Browsing by Author "Woldemariam, Hirut"

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    A Grammar of Haro With Comparative Notes on The Ometo Linguistic Group
    (Addis Ababa University, 2004-02) Woldemariam, Hirut; Yimam, Baye (Professor)
    The aim of this study is two-folded. The first one is providing a thorough description of the Haro language, while the second one is offering some comparative and historical notes on the Ometo linguistic group, which Haro belongs to. The two aspects complement each other. The data for the comparative analysis is derived from the description of Haro. Presenting the Haro data within a comparative framework, on the other hand, discloses more facts about the Haro language and the relationship it has with the others. Although it particularly emphasizes on the morphological domain, the description, however, also covers the phonological and syntactic structures of the language. Haro is an interesting language from typological and historical perspectives. For instance, the Haro language shows an intricate system of focus marking that affects the morpho-syntactic properties and categorization of a verb. The language has a three-way number-marking system that distinguishes among the singular, paucal and plural number values. The numeral system of Haro is not attested to anywhere else in the Ometo linguistic group. An elaborated system of mood and modality is also observed in Haro. The second part of the study, dealing with comparative and historical notes on certain morphological aspects of the Ometo languages, adds to our understanding of the Ometo linguistic group. It shows how certain grammatical aspects in the Ometo languages operate. It also reconstructs the archaic systems for the Proto-Ometo language. Issues addressed in the second part include the system of terminal vowels of nominals, the system of number marking of nouns and the system of definite marking vii of nouns. In addition, the pronoun systems across the Ometo languages are investigated, in which the short and long pronoun paradigms in the Ometo languages are particularly explored, properties of the two sets of pronouns are characterized, the relationship between the two sets is described and an etymological interpretation that relates the third person singular pronouns with the remote demonstrative is offered. Furthermore, an investigation into the numeral system of the Ometo languages is made. A historical quinary numeral system is reconstructed and etymological interpretations are provided for the quinary base as well as some of the basic numerals. The quinary base, which stands for the value of ‘five’, is etymologically related to the quantifier expression ‘many’. From the comparative notes, the relationship among the different sub-branches and different members of Ometo is disclosed. Haro, together with a few other members, appears to be conservative, preserving two gender-sensitive archaic definite markers, which have been lost totally or partially from most of the other members of Ometo.
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    Word Formation in Yam
    (Addis Ababa University, 1993-06) Woldemariam, Hirut; Yimam, 8aye
    Complex words are f ormed by applying different word fo rmation rules to simple or derived forms . This study aims a t presenting possible ways of word formations in Yam . It also tries to describe the structures and nature of the derived forms. In- this connect ion, affixation compound ing and reduplication have been dealt with as major proce s ses of word formation . Nominals, verba ls and adjectivals are formed by attaching different affixes to different roots or stems . Compounding is another type of word formation, in which two words are combined to fo r m a new one . t Moreover, more complex compounds, that is, com poun~s with three components are also possible in the language . Reduplication of words can also r esu lt in d er iv i ng new words . Reduplication of verb roots, for instance, r esults in intensive and frequentative forms. Changing tone patterns of existing words is also a possible word formation process, though not as productive as the others. .',~ : Der ived words behave differently from their Of> base forms phonologically , morphologically , ~ syntactically and semantically.