Alphabet and Pronunciation
Qubee
Diphthongs and Long Vowels
Letter Qubee |
Sound Sagalee |
Example Fakkeenya |
A a | short ah sound as in again or what | abalu |
B b | unstressed b as in body, about | boba'uu |
C c | hard, glottalized tch sound | ciccitaa |
D d | stressed d sound as in dad | dadaa |
E e | e sound as in pen or empty | eger |
F f | unstressed f as in five or after | faarfannaa |
G g | unstressed g as in game or ago | goggogaa |
H h | unstressed h as in hammer | hahaaraa |
I i | short i as in hit or in | isin |
J j | unstressed j as in jump or agency | jejjuu |
K k | unstressed k as in coco | kookii |
L l | unstressed l as in little | laallee |
M m | unstressed m as in member | mimmixa |
N n | unstressed n as in no>b>ne | naannoo |
O o | O sound as in sore or open | obboleessa |
P p | unstressed p sound as in paper | paappaayyaa |
Q q | hard, glottalized k | qaqqabuu |
R r | slightly rolling, soft r as in sparrow | roorroo |
S s | unstressed s sound as in Susan | seenessa |
T t | unstressed t as in tape | tattaa'ii |
U u | oo sound as in who or Spanish uno | udumuu |
V v | unstressed v as in avenue or very | viizaa |
W w | unstressed, soft w sound as in now or wind | wawwaachuu |
X x | hard, glottalized t | xaaxee |
Y y | unstressed y as in year or bayou | yayii |
Z z | unstressed z as in zigzag | zeeroo |
Ch ch | slightly stressed ch as in chase | cheenchii |
Dh dh | glottalized d produced with the tongue curled back | dhadhaa |
Ph ph | glottalized p as in pope (said without breathing) | phaaphaasii |
Sh sh | unstressed sh sound as in should | shaashii |
Ny ny | like the Spanish ñ, like onion or cognac | nyanyee |
aa — as in father, water, army
aw — as in cow or ouch
ay — as in aisle or pie
ee — as in eight or gray
ii — as in evil or teepee
oo — long o as in oboe or sober
oy — as in boy
uu — long oo as in fool or spoon.
aw — as in cow or ouch
ay — as in aisle or pie
ee — as in eight or gray
ii — as in evil or teepee
oo — long o as in oboe or sober
oy — as in boy
uu — long oo as in fool or spoon.
Glottalized Consonants
The glottalized consonants are c, q, x, and ph. These can be described as explosive ch, k, t, and p sounds, respectively. Leslau (1969) describes the pronunciation of of glottalized consonants as follows:
In pronouncing the glottalized consonants, the stream of air coming from the lungs is shut off by closure of the glottis. The air about it is then forced out through a stricture somewhere along the vocal organ. This stricture is a the lips for [ph], at the teeth for [x], at the palate for [c], and at the velum for q.[1]
Double Letters
Vowels and consonants may be repeated to make the sound long. For example, to say the Oromo word annan (“milk”) one must hold the first n
sound slightly longer than the second, as in the English word
“pen-knife”. A doubled vowel makes the vowel long and can often change
the meaning of the word, as in lafa (“ground”) and laafaa (“soft”). Dh, ch, ph, sh, and ny count as single consonants though they are written as two letters.
Spelling Rules
Traditionally, Oromo was written using Ge'ez script as used by
Amharic. In 1991, the Oromo Peoples' Democratic Organization formally
adopted a modified Latin alphabet (qubee) as shown at the beginning of this chapter. This qubee
replaced the various other transliteration schemes of Oromo to Latin
script and helped to standardize spelling of Oromo words. Spelling
differences still occur, however, due to personal preferences and
dialectal differences. Regardless, certain spelling rules can be
observed that match speech patterns.
A word in Oromo cannot begin or end with a double consonant. The word for “sport” is converted to isporti.
Three consonants cannot occur in a row in a word. For this reason, certain suffixes may add an i to prevent this, as in arg (“see”) + na (1st per. plu. suffix) → argina (“we see”).
Vowels cannot change without a break, either a consonant or
apostrophe, between them. What breaks are used can differ with spelling
preferences and dialects. For example, “very” can be baa'ee, baayee, baa'yee, or baay'ee, and “to hear” can be dhaga'uu or dhagahuu. The apostrophe indicates that the vowels are produced independently and not as a diphthong.
Pronunciation Practice
bobaa — “lap” bobbaa — “excrement” boba'aa — “fuel” bobba'a — “he will get out” boba'a — “it's burning”
Notes
Leslau, Wolf (1969). An Amharic Reference Grammar. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Office of Education (DHEW).
Source: wikibooks
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