or

/y/,

an

/-h/

is .

added. This

/-h/

is

invariable when

the

verb

preceeds

a form

of

the

verb

/a'ne/.

It

is

usual

elsewhere

bu t

may

be omitted.

(The

Saho

tends

to

omit

this

/-h/

more than the

Northern

Afar.)

/ge'deh

an/

'

went

'

.

b.

When in

the

per fec t

stem of

the verb an

///

occurs

as the final

stem

consonant,

this

///

is usually

reduced

to

/s/

in

the

imperative

form.

This

reduction

is

usual

in

the

Northern

dialect

but

not

absolute.

Perfect

/lomoy'/e/

'he

sold'

/dago

y

'/e/

'it

became small

the

/y /

here

is

due

to

the

fact

that

there are

no

final

consonant

clusters

in the

imperative

of the

verb.)

c. In the

imperfect

stem

of

the

verb

of class

II the

final

/-e/

of

the

first

person

singular

and third

person

singular

masculine

forms

when

conjugated

with

the

form

of

the

verb

/a'ne/

may be

replaced

by an

Thus

;

/aq'meh

an/

or

/aq'mah

an /

'I ate'

,/ab'leh

an/

or/ab

' lah

an/

'I

saw1

/anaki'seh

an /

or

/anaki'sah

an/

'I

fell'

/ad'heh

an/

or

/ad

'hah

an/

'I

said'

d. When in prefixation

the

causative

/y /

preceeds

a

voiceless

/t/.,

the

.voiceless

/t/

may

be

replaced by

voiced

/d/.

/it'fe?/

' repay' with

the

causative prefix /y /

becomes

/iydi'fe?/

'cause

to

repay'.

Imperative

/lo 'mos/

'sell'

/da'gos/

'become,

small '

(The

reduction

of


12/54

-7-

e,

In some dialects

the

/s/

is

replaced

by the

// /

phoneme.

2

Morphology

2.1

The

Verb

2.10

Division

into class

and

class

II verbs

The.

Afar

verbs may

be

conveniently divided

into class

and class

The

bulk

of

class

verbs

are consonant

initial

though there is

The

distin¬

guishing

feature of class

verbs is

the fact

that

the pronominal

subject

The distinguishing

feature of

class

II.

also

a

considerable

number of

vowel

initial

class

verbs.

indicator

is-

suffixed to the verb.

II

verbs

is

the fact

that the pronominal

subject

indicator

is

prefixed

All class

II

verbs

are

vowel initial.

o

the

verb,

Glass

/ged'de/

’you

(sg.

)

went1

/alif'te/

'you

(sg.

)

closed

/ali'fe/

'he

closed1

Class

II

/tar'ga'?u/

'let

he r

cut',

/ada

'ge/

/

tada

'ge/

'I

know’

'you

(sg,

)

know

Inflection

.1,1

2.

1.1.1- Regular Verbs

2.

1.1.

1 .1 formation of the four

stems

of

the

verb

The

inflection

of

the Afar

verb is based on four

stems.,

the

perfect,

imperative,

imperfect,

and jussive.

In

class

verbs

the

other three

stems

may

be predicated

from

the perfect

stem.

The

formation of the

' four

stems of the

verbs

of class

II, however,

is fa r more complicated

than

that

of

class

verbs.

Although

there

are

tendencies

that prove

helpfu l in determining

what

the

various

stems

will

be,

they

are

no t all

predictable.

The consonants are

the stable

factor in

the

verbs

and in

class

II

the

vowels

often

change

to form

one

of

the other

stems.

Because

of th is fa ct

the class

II

verbs

can

wel l be

considered,

as

consonant

basic.

lhus;

the class

II verbs

have

been

l isted alphabetically

under

the first consonant

rather

than

under

the

initial

vowel.

In

affixation

morjohemes

which

are

prefixed to the

first stem

consonant but

which

follow

the

initial stem

vowel

have

been

classed as prefixed

rather than

infixes.

Morphemes

which are suffixed

to the

last

consonant

of

the

stem

but which are

fol lowed by the final

stem

vowel have been

classed as

suffixed rather

than

infixes.

2.

1.1.1.1.1

The perfect

stem

The perfect

stem

is

used as

the

basis

fo r

forms

which

express

action

viewed

as

complete.

It does

no t

of

necessity

involve

a

temporal idea

as

forms

based on the perfect

stem may

be

used

to

describe

action

in the

past,,

present,

or

future,

.Conveying as

it

does

the idea of

completeness

it is

more

frequently

use.d

to

denote

actions

that have

already

taken

place.

The

perfect

stem

of

class

verbs

with the pronominal

subject


13/54

-8 -

This

form

ndicator

suffix

is always stressed on tlie

final

syl lable.

may have

consonant

cluster,

vowel

clusters

/ge

'dem

fa

'de/

/ge

'deh

ka;

kay'eyo/

'going, him

I-will-call

'

(I

will

go fo r

this

or

long

vowels.

>

he

wanted

to

go

i

purpose

and call

him.

)

/abeh'te/

'it

spoiled'

/alif'te/

'she

shut'

The

final

perfect

stem

vowel of

class II

verbs

like

those

of

class

is always

/e/.

The initial

vowel

of

the perfect

stem

of a

class

II

verb),

may be

any vowel

except

/a/.

These

two

features are

the

distinguish¬

in g marks

of

the

perfect

stem

of

class

II verbs.

The

stress

on all

the

forms of the

perfect

stem with the

pronominal subject

prefix is

on

the

final syl lable.

There is a

tendency

fo r the same vowel to appear

through

the

stem. That

is,

for

example,

a

class

II

verb

which

begins with

the

vowel

/i/

usual ly

retains the

/i/

for all its

vowels except for

the

final

/e/

stem

indicator.

The

same is usually

true

of

the

other

vowels.

ever,

this

.

is only

a

tendency

and

there seems

to be no possible formation

of

rule

S'

that

will

describe

the

many

cases

in

which

the

initial'

vowel

is

How-

no t

carried

throughout

the

stem.

ClassII

-

Perfect

/

o sgo

're/

/iniki

1

se /

/ub

'le/

/ed

'he/

/

o

$g a

'.?e/

hit'

fell'

looked

said'

buried

2.1.1.

1.1.

2

Imperative

stem

The imperative

stem

is used

in forms which

express

a

command.

/ge

d/

/o

'

qom/

'go

'

'eat

The

imperative

stem of

class

verbs

is

formed

by

dropping

the

final

vowel

of

the

perfect

stem.

A long vo wel o f

the

perfect

is usually

reduced

to a

short

vowel.

A

final double

consonant

or

consonant cluster

immedi---

ately proceeding

the

final

/e/

is

reduced

to a single

consonant.

Perfect

/ka'le/

'I

cu t

off'

/moQ/le/

'I

shaved'

/kay

'ye/

'I

called

by

name

put

'

Imperative

/kal/

'cut

off'

/mol/

'shave

'

/kay/

'call

by

name

/hay/

'put

'

The

imperative

of

class

II

verbs

may form the

stem

by simply

dropping

the final

/e/

of the perfect

stem.

This.,

subject

to

the

modifications

listed

belovf,

is the most common

method

of forming the imperative

stem

i

/he/

of

these

verbs-.

Class II

Perfect

/irge

'

?e/

/igi

'fe/

/uhuru

'se/

Imperative

'cut

down'

'kill

by blow

1

'plow

(with

oxen)

Although

the

dropping of the

final

/e/

of the

perfect

stem to

/i r

'ge

?/

/

'gif/

/ubu

'rus/

cu t

down

killed by

blow

plowed

'


14/54

-9-

form

the

imperative

is

the

most

common

change,

many

of

the

verbs

also

change

one

or

more

of

the vowels

in

the

imperative

form.

These

changes

do

not

seem to

follow

any

regular pattern

and

so the

imperative

form must

always he

l isted*

The formation

of the

imperative of

the verb

/eme'te/

'I

came',

/am

/

'come' is very

i rregular.

Apart from a few

i rregular verbs

such as

this

the

chief

unpredic table feature

of

these

imperative stems

is

the

vowel

changes.

In

the

imperative

stem long

vowels,

of the perfect

stem are

usually

shortened.

Double

consonants

or

consonant

clusters

immediately

preceeding

the

final

/e/

of

the perfect

stem

are

reduced

to

single

consonants

as

fo r

class

verbs.

With the

exception

of

the final

/h/

which

may

freely

be

suffixed

to ,

or

not

suffixed

to

the

vowel

or

/y /

final

imperative

forms,

there

cannot

be

a

final cluster of consonants

in the

imperative

form.

(see

1.4.2

on page

6).

The

consonant cluster

of

the

perfect

stem is

usually

broken

by the

insertion

of

a

vowel,

usually the

preceeding

stem

vowel.

If

the

consonant

cluster

is

/y//

the

/y /

is dropped

and

the

///

is

reduced to

/s/.

In

a

few forms the

/e/

is

not

dropped

bu t is

replaced

by

another

vowel

plus /y/.

This seems

to

occur

only

in

a

few

i r regular

verbs.

Class

II

Perfect

’I

gave

'I

tied

'

ra n

'

Imperative

/u

'huy/

/u'diy/

/e

'rid/

/o

'rob/

/e

'he/

/

o

'

de/

/er 'de/

/or

'be/

'I

went

at

night

'give

'

tie

'

ru n

'

go

at n ight

'

2.

1.1.

1.1.

3

The

imperfect

stem

is

used

as

the

basis fo r

forms

that

express

in-

:

ompleted

action. The

stem

itself

does

not convey

a

definite temporal

Idea

and

forms

based on

this stem

may

be

used

to express

action in the

past,

present,

or

future.

This

stem

is more

generally

used to

describe

present

or

future

action

though

it may.

also

describe

past

action of

an

Imperfect

stem

Inc

omple te

d

nature

.

/

ay

du

'

ra/

/ge

'dak

en/

/

ge

'

da/

'T

return'

or

'I will

return'

'

used

to

go

'

go

'

or

'I will

go

'

The

imperfect

stem of

class

verbs

is

formed

by

changing the final

q/

vowel of the

perfect

stem

to

/a/.

is

that

of the

perfect.

lonosyllabic

word

ending in

/e/, in

the imperfect

form the

/e/

is

) laced

by

/ay/.

The

stress

pattern

remains the same

If

the

perfect

stem

of

the

verb

consists

of a

re -

Class

Perfect

/ka'le/

'I'

cu t

off'

/mos’le/

'I

shaved'

/ge

'de/

'I

went'

put

'

Imperfect

cut,

will

cu t .

off

'I

shave

'

/ka

'la/

/mo

;

'la/

/ge

'da/

/hay

'a/

'I put, will

put'

I

go,

will go

1

/he/


15/54

-10-

The

imperfect

stem of class

II verbs

is

formed Toy changing,

the first

and sometimes

other

vowels

of

the

perfect stem.

Th e

initial

vowel

is

x’egularly

changed

to

/a/.

The final

/e/

of

the

perfect

stem

is

retained.

This

final

/e/

may in

some

.dialects

f reely

fluctuate

with

/a/

in

the

first

person

singular

and

third

person

masculine singular forms

of

the

verb

when -conjugated

with

the

forms

of

/a'ne/.

(See page

6,-

paragraph

c).

Th e other

vowels

of

the

imperfect

stem

are usually the same

as those

of

the

perfect

stem.

However,

in a small number

of

class

II verbs

the

mid

vowels

may also

change.

This change from

the

vowels

of

the

per fec t

stem

is

usually

to

/a/

bu t it

may

also be

to

/i/.

Regular

formations

of

the

imperfect

of class

II verbs

Imperfect

/abbi'de/

'I

hold,

arrest1

/adigi ' le/

'I milk '

/asb’be/

'I hear1

/aqo'?e/

'I

carry

on

shoulder1

/

ahku

'me/

/alu;

*se/

Pe

rf

ec

t

/ibbi'de/

'I

held,

arrested

/idigi'le/

'I

milked'

/osb'be/

'I

heard1

/oqo'?e/

'I

carried

on

shoulder'

/

ohku

'me/

/ulus

'se/

settled,

judged

kneaded

(bread)

settle,

judge

knead

(bread)

Irregular

formations of

the imperfect

of

class

II verbs

Imperfect

/ami

'ne/

'I

have

faith

in

believe

/asli'me/.

'I

remember'

/ama'te/

'I

come,

will

come'

/ashas'se/

'I

point

out,

-am

point ing out '

/yay/as

'me/

'It

spoils,

is

spoiling,

will

spoi l

Perfect

/erne

'ne/

'I had faith

in ,

believed'

/esle'me/

'I remembered'

/erne

'te/

'I

came

'

/eshes'se/

'I pointed

out

?

i

i

I-

/yoy/os'me/

'It

spoiled

2.

1.1.1.1.

4

The

Jussive Stem

The jussive

stem

is

Used as

the basis fo r forms which express per¬

mission

or

a question,

/'bahu/

'shal l

bring?'

/'geddu/

'let

he r

go'

/yar'ga?u/

'let him cut '

The jussive

stem

of

class verbs

is

formed

by substituting a final

7u/

fo r

the

final

/e/

of the

perfect

stem.

The

jussive

is

stressed

on

lext to

the

f inal

syllable

instead

of on

the

final

syllable

as

in

the

Derf ec

t.

Class

Jussives

Perfect

/ka'le/

'I cu t off'

/mos'le/

'he

shaved

/ali'fe/

'I shut'

Jussive

/'kalu/

'shall.

cu t

off?

/'moslu/

'let

him shave

/a'lifu/

'shall

1

shut?

The

-jussive

stem of

class II verbs is

regularly formed by chang ing

r

t

all

the

vowels of the perfect

stem

iio

/a/

with

the

exception

of

the final

/e/

which

is

changed

to

/u/.

(In

Saho

the

final

vpwel

of

the

jussive

stem is

/of

)

Th e

stress is

placed

on

next

to

the

final syl lable.


16/54

-11-

Jussives

of

Class II

Verbs

Jussive

/ar'ga?u/

'shall

cut down?

or

'let

me

cu t down

'

/as'gadu/

'shall

slaughter?'

/ab'badu/

'shall

hold,

catch'

/am'laku/

'shall surrender?'

/aha'rasu/

'shall

plow?1

/an'da?u/

'shall

swallow?

Perfect

/irge'?e/

'I

cu t down

/usgu.'de/

/ibbi'de/

'I

held,

caught

/imli'ke/

'I surrendered'

/uJauru'se/

'I

plowed'

/undu

'

?e/

slaughtered

i

swallowed

2.

1.1,1.

2

Intensive

s

a.

The

intensive

of class

verbs

is formed

by

reduplicat ing

the

second stem

consonant and

its

fol lowing vowel.

However,

when

the

second

stem

consonant

is preceeded

by

a vowel

cluster,

the initial

consonant

and

its

fol lowing

vowel

are reduplicated.

The

intensive form of the verb

adds

a

superlative,

intense

aspect

to

the

original

meaning

of

the

verb. Th e

intensive indicator

may bo added

to all four stems,

of

the verb of both c lass

and-

class

II.

Class Intensive

s

Intensive

/wiri r igi

'

te/

'I was

intensely

startled

'

.

/baqaqari

'te/

'I

was

intensely

thirsty

/undudugu

'le/

'I

was

very

sleepy

/unduduguli

'

te/

'I

was very

sleepy'

'

(benef

active

)

/digasgas

'le/

'I

punished

severely'

/diga;gas

'la/

'I

punish se¬

verely'

(Imperfect)

/digas

'gaslu/

'shall

punish

severely?'

(jussive)

/digas'gasl/

'punish

severely1

(Imperative

)

/bibiaki'te/.

'-I

was

very sick

(benef

active

)

b.

The

intensive

of

class

II verbs

is

formed

by

a

reduplicat ion

of

the

first stem

consonant and

its

fol lowing

vowel.

When

the verb

has

a

cluster

of

two

consonants

initially, the second consonant

of

the

cluster

and

the fol lowing

vowel a re reduplicated.

When

the

verb

consists

of

an

initial

double

consonant,

the consonant

fol lowing

the

double

consonant

and

its

following

vowel

are reduplicated.

When the

initial

consonant

is

/d/

or

/h/,

the

reduplication

is

of

the

second consonant

and

its

fol lowing

vowel.

.

Perfect

/wirigi'te/

'I

was

start led'

/baq_ari'te/

'I

was thirsty

i

/undugu'le/

'I

was

sleepy

i

/unduguli

'

te/

'I

was

sleepy1'

(benef

active

form)

/digas

'le/

'I

punished'

/biaki'te/

'I

was sick'

(benef

active

form)

Glass

II

Intensives

Verb

stem

/

angal

1

le /

'I

join'

/

asgal

'le/

'I

mix

1

/osmo'se/

'I crushed'

/asmo'se/

'I

crush'

/ussu'le/

’I

laughed'

Intensive

/angagal'le/

'I

join

thoroughly

/asgagal'le/ 'I

mix

thoroughly

/osmomo'se/

*1

crushed

to

pieces

/asmomo'se/

'I

crush

to pieces'

/uisusu'le/

'I

laughed

heartily'

i

i

j

-12-


17/54

/in?e?e

'be/

'I

intensely

hated

/uluslus'se/

'I

kneaded

vigor¬

ously

1

/undudu

'

?e

'I

swallowed

hard'

/igigi'fe/

'I

killed

brutally1

/ememe'ge/'I

filled

with,

vigor'

/

ekeke

'le/

/yidgigi

'le/

'he broke

to

pieces'

/y

idigigi ' le/

'he

milked vigor¬

ously

'

/yiddigigi

'le/

'it

is

broken

to

pieces'

(passive)

/uhururu

'

se /

'I

plowed

vigor¬

ously

/

in?e

'be/

/ulus

'se/

'I

hated'.

'I

knoadcd'

/undu

1

?e/

/

igi

'

f

e/

/eme

'ge/

/eke

'lc/

/yidgi' le/

/yidig'i' le/

'he

milked

'

swall

owe

d

'I

killed'

filled'

'

thought

'

he broke

'

thought

hard

i

/yiddigi'le/

'it

is

broken

(passive

)

'

pi

ow e

d

'

uhuru

'se/

2.

1.1.

1.3

Causative

a.

The

causative

of

class

verbs

is formed

by

suff ix ing

/is/

to

the.

intransitive

verbs

and

/sis/

to

the

transitive

verbs.-

These

causa¬

tive

indicators

are suffixed

to the

final

consonant

of

the

verb

root.

The

final

stem vowel

occurs

in the

final

posit ion. There

are a

few

exceptions

to

the

occurrence

of

/is/

with intransit ive verbs

and

of

/sis/

with transitive

verbs.

Th e

fol lowing three have

been noted

;

/

sama

'lis/

/damba'?is/

/bak'?is/

'draw'

(as

water from

well)

'coil1

(as rope)

'fold'

(as

cloth)

'crush

'

,

The personal

pronominal

indicator

in the causative

form of class

verbs

is

suffixed to

the causative

indicator

/is/

or

/sis/.

person

indicator

/t/

is

not

suffixed to

/s/

but the

/ t/

is

replaced

by

W ith the

causative

form of

the verb we

have

the fol lowing

inflec-'

c onsume

The

second

/s/.

tion

;

Causative class

Root ;

/dam/

/dami

'se/

/

damis

'

se/

/

dami

'

se /

/

damis

'ne/

/

damis

*sen/

/dami

'sen/

dissolve

• 'I caused

to

dissolve'

'you

caused to

dissolve

'he

caused to

dissolve

'

'we

caused to

dissolve

'

'you

(pi.

)

caused to dissolve

'

'they

caused to

dissolve

1

The

causative

indicator may

be

suffixed

to each of

the

four stems

of

the verb.

Root ;

/da;m/

'buy'

Causative

Imperative

/

dam

'sis/

/dam'sisa/

'cause to

buy'

'cause to

buy'

(plural

and

poli te

form)

Causative

imperfect

/

da

;msi

'sa/

/

da

;msis

'sa/

/

da :msi

'sa/

/da

;msis

'na/

/d©.

;msis

'san(a)/

/

da

;ms i

'sa

n/

'I

cause

to bu.ys

will

cause

to buy

'you, she causes

to

buy

'he

causes

to buy

.

'we

cause

to

buy '

'you

(pi.)

cause

to

buy

'they cause

to buy

i

i

i

-13-


18/54

Causative

perfect

/dasmsi

'se/

/dasmsis 'se/

/dasmsi

'se/

/

da smsis

'ne/

/

da

smsis

'sen/

/da

smsi

'sen/

caused

to

buy'

you,

she caused

to buy'

'he caused to

buy

1

'we' caused

to buy'

'you

(pi.

)

caused to

buy

'they

caused

to

buy'

i

Causative

jussive

/da

;m

'sisu

/

da

sm'sissu/

/da

;m

'sisu/

/dasm'sisnu/'

/

da

;m

'sissun/

/da

sm

'sisun/

'let me cause to buy,

(or)

shal l

cause

to

buy?

'let

you,

her cause

to

buy'

' let

him

cause

to

buy1

'let us

cause

to

buy'

'let

you

(pi.)

cause

to

buy'

'let

them cause

to buy'

Intransit ive

class

verbs

with

/is/

causative

suff ix

Causative

/hawesni'se/

'I

caused

to

forget '

/deririgi

'se/

'I

caused

to

spin

loosely

'

/do'?is/

'cause

to

perspire '

(

imperative

)

/fahi'sa/

'I

cause

to

boil'

(imperfect)

/ayyenis

'se/

'she

danced,

sang for

we

dding

)

'

/hasa

'wisnu/

'shall we

talk

togeth¬

er?

'

(

jussive

)

Transitive class verbs

with

/sis/

causative suffix

Causative

/dosrsi'se/

'I

caused

to

choose'

/da

;m

'sisu/

'shall

cause to buy?'

‘(jussive)

/kursi'sa/

'I

cause to divide.

'(cut

in

half) (imperfect)

/mak'sis/

'cause

to

bend,

twist '

•

(imperative

)

Root

/hawe

s

n/

'

f

orge

t

'

/deririg/

'spin loosely

/do?/

perspire

/f

ah/

'boil

/

ayyen/

'sing,

dance

(for

wedding)

'

/has

aw/

' talk

together

Root

/do

sr/

'choose

/dasm/

'buy'

i

/kur/

'

divide

'

/rnak/

'bend

'

b.

Th e

causatives

of

class

II

verbs

are

fa r

more complicated than

the

causatives

of

class

verbs. There''

are

differences in

their forma¬

tion

in

different

dialects-.

There

also

seems

to

be a

great

deal

of

variety

even within one

dialect.

Often the

characteristic

class

causative

suffixes

instead

of the class

II

causative

prefixes are

used

by

the

natives

with

class

II

verbs.

This

change

to

theclass

causative

suffixes

was

especially prominent

in the

imperative

forms in

the

speech

of

Abdu.

Often

he

would

use

the

characteristic

class II

indicator

in

the

perfect

form

but the

class

s u ffix fo r the

imperative

form.

Abdu,

however,

in

his speech

uses fa r

more class

causative suffixes with

class

II

verbs

than

other

informants

.with

V'/hom

have

worked.

Sometimes also

a

combination of

characteristic class

and

class

II

inf ixes

are

used by

some

natives

in

their

speech.

This

sort

of

combination

seems

to

be more

j


19/54

'

-14-

pronounced

in

Southern

Afar

than

in Northern Afar.

The

fol lowing

c

ono

fu¬

sions

on

the class II

causatives

are

of necessity

incomplete.

.

have,

as

ye t

been

unahle

to ,

adequately

describe

the

irregular formations

that'

vary

so

greatly

in

dif ferent dialects

and even

in

the

speech

of

one

informant..-

The regular

causative

indicator of

class

II

verbs

is

/s/

,

/y/>

aiI(3-

/ys/

or

/y//

pref ixed to the first

consonant

of

the

stem.

Since

there

can be no

clusters

of

three

consonants,

the

/ys/

or

/y//

is

separated

.

from

the

first

consonant

of

the

stem by

a

vowel

which is the

same

as the

vowel of

the

stem

which

immediately follows the first

stem

consonant.

/s/

is

pref ixed

to verbs

of

class-

II

whose

initial

stem

consonant

is

/k/,

/g/,

/

q

/, /h/,

/h

/,

or

/rr/.

(Only

one

example of

/rr/

has

been

found.

)

/y /

is pref ixed to verbs

whose

initial

stem consonant

is

any conson-

/y /

is

pref ixed to

/r /

bu t

YYhen the

/y /

is

pref ixed

to a

/w/,

the

/yw/

becomes

/yy/.

an t o

ther

than the

ab

ove

1

s

t

e

d c ons

onan

t

s

not to

/rr/.

/ys/

alternating f reely with

/y//

is

pref ixed

to

verbs

whose

initial

stem vowel

is long.

Although the

above

description applies to a

large

majority

of class

II

verbs,

there

are

many exceptions.

Following

is

a

'list

.of some

regular

formations of

class II

verb

causatives and also a

few

of the

many

i rregular

formations.

Regular

-causative formations

of class

II

verbs

Causative

perfect

/eyser're/

'I caused

to load'

/is'qiri'e/

'I

caused

to re ad '

/isgi'le/

'I caused

to break'

/eshe'te/

'I caused

to

chew'

/oysoko'me/

'I caused

to w in '

/eyse?e'te/

'I

caused

to

step

on '

/uysusu'le/

'I caused

to

laugh'

Perfect

/er're/

'I .loaded'*

/ iqri'e/

'I

read'

/igi'le/.

'I

broke'

/eke

'te/

'I chewed'

/osko'me/

'I won,

beat

/e

;

?e

'

te/

/ussu'le/

'I

laughed

stepped on

/ew

'?e/

/idigge

'le/

'I

milked'

/irhi'de/

'I

slaughtered

/ifri'de/

'I

judged'

/iski're/

'I

go t

drunk'

/ele

'ye/

/

eyye

'?e/

/iydiggi'le/

'I

caused

to

milk '

/ iyriM'de/

'I

caused

to

slaughter

/ iyfir i 'de/

'I

caused to

judge'

/ iysiki're/

'I caused to

get

drunk

/

eyle

'ye/

I r regu lar

causat ive formations

of

class

II

verbs

Perfect

/

iksi

'be/

/ik/i

'f

e/

/ittiki

;

'ye/

'I

dressed

/ef

e

'

?e/

/erne

Jne/

/en>ge/

/

ihbi

'de/

'I

went

out

caused

to

go

out

r

• I

was

lost' 'I

caused

to be lost'

Causative

perfect

/ikisi

'be/

/iskif

'se/

/ittiki;

'se/

'I

caused to dress

/ef

e?si

'se/

/emensi

'se/

/engesi

'se/

/

iydibi

'de/

'I

caused to

profit

'I

caused

to gossip

prof i ted

'I

gossiped

'I

caused

to

water'

'I

caused

t o be lieve

'

caused

to

fill

'

'

caused to

hold'

'

gave drink

'

'I believed'

'I

filled'

'I

held'

-15-


20/54

2.1.1.

1,4

Benefactive

The henef

active indicator

fo r Tooth

class

and classll

verbs

is

expressed

by a suff ix

/it/.

This

benef

active

indicator

is

suffixed

to

the final

stem

consonant,

or to

the

stem plus

the other affixes

that

proceed-

it in

order

of

affixation.

It is

followed

by

the

personal

pro—

nominal

subject

indicator and

the

stem

vowel ,

This suff ix usually

indicates

that

the

action

expressed in the verb

is

fo r

the

benefit

of

the person

or

thing

indicated

in

the

pronominal

subject

indicator,

Fo r example

the

verb

/da

;

'me/

without

the benef active

indicator suff ix means

simply, 'I

bought'

with

no

indication as

to

the

purpose

of

the

purchase.

If

the buying

is

for the

personal

use

of

the

buyer,

the

benefactive suffix

is

added,

/dasmi'te/’I

bought

fo r

my ow n

use'.

When the

benefactive suff ix is

omitted,

the purpose

or

benefactor

of the

action

is

either

not taken into

consideration,

.or

the-

action

is

fo r

the

benefit

of others

than

the

subject,

or

fo r the

benefi t

of

others

along

with the subject.

In not

all

verbs

is the.

idea

of

'for

one's

own

use

'

clearly

indicated

by

the

benefactive

suff ix.

The

benefactive

indi¬

cator,

however,

always

relates

the

action

of

the

verb more direct ly

and

personally

to

the

subject

of

-

the

verb.

'I

wash'

(Often

ceremonial

washing)

(Imperfect)

ka?a 'la/

/ka?ali'sa/

'I

wash,

clean'

(as

clothes)

(Imperfect

causative)

.

/ka?ali'ta/

'I

bathe'

(Imperfect

benefactive)

Some

verbs occur

u su a lly w i th

the

benefactive

suff ix.

/miaki

'

ta/

/wagi

'

te/

/

soni

'

te/

Perfect

causative benef

actives

of

class

verb

Roots

/dasm/

'buy'

/dasmsisi

'

te/

'I

caused

to

buy

fo r

my

ow n

benefit

am

confused'

(Imperfect)

I go

in a circle

'I

considered,

looked

over,

lookedÿ-

(Perfect)

dreamed’

(Perfect)

a.

The

class

II

verb

(apparently

unlike

Saho)

expresses the

benefac¬

tive by the

same

suff ix

as

the

class

verb.

aay be

suffixed

to

all four

stems

of

the

verb.

The

benefactive indicator

Benef

actives of class

II

verbs

Perfect root

/irge?/

'cut

down

Benefactive

/arge?i'te/

'I

cu t

down fo r my

(Imperfect)

/ele

'mit/

'sell

for

yourself

'

(Imperative

)

use

/eslem/

'sell'

(Assab)

/ibbid/

'take,

hold'

/abbidi'te

lio/

'I

will take

fo r

myself

'

(Imperfect

plus

/li'o/)

/asfa'ritu/

'shall

measure fo r myself?'

(Jussive)

/ususli'te/

'I laughed'

(Perfect)

/oy/ogori

'

te/

'I

caused to

hit fo r

my

benef

it

'

(Perfect causative)

/usfur/

'measure

'

(grain)

/ususl/

' laugh

/osgor/

'hit'

b.

The

form of

the

benefactive

of

class

II

verbs

Varies

to

a

consider¬

able

extent among

individuals

and

dialects,

Abdu

Rhohoman

consistently

ised

the

/-it/

suffix

with

both'

class

and

class

II

verbs,.

This

usage

apparently

is

customary among

some

of

the

Afar

people

and it is an

—16—


21/54

accepted

'but

no t

preferred

.

alternant

usage among

other Afar peopLe,

Generally

speaking,

the

exclusive

use

of the

/-it/

suffix

as

henefactive

indicator

for'

class II verbs

while correct

ana

accepted,

is

no t

the

preferred

or

common

usage

by'

the

majority

of

the

Afar.

The benef

active indicator

of most

class

II

verbs

consists

of

the

pref ix

/tt

-/,

/ss-/, etc.

as

described

below.

also

a

vowel change

in

the

benefactive form.

or

from

/i/

to

/e/.

one

and takes

place

only

in

a

few

words.

vowel

change

will

occur has

no t

been

determined.

The

benef

active

of

class

II verbs may be

indicated

by

a

/tt-/

pre¬

fixed to the

verb

stem or to

the stem

plus

other

affixes which

preceed

it

I.

In

some

verbs

there

is

This

change

is

usual ly

from

This

change

is apparently

not

a

regular

A

means of

predict ing when this

in

order

of

aff ixation

under

the

following

circumstances:

1).

When

the

initial stem consonant of

the verb is

/h / /?/

/g /

/q /

/r /

/n/

.

Sometimes

/bb/ /l/ /d/

and

/m/

also

take

this

benefactive

indicator.

2).

When

the initial

consonant

cluster is /nd/,

the

/n/

being'

replaced

by

a

/d/

and

with the two

/d/s

being separated

by the

vowel

of the

stem.

3).

When

the

verb

has

an initial

double

consonant

of

/gg/

and sometimes

/bb/,

the

/tt-/

benefactive

indicator

is

replaced

by

/dd/

and

the

follow¬

in g

double

consonant is

separated

by

a

vowel.

Sometimes,

especially

in

rapid

speech,

the

full form

of

/ttVO/

is

.

reduced to

a clitic

form

/tCV/.

Perfect

/uhuru

'se/

Benefactive

/uttuhuru

'se/

.' I

plowed

fo r

my

ow n

benefit

1

plowed

/

o :go

're/

/

oqo

'me/

/yaqulu

'xe/

/o

:?o

're/

/

ob

'be/

/e

:m e

'ne/

/

e

:

'de/

/ede

'ge/

/e

:le

'me/

/itki'le/

/ igiyi

're/

/

o

:

tto

:go

're/

/

ottoqo

'me/

/yuttuqulu

'xe/

/

o

:tt o

:?o

're/

/

ottob

'be/

/

e

:

tt e sine

'ne/

1

1hit

'

'I

ate

'

'he

created'

'he

hid

’

'I

heard

'

'I

believed'

'I sucked

milk from

/esttes'de/

breast'

'

knew

'

'I

sold'

(Assab)

/e

ttede 'ge/

/e

stte

sle

'me/

/

ittaki

'le/

/ittigiyi

're/

/itgiyi

're/

(clitic

form)

/ottodode

'

?e/

(vowel

change)

'I

transplanted

'I changed'

/undu

'

?e/

/ iggi

'f

e/

/ iggi

'le/

/

ibbi

'de/

The

benefactive indicator consists of

the

pref ix

/ss-/

under

the

fol lowing

circumstances:

1).

When

the

verb

begins

with

a

consonant

cluster

of

which

the

initial

consonant

is

/s/.

This

/s/

is

then

dropped ou t

before

the

consonant

that it preceeded

in the

stem.

2).

When

the verb

contains an initial

consonant

cluster

of

,

ys/

or

/yd/.

The

/y /

l ikewise

drops

out.

swallowed

/eddegegi

'f

e/

(vowel

change)

/eddegege

'le/

/iddibbi

'de/

'I

killed'

'I broke

'

'I held*

4‘

-11-


22/54

3).

When 'the verb

contains

the

initial

consonant

/y / or

/s/

and

some¬

times when

the

initial

consonant

is

/n/?

/m

/,

or

Perfect

/us

gu

'de/

/

iski

're/

/eshes

'se/

/esket 'te/

/oy/o

s

'me/

/

eydeb

'he/

/u:su 'le/

/

eyme

'

?e/

/ene 'he/

/uq.

'?e/

/

emeg

'ge/

The

henefactive

indicator

consists of

the-

first consonant

doubled

/l/.

Benef active

/ussugu

'de/

/issiki 're/

/essehis 'se/

/esseket

'

te/

'I

killed

with

knife

’I

go t

drunk1

'I

pointed

out'

'I

gathered'

'it

spoi led'

'I

returned

(it)

'

'I

laughed'

'I

repaired'

/ossos'me/

'I

became

impover¬

ished

'

essedeb

'be/

/usssusu 'le/

/esseyme

1

?e/

/essene

'be/

I was

b ig

'I carried

on shoulder'

/ussuq.'?e/

/essemeg 'ge/

I made

many

when the

verb

has an

initial

consonant cluster

the

initial

consonant

of

Sometimes

the

initial

cluster

/bl/,

/dh/

and

hich is

/k/,

/f/,

or

the

single

consonant

/d/

also

take

this

indicator.

In

some

instances

the

first consonant

of

the

doubled consonant

henefactive indicator

may

be

replaced

by

/n/

when

the consonant cluster

consists

of

/kh/,

/k//?

or

/ft/.

In

the

verb

/ikhe 'ne/

'I like

1

,

the

/n/

regularly

replaces

the

/k/.

\

In

the verb /irge'?e/

'I cu t down'

the

/g /

is

doubled

and

forms

the

henefactive

indicator and

the

/rg/

is

replaced

by /rVr/,

The initial

con¬

sonant

of

the

cluster

is

usually

dropped.

Sometimes

there

is a

compensa-

ÿ

t ing

doubling

of

the

second

consonant

which

is

usually separated by a

vowel.

Perfect

/

iksi

'be/

/ef

'?e/

/

if

ri

'

de/

/

if

ti

'ne

Benef

active

/ikkisisi

'be/

/

eff

e

'

?e/

/iff

iriri

'de/

/iff

ititi

'ne/

/infiti'ne/

(alternant

form)

/

irrihi

'

de/

/edde

'he/

/

iddigi

'le/

/uddi

'

e/

/ubbu 'le/

/ iggireri

'

?e/

'I

profited'

'I gave water to'

'

judge d

'

'I

gossiped falsely

l

/

irhi

'

de/

/ed

'he/

/

idigi

'le/

/udi

'e/

/ubli 'e/

/irge

'

?e/

A

large

number

of

class

II

verbs

regularly take the

/-it/

benef

ac-

'I

slaughtered

'I

said'

'

milke

d

'

'I t ied'

'I

saw'

'I

cu t

down'

tive

suff ix

indicator

that is

regularly

used with

verbs

of class I.

The

indicator is

used when

the verb

contains an

initial

consonant

cluster

other

than

the ones

listed above and

sometimes when the verb

contains

an

initial single

consonant

that is

preceeded

or

followed

by a. long

vowel.

The

consonant

cluster

/n?/

and

the

consonants

/d/

and

/l/

may

also

deter¬

mine

this

suff ix

indicator. The

consonant

clusters

and combinations of

consonants

and

vowels

determining

this

indicator

which have been

observed

are

as f

oil

ows

;

/ff/,

/gr/,

and

/n?/.

AV»

/y3/

?

/kk/

,

/ym/,

//t/,

/ml/,

/ng/,

/im/,

/kh/,

The

cluster

/mb/

in

one

example

takes,

this or the

\

r:

-18-

/V:m/,

:/ ,

/aV;/,

and

may

also

lternate

prefix.


23/54

/IV

/tV:/?

/lVl/

/tt-/

determine

this suffix

indicator,

Benefactive

erfect

/en?e

*be/

'I

hated

/inniki'se/

*1

fell

/ittiki

'ye/

/iydibbi

'se/

/ekke

'le/

/eymeze

*ne/

/ululu

'se/

/

o smo

'se/

/ulus

'se/

/en?ehi

1

te/

/innikisi 'te/

/

ittikiyi

'

te/

/iydibbisi

'

te/

/ekkeli'te/

/eymezeni

'

te/

/ululusi

'

te/

/

o

smosi

'te/

/ulus

si

'te/

i

1

'I

dressed

'I

caused to join

thought

'

'

we ighe

d

'

'I winnowed'

crushed*

'I

kneaded*

Three

verbs that take

i rregular

benef

active indicators have

been

Two of

these take a

/-sit/

suff ix

indicator

instead

of

the

The other

one takes

both

the

'/ss-/

prefix

.indi-

Th e

/-sit/

suffix

i

discovered.

regular

/-it/

indicator.

cator

in

combination

with

the

/-it/

suffix

indicator,

appears

as though

it

might

be

a

causative -benef active

form

but

in

these

instances

there

seems

to

be

no

separate

form

without

the

/-s/.

two

forms

can

probably

be

c-onsidered

causative

-benef actives

that

take

no

simple

benef

active

form.

Perfect

These

Benef

active

'I

came

fo r

my

ow n

benefit'*

/orobbesi

'

te/

(note

doubling

of

/b/)

-

-' I

came

at

night

fo r

my

ow n

benefit-'

laughe d f or my

-

own

benefi t

'

i;

i

/erne

'te/

/emetisi

'

te/

*

'I

came

'

/

or

'be/

'I

came

at nigbt

/usui'le/

/ussusli'

te/

laughed

2.

1.1.

1.5

Passive

a.

The

passive

of

class

verbs

is

formed

by suff ix ing

the

passive

indicator

/im/

to

the

final

stem

consonant

or

to

the

stem

plus

other

affixes

which

proceed

it

in

order of

affixation,.

Th e

stem

vowel follows

the

passive

suffix.

In

the

passive

form

the

subject

of the verb

is the

recipient

of

the

action

rather than the

actor.

Class

Passives

Passive

form

c

tive f

orm

/fi 'ye/

'he swept

/ali'fe/

'he

closed-*

/do

're

11

o/

'I

will

choose

/aba

'rah

yan/

'he curses'

/kay’ye/

'he-

called*

Conjugation

of the

perfect

passive of

/kayyi-

'me/

/kayyi

'me/

'I

am called*

/kayyim'te/

'you,

she is

called*

/kayyi

'me/

'he

is

cal led'

/kayyim'ne/

'we

are.

called'

/kayyim'

tene/

'you

(pi)

are called*

/kayyi

'mene/

'they

are

called*

/f

iyi

'me/

/alif

'me/'-, 'it

is

closed

/dori'me

lio/

/abari'mah

yan/

'it

is

cursed’

/kayyi

'me/

It

is

swept

i

will

be

chosen' ,

i

'he

is

called'

i

j

-19-

To.

In

class

II verbs

when the initial

vowel

is long,

the

passive


24/54

indicator

is

/m/

plus

that

vowel

shortened,

prefixed

to the

initial

con-

sonant

of the

stem.

The

original long vowel

as wel l as

the

vowel

fol¬

lowing

the

/m/

prefix are

short

in

the

passive form. The

long vowel

in

this

case

acts

l ike

a

double

vowel with

the

passive

indicator

/m/

pre¬

f ixed

to the second vowel. This

original long

vowel, however,,

has

been

classed

phonemically as

/V;/

rather

than

/YV/

because

of

other

consider¬

ations.

This

/mV/

prefix

passive

indicator

occurs

regularly

when

the

initial

vowel

of the

stem

is

long

regardless

of

what

the

first

consonant

may be

.

When

the

initial

vowel

is

short,

the

passive

indicator of

class

II

verbs

is

/m-/

before

/m/,

/f/,

/l/,

/b/,

or

sonants it is

/n-/.

An

/nn/

may sometimes

be replaced

by an

/en

'ge/

Before

all

other

con-

/mb/

/yernbe 'ge/

'it

is

filled

s

filled'

Bu t

this

replacing

of

/nn/

with

/mb/

is

not regulars

/yin?e

'be/

'he hates

An

/mb/

may

also

replace

the

./m/

before

an

/

o s

?o

're/

'I h id

Before

a

/gg/

the

/ng/'

is

replaced by

a

/nd/<

is

replaced

by

/nd/,

/yinne?e

'be/

'he is

hated'

/?/.

/yombo?o're/

'he is

hidden'

Before

/bb/

the

/mb/

Before a

/dg/

the

/n/

pref ix

is

replaced by

a

/d/«

Thus

s

/yindigi'fe/

'he

is struck'

/yindibi'de/

'he is caught'

/yiddigi

'le/

/yiggi'fe/

'he

struck,

kil led'-

/yibbi'de/

'he

caught'

/yidgi'le/

'he

broke'

:

it

is broken

Clusters

of

three

consonants

are regularly

divided by a vowel be -

In

the

fol lowing

the

cluster

of

three

consonants

that would

occur

with.

tween

the

second and third consonants of the

cluster.

two

verbs,

however

the passive

prefix is

divided

in a

different

manner.

This

irregularity

is probably a

phonologically defined

variant.

/yirge

'?e/

/undu

'

?e/

/yimirge

'

?e/

'it

is

cu t down'

/yumundu'?e/

'it is

swallowed

'he

cu t

down

'

'

he

swall

owe

d

'

A

few

i rregular

formations have been

noted

that do

no t seem to

fit

the

pattern

of

the other passives

and so

must

be

l isted

as

i rregular

t

f

ormations

;

/ummo'se/

'I

crushed'

/tungu'le/

'she

copied

/tunnoso

'me/

'it

is

crushed

'-

/tumugu'le/

'it

is .

copie-d'

Some

examples

of

the

more

regular

formations

of

class

II

passives

are

as

follows?

Active form

Passive

form

/erne

de

'we/

'I was medicated'

/yomoge'?e/

'he

was buried'

/yomo'de/

'he

is t ied'-

/yunqulu

'xe/

'it

is created'

/yumbuli'e/

'it

is seen'

/anqame

'le/

'it

will

be

eaten'

/yemle

;

'me/

'it

is sold'

Date post:	07-Jul-2018
Category:	Documents
Upload:	adyghe-tamar-chabadi
View:	221 times
Download:	0 times

An Outline of the PHONEMICS and MORPHOLOGY of the Afar (Dankali) Language of Eritrea, Ethiopia, and...

Documents