Harari is an Ethiopian Semitic language spoken by the Harari people of Ethiopia. According to the 2007 Ethiopian census, it is spoken by 25,810 people. Most of its speakers are multilingual in Amharic and/or Eastern Oromo.^[] Harari is closely related to the Eastern Gurage languages, Zay, and Silt'e, all of whom are linked to the now extinct Semitic Harla language.^[3][4] Locals or natives of Harar refer to it as G?y Ritma or G?y Sinan "language of the City" (G?y is the word for how Harari speakers refer to Harar, whose name is an exonym).^[5]

Harari was originally written with a version of the Arabic script, then the Ethiopic script was adopted to write the language. Some Harari speakers in diaspora write their language with the Latin alphabet.

Vowels

/æ, a, e, ai, ?, i/

Grammar

Nouns

Number

Wolf Leslau discusses Harari-East Gurage phonology and grammar:^[6] The noun has two numbers, Singular and Plural. The affix -a? changes singulars into plurals:

ab, a man; aba?, men.

wandaq, a servant; wandaqa?, servants.

gar, a house; gara?, houses.

Nouns ending in a or i become plural without reduplicating this letter:

gafa, a slave; gafa?, slaves.

gubna, a harlot; gubna?, harlots.

lii, a son; lia?, sons.

mäqbärti, a grave; mäqbärta?, graves.

/s/ alternates with /z/:

färäz, a horse; färäza?, horses.

iraaz, toga; iraaza?, togas.

Gender

Masculine nouns may be converted into feminines by three processes. The first changes the terminal vowel into -it, or adds -it to the terminal consonant:

rágá, an old man; rágít, an old woman.

buchí, male dog; buchít, female dog

wasíf, a slave boy; wasífít, a slave girl.

Animals of different sexes have different names. and this forms the second process:

bárá, an ox; lám, a cow.

The third and the most common way of expressing sex is by means of aboch, "male or man," and inistí: woman, " female, corresponding to English " he-" and " she-":

aboch faraz, a stallion; inistí faraz, a mare.

aboch abar a he mule; inistí abar, a she mule.

Pronouns

The affixed pronouns or possessives attached to nouns are:--

Singular.

1st Pers. - e, my or mine. : Gár-e, my house.

2nd Pers. - khá, thy or thine. Gár-khá, thy house.

3rd Pers. - zo, or - so, his. Gár-zo, his house.

Plural.

1st Pers. - zinya or sinya, our. : Gár-zinya, our house.

2nd Pers. - kho, your. Gár-kho, your house.

3rd Pers. - ziyu or siyu, their. Gár-ziyu, their house. (384)^{[clarification needed]}

In the same way attached pronouns are affixed to verbs:

Sit-ayn: give (thou to) me.

Sit-ana: give (thou to) us.

The demonstrative pronouns are:

Sing. Yí, this.

Yá', that.

Plur. Yíách, these.

Yá'ách, those.

The interrogative pronouns are the following:

Mántá: who?

Mintá: what?

Án atti'e hárkho: I myself went.

Akhákh attikha hárkhí: thou thyself wentest.

Azo attiizo hára: he himself went.

Verbs

The following are the two auxiliary verbs:

Past Tense.

Sing. 1. I became: Án ikaní náarkho.

2. Thou becamest: Akhákh tikání nárkhí.

3. He became: Azo ikáni nárá.

Plur. 1. We became: Innách nikání nárná.

2. Ye became: Akhákhách tikání nárkhú.

3. They became: Aziyách ikání nárú.

Present Tense.

Sing. 1. I become: Án ikánákh.

2. Thou becomest: Akhákh tikánákh.

3. He becomes: Azo ikánál.

Plur. 1. We become: Inyách nikánáná.

2. Ye become: Akhákhách tikánákhu.

3. They become: Aziyách yikánálú.

Imperative.

Become thou, "Kanni". Become ye, "Kánnú".

Prohibitive.

Sing. 2. Become not, ikánnumekh.

Plur. 2. Become not ye, tikánnumekhu.

Past Tense.

(Affirmative Form.)

Sing. 1. I went, Án letkho.

2. Thous wentest, Akhákh letkhí.

3. He went, Azo leta.

Plur. 1. We went, Inyách letna.

2. Ye went, Akhákhách letkhú.

3. They went, Aziyách letú.

(Negative Form.)

Sing. 1. I went not, Án alletkhúm.

2. Thou wentest not, Akbákh alletkhím.

3. He went not, Azo alletám.

Plur. 1. We went not, Inyách aletnám.

2. Ye went not, Akhákách alletkhúm.

3. They went not, Azziyách alletúm.

Present Tense.

(Affirmative Form.)

1. I go, Án iletákh 1. Inyásh niletáná.

2. Thou goest, Akhákh tiletínakh 2. Akhákhách tiletákhú.

3. He goes, Azo yiletál 3. Azziyách yiletálú.

(Negative Form.)

Sing. 1. I go not, Án iletumekh.

2. Thou goest not, Akhákh tiletumekh.

3. He goes not, Azo yiletumel.

Plur. 1. We go not, Inyách niletumena.

2. Ye go not, Akhákhach tiletumekhú.

3. They go not, Azziyách iletuelú.

Sing. 1. I will go, Án iletle halkho.

2. Thou wilt go, Akháhk tiletle halkhí.

3. He will go, Azo iletle hal.

Plur. 1. We will go, Inyách niletle halns.

2. Ye will go, Akhákhách tiletle halkhú.

3. They will go, Azziyách niletle halns.

Numerals

• 1. Ahad
• 2. Ko'ot
• 3. Shi'ishti
• 4. Haret
• 5. Ham'misti
• 6. Siddisti
• 7. Sa'ati
• 8. Su'ut
• 9. Zahtegn
• 10. Asir
• 11. Asra ahad
• 12. Asra ko'ot
• 13. Asra shi'ishti
• 14. Asra haret
• 15. Asra ham'misti
• 16. Asra siddisti
• 17. Asra sa'ati
• 18. Asra su'ut
• 19. Asra zahtegn
• 20. Kuya
• 30. Saasa
• 40. Arbîn
• 50. Hamsein
• 60. Sit'tin
• 70. Sa'ati asir
• 80. Su'ut asir
• 90. Zahtana
• 100. Baqla
• 1,000. Kum

References

Works cited

• Abdurahman Garad and Ewald Wagner. 1998. Harari-Studien : Texte mit Übersetzung, grammatischen Skizzen und Glossar. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. ISBN 3-447-03937-X. [1]^{[permanent dead link]}
• Cerulli, Enrico. "La lingua e la storia di Harar" in Studi Etiopici, vol. I, 1936 (Roma).
• Gardner, Simon and Ralph Siebert. 2001. "Sociolinguistic survey report of the Zay language area." SIL Electronic Survey Reports, 2002-024. PDF
• Cohen, Marcel. 1931. Etudes d'éthiopien méridional. Paris. pp. 243-354.
• Leslau, Wolf (1937). "Contributions a l'etude du harari (Abyssinie meridionale)". Journal Asiatique. 229.
• Leslau, Wolf. 1958. The verb in Harari : (South Ethiopic). Berkeley: University of California Press.
• Leslau, Wolf (1965). Ethiopians speak: studies in cultural background. University of California Press.
• Leslau, Wolf (1959). "An Analysis of the Harari Vocabulary". Annales d'Ethiopie. 3 (1): 275-298. doi:10.3406/ethio.1959.1310.
• Mondon-Vidailhet, François Marie Casimir. 1902. La langue Harari et les dialectes Ethiopies du Gouraghe. Paris: Imprimerie nationale.
• Wagner, Ewald. 1983. Harari-Texte in arabischer Schrift : mit Übersetzung und Kommentar. Wiesbaden: F. Steiner.

External links

• World Atlas of Language Structures information on Harari
• Grammatical Outline and Vocabulary of the Harari Language