Towards the Genetic Classification of the Afaan Oromoo Dialects

Author: Kebede Hordofa Janko. Series edited by: Hans-Jürgen Sasse †, Mauro Tosco.

Series: COS Cushitic and Omotic Studies Volume 2

The Oromo language (or Afaan Oromoo) of Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia belongs to the East Cushitic language family of the Afro-Asiatic phylum. Within the present day Ethiopia, Afaan Oromoo is spoken by about 40 percent of the population and is used as a language of inter-group communication in several parts of the country.

The present book is a comparative study of the Afaan Oromoo dialects spoken in Ethiopia and Kenya. Whereas the Kenyan varieties of Afaan Oromoo have been fairly well studied, there is no parallel work on the varieties spoken in Ethiopia and the complete genetic classification of the Afaan Oromoo dialects has not yet been achieved. The purpose of this study is, therefore, to determine the genetic relationship between the varieties spoken in Ethiopia and Kenya and to accomplish the internal subclassification of the Oromo language.

Drawing on language material from earlier publications on the Kenyan varieties as well as on the author’s field data, the study adopts the comparative method, internal reconstruction and the generative grammar approach. The author assembles cognates, establishes sound correspon­dences, and reconstructs the Pre-Afaan Oromoo forms from the isoglosses (or reflexes) attested in the local dialects. Furthermore, the linear and non-linear approaches are employed to describe the process that leads to the different isoglosses (or reflexes) in the dialects from the reconstructed Pre-Afaan Oromoo form.

In our programme further dictionaries, grammar and text books on Oromo and Oromo dialects have been published:

Accompanying material:

• A Concise Vocabulary of Orma Oromo (Kenya) (ISBN 978-3-89645-063-0)
• A Dictionary of Oromo Technical Terms (ISBN 978-3-89645-295-5)
• A Grammar of Boraana Oromo (Kenya) (ISBN 978-3-89645-485-0)
• A Grammatical Sketch of Written Oromo (ISBN 978-3-89645-039-5)
• Goldgrube – Oromo-Sprichwörter und -Redewendungen (ISBN 978-3-927620-29-2)
• Lehrbuch des Oromo (ISBN 978-3-89645-578-9)
• Lehrbuch des Oromo (ISBN 978-3-927620-05-6)
• Oromo Oral Poetry Seen from Within (ISBN 978-3-89645-276-4)
• Oromo Übungsbuch (ISBN 978-3-927620-11-7)

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