Oromo, West Central

Introduction

Oromo is a Cushitic language spoken in most parts of Ethiopia and northern parts of Kenya. It is the third most widely spoken language in Africa, after Hausa and Arabic. Oromos live in many regions as a result of expansion from their homeland in the highlands of Ethiopia beginning in the 16th century. Despite this wide geographic spread Oromos from inside and outside of Ethiopia can communicate with each other with relative ease.

The verb

Verbs inflect for person, gender, number, tense-aspect, mood, and voice. Tense marking does not play a major role in the language – the language divides events in time in two ways: complete (perfective/past) and incomplete (progressive – involving the present or future). Compound tenses are possible and are formed with a variety of auxiliary verbs. Several grammatical moods are attested: indicative, interrogative, imperative, and jussive (a directive mood that signals a speaker’s command, permission, or agreement).

Sample verb: beek- 'to know'

The first person singular present and past affirmative forms require the suffix -n to appear on the word preceding the verb or the word nan before the verb. The negative particle hin, shown as a separate word in the table, is sometimes written as a prefix on the verb.

	Past tense		Present tense				Jussive, Imperative
			Main clause		Subordinate clause
	Affirmative	Negative	Affirmative	Negative	Affirmative	Negative	Affirmative	Negative
Sg.1	-n beeke	hin beekne	-n beeka	hin beeku	-n beeku	hin beekne	haa beeku	hin beekin
Sg.2	beekte		beekta	hin beektu	beektu		beeki	hin beek(i)in
Sg.3 m	beeke		beeka	hin beeku	beeku		haa beeku	hin beekin
Sg.3 f	beekte		beekti	hin beektu	beektu		haa beektu
Pl.1	beekne		beekna	hin beeknu	beeknu		haa beeknu
Pl.2	beektani		beektu, beektan(i)	hin beektan	beektani		beekaa	hin beek(i)inaa
Pl.3	beekani		beeku, beekan(i)	hin beekan	beekani		haa beekanu	hin beekin