Afaan Oromo/Chapter 08

Chapter 8: Adverbs

Adverbs may modify the manner of an action (e.g., “he talks loudly”), indicate the time of action (“I will go to Addis tomorrow”), give location (“my house is far from here”), or indicate degree (“I like it a lot”).

Bus Station Conversation
Imalaa: Sa'aatiin meeqa? Gargaaraa: Sa'aatii lama fi walakaa. Imalaa: Sa'aatii meeqatti otobisii gara Jimma deema? Gargaaraa: Sa'aatii afuritti deema. Imalaa: Amma otobisiichi asi jira? ''Gargaaraa: Lakki. Amma asi hin deemu. Ganama asitti argama.'' Imalaa: Hammam dheerata Jimma ga'uf? Gargaaraa: Asirra sa'atti sadii fudhata. Imalaa: Kan biraa isaa dura kan deemu jira? ''Gargaaraa: Kan dursu amma hin jiru. Baasiin Jimma sa'atti kudha lama, sa'atti afur, fi sa'atti saddeetitti.'' ''Imalaa: Tole. Galatomi.'' Gargaaraa: Homaa miti.

[For translation see here]

Adverbs of Manner
Adverbs of manner can be formed from a verb, by putting the modifying verb in the simple past, or from an adjective or noun, by using the locative or instrumental declension.

Using the Simple Past as an Adverb
An adverbial phrase may be constructed using two verbs together, with the adverbial verb coming first and in the simple past form.

Examples: “Inni jabeesse hojjate” &mdash; “He worked hard” [lit. “He made strong worked”] “Isheen laaffifte dubbatte” &mdash; “She spoke softly” [lit. “She made soft spoke”] “Ani daafe nan deema” &mdash; “I will hurriedly go” [lit. “I hurried will go”]

Using the Instrumental Case as an Adverb
Nouns have several cases they can take, including the subject (nominative) and direct object (accusative) mentioned in Chapter 5. The instrumental case is one of the many kinds of indirect object forms a noun can take and demonstratives that the noun is a means, analogous to the English “with” or “by”. There are three ways to form the instrumental case:  For nouns that end in a consonant, -iin is suffixed. For example, bishaan is water, and bishaaniin is “with/by water”. For nouns that end in a short vowel, the final vowel will be lengthened and either a -n or -tiin suffixed. For nouns that end in a long vowel, -n, -tiin, or -dhaan may be suffixed. For example, abshaalummaa is “cleverness”, so that abshaalummaan/abshaalummaatiin/ abshaalummaadhaan means “with cleverness” or “cleverly”.

Using the Locative Case as an Adverb
Another indirect object form a noun can take is the locative case which is used like the English “at” or “in”. This is formed with the -(i)tti suffix. For example, guutuumaa is “fullness” or “completeness”, and guutuumaatti is “in full” or “absolutely”.

3 Kinds of “How”
In English, we may ask “how?” to mean 1) “in what state?”, as in “how are you?”, 2) “in what way?”, as in “how do you bake a cake?”, or 3) “to what extent?”, as in “how far did you run?”.  To ask about the state of something, akkam(i) is typically used, as in “akkam jirta?” or “akkami ganama kana?”. “Akkam” or “akkami” are also common ways to say a simple “hi”. To describe the method of something, akkamitti is most often used. Akkamitti most literally means “in what way”. To inquire about quantity, meeqa means “how much/many”. For other kinds of extent, hammam (hagam may be more common in some dialects) can be put in front of adjectives. For instance “how far?” is “hammam fagoo?”, but “how many kilometers?” is “kiiloomeetirii meeqa?”.</ol>

Telling Time
The Ethiopian clock, like the Ethiopian calendar, is different than what we use in America and Europe, what Ethiopians call ferenji time (FT). The sun rises at 1:00 Ethiopian time (ET, also called Habasha time), which is equivalent to 7:00am FT. Noon is thus 6:00 ET, and ET can be calculated by adding or subtracting 6 hours from FT. Instead of AM and PM, there are four periods of the day, identified in Oromo by ganama (morning), waaree booda (afternoon), galgala (evening), and halkan (night).

For expressing minutes before or after the hour, fi (“and”) is used for after the hour, and hanquu/ hir'uu (“incomplete”) is used for before.

Temporal Modifications of a Verb
To indicate that an action occurs at intervals, the time period can be repeated, as in “guyyaa guyyaa” to mean “everyday”. The -uu suffix is also sometimes used, so that guyyuu also means “everyday”

Examples: weekly, every week &mdash; torban torban monthly, every month &mdash; ji'a ji'a yearly, every year &mdash; bara bara or waggaa waggaa always, everytime &mdash; yeroo hunda, hooggayyuu, or yoomuu

The locative suffix -tti is used for specifying an action taking place in or during a certain time.

Examples: at night &mdash; halkanitti at once &mdash; amma ammatti meanwhile &mdash; gidduutti or hangasitii

To signify “in” to mean “after”, as in “in one week” or “after one week”, one may use keessaatti, booda, or dhufu.

Examples: “We will start work next week.” &mdash; “Nuti torban dhufu hojii jalqabna.” “I will leave for Adama in 4 days.” &mdash; “Ani gara Adaamaa guyyaa afur keessaattin deema.” “She will return next month.” &mdash; “Isheen ji'a booda deebiiti.”

To express duration, as in “for 3 days”, one may use the -f suffix. “Until” can be expressed by hamma or hanga.

Examples: until now, yet &mdash; hanga ammaatti “I will be in Adama for 3 days” &mdash; “Guyyaa sadiif Adaamaarran jira.” “Don't start until I return” &mdash; “Hamma nan deebi'a hin jalqabin.”

More constructions for time clauses are discussed in Chapter 15.

Place Adverbs
To express “at” or “to”, most often the locative suffix -tti is applied. To express “from”, either irraa or a -rraa suffix can be used.

Examples: here &mdash; as(i) to here, in here &mdash; asitti from here &mdash; asirra there &mdash; achi to there, in there &mdash; achitti from there &mdash; achirra “I'd like to invite you to my house.” &mdash; “Mana kootti si affeeruun barbaade.” “In what month do you return from Jima?” &mdash; “Ja'i kamitti Jimmarraa deebiita?”

Other locational relations are described using prepositions and postpositions as discussed in Chapter 10.

Adverbs of Degree
Both baay'ee and hedduu mean “many, much, a lot”. Baay'ee is also used where English would use “very”. For “small” or “few”, xinnaa, xinnoo, xiqqaa, and xiqqaa are most common, where the -oo ending is for the feminine (xinnoo is less than xinnaa). Bicuu and maddee also mean “little, few”.

Examples: baay'ee gaarii dha &mdash; “it's very good” biyyaa Oromoo keessa laga hedduu jira &mdash; “There are many rivers in Oromia” Afaan Oromoo xinnoon beeka &mdash; “I know a little Oromo”

For repeated actions si'a or hoggaa can be used like the English “times”. “Twice” is therefore si'a lama [lit. “two times”], for example.

Hamma, used early for time adverbs, more generally means “as much as”. For example, “lend me as much as you can” would be “hamma dandeessu naaf liqeessi”.