Foreign Language and Literature

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    The Origin and Development Amharic Literatuhe
    (Addis Ababa University, 1981-05) Aregahegne, Assefa; Araaya, Hailu (PhD)
    A considerable number of studies of Amharic literature have been written by Ethiopian as well as foreign scholars. Studies by Ethiopians are v.ry fragmentary and those by foreigners reveal distortions. This thesis attempts to overcome ~ these problems of fragmentation and distortion in the study of Amharic literature. The topic is very vast and the thesis is necessarily a very condensed survey of the development of Amharic literature along with a critical analysis of epoch-making Amharic novels, plays and poetical works. Compared to other African and even European countries, Ethiopia has a very old literary tradition. Although the masses ~f the people still remain illiterate, literacy and hence the art of writing has its roots in Ethiopian antiquity. Ethiopia's earlie$~ li~ra~ures were written in Geez, a classical language that persisted until the middle of the twentieth century and still lingers around churches and monastries. Written Amharic literature made its first appearance around 1300 but actually started to flourish only at the beginning of the present century. The first Amharic novel, Afawar~ Gabrayasus's L~bb Walla~ :rarik was published around 1900. Since then a remarkable number of novels have been written among which F~~ir ~ska Ma4abir, Adafris, Ya~ay Kokab Tirri and Ma'~bal are critically analyzed. Fi*ir fska Mafabir is, a novel of shining excellence both in form and content. Ita harmony of setting and characters and artistic manipulation of literary techniques al~ng with its social significance will always secure a special place for it. Adafr~s stands out most conspicuously particularly for its originality of style and unparalleled excellence in the use of modern literary techniques. It is truly the work of a master artist and craftsman. Ya~ay Kokab Tirri and Malibal manifest the highest level of political preoccupation in the Amharic novel thus marking a new trend of development. Modern Amharic drama is still.in its infancy. It is no more than seventy years old. The first Amharic play Fabula by Bajrond Takla Hawariat was staged at the beginning of this century. The earliest Amharic plays, which understandably were crude in form, dealt with the Italian occupation (1928-33). Amharic drama started to be perfected only after the 1950's and 60's with the return of dramatists trained abroad. Kabadil Mikael, Girmachaw Takla Hawat-iat, Mangistu Lamma and ~ngaye Gabramadhin are among the most prominent playwrights who have contributed to the development of this genre in Amharic. Amharic drama has evolved through more or less similar stages as the Amharic novel, and today manifests greater realism and enhanc,ed political preoccupation. , Poetry is a genre deeply rooted in the Ethiopian oral tradition. It is the oldest form of literary art in the country. Throughout the ages Ethiopia has produced prominent poets. Among the earliest poets Aga~ahu lngida, Yoftahe Nigussie and Walda Giorgis Welda Yohannis have imprinted their names with the patriotic poems they composed on the eve of the Italian occupation (1928- 33). Among the moderns Kabada Mikael, Mangistu Lamma, ~ngaye Gabramadhin are the most popular and highly skilled. Through the decades, Amharic literature in general has manifested a significant change and development both in its form and contento Whereas earlier Amharic literature was largely religioun, moralistic and didactic, modern Amharic literature has shown a marked shift in intent and content achieving greater social significance and realism. Amharic literature has faced a considerable number of obstacles among which censorship, the mass illiteracy in the country, the high cost of printing, the absolute lack of publishing houses, and most of all, the lack of professional training among its authors have been the most retarding. However, the eruption of the popular Ethiopian Revolution of 1966 has opened a brighter furture for its development, and these problems will eventually be overcome.
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    Some Cultural Elements as Reflected in Somali Folktales
    (Addis Ababa University, 1982-06) Haji, Abdulkadir; Araaya, Hailu (PhD)
    This study has three main divisionso The first part which runs from chapter one to six lays the foundation for uhe study by describing the purpose of the study, the Somali people, their language, culture and economyo The area of study, the methodology used, transcription and a brief introduction to oral literature in Somali culture are also given in this part. The second part deals with description and analysis of the tales selectedo Here, a brief description of each tale, or that of a group of tales is given, and then, the cultural elements it (they) embodies are pointed out through a thematic analysiso This part is where the bulk of the work is, and it has several subdivisions. The third part is the conclusion, which sums up significant elements observed in the analysis, and also attempts to point out the implications of some of the cultural values to the modern concepts of education and national integrationo Eighty-two teales selected for this study are entered in the appendixo
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    The Literary Styles of Haddis Alemayehu and Baalu Girma
    (Addis Ababa University, 1983-06) Asfaw, Zerihun
    The a im of the present study is to i dentify a nd describe the literary styles of Haddis Alemayehu and Bctctlu Girma. To faci li tate this, the study is di vi~ed into four chapte rs . The f i r st chapt",r is intended to give a urief vi8w of the concept of style and to limit the ancle from which the study i s underta!( en . It a l so limits the purpose and scope of the st udy. Chap tel.'s two and three contain the major portion of the 1'8- search. They are se l f - containGd sections ~hat present detail ed descri ptions of the major features of the sty l es of the two Ethiopian nO'Je li s ts. In chapter two, t he mas t outstanding and t'requently occuI'rin;; styl i st i c features of Haddis Al emayehu are described in their contexts. In the thi rd chapter, it Is the style of Baalu Girma that i s presented. As in the preceding chapter, a detailed description of the l'emar l
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    A Study of Some Major Characters and Themes in Post-~evolution Amharic Novels
    (Addis Ababa University, 1985-06) Sahlemariam, Getachew; Aklilu, Amsalu (PhD)
    The wor-Ld of _:1.l"J.hanroivcels of post-revolutionary period is a wor-Ld in wh i.ch opposing social forces corae into clash. This world, howe ver , cloes not decompose but g::ow and bear fruit 0 'l'ih.spapc r modestly attempts to study -c:w essence of the fruit .md d.iscu ss characters who populate the worLd .. The Introduction part tries to point out vrha t the thesis is about 0 The first chapter is devoted to the study of literary types 0 Each m.ijor character is considered a representative focus of a particular section of the society, In the second chapter the m3.jor pre-occup'ltions of the novelists are examinedo An attempt is made to bring out the theme of solf-actualizqtion and of cl'3.sSstruggle as major and coffit'TcIo.nocnerns of writers in the post-revolutionary periodo The sunmary of the study is given in th") llst parto Moreover, cert'3..inco::nmonfeatures of the novels are pointed
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    The Attitudes of Eleventh Grade Students Toward S the Learning of English As A Foreign Language
    (Addis Ababa University, 1986-06) Habteghiorghis, Medhanie; Gamta, Tiiahun (PhD)
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    Comedy and Social Purpose: Two Plays of Menghistu Lemma
    (Addis Ababa University, 1986-06) Getaneh, Akalu; Araaya, Hailu (PhD)
    This stu~y is a thenatic an~ stylistic analysis of two plays by +he Ft.hioFian rlC'y",'ri<:;ht, I~enghistu Lerama : nar-eLy 1 ~'iarria']e ty i'Jx:.uct.ion a_'1d~~a.rria.c;pof Unesua13. to fulfil three important fun~~ions. First.ly r be f or e this study no s ucst an+La L -lLscus s Lon of f\enghist.u I,eTI'lt',<"'.1 s t,rork ex i s t.e-s. Cer t.a.i.n Hrl +e r s ha(l t.ouchert 01:. the t.he::::.es of his rlays in tb.e course of .F·rovi.~ing a survey of Bthiopian Li ter.at.ure v and. an under c-radue t.e thesi~ exists which contains 2. brief descript:!.or. in Arl..~aric of the wr Lt.Lno style of 8.11 his works I LncLudLno his foe try . Th:i.s study, hovevez 1 differs from +he ae C\tte:''1~t-sin ob j ec t Lve , (~eFth a.n? scope. EecondlY1 there was previously no subst.antial·survey of the ,':.evelopr:lent of Modern Pthiouian rrarna. It is obvious +ha+ such a survey is necessary I not. only in ozde r to p l ace Pen(?histu Lemmaand his -:rarnatic ','od"s in context! but; also to facil! +at.e the study of Ethio9ian r~rarna in qeneral. Ch aoter One ir:. this stud.y goes some way +owards ?:rovirl.ing sucb a sur vcy , Thirdly, Ethiopian lite~ature has jn ge~€.!.""alheAn 2ffo~~ed acant; at.t.ent.Lon by critics of l-fJ':"ic-3f'.Li.t.e r at.ur'e . 2orne.wri t.e r s have '!ttribute(1 this fact to d.ifficulties of language and the lack of t.ranslations. .2'~nencouraging new
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    Socialist Realism and its Impications For the African Writer
    (Addis Ababa University, 1986-06) Danie, Abiye l; Araaya, Hailu (PhD)
    When we go back into the history of socialist countries we find that at the birth of socialism 9 during the transition period~ literature had a vital role to play. To be more precise 9 the socialist realist method contributed to the coming of socialism. This 50cialist realist methods filled with optimislTI 9 was committed to the working class. Many countries in the African continent are now going through a transition period towards socialism. A transition period, as stated above s is a very important period in which the African writer has a great role to play to hasten the coming of socialism. So far, most African writers~ using the critical realist method~ have only gone as far as merely depicting society. SOCiety in turn , has been presented in a deteriorating state. Apart from this, no place has been given for the optimistic rising class - the working class. Learning from the experience of socialist writers , a new African writer is emerging. Ngugi~ taken as an example, has been greatly influenced by Gorky's Mother, a socialist realist novel. Furthermore s as the African writer is living in a transition per;od ~ he is working towards socialism. This indicates that the socialist realist method has some implications that are useful to the African writer. These implications will help the African writer as a means for the advancement of socialism, which in turn, will improve the African novel.
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    A Comprative Study of the structural and Comprative Approaches in Teaching the Collectional using of prepostions to secondary school students.
    (Addis Ababa Universiy, 1987-06) Demilew, Zeleke; Asfaw, Dr.Melaku
    Studies of error analysis on subjeots from different languB.ge baokgrounds hp.ve shown that the appropriate use of prepositions mRrks one of the ma jor areas of diffioulty of students learning English as a foreign language . In this study, an attempt was made to determine the relative effeotiveness of the struotural I'I.nd the communioative aT1~roR()hes in teaohing the different oollooatio~l'I.l uses of the nine most frequently used one-word prepositions in English. A total of 120 grade nine students randomly sampled f r om Yekatit 12 Comprehensive Seoondary Sohool oomprised the population of the experiment. These were di vide c1. into four groups . Groups I and II made up tbe Control and Groups III and IV the Experimental Grou!ls. A pretest was auministered to al l the fOllr groups to find out wh ether or not the subjeots had marked di fferences in thej.r leve: of rnastery of the uses of the prepositions. A two-tRile1 t test At a significance level of 0.05, nnd 120 degrees of fr Eedom was performed onche level of contrasting pairs and aggreg~te gr oups. ?indings showed no signifioant differenoes indic3.ting that the s2111pled studcnts h"d more or less equal knowledge of the uses of pr ep~sit ions. Two sets of teaching lllPterials were prepared along the lines of the principles of the structurl'!l and the communicative I'I.pPl'oaches for the Control I13 fc:~ ten consecutive weeks. At tile end, R Dosttest was administeren. Using the Ea.~e fo;.f;l1:'f:i.c:>nce level and degrees of freedom, tb8 p~'e-Flnd posttest t-values of each uf -tl1e A.gr;r"{!;'1tes Vlerc computed to see whether or no'; the subjee;;s have made a significant gain (or progress) over their pretest results. The 7.-'ral1Je c; cf the posttest results were also calou.c3.ted on both paired and aggregate leve LS . Findings pro',p.d that the members of the Experj.mentn::_ Gro:!) have progresser1. considerably in ths:.r kYJ()\'::'.edge of the uses of prepositions. Tti:.; '-,:",S
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    A Comparative Study of English and Oromo Segmental Phonemes with its Implications for Teaching English as a Foreign Language
    (Addis Abeba Unversity, 1988-01-01) Beriso, Italo
    A Comparative Study of English and Oromo Segmental Phonemes with its Implications for Teaching English as a Foreign Language
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    An Investigation of the Practices of Beginning Reading Instruction in Government and Public Elementary Schools in Addis Ababa
    (1988-06) Hailemariam, Chefena; Gamta, Dr. Tilahun
    The main purpose of this study was to find out the most con~on method of teaching reading to beginners. 50 teachers from thirty one elementary schools were the subjects of the study. To obtain data for the study, a questionnaire was distributed to the teachers. In addition, observation inside the class-rooms was carried out by the researcher. The teachers' responses were tallied, coded and percentages were computed for each variable. Besides, two background data variables of the teachers were compared with five selected variables about class-room techniques and methods and were cross-tabulated to see possible relationships. Results of the study show that the most common method I of teaching reading was the 'look-and- say' method of words and larger language units. However, few teachers were using a combination of 'phonic', 'word' and 'sentence' methods of teaching. Experience of teachers was found out to correlated with their employment of 'eclectic' method. The study has also revealed that the techniques of word recognition skill were used by an insignificant number of teachers. On the basis of these findings, recommendations concerning the teachers' quality improvement through training and preparation of the text-books are made.
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    An Evaluation of the' Effectiveness of ;lodern Vocabulary Teaching ~2thods and thu Extent to Which thusa ~rc Implemented in Freshman Eng1i\sh COUrses
    (Addis Ababa Universiy, 1988-06) Berhane, Dessie; Despatie, Dr . Gerard
    -f he purpose of this r~s2arch is to 2valu ate th e effectiveness of modern voc abul ary teaching methods and th& ex tent to which th e se are implemented in Fr&shmJn EnQlish Courses. For th is pur pose, the researcher imrle~ent0d these modern vocabul ary tea ching methods by conductin0 actual teachin s for an Experimenta l group. TherQ was a l so 1not~~r group known as th e controll ed group where teach ing W3S c ond uct ~d following the methods that a r ~ curY":nt~y in use in the t"achinq of Fresh man English Courses. An a ttempt to find out if th2ra was a difference between the two groups was made by an Ddmin i str~t ion of b pr~ - test which ~ n abled the researcher to accep t the hypothesis that the two groups hRve no statistically si1nificant diffe rences of background in their ~nowledge of vocabulary laarninn strate ' t~ • • T~Qn, a six -week teaching of J material of a l most the sam2 con: :: ~t was cond. __ ~ed fo:" both the ~: roups , thou Clh the ~eti1ods of t~aching differect sub ~ t a n t ially . Subsequently, a rost-test of th~ S3me natur~ was given both to th e Exper i ment)l Qnd Controll ed gr ou?s I t the sarne time. The results of ~hu Po st -Test of both groups w~re Cmpared and a mea n diff e r ence (f ft sian ific ant stati s, ic11 .31ue wa s manife sted. The mcan of the Exrcrim~ntal group was much higher than the ~ean of th e controlled group a nd su ch a differEnc~ c ~ uld h ~ v e come due to the modern vocab u~ary t : achOng lathoJs with which the Expcrimental rroup was favour~d. H~vin1 h1d the same b~ckqround knowledq e of strJte gi es of voc ~bulft ry 1 3 a~ring at tne b2~1~ n i~ s. the diff er2nce cou ld be sftid due to not~ing e lse, bu~ t~~ im plE me ntJtion Of the modern ~o -abu lary t ~ 't' -" 9 mct~odo:ogy wh~ch Mave armed th~ EXP Q ~im c ntal Jroup ,Iitn th e need ed strat eg ies with which they can affGctively t"c~le ony problcQ of a voc 3bu:ary encounter .
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    A Comparative study of English and Oromo segmental Phonenes wih its implications for teaching English as a foreign Language
    (Addis Ababa Universiy, 1988-06) Berise, Italo; Gamta, Dr . Tilahun
    The ~ain ohiective of this stl1dy was to fi nd out the difficulties OrOIDO l ear ners of fn~lish ~ay have in pronouncing certajn English sounds. According to Contr3.stivd 1\nal,'sis (CJl. ) hyryothesis, in l~arninq the nron1.1nciation of a second lananaa"! "'E, tenc' to pronounce the foreirm souno.s accon"! ncr to the T)honological system of our Plother tongue , which IDaans that w ,:) replace them by th:·' nGBrGst sounds in our nat.ive lanollBoe. This i'3 so b"cause, in liste nina to t h e ·tarr"Tet lanauaqe we 'lear the for.:'.ian sounds as if th 2Y were rati ve so 1m (1..S • ell tbat a secnnrt lSrallaae learner Play find his tara,et l arauaae difficult or relativelv easy . In the realm of phonoleC'y the diffic1.,l ty of l' 'H' con" lanquaC[(, '.Japends beth on thE> sounr1s thel"selves and on their ability to combine . To verify this clai ,,, of c.i\ (~ ~pir.ically, f? native sneakers of (\romo \~ere given two tests: c]iscrimination and nroductior tests . The discrimiration test I,'as a.j.ffi<." ") a.+: findinq out the diffir::1l1ties the se sub:jec!:.s 1"ay have in Cliscril'" linatiwl" cet'.veen Fnalish sonnr.s in l~ininal nairs. '('h E'· oJ-ojectivE' Tt",c results of thi .s study revear t .Il",!:. the sl.1.bj,~cts .!pre found to be better in discri!dl1ation thcm in ')roQuction. Post , - ii - of the sounes that caused prob l ems for the subject.s wen, categories that are nOD-exi.stent i n Ororro such as /0, a, T], (£ / f oiphthonsrs and consonant. c ln5tr~rs. In SOinG cases, sounds ~,rh ich were p.asily discriminated and produced :in the ini ti a l positions '''ere found to be trouhlesome! in final p08itions. In qeneral , areas of differences between the phonemic systems of the two languages caused crreater difficulties for the s ul) je cts .
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    The Theme Of Italian Occupition in Major Amharic Novels and Plays
    (Addis Ababa University, 1990-06) Banti, Zelealem; Aklilu, Amsalu (PhD)
    The Italian occupation of Ethiopia holds a significant place in the history of the country. Beth Ethiopian and foreign historians have written extensively on the subject. The theme of Italian occupation has also inspired Ethiopian novelists and playwrights. Their novels and plays try to show the causes of the war, the conduct of the war, its political, social, economic and cultural effects, and the patriotic resistance. Some of these literary works also deal with the prevalent situation immediately after the liberation of the country. After identifying the major prenccupations of the works dealing with the theme of Italian occupation this study also attempts to show the differences in the authors' interpretations of some of the issues and events of the war. All the authors cite avenging the defeat at the battle of Adowa as one of the causes of the Italian invasion of Ethiopia. Ar'aya underlines Italian economic interest as the major reason for the aggression; Endgwgtt§c~ g&rr§~6 gives Italy's colenial ambition as the main reason. Sgr§-Koloniyalist mentie~s the Fascist Party's policy as an immediate cause of the war. In the treatment of the conduct of the war the majority of the works concentrate on the battle of May(;gw. Bassa Qetaw and Ar'aya portray the conduct of the war at the battle of Sire, Tembien and Amba'radem
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    Major Themes In Post-1979(E.C.) Amharic Short Stories
    (Addis Ababa University, 1992-05) Abeje, Messeret; Azaza, Fakada (PhD)
    The post-1979 period has seen a great increase in the production of Amharic short stories. These stories treat a wide variety of themes and give an insight into the values, attitudes, fears, etc. of our society. However, the dominant concerns of the stories have not been studied and brought to light by researchers. This research examines the themes in contemporary Amharic short story anthologies. The main purpose of the thesis is to make a thematic study of post-1979 Amharic short stories and provide the reading public with an insight into the traits, values and life styles that the Ethiopian short stories intend to promote or deter. The study comprises three chapters. The first chapter gives a modest account of the Ethiopian short story and explains the purpose of the research. The second chapter is devoted to the discussion of basic themes. The themes have been studied in relation with their causes and implications on social life. The variety of themes reflected in the stories under study have been classified into five major groups. The last chapter summarizes the findings of the research.
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    Communication strategies employed by Senior high school students in oral Production of english
    (Addis Ababa Universiy, 1992-06) demissie, Fassil; Atkins, John
    The purpose of this study was to describe the types of procedures (communication strategies) students adopt when faced with communication problems due to language shortage and to see if these procedures are influenced by students' proficiency level. The interlanguage produced by the subjects was classi~ fied using a slightly modified version of the taxonomy produced by Faerch and Kasper (1983). The frequency count of the stra~ tegies showed that the choice of specific strategies was largely determined by the task type. Thus it was found that subjects used more reduction strategies than achievement strategies in the story retelling task but in picture description and giving directions, they used more achievement strategies than reduction strategies. In order to see the effect of proficiency level on the choice of communication strategies, subjects were selected from two different grade levels~gradc 10 and grade 12. The total number of strategies used by each group was added up and it was found that the less proficient group (those from 10th grade) used more communication strategies than the more proficient group. A comparison between the strategy preferences of the two groups showed that the less proficient group used more reduction strategies and achievement strategies based on Ll than the more proficient group. These two findings are in line with the findings of most other studies on learners' use of communi~ cation strategies. However, wh~n considering the specific types of reduction strategies that were employed by the two groups, it was found that the less proficient froup used more formal reduction strategies than the more proficient group while the more proficient group used the strategies of topic avoidance and message abandonment more frequently than the less proficient group. This greater preoccupation with the form of the language at the expense of the meaning of the message, on the part of the more proficient group, is hypothesized as being the result of personality factors, that is, the more proficient group, because of their higher age and hence seniority may have been more afraid of making mistakes infront of people and thus avoided , l anguage forms which they were not sure about while the l es s · proficient group, because of their lower age/were less ihhibited and we~e more free in their use of the language.
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    A Critical Analysis of Themes and Dramatic Techniques in Abbe Gubegna's Amharic Plays
    (Addis Ababa Universiy, 1992-06) Alemu, Taddese
    The main objective of comment on Abbe Gubegna's ABSTRACT this research is to Amharic plays under analyze and two main sections: Thematic analysis and Dramatic Techniques. Before dealing with these issues the author's biography and his place in the history of Ethiopia drama are briefly provided. Most of Abbe's Amharic plays are based on historical materials from within and without the country in which the corruption of the administrations and the misery of the people are depicted. The thematic analysis of the plays reveal the dichotomy between the author's reformist stand and his conservative beliefs. On one side he is an out-andout non-conformist, and hierarchy and the divine religiousness tendencies. does not. on the other, he upholds the guidance of God. His apparent tally with his change-oriented The plays are examined chronologically with regard to their dramatic techniques. They are analyzed from thr ee angles: dramatic situation, structure, and characterization. This analysis shows that little technical improvementS have been made from play to play. Finally, the merits and demerits of the plays and the author's social contributions are summarized ..
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    A Survey of the Leisure Reading Interests of Addis Ababa UnIversity Students
    (Addis Ababa Universiy, 1992-06) Kitila, Tamene; Gamta, Dr. Tilahun
    This survey of the leisure reading interests of AAU students is a descriptive study based on questionnaires, interviews and observations. AAU students were the target subjects of the study. However, instructors, librarians and personal observations were used as additional sources of data to verify the validity of the students' responses. Chapter one of the study states the problem, describes the purpose, limitations and importance of the st~dy. Chapter two reviews relevant work on reading interests both in and outside of Ethiopia. It also relates the literature to the present study. The study procedure is described in the third chapter which is followed by reporting of the result in chapter four. The last chapter deals with conclusion and recornrnendations. The result of the study indicates that most of the subjects do read materials not directly related to their courses in their free time. However, the amount read is very small. Novel, magazine, short story, newspaper and biography are the kinds of the reading materials they select to read in their leisure time. They appear to have no specific reading interests largely due to lack of variety in the reading materials they managed to read. English is the language in which the majority of the respondents choose to read in their leisure time. However, their leisure time reading in English has a functional rather than a recreational purpose.
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    Verb Complements in Art
    (Addis Ababa Universiy, 1993-06) Aberra, Daniel; Gutt, Dr. E. A.
    This study de:;..ls .:ith the structure of verb compl ements of J\.ri. The attempt made here is,to present t he basic grammatic"l feature s necessary for the di s cu- 156iOll of verb complements, to describe the verb cc!::;:,l e- :.:;entll, and to explain the various constituents that CO!r.po ~e the verb Cvt:p l el.ent " in lir l,t of the GB fr:lDt", - work "ud Jackendoff ' s i- theory . In rel ation to head and complement the dependency of one on anothe r i s aual jzed u ~in g mainly tl.eta and case theo ries. The structure of verb complements fits thft g e n e r ~ l princ i ples of GB t ~ eo r y. Lri aD a l a~g ua 1 e (in i ts s yntax) ha~ some peculiar features which differentiates it fro~ other lan g u R~ cs. Some of t hem are f ound i ~ the relation bet,lll ", n t te trar, _itive vel'D s a nd 'cl.•e i '!, co::::
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    Nuer Phonology: the Role of Syllable Structure
    (Addis Ababa Universiy, 1993-06) Yigezu, Moges; A.Gutt, Dr. Ernst
    This paper deals with the phonology of Nuer. It attempts to give ~brief description of the phonology and examines t he r ole of the syllable 'lk~ structure in light of ",auto segmental approach. Chapter one gives some background information about the p.-e-ople and the ~n~ge, the r eview of literature and the theoretical models employed in the analyses. Chapter two deals with a brief description of t he phonology, describing and a nalyzing the consonant and vowel p h onemes in"A'"-l ight of underspecification theory. The underspecified feature matrices a re given with the r elevant redundancy rules for both consonants and vowels. The description gives special attention to the vowel system, because of its interesting but difficult ...- na ture. There are sixteen vowel phonemes against the twenty consonant phonemes . T he vowels b elong to two types of voice qualities: plain and breathy. It is a distinction based on the acou s tic analyses of the two sets of vowels . Besides, the t onal system is briefly described and three tone levelS-high, mid and low- are recorded. Chapter three discusses the morphophonemic processes and the role t he syllable s tructure plays. From both descriptive and theoretical point s of view, .• syllable structure is found to be an interesting aspect of Nuer phonology. It can control most of the morphophone mic processes of the language and these processes are conditioned both by the principle of licensing and the syllable t emplate of Nuer. The fourth and the last chapter gives the summary and conclusion of the thesis.
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    Major Features of ConflictiIn Ten Post 1974 Amharic Short Stories
    (Addis Ababa Universiy, 1993-06) Birru, Gaddisa
    A good fictional work is not a passive report but one that captures the attention of its actd ier.ce. The attention of the readers is captured usually when fictional \\Iork is based on confli ct t hat empl oys najor fe atures such as un ity, balance, plausibility and significance. The short story, which is one type of fictional work, has not been studied so far in this regard. The absence of the systematic study of conflict, its types and features in relation to Aoharic short stories, necessi tated the undertaking of this research vrork. Conse~uently, ten post - 1974 Amharic short stories have been selected according to the type and features of conflict they are based on. An attempt has been made to present a thorough technical analysis of t he major features. The study reveals that t:~i ty of conflict is employed satisfactorily in many of t he short stories. It is maintained in the p'oduction of the ca'lse and effect relationship of conflicts as well as in the cont ribution of different conflicts for the purpose of the author. "/hen compared t o the ot her f eatUC'e s of conflict, balance is a f e e.ture 'h"hich is l east employed . Here too, the study uncovers many points that just ify t he i mbalance of the conflicts, especially as seen in " Tutun ", "" Aderaw " and " Damtew ". '1owever, this doe s not mean that there are no short stories t hat show balance of conflict; " Andualem" and " Dibibkosh II can be cited as good ex a~ples. 'rne s ame i s true with pl ausi bili t y. Short stories such as " Andualem "," Yemal ada Tila" 2n d " Di bibkosh" have employed .!'.- ••• iii this literary device quite beautifully. On the other hand, short stories such as " Zinabu Nache Naw Yemizanbaw ?", " AleBiratu" and " Yetasabara Lib" respectively lack plausibility in the incidents where Etsegenet 's blood spilled, Alem failed t o quarrel wi th his f ather and 3rihane dr ank much alcohol. The conflicts in many of the short stories have significance. Good examples occur in " Andualem" and " Zinabu Mache Naw Yemizanbaw ?" where the main characters became mad and in " Tutun" and " Adaraw" where the characters accepted the idea of leaving their birthplace due to the significance of the conflict. Some of the authors of these short stories seem beginners who perhaps think that only telling a story is what a short story is. However, as the short story is becoming more and more popular, and the competition of writing a short story is becoming fiercer, there will be a quali tative change. Jl'Joreover, taking into consideration the meri ts and demerits of this literary device, future writers can enrich the t echnique of short story \Yl'iting