Kola

Kola (Native: ጅቆለ /d͡ʒɨˈkʼolə/, Arabic script: جقوله, Ethiopicist Latin script: Jïqolä, Bantuist Latin script: Jïkolä) is a Bantu language spoken by the Kola people (ወቆለ wäqolä).

Kola
ጅቆለ Jïqolä Jïkolä جقوله
Pronunciation	[d͡ʒɪˈkʼoˑlɐ]
Created by	Shariifka
Language family	Niger-Congo Atlantic–Congo Benue–Congo Southern Bantoid Bantu Northeast Bantu Kola

Introduction

Kola is a Bantu language spoken in northwestern Ethiopia and Eritrea.

Phonology

Orthography

Ge'ez abugida

IPA	ə	u	i	a	e	ɨ/-	o	ʷə	ʷi	ʷa	ʷe	ʷɨ/-
h	ሀ	ሁ	ሂ	ሃ	ሄ	ህ	ሆ
l	ለ	ሉ	ሊ	ላ	ሌ	ል	ሎ			ሏ
ħ	ሐ	ሑ	ሒ	ሓ	ሔ	ሕ	ሖ			ሗ
m	መ	ሙ	ሚ	ማ	ሜ	ም	ሞ			ሟ
s	ሠ	ሡ	ሢ	ሣ	ሤ	ሥ	ሦ			ሧ
r	ረ	ሩ	ሪ	ራ	ሬ	ር	ሮ			ሯ
s	ሰ	ሱ	ሲ	ሳ	ሴ	ስ	ሶ			ሷ
ʃ	ሸ	ሹ	ሺ	ሻ	ሼ	ሽ	ሾ			ሿ
kʼ	ቀ	ቁ	ቂ	ቃ	ቄ	ቅ	ቆ	ቈ	ቊ	ቋ	ቌ	ቍ
ʁ	ቐ	ቑ	ቒ	ቓ	ቔ	ቕ	ቖ	ቘ	ቚ	ቛ	ቜ	ቝ
b	በ	ቡ	ቢ	ባ	ቤ	ብ	ቦ			ቧ
v	ቨ	ቩ	ቪ	ቫ	ቬ	ቭ	ቮ			ቯ
tʰ	ተ	ቱ	ቲ	ታ	ቴ	ት	ቶ			ቷ
t͡ʃʰ	ቸ	ቹ	ቺ	ቻ	ቼ	ች	ቾ			ቿ
ħ	ኀ	ኁ	ኂ	ኃ	ኄ	ኅ	ኆ	ኈ	ኊ	ኋ	ኌ	ኍ
n	ነ	ኑ	ኒ	ና	ኔ	ን	ኖ			ኗ
ɲ	ኘ	ኙ	ኚ	ኛ	ኜ	ኝ	ኞ			ኟ
ʔ	አ	ኡ	ኢ	ኣ	ኤ	እ	ኦ
kʰ	ከ	ኩ	ኪ	ካ	ኬ	ክ	ኮ	ኰ	ኲ	ኳ	ኴ	ኵ
χ	ኸ	ኹ	ኺ	ኻ	ኼ	ኽ	ኾ	ዀ	ዂ	ዃ	ዄ	ዅ
w	ወ	ዉ	ዊ	ዋ	ዌ	ው	ዎ
ʕ	ዐ	ዑ	ዒ	ዓ	ዔ	ዕ	ዖ
z	ዘ	ዙ	ዚ	ዛ	ዜ	ዝ	ዞ			ዟ
ʒ	ዠ	ዡ	ዢ	ዣ	ዤ	ዥ	ዦ			ዧ
j	የ	ዩ	ዪ	ያ	ዬ	ይ	ዮ
d	ደ	ዱ	ዲ	ዳ	ዴ	ድ	ዶ			ዷ
d͡ʒ	ጀ	ጁ	ጂ	ጃ	ጄ	ጅ	ጆ			ጇ
ɡ	ገ	ጉ	ጊ	ጋ	ጌ	ግ	ጎ	ጐ	ጒ	ጓ	ጔ	ጕ
ŋ	ጘ	ጙ	ጚ	ጛ	ጜ	ጝ	ጞ	ⶓ	ⶔ	ጟ	ⶕ	ⶖ
tʼ	ጠ	ጡ	ጢ	ጣ	ጤ	ጥ	ጦ			ጧ
t͡ʃʼ	ጨ	ጩ	ጪ	ጫ	ጬ	ጭ	ጮ			ጯ
pʼ	ጰ	ጱ	ጲ	ጳ	ጴ	ጵ	ጶ			ጷ
t͡sʼ	ጸ	ጹ	ጺ	ጻ	ጼ	ጽ	ጾ			ጿ
t͡sʼ	ፀ	ፁ	ፂ	ፃ	ፄ	ፅ	ፆ
f	ፈ	ፉ	ፊ	ፋ	ፌ	ፍ	ፎ			ፏ
pʰ	ፐ	ፑ	ፒ	ፓ	ፔ	ፕ	ፖ			ፗ
IPA	ə	u	i	a	e	ɨ/-	o	ʷə	ʷi	ʷa	ʷe	ʷɨ/-

Notes:

¹ The base forms for non-labialized guttural (uvular, pharyngeal, and glottal) consonants are not normally used, since they do not occur with the vowel /ə/ except in ideophones, interjections, and loanwords.

² Gemination and tone are not normally indicated, and the vowel /ɨ/ is not distinguished from a null vowel. If absolutely necessary (e.g. in texts meant for learners/foreigners), gemination can be indicated with a overdot, stress with an underline, and unstressed /ɨ/ with an underdot.

Arabic abjad

Consonants

Arabic script				IPA	Notes
Final	Medial	Initial	Isolated
ـأ		أ		ʔ	Here hamzah is shown on alif, but it may occur on wāw (ؤ), yā' (ئ), or by itself (ء).
ـب	ـبـ	بـ	ب	b
ـپ	ـپـ	پـ	پ	pʰ
ـڀ	ـڀـ	ڀـ	ڀ	pʼ
ـت	ـتـ	تـ	ت	tʰ
ـث	ـثـ	ثـ	ث	θ	In Arabic loanwords. Often pronounced /s/ or /t/.
ـج	ـجـ	جـ	ج	d͡ʒ
ـچ	ـچـ	چـ	چ	ɡ
ـح	ـحـ	حـ	ح	ħ
ـخ	ـخـ	خـ	خ	χ
ـد		د		d
ـذ		ذ		ð	In Arabic loanwords. Often pronounced /z/ or /d/.
ـر		ر		r
ـز		ز		z
ـژ		ژ		ʒ
ـس	ـسـ	سـ	س	s
ـش	ـشـ	شـ	ش	ʃ
ـص	ـصـ	صـ	ص	s	In Arabic loanwords.
ـض	ـضـ	ضـ	ض	d	In Arabic loanwords.
ـڞ	ـڞـ	ڞـ	ڞ	t͡sʼ
ـط	ـطـ	طـ	ط	tʼ
ـظ	ـظـ	ظـ	ظ	ð	In Arabic loanwords. Often pronounced /z/ or /d/.
ـڟ	ـڟـ	ڟـ	ڟ	t͡ʃʼ
ـع	ـعـ	عـ	ع	ʕ
ـغ	ـغـ	غـ	غ	ʁ
ـف	ـفـ	فـ	ف	f
ـڤ	ـڤـ	ڤـ	ڤ	v
ـق	ـقـ	قـ	ق	kʼ
ـك	ـكـ	كـ	ك	kʰ
ـڭ	ـڭـ	ڭـ	ڭ	t͡ʃʰ
ـل	ـلـ	لـ	ل	l
ـم	ـمـ	مـ	م	m
ـن	ـنـ	نـ	ن	n
ـڹ	ـڹـ	ڹـ	ڹ	ŋ
ـݧ	ـݧـ	ݧـ	ݧ	ɲ
ـه	ـهـ	هـ	ه	h	Used word-finally as an "empty" consonant for words ending in /ə/.
ـو		و		w
ـي	ـيـ	يـ	ي	j

Vowels

Arabic script	IPA	Notes
ــَـ	ə; a	When occurring word-finally, is followed by ـهْ. Represents /ə/ except after gutturals, where it is /a/.
ــُـ	ɨ; u	Normally used for rounded allophone of /ɨ/ before /w/ and after labialized consonants. In Arabic loans and some common morphemes may represent /u/.
ــِـ	ɨ; i	Normally used for non-rounded allophones of /ɨ/. In Arabic loans and some common morphemes may represent /i/.
ــَـا	a
ــُـو	u
ــِـي	i
ــَـيْ	e
ــَـوْ	o
ــٰـ	a	Used in some common morphemes and a few Arabic loans.
ــًـا	ən; an	Occurs word-finally in some Arabic loans. Pronounced /an/ after gutturals and /ən/ otherwise.
ــْـ	C	Indicates a consonant not followed by a vowel.
ــّـ	Cː	Indicates a geminate consonant. Also used on و and ي for /uwV/ & /ijV/ respectively.
آ	ʔa	Used in some Arabic loans instead of أَ.

Labialization

Labialized consonants are represented as follows (/k/ is used as an example):

Arabic script	كُوَ	كُوِي	كُوَا	كُوَيْ	كُ
IPA	kʷə	kʷi	kʷa	kʷe	kʷɨ

Latin alphabet

There are two standardized Latin alphabets: a more common one based on the Semitic and Cushitic languages of Ethiopia ("Ethiopicist"), and a less common one based on other Bantu languages ("Bantuist"). The biggest difference between them is in the treatment of voiceless stops and affricates. In the Ethiopicist alphabet, the aspirated versions are treated as the unmarked forms and the ejective versions are treated as marked (as they are in Semitic and Cushitic languages). In the Bantuist alphabet, however, the ejectives are treated as unmarked and the aspirates as marked (as they are in Bantu languages). Since Kola is Bantu, the Bantuist alphabet more accurately represents the phonemes' status in the language; however, this article uses the more common Ethiopicist alphabet.

In both alphabets, clusters that can be confused with digraphs are separated with an apostrophe - e.g. s'h /sh/ vs sh /ʃ/. Labialization is indicated with a following w. Stress is not normally indicated in writing, but this article uses an acute accent.

Ethiopicist Bantuist IPA A a A a a Ä ä Ä ä ə B b B b b C c Ch ch t͡ʃʰ Ch ch C c t͡ʃ’ D d D d d E e E e e F f F f f G g G g ɡ Gh gh Q q ʁ H h H h h Hh hh Xh xh ħ I i I i i Ï ï Ï ï ɨ J j J j d͡ʒ K k Kh kh kʰ Kh kh X x χ L l L l l M m M m m N n N n n

Ethiopicist Bantuist IPA Ny ny Ny ny ɲ Ng ng Ng ng ŋ O o O o o P p Ph ph pʰ Ph ph P p p’ Q q K k k’ Qh qh Qh qh ʕ R r R r r S s S s s Sh sh Sh sh ʃ T t Th th tʰ Th th T t t’ U u U u u V v V v v W w W w w X x Ts ts t͡s’ Y y Y y j Z z Z z z Zh zh Zh zh ʒ ’ ’ ʔ

Consonants

Consonant phonemes

		Labial	Coronal	Palatal/ Postalveolar	Velar/Uvular		Pharyngeal		Glottal
					plain	labialized	plain	labialized
Nasal		m	n	ɲ	ŋ	ŋʷ
Stop	ejective	pʼ	tʼ		kʼ	kʷʼ
	aspirated	pʰ	tʰ		kʰ	kʷʰ			ʔ
	voiced	b	d		ɡ	ɡʷ
Affricate	ejective		t͡sʼ	t͡ʃʼ
	aspirated			t͡ʃʰ
	voiced			d͡ʒ
Fricative	voiceless	f	s	ʃ	χ	χʷ	ħ	ħʷ	h
	voiced	v	z	(ʒ)1	ʁ	ʁʷ	ʕ
Approximant			l	j		w
Tap/Trill			r

Notes:

¹ The distinction between /d͡ʒ/ and /ʒ/ has been lost in the standard language (except in a few loanwords), but is still present in some dialects.

² "Guttural" refers to everything post-velar - i.e. uvular, pharyngeal, and glottal.

³ All consonants have labialized allophones before the rounded vowels /o/ and /u/. The distinction between plain and labialized velars/gutturals is neutralized in this position.

Vowels

Vowel phonemes¹

	Front	Central2	Back
High	i	ɨ	u
Mid3	e	ə	o
Low		a

Notes:

¹ The vowels /ɨ, ə/ are considered "weak", and the rest are considered "strong". Strong vowels are slightly lengthened when accented in open syllables - e.g. ምጢ mïthí [mɪ̈tʼíˑ].

² The central vowels /ɨ, ə, a/ are actually pronounced closer to [ɪ̈, ɜ ~ ɐ, ä] respectively. They have front allophones [ɪ, ɛ ~ æ, a] after palatal/postalveolar consonants and rounded allophones [ʊ̈, ɞ ~ ɞ̞, ɒ̈] after labialized consonants and adjacent to /w/.

³ The mid vowels /e, o/ are generally pronounced [e̞, o̞].

⁴ The weak vowel /ə/ becomes /a/ after guttural consonants, and the two vowels often alternate with each other when followed by a guttural consonant (especially if said guttural is followed by a central or null vowel).

Prosody

Stress

Kola has a stress accent system. A word normally has one accented vowel (usually in one of the last three syllables), though some words may be unaccented. The accented vowel is generally pronounced with a higher pitch. Stress is not normally indicated in writing, but this article uses an acute accent.

Phonotactics

The maximum allowed syllable structure is CRVC word-internally and CRVCC word-finally (C = consonant, R = glide/liquid, V = vowel). Labialized consonants cannot occur before. Consonant clusters with more than two consonants are broken up by inserting the epenthetic vowel /ɨ/. /ɨ/ is also added (in speech only) after a word-final consonant cluster when the following word begins in a vowel.

Not all clusters are allowed word-finally. The following are allowed:

• Any geminate consonant (except uvular, pharyngeal, and glottal consonants, which cannot geminate in any position)
• Sonorant + non-glottal obstruent - e.g. /nt, mpʼ, lf, rg/
• Velar/guttural or labial obstruent + coronal obstruent or /ʃ/ - e.g. /bd, kʼt, ħʃ, ʔs/ (some speakers may separate these with /ɨ/)
• Fricative + stop - e.g. /st, ftʼ, ʃkʼ/

Any other word-final cluster is broken with /ɨ/. Alternatively, a word-final /i/ may be added, especially in loanwords - e.g. ዓቅሊ qháqli /ˈʕakʼli/ "reason, common sense" (from Arabic عقل /ʕaql/). Many loanwords ending in two consonants add an -i even when not the cluster does not violate phonotactics - e.g. ከልቢ kä́lbi "dog" (from Arabic كلب /kalb/).

Word-initially, a non-glottal stop can cluster with r, a non-glottal and non-coronal stop can cluster with l, and a non-guttural obstruent or nasal can cluster with y or w. Still, these clusters may be separated with /ɨ/ in careful speech.

Within a word, most two-consonant clusters are allowed (in theory). Some clusters do not occur due to coalescence (e.g. l + r → rr; t + d → dd) Guttural consonants do not normally cluster with each other, except in some loanwords (where they often fuse anyway) - e.g. ማዕሃድ máqh'had /ˈmaʕhad/ "institute" (also ማሓድ máhhad /ˈmaħad/).

Three-consonant clusters are allowed word-medially if they fulfill one of the following conditions:

• The first two can cluster in word-final position and the last two can cluster in word-initial position - e.g. ጅንግሊዚ Jïn'glízi /d͡ʒɨŋˈɡlizi/ "English (language)".
• Cluster allowed in word-final position preceded or followed by a glide.
• Sonorant + homorganic obstruent + non-homorganic obstruent - e.g. /mpt, ŋks, nt͡ʃk/

All three-consonant clusters may be separated with /ɨ/ in careful speech.

Vowels cannot occur in hiatus. When this would happen, they are separated with epenthetic consonants such as /j/, /w/, or /ʔ/.

Morphophonology

Sandhi

The following changes occur at morpheme boundaries:

• ï + w, y > u, i / _C / w or y is geminated
• ä + w, y > o, e / _C / w or y is geminated (this rule is optional)
• ï > Ø / C_C whenever possible
• ï > Ø / _V, V_
• u > w / K_V (i.e. labializes velars/gutturals)
• u > Ø / C_V (otherwise)
• i > Ø / C_V
• ä/a + a, e, i, o, u > a, e, e, o, o
• front/central vowel > Ø / e_
• back/central vowel > Ø / o_
• When a stressed vowel is lost due to sandhi, the absorbing/displacing vowel takes the stress.

Allophony and variation

• When the vowel "ä" occurs after non-labialized guttural (uvular, pharyngeal, or glottal) consonants, it becomes "a". This can also occur optionally before gutturals, especially if the guttural is followed by a central or null vowel.
• All consonants are labialized before the vowels o and u. The distinction between plain and labial velars/gutturals is lost in this circumstance.
• Labiovelar consonants followed by ä or ï can be written and pronounced as their non-labialized counterparts followed by o or u respectively. The inverse is also true. Note that w has no non-labialized counterpart and therefore remains w regardless (but the vowel alternations still apply).
• The vowels ä or ï can alternate with e or i respectively after palatal consonants.
• Word-initial vowels are pronounced with a preceding glottal stop.

Consonant mutations

Spirantization

p’, pʰ > f

b, w > v

t’, tʰ, t͡s’ > s

d, l, r > z

t͡ʃ’, t͡ʃʰ > ʃ

(dialectal: d͡ʒ > ʒ)

k’, kʰ, g > χ, ħ, ʕ (dialectal: f, f, v)

ŋ > ʁ (dialectal: v)

Fortition

p’, t’, t͡s’, t͡ʃ’, k(ʷ)’ > pʰ, tʰ, s, t͡ʃʰ, k(ʷ)ʰ

w, l, r, j, ŋ(ʷ) > b, d, d, d͡ʒ, g(ʷ)

χ(ʷ), ʁ, ʁʷ > ħ(ʷ), ʕ, w

Ø > ɲ / _V

Palatalization

ŋ, ʔ > j

k’, kʰ > t͡ʃ’, t͡ʃʰ

χ, ħ, h > ʃ

g > d͡ʒ

ʁ, ʕ > d͡ʒ (dialectal: ʒ)

Labialization

ŋ, k’, kʰ, g, χ, ħ, ʁ > ŋʷ, kʷ’, kʷʰ, gʷ, χʷ, ħʷ, ʁʷ

ʔ, ʕ > w

Historical phonology

Grand master plan

(Proto-Bantu reconstruction taken from Wikipedia.^[1] To avoid confusion, Proto-Bantu *j is written ɟ)

ɟ > Ø / V_a, ɲ_a

ɟ > Ø / (ɪ/i)_(ɪ/i) - for class 5/6 nouns, the *ɟ is also dropped from the plural by analogy

b, d, ɟ, g > _ / sporadic (mostly in common words)

Meinhof's Law: NC_VVN(C)V > NNVN(C)V (where C_V = voiced consonant)

p, b > p͡f, b͡v / _i, _u

t, d > t͡s, d͡z / _i, _u

velar > palatal / before front vowel

c, ɟ > c͡ç, ɟ͡ʝ / _i, _u

k, g > k͡x, g͡ɣ / _u

{in some dialects: k͡x, g͡ɣ > k͡f, g͡v}

ɪ, ʊ > i, u

i, e, u, o > j, j, w, w (transfers high tone to following vowel) / _V

V́, VV > V: (VV = doubled vowel)

ie, ei > e:

uo, ou > o:

ai, ae, au, ao > e:, e:, o:, o:

b, d, ɟ, g > β̞, l, j, ɰ / not preceded by nasal

p͡f, b͡v > f, v / not preceded by nasal

t͡s, d͡z > s, z / not preceded by nasal

c͡ç, ɟ͡ʝ > ç, ʝ / not preceded by nasal

k͡x, g͡ɣ > x, ɣ / not preceded by nasal

{k͡f, g͡v > f, v / not preceded by nasal}

Dahl's Law: (N)C_UVC_U > (N)C_VVC_U / in roots (where C_U = unvoiced consonant, C_V = voiced consonant)

[-voiced +prenasalized +stop/affricate] > [-prenasalized +aspirated] (i.e. mp, nt, etc > pʰ, tʰ, etc for all voiceless stops and affricates)

[-voiced -aspirated +stop/affricate] > [+voiced] / in grammatical affixes

[-voiced -aspirated +stop/affricate] > [+ejective] / otherwise

[+voiced +prenasalized +stop/affricate] > [-prenasalized] / #_, V:_ (i.e. mb, nd, etc > b, d, etc)

[+voiced +prenasalized +stop/affricate] > [-prenasalized +geminate] / V_

NN > N / #_, V:_

c͡ç’, c͡çʰ, ɟ͡ʝ > t͡ʃ’, t͡ʃʰ, d͡ʒ

c’, cʰ, ɟ > t͡ʃ’, t͡ʃʰ, d͡ʒ

ç, ʝ > ʃ, ʒ

k͡xʰ, g͡ɣ > qʰ, ɢ

p͡fʰ, b͡v > f, v

{k͡fʰ, g͡v > f, v}

ɰ > ŋ / all environments / in grammatical prefixes and some roots

qʰ, ɢ > χ, ʁ

Kw > Kʷ (where K = kʼ, kʰ, ɡ, ŋ, χ, ʁ, x, ɣ)

Kʷ > K / _VKʷ, _VP (where P = labial consonant)

χ(ʷ), ʁ > ħ(ʷ), ʕ (not in all dialects)

ʁʷ > w (not in all dialects)

x(ʷ), ɣ(ʷ) > χ(ʷ), ʁ(ʷ)

{ʒ > d͡ʒ}

β̞ > w

ɰ > w / before rounded vowel

ɰ > j / otherwise

a > ə

e, o > ə / _

a:, e:, o: > a, e, o

i, u > ɨ (u sometimes labializes velar consonants, especially in grammatical prefixes)

i:, u: > i, u

wɨ, jɨ > u, i / C_C, C_#

wə, jə > o, e / C_C, C_#

ɨ > Ø / _#, VC_C (starting from beginning of word) / disallowed by phonotactics

j > Ø / C_V (not always)

w > Ø / C_V (not always)

(due to the above two changes, many stems beginning in semivowels drop them and become vowel-initial)

l > r / sporadic

χ, ħ > h / sporadic

ə > a / after non-labialized guttural consonant

Kola used to have a pitch accent system with two distinctive tones: high/rising (indicated with an acute accent) and low/falling (indicated with a grave accent). This distinction has been lost in most modern varieties. The general development of tone was as follows (after taking tone shifts due to vowel reduction into account):

• á, áá, àá > á
• à, àà, áà > à
• ultimate or penultimate syllable of root accented; other tones dropped
• distinction between tones lost

Dialectal features

Some dialectal features not present in the standard language:

• Maintaining distinction between /ʒ/ and /d͡ʒ/.
• Maintaining distinction between dental and alveolar stops, and between sibilant and non-sibilant alveolar fricatives. The alveolar stops/affricates (/t͇’ ~ t͡ɬ’, t͇ʰ ~ t͡ɬʰ, d͇ ~ d͡ɮ/) and non-sibilant alveolar fricatives (/θ͇ ~ ɬ, ð͇ ~ ɮ/) correspond to Proto-Bantu palatals before non-front vowels, which in the standard language merged with other palatals.

Below is a table showing how these sounds are represented in the different writing systems:

IPA	t͇’ ~ t͡ɬ’	t͇ʰ ~ t͡ɬʰ	d͇ ~ d͡ɮ	θ͇ ~ ɬ	ð͇ ~ ɮ
Ge'ez	ⶸ	ⶨ	ዸ	ⶠ	ⶰ
Arabic	ۻ	تٜ	ڊ	ݑ	ذٜ
Latin (Ethiopicist)	tl	tlh	dl	sl	zl
Latin (Bantuist)	tlh	tl

• Maintaining tone distinction in stressed syllables. Depending on the dialect, there are three main tone systems:
  • 2-tone: High and low.
  • 3-tone: High, low, and falling.
  • 4-tone: High, low, rising, and falling.
• Maintaining full tonality in all syllables.
• Labialized/palatalized consonants where the standard has plain consonants.
• Devoicing of voiced fricatives.
• Reduction of guttural consonants in various ways. Some examples:
  • /ħ/ > /χ/ (actually a merger of earlier /χ/ & /x/)
  • /ħ/, /χ/ > /h/
  • /ħ/, /χ/ > /f/ (due to alternative pathway of spirantization)
  • /ʕ/, /ʁ/ > Ø
  • /ʕ/ > /ʁ/ (actually a merger of earlier /ɣ/ & /ʁ/)
  • /ʕ/, /ʁ/ > /ɰ/
  • /ʕ/, /ʁ/ > /ʔ/
  • /ʕ/, /ʁ/ > /ɦ/
  • /ʕ/, /ʁ/ > /v/ (due to alternative pathway of spirantization)
  • /ħ/, /χ/, /ʕ/, /ʁ/ > Ø

Morphology

Nouns

Noun classes

Kola preserves many of the Proto-Bantu noun classes.

Noun classes

Class	Noun prefix	Concord prefixes1						Typical meaning(s)2
		pronominal	extended pronominal	relative	subject	object	adjective
1	mï-/ïm-3; -	yï-	ye-	ya-	ya-	mï-	mï-	Humans*, kinship terms, personification*, animate*
2	wä-	wä-	wo-	wa-	wa-		wä-	Plural of class 1
3	mï-/ïm-3	wï-	wo-	wa-	wu-		mï-	Plants (and derivatives)*, natural phenomena, non-paired body parts, various*
4	mï-/ïm-3	jï-	jo-	ja-	ji-		mï-	Plural of class 3
5	zï-/ïz-3; -	lï-	lo-	la-	li-		zï-	Augmentatives*, amelioratives*, paired body parts, natural phenomena, expanses, individual things found in groups, various*
6	mä-	yä-	yo-	ya-	ya-		mä-	Plural of classes 5 & 14, mass nouns, collectives, collective actions
7	jï-/ïj-3	shï-	sho-	sha-	shi-		jï-	Tools/artefacts, diminutives*, languages*, resemblance, amelioratives*, derogatives*, disabilities/diseases, various*
8	vï-/ïv-3	vï-	vo-	va-	vi-		vï-	Plural of class 7
9	ⁿ-; -4	yï-	yo-	ya-	yi-		ⁿ-	Animals, inanimate, loanwords*, various*
10	ⁿ-; -4	ĵï-	ĵo-	ĵa-	ĵi-		ⁿ-	Plural of classes 9 & 11
11	lï-/ïl-3	lï-	lo-	lwa-	lu-		lï-	Abstract, manner/way/culture*, localized mass nouns, long or broad objects
12	gä-	gä-	go-	ga-	ga-		gä-	Diminutives*, derogatives*, amelioratives*, various
13	dï-/ïd-3	dï-	do-	dwa-	du-		dï-	Plural of class 12
14	wï-/ïw-3	wï-	wo-	wa-	wu-		wï-	Abstract*, countries/lands*, location terms*
15	g(w/ï)-5/ïg(w)-3	g(w/ï)-	go-	gwa-	gu-		g(w/ï)-	Infinitives & verbal nouns*
16	bä-	bä-	bo-	ba-	ba-		bä-	Specific/definite location*, "at/on/by"*, "from"*, "against"*, "to the detriment of"*, ablative*, instrumental*
17	g(w/ï)-/ïg(w)-3	g(w/ï)-	go-	gwa-	gu-		g(w/ï)-	Nonspecific/approximate location*, direction/destination*, recepient*, "for/to"*, "to the benefit of"*, plural of class 16
18	mu-	mu-	mo-	mwa-	mu-		mu-	Internal location*, "in"*

Notes:

¹ Subject and object concords are used for the subject and object of a verb respectively, and adjective concords are used with adjectives. Most other words use pronominal concords. The extended pronominal concords are used to form pronouns (see pronouns) and with quantifiers - e.g. ዎቸ wócä "all (animate pl.)" (stem: -cä) . The relative concords are used for relativized verbs and possessives.

Using the full set of concord prefixes is considered formal and old-fashioned, and they are normally replaced with animacy-based concords. Words agreeing with animate nouns use classes 1/2, while those agreeing with inanimate nouns use classes 9/10 (used by this article), 5/6, or some combination (e.g. 9/6). When a modifier is used with a noun, the concord prefix may be omitted in colloquial contexts.

The locative classes (classes 16-18) most often behave as prepositions, with the prefix appearing at the beginning of the noun phrase. However, there are some nouns inherently in these classes; these behave as nouns in any other class - e.g. በት bä́tt "place", ግት gḯtt "places, general area" (plural of bä́tt), ሙት mútt "interior".

² Productive meanings are marked with an asterisk.

³ Class prefixes of the form Cï- are metathesized to ïC- before stems beginning in C- (where C refers to the consonant in the prefix). Note that for the purposes of this metathesis, labialized velars are treated as their plain counterparts and vice versa - i.e. metathesis of the class 15 and 17 prefixes occurs whether the stem begins in g- or gw-, and in both cases the stem consonant merges with the stem-initial consonant. Note that the class 17 prefix does not metathesize when it is used as a preposition/case prefix.

⁴ ⁿ- = initial fortition

⁵ (w/ï) = -w- added before vowels

Additional notes:

Inanimate nouns (especially those whose plural form is identical to their singular) can form an alternative plural by adding the class 6 prefix mä- to either their singular or plural. Similarly, animate nouns (especially those not already in class 1) can add the class 2 prefix wä-.

e.g. class 3 ምጢ mïthí "tree" (stem: -thí) → class 4 ምጢ mïthí or class 6 መምጢ mämthí "trees"

class 5 ዚጨ zíchä "eye" (stem: -íchä) → class 6 ሜጨ méchä or መሜጨ mäméchä / መዚጨ mäzíchä "eyes"

class 5 ዝት zḯtt "giant; great person" (stem: -́tt) → class 6 መት mä́tt or class 2 ወመት mä́tt / ወዝት wäzḯtt "giants; great people"

Younger speakers tend to add the prefixes to the noun's singular form, while older speakers add them to the plural forms or don't add them at all. In this article, the traditional plurals are used.

Diminutive and augmentative prefixes may be added before the prefix of the base noun or directly to the stem. Locative prefixes are always added to the beginning of the noun phrase before any other prefixes and/or modifiers.

e.g. gä- + zíchä → ጌጨ géchä or ገዚጨ gäzíchä "little eye"

bä- + zíchä → በዚጨ bäzíchä (NOT *ቤጨ béchä) "in (an) eye"

bä- + lä- "the" + inanimate concord + -ngólä "red" + zíchä → በለጎለ ዚጨ bälägólä zíchä "in the red eye"

Case marking

Case is marked on the full nominal phrase. Prefixes occur at the beginning of the phrase and suffixes occur at the end.

• Absolutive: Unmarked. Used as the citation form, for nominal complements, for objects of adpositions, for the direct object of verbs, and for focused nominals.
• Nominative: Marked with -ni. Used for the subject of verbs and the copula (even when dropped) except when focused.
• Genitive: Formed with the possessive prefix a- (with the appropriate concord prefix).
• Dative: Class 17 prefix (g(w/ï)-). Used for indirect object, destination, "to/for", "to the benefit of".
• Ablative: Class 16 prefix (bä-). Used for source, "against", "to the detriment of".
• Instrumental: Class 16 prefix (bä-). Used for instrument, means.
• Locative: Class 16/17/18 prefix (bä-/g(w/ï)-/mu-). Used for location.
• Comitative: Marked with nä-. Means "with" (not instrumental).

Articles

The definite article is ለ- lä- (invariant), which attaches to the beginning of the noun phrase, immediately after any locative prefixes or other prepositions - e.g. ለዚጨ läzíchä "the eye"; በለዚጨ bäläzíchä "in the eye".

Kola does not have an indefinite article, though the numeral ሙ mú "one" can be used.

Pronouns

Personal pronouns

In this table, only animate (class 1/2) and inanimate (class 9/10) third person pronouns are shown. Other classes form pronouns analogically from their respective extended pronominal prefixes (see noun classes).

When taking a prefix or suffix, the clitic pronoun forms are used. For example, possessive pronouns/adjectives are formed by prefixing the relativizing particle to the clitic pronouns. The absolute pronouns can be used more or less interchangeable with the corresponding referential demonstratives (formed by reduplicating the clitic pronouns; see demonstratives).

The impersonal can be used to form passives and pseudopassives - e.g. ቴደ téddä "one walks"; ቱልዪዙጘ tulyizúngä "one is cooking it; it is being cooked" (the latter meaning can also be expressed with the passive extension: ዪልዙጟ yilzúngwa "it is being cooked").

Kola personal pronouns

Person	Independent		Concord prefixes
	absolute	clitic	extended pronominal	relative	pronominal	subject	object
1S	እሚ ïmí	ሚ mí	ኜ- nye-	ኛ- nya-	ኝ- nyï-
2S	እዌ ïwé	ዌ wé	ዌ- we-	ዋ- wa-	ው- wï-		ግ/ጕ- g(ï/w)-
3SA	እዬ ïyé	ዬ yé	ዬ- ye-	ያ- ya-	ይ- yï-	ያ- ya-	ም- mï-
3SI	እዮ ïyó	ዮ yó	ዮ- yo-	ያ- ya-	ይ- yï-	ዪ- yi-
1P	እሲ ïsí	ሲ sí	ዶ- do-	ዳ- da-	ዲ- di-
2P	እኒ ïní	ኒ ní	ኖ- no-	ና- na-	ኒ- ni-
3PA	እዎ ïwó	ዎ wó	ዎ- wo-	ዋ- wa-	ወ- wä-	ዋ- wa-
3PI	እጆ ïĵó	ጆ ĵó	ጆ- ĵo-	ጃ- ĵa-	ጅ- ĵï-	ጂ- ĵi-
IMP	እቶ ïtó	ቶ tó	ቶ- to-	ቷ- twa-	ት- tï-	ቱ- tu-
REF	እጦ ïthó	ጦ thó	ጦ- tho-	ጧ- thwa-	ጡ- thu-	–	ጡ- thu-

Demonstratives

There are three demonstratives in Kola: proximal, referential, and distal. Demonstratives can function as pronouns or adjectives.

1. Proximal: -ኖ -́no (pronominal concord)
   • Used for things near the speaker ("this/these").
   • Can be used in contrast with the referential for something that were mentioned earlier ("the former").
2. Referential: formed by reduplicating clitic pronoun (with stress on the first)
   • Used for things far from the speaker but near the listener ("that").
   • Also used for something that was mentioned earlier without reference to its distance.
   • Can be used in place of personal pronouns.
   • Used in contrast with the proximal for something that was mentioned later ("the latter").
3. Distal: -ላ -́la (pronominal concord)
   • Used for things that are far from both the speaker and listener ("that over there").

Notes:

• The proximal and distal demonstratives can either take regular or extended pronominal concord prefixes. The extended prefixes provide extra emphasis.
• The referential pronoun generally uses the non-reduplicated form (identical to the clitic pronoun) in the presence of a prefix.

Adjectives

Adjectives agree with the noun they modify, taking the appropriate adjective concord prefixes (see noun classes). However, except in very formal language, the full set of prefixes is not used and is replaced with animacy concords. Adjectives modifying animate nouns use class 1/2 prefixes (for the singular/plural repectively), and those modifying inanimate nouns use class 9/10 or 5/6 or 9/6 prefixes (9/10 is the most common and is used by this article). In very informal language, the concord prefixes can be dropped entirely.

Adjectives precede the noun they modify. They can be used independently without a noun, in which case the concord prefix is obligatory and cannot be dropped.

Numbers

In the below table, like the rest of this article, animacy concord is used (with 9/10 for inanimate). Class 7/8 forms are also given in order to demonstrate the effects of sandhi, particularly in the forms for "two". Note that 10 and higher numbers do not take concord prefixes.

Ordinal numbers are formed with the relativizing particle a- and therefore are technically possessives. For example, አቁም aqúm "tenth" literally means "of ten". አጓዘ agwázä "first" literally means "of the beginning" (from ጓዘ gwazä "beginning; to begin", stem: -azä).

Kola numbers

	Cardinal					Ordinal
	Counting	Adjective				no prefix	singular	plural animate
		stem	animate (1/2)	inanimate (9/10)	7/8
1	መሲ mä́si	ሙ mú	ምሙ mïmú	ሙ mú	ሽሙ shïmú	አጓዘ agwázä	ያጓዘ yagwázä	ዋጓዘ wagwázä
2	ውሊ wḯli	ውሊ wḯli	ዎሊ/ወውሊ wóli/wä́wli	ብሊ bḯli	ቩሊ vúli	አውሊ áwli	ያውሊ yáwli	ዋውሊ wáwli
3	ዳጥ dáth	ዳጥ dáth	ወዳጥ wädáth	ዳጥ dáth	ቭዳጥ vïdáth	አዳጥ adáth	ያዳጥ yadáth	ዋዳጥ wadáth
4	ኔ né	ኔ né	ወኔ wäné	ኔ né	ቭኔ vïné	አኔ ané	ያኔ yané	ዋኔ wané
5	ጫን chán	ጫን chán	ወጫን wächán	ቻን cán	ቭጫን vïchán	አጫን achán	ያጫን yachán	ዋጫን wachán
6	ቃጘ qángä	ቃጘ qángä	ወቃጘ wäqángä	ካጘ kángä	ቭቃጘ vïqángä	አቃጘ aqángä	ያቃጘ yaqángä	ዋቃጘ waqángä
7	ጦሎ thólo	ጦሎ thólo	ወጦሎ wäthólo	ቶሎ tólo	ቭጦሎ vïthólo	አጦሎ athólo	ያጦሎ yathólo	ዋጦሎ wathólo
8	ናኔ náne	ናኔ náne	ወናኔ wänáne	ናኔ náne	ቭናኔ vïnáne	አናኔ anáne	ያናኔ yanáne	ዋናኔ wanáne
9	ሰጛን sängán	ሰጛን sängán	ወሰጛን wäsängán	ሰጛን sängán	ቭሰጛን vïsängán	አሰጛን asängán	ያሰጛን yasängán	ዋሰጛን wasängán
10	ቁም qúm	ቁም qúm				አቁም aqúm	ያቁም yaqúm	ዋቁም waqúm
11	ቁምነ መሲ qúmnä mä́si	ቁምነ ሙ qúmnä mú	ቁምነ ምሙ qúmnä mïmú	ቁምነ ሙ qúmnä mú	ቁምነ ሽሙ qúmnä shïmú	አቁምነ ሙ aqúmnä mú	ያቁምነ ሙ yaqúmnä mú	ዋቁምነ ሙ waqúmnä mú

Verbs

Structure: Pre-SM + SM + NEG₂ + TA + OM + root + extension + FV + Post-FV

• Pre-SM (pre-subject marker): see prefixes below.
• SM (subject marker): subject concord prefixes - dropped in the imperative, obligatory otherwise.
• NEG₂ (secondary negation prefix): si-, used for infinitives and other derived nouns.
• TA (tense/aspect marker): see prefixes below.
• OM (object marker): object concord prefixes.
• root: base form of verb.
• extension: see verb extensions below.
• FV (final vowel): indicates tense/aspect and mood. The default FV is unaccented -ä/a (see suffixes).
• Post-FV (post-final vowel): includes negative suffix -m.

There are four classes of verbs based on conjugation (not counting derived verbs):

1. Regular verbs: Present stem ends in unaccented -ä (or -a after gutturals). The final vowel is dropped upon the addition of suffixes.
2. Variable vowel stems: Includes many monosyllabic verbs whose present stems end in -á. These verbs change their final vowel upon the addition of suffixes.
3. Invariable vowel stems: Present stem ends in an accented vowel or a vowel other than -ä/a (including some monosyllabic verbs in -á). These verbs keep their stem-final vowel upon the addition of suffixes.
4. Irregular verbs: Verbs that do not fit in any other class.

Non-finite forms

Nominalization prefixes occur at the beginning of the verb unit (in the pre-SM position).

Infinitive is a class 15 noun. It is formed by adding the class 15 prefix to the verb stem - e.g. ጔደ gwéddä "to walk" (root: -édd-), ግዙጘ gïzúngä "to cook (trs.)" (root: -zúng-).

Agent nouns are class 1/2. They are formed by adding the class 1/2 prefix to the verb stem. An older agent noun with a spirantized final consonant may also exist, often with a specialized meaning.

e.g. ሜደ méddä "walker; traveller; stranger" (pl: ዌደ wéddä); ሜዝ mézz "companion; traveller" (pl: ዌዝ wézz).

Negative and interrogative

Negation is accomplished with the circumfix ከ-ም kä-m in main clauses, the prefix ከ- kä- for subjunctive verbs, and the post-subject prefix -ሲ- -si- for relative verbs and derived nouns.

e.g. ኜደ nyéddä "I walk" → ከኜደም känyéddäm "I do not walk"

ከዌዴ käweddé "do not walk", ያያሴዴ yayaseddä "who does not walk"

ግሴደ gïséddä "to not walk", ምሴደ mïséddä "one who does not walk"

TAM

Prefixes

Pre-SM prefixes occur at the beginning of the verb before the subject prefixes. They include:

• nominalization prefixes (see non-finite forms above)
• አ- -ä-: relativizer
• ን- nï- (with subjunctive): "that" - e.g. ንኜዴ nïnyeddé "that I walk"
  • Can be used for necessative (must, should), often in combination with the applicative of the copula - e.g. ንኜዴ (ዪኝዋለ) nïnyeddé (yinywálä) "I must walk" (literally: "(there is on me) that I walk")
• ን- nï- (with indicative): places focus on verb - e.g. ንኜዴ nïnyédde "I did walk" (i.e. "(it is true) that I walked")
• ስ- sï-: negative counterpart of nï- - e.g. ስኜዴ sïnyeddé "that I do not walk", ስኜዴ (ዪኝዋለ) sïnyeddé (yinywálä) "I must not walk", ስኜዴ sïnyédde "I did not walk" (i.e. "(it is true) that I did not walk")
• ከ- kä-: primary negation prefix
• በ- bä-: "when, if; because"
• ደ- dä-: "like, as if"
• ግ/ጕ- g(w)ï-: "so that, in order that"
• ሙ- mu-: "while" (functions as participle)

Tense/aspect prefixes occur between the subject and object concords (after the non-finite negation morpheme si-). They include:

• -ገ- -gä-: itive - motion away from speaker/frame of reference, "go and -, go to -"
• -ሜ- -me-: anterior - event that occurred before the frame of reference and has present relevance, "have -ed"
• -ል- -lï-: progressive - "be -ing"
• -ቩ- -vu-: habitual - event that occurs/occurred regularly
• -ላ- -la-: future - event that will occur after frame of reference, "will, going to -"
• -ሌ- -le- (with perfect): avertive - event that almost occurred, "almost -ed"
• -ኡል- -ul-: frustrative - "fail to -; stop trying to -", event that occurred but without the intended outcome
• -አል- -äl-: conative - "try to -, put effort to -"

Suffixes

Note: The suffixes for class 2 and class 3 verbs, when they differ from regular verbs, are shown in round and curly brackets respectively.

Perfect is formed with the ending -e (-íre) {-re}. Suffix-derived verbs may form it irregularly (see verb extensions).

e.g. ጔዴ gwédde "to have walked", ግዙጜ gïzúnge "to have cooked"

Subjunctive is formed with the ending -é {-́}. There is no perfect subjunctive.

e.g. በዬዴ bäyeddé "if he/she/it walks"

The singular imperative is formed with the ending -á {-́} in the absence of prefixes, and identically to the subjunctive in the presence of object prefixes. The plural imperative is formed with the ending -(ä)ní. In both the singular and plural, the second person subject prefix is dropped in the absence of object prefixes and maintained in their presence. Both singular and plural imperatives are replaced with the corresponding subjunctives when negated.

e.g. ኤዳ eddá "walk", ውዪድሌ wïyeddïlé "walk to it", ኤድኒ eddïní "walk (pl.)", ኒዬድለኒ niyeddïläní "walk (pl.) to it"

ከዌዴ käweddé "do not walk", ከውዬድሌ käwyeddïlé "do not walk to it", ከኔዴ käneddé "do not walk (pl.)", ከኒዬድሌ käniyeddïlé "do not walk (pl.) to it"

Special imperative forms only exist in the second person; other persons use the subjunctive. In the second person, the subjunctive can be used to make a command softer.

Verb extensions

Notes:

• When verb extensions (other than the passive and intensive) are added, the verb always ends in the vowel -ä in the present.
• -^S and -^P represent spirantization and palatalization of the preceding consonant (if applicable) respectively. Recent loans might not be affected.

Passive is formed with the ending -́wa (-íwa) in the present and -́we (-íwe) in the perfect. With stems ending in a velar or guttural, labialize the final consonant and add -́a (present) / -́e (perfect).

e.g. ጔድሏ gweddḯlwa "to be walked to", ጔድልዌ gweddḯlwe "to have been walked to".

ግዙጟ gïzúngwa "to be cooked", ግዙⶕ gïzúngwe "to have been cooked".

Causative is formed with the suffix -^SPísh- (-ísh-) {-́sh-}, which becomes -^SPíz- (-íz-) {-́z-} before the perfect ending.

e.g. ጔዚሸ gwezzíshä "to cause to walk", ጔዚዜ gwezzíze "to have caused to walk".

ግዙጂሸ gïzujíshä "to make (someone) cook", ግዙጂዜ gïzujíze "to have made (someone) to cook".

Applicative is formed with the suffix -^P(ï)l- (-íl-).

e.g. ጔድለ gwéddïlä "to walk to", ጔዲሌ gwéddïle "to have walked to".

ግዙይለ gïzúylä "to cook for", ግዙይሌ gïzúyle "to have cooked for".

Reciprocal is formed with the suffix -än- (-án-) {-n-}.

e.g. ጔድለነ gwéddïlänä "to walk to each other", ጔድለኔ gwéddïläne "to have walked to each other".

ግዙጘነ gïzúngänä "to cook each other", ግዙጘኔ gïzúngäne "to have cooked each other".

Extensive is formed with the suffix -äng- (-áng-) {-ng-}. It indicates a large quantity.

e.g. ጔደጘ gwéddängä "to walk a lot", ጔደጜ gwéddänge "to have walked a lot".

ግዙጘጘ gïzúngängä "to cook a large amount", ግዙጘጜ gïzúngänge "to have cooked a large amount".

Intensive is formed by reduplication (-V́C(C)- → -VCV́C(C)-; -CV́ → -CVCV́). The intensive indicates that an action is performed repeatedly and/or intensively. The intensive and extensive are very similar in meaning and are often more or less interchangeable.

e.g. ጔደደ gwedéddä "to walk all over the place", ጔደዴ gwedédde "to have walked all over the place".

ግዙጙጘ gïzungúngä "to cook intensively/repeatedly", ግዙጙⶕ gïzungúnge "to have cooked intensively/repeatedly".

Middle is formed with the suffix -(ï)g- (-úg-). It has various uses including: forming the anticausative of lexically causative verbs (e.g. ግዙጘ gïzúngä "to cook (trns.)" → ዪዙጝገ yizúnggä "it cooks (intr.)"); forming de-agentivized passives (e.g. ግጝለ gï̀nglä "to sell" → ዪጝልጌ yingï̀lge "it was sold"); and forming potentials (e.g. ግላ gïlá "to eat" → ዪሉገ yilúgä "it is edible"; ግላለ gïlálä "to sleep" → ዪላልገ yilálgä "it can be slept on").

Suffixes can be stacked. The general order is intensive-middle-causative-applicative-reciprocal-extensive-passive, but this may change depending on meaning.

e.g. ጔዴዚሽለነጟ gwedezzishlänä́ngwa "to extensively be made to walk repeatedly to each other".

Some important verbs

Copulae

• -ል -́l (class 4, highly defective): used only in affirmative present indicative, no final vowel, can be dropped when clear from context.
• -ዋ -wá (class 3, defective): "to exist, be present, to be (locative, temporary), etc" - not used in perfect, used suppletively in negative and subjunctive for -́l.
• -ቃ -qá (class 3): "to stay, to be (locative, permanent), to live (at), etc" - occurs in all tenses and moods, perfect is used suppletively for -́l and -wá.

"To have"

• -ና -ná (class 3): "to have"

Particles

Focus particles

• ን- nï- :
  • (with nominals): places focus on the nominal - e.g. ንሚ ኛዬዴ nïmí nyayédde. "It is I who walked." (compare: ሚኒ ኜዴ míni nyédde. "I walked.")
  • (with verbs in the indicative): places focus on the verb - e.g. ንኜዴ nïnyedde "I did walk" (i.e. "(it is true) that I walked")
  • (with verbs in the subjunctive): "that" - e.g. ንኜዴ nïnyeddé "that I walk". Can be used for necessative (must, should), often in combination with the applicative of the copula - e.g. ንኜዴ (ዪኝዋለ) nïnyeddé (yinywálä) "I must walk" (literally: "(there is on me) that I walk")
• ስ- sï- : negative counterpart of nï-
  • (with nominals): negates and places focus on the nominal - e.g. ስሚ ኛዬዴ sïmí nyayédde. "It is not I who walked." (compare: ንሚ ኛያሴዴ nïmí nyayasédde. "It is I who did not walk."; ሚኒ ከኜዴም míni känyéddem. "I did not walk.")
  • (with verbs in the indicative): negates and places focus on the verb - e.g. ስኜዴ sïnyédde "I did not walk" (i.e. "(it is true) that I did not walk")
  • (with verbs in the subjunctive): "that not" - e.g. ስኜዴ sïnyeddé "that I do not walk". Can be used for negative necessative (must not, should not), often in combination with the applicative of the copula - e.g. ስኜዴ (ዪኝዋለ) sïnyeddé (yinywálä) "I must not walk" (literally: "(there is on me) that I do not walk")

Conjunctions

• -ነ -nä: "and" - joins components in a clause
• ና na: "and" - joins clauses

Adpositions

• Locative prefixes (with all their meanings)
• Possessive prefix
• ደ- dä-: "like; in the same way as"
• ነ- nä-: "with"
• Circumfixes formed from prefix + noun:
  • ግ- ሙት g(w/ï)- mútt: "into"
  • ግ- በዬ g(w/ï)- bäyé: "out of"
  • በ- ግት bä- gḯtt: "in the general area of"
  • በ- ገጢ bä- gäthí: "inside of; in the middle of; (with plural) between, among"
  • በ- ሙት bä- mútt: "inside of"
  • በ- በዬ bä- bäyé: "outside of"
  • በ- ማኛ bä- mánya: "when, at the time when"
  • በ- ግጊሰ bä- gïgísä: "because; because of"

Syntax

Constituent order

SOV

Noun phrase

Modifiers precede noun

Verb phrase

Verb-final

Adpositional phrase

Prepositions, postpositions, circumpositions.

Dependent clauses

Follow the same word order as main clauses (SOV, etc). Subordinating particles directly precede the verb, unless they are used for other functions (such as possession).

Relative clauses and possession

Relativizing particle: a- (combines with pronominal concord prefixes, sometimes irregularly - see noun classes and personal pronouns)

When used with a verb, the relativizing particle takes pronominal concord prefixes (with some irregularities) and precedes the subject concord prefix. The verb occurs in the indicative. When the subject is first/second person, either first/second or third person subject prefixes can be used - e.g. ኛኝልዪዙጘ ኘመ nyanyïlyizúngä nyämä or ኛያልዪዙጘ ኘመ nyayalyizúngä nyämä "meat that I cooked" (more literally, "that-I-cooked-it meat"). It is negated with the post-subject secondary negation morpheme -ሲ- -si-.

The relativizing particle is also used with nouns/pronouns for the possessive, in which case it attaches to the possessor. With possession, concord prefixes agree with the possessed. The concord prefix is generally dropped in the presence of a preposition.

Like most modifiers, relative clauses and possessors precede the noun they modify.

Vocabulary

Time - ማኛ (mánya)

Seasons -

English
spring
summer
fall
winter

Gregorian months -

English
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

Days of the week -

English
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday

Parts of the day -

English
day
dawn
morning
noon
afternoon
evening
dusk
night
midnight

Units of time -

English
second
minute
hour
day
week
month
season
year

Time adverbs -

English
now
then
recently, a short time ago
earlier
soon, shortly
later
always
often
sometimes
rarely
never
ever
still, yet
already
today
tonight
yesterday
last night
tomorrow
before yesterday
two nights ago
after tomorrow
this week
last week
next week

Colours -

Colours -

English
white
grey
black
red
orange
brown
yellow
green
blue
pink
purple
golden

Example texts

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 1)

Ge'ez script: ወት ዎቸኒ በዋቫሏ ወናጻ ዋል ና በክብሪነ በሓቂ ዋልገነ። ሕልናነ ዓቅሊ በዋሜጂጳሏ፣ ባውልጙ መንፈስ ንዋጅለኔ ዪዋዋለ።

Phonetic Ge'ez script: ወት፞ ዎቸኒ በዋቫሏ ወናጻ ዋል ና በክብሪነ በሓቂ ዋልገ፞ነ። ሕል̣፞ናነ ዓቅሊ በዋሜጂጳሏ፣ ባውልጙ መንፈስ ን̣ዋጅ̣ለ፞ኔ ዪዋዋለ።

Vowelless Arabic script: .وت ووڭني بوڤالوا وناڞا ول نا بكبري نبحق ولچنه. حلنا نعقلي بوميجڀالوا، بولڹو منفس نوجلني يوواله

Vowelled Arabic script: .وَتّْ وَوْڭَنِي بَوٰڤَالُوَا وَنَاڞَا وٰلْ نَا بَكِبْرِي نَبَحَقِّ وَلِچَّنَهْ. حِلِّنَا نَعَقْلِي بَوٰمَيْجِڀَالُوَا، بٰوْلِڹُو مَنْفَسْ نُوٰجِلَّنَيْ يِوَوَالَهْ

Ethiopianist script: Wätt wocäni bäwavalwa wänaxa wal na bäkïbrinä bähhaqqi walïggänä. Hhïllïnanä qhaqli bäwamejiphalwa, bawlïngu mänfäs nïwajïlläne yiwawalä.

Bantuist script: Wätth wochäni bäwavalwa wänatsa wal na bäkhïbrinä bäxhakki walïggänä. Xhïllïnanä qhakli bäwamejipalwa, bawlïngu mänfäs nïwajïlläne yiwawalä.

This article's script: Wä́tt wócäni bäwaválwa wänáxa wál na bäkḯbrinä bähháqqi walḯggänä. Hhḯllïnanä qháqli bäwameĵiphálwa, bawlḯngu mänfä́s niwaĵïlläné yiwawálä.

IPA (phonemic): /ˈwətʰː ˈwot͡ʃʰəni bəwəˈvalʷa wəˈnat͡sʼa ˈwal na bəˈkʰɨbrinə bəˈħakʼːi waˈlɨgːənə || ˈħɨlːɨnanə ˈʕakʼli bəwaˌmed͡ʒiˈpʼaˑlʷa | bawˈlɨŋu mənˈfəs nɨwaˌd͡ʒɨlːəˈne jiwaˈwalə/

IPA (phonetic): [ˈwɞ̞tʰː ˈwo̞ˑt͡ʃʰæni bɞ̞wɒ̈ˈväˑlʷɒ̈ wɞ̞ˈnät͡sʼä ˈwɒ̈l nä bɐˈkʰɪ̈brinɐ bɐˈħäkʼːi wɒ̈ˈlɪ̈gːɐnɐ || ˈħɪ̈lːɪ̈nänɐ ˈʕäkʼli ˈkʷʰo̞ˑlɐ bɞ̞wɒ̈ˌme̞d͡ʒiˈpʼäˑlʷɒ̈ | bɒ̈wˈlɪ̈ŋʷu mɐɱˈfɐs nʊ̈wɒ̈ˌd͡ʒɪlːɐˈneˑ jiwɒ̈ˈwɒ̈ˑlɐ]

Gloss: C2.people AGR₂-all-NOM when-SM₂-give_birth-PASS-PRES AGR₂-free SM₂-be-PRES and C16-C9.dignity and C16-C10.rights SM₂-be_equal-PRES. C9.conscience and C9.reason because-SM₂-ANT-OM₁₀-give-APP-PASS-PRES, with-POSS-C14.brotherhood C3.spirit that-SM₂-OM₁₀-act-APP-REC-SUBJ SM₉-OM₂-be-APP.PRES.

Literal translation: All people, when they are born, are free and are equal in dignity and rights. Because they have been given conscience and reason, there is on them that they act to each other in a spirit of brotherhood.