Segmentally, Gamo phonology operates with a system of twenty-six consonants and five vowel qualities, and in nearly every case a segment may occur short or long.
Consonants in Gamo language
Labial
Dental
Palatal
Velar
Laryngeal
Stops
Glottalized
p’
ɗ
ts’
tʃʼ ⟨čʼ⟩
k’
ʔ
Voiced
b
d
dz
dʒ ⟨j⟩
g
Voiceless
p
t
ts
tʃ ⟨č⟩
k
Fricatives
Voiced
z
Voiceless
s
ʃ ⟨š⟩
h
Sonorants
Nasals
m
n
ɲ ⟨ň⟩
Lateral
l
Vibrant
r
Glides
w
j ⟨y⟩
Vowels sound in Gamo language
palatal
round
high
i
u
mid
e
o
low
a
(Reference page 21/22)
Morphology
Noun plural
The morphology of plural making in Gamo is straightforward and uniform.
In masculine nouns, plural is marked by means of a suffix -t, affixed to the oblique case form. The oblique is also the base for the suffixation of definiteness marking.
Examples of masculine plurals
Gloss
Absolutive singular
Oblique singular
Absolutive plural
'dog'
kaná
kaná
kanatá
'man'
addé
addé
addetá
'thing'
yóó
yóó
yóotá
'tear'
apúntsi
apúntsa
apúntsata
Feminine nouns take a suffix -int to form their plurals. This is affixed to the absolutive singular:
Examples of feminine plurals
Gloss
Absolutive singular
Absolutive plural
Nominative
Oblique
'sister'
miččó
miččointa
miččóinti
miččointa
(Reference page 81)
Adjectives
By comparison with certain other languages of Ethiopia, Gamo has a large vocabulary of adjectives. Like nominals, adjectives fall into declension classes, and although, being adjectives, they do not inflect for nominative case and there is no agreement within the phrase for number or definiteness, the declensional differences relating to oblique case marking do appear in U-declension adjectives when they function attributively.
The correlation between which particular TV an adjective has and its membership of a declension class appears to hold exactly as in nouns; thus, adjectives having a TV-o are always S-declension, adjective having a TV-i are always U-declension, while those having the TVs-a and -e are distributed between the two declensions, although almost all are S-declension.
Example;
absolutive
oblique
declension
gloss
hó'o
hó'o
S-declension
hot
páč'e
páč'e
S-declension
incomplete, not full
č'áač'a
č'áač'a
S-declension
fried, roasted
bóottsi
bóottsa
U-declension
white
góošši
góošša
U-declension
mad
kaušé
kaušá
U-declension
light-in weight
(Reference page 150)
Adjective and noun agreement
In the definite noun phrases where the noun is modified by an adjective the definite marker does not shift to the adjective, but remains on the noun
Example:
1
Gita
big.OBL
mittsai
tree.M-DEF
kundides
fall.PF-3M
Gita mittsai kundides
big.OBL tree.M-DEF fall.PF-3M
The big tree fell down Unknown glossing abbreviation(s) (help);
2
Boottsa
white.OBL
miizati
cow.PL-DEF.NOM
haik'k'ida
die.PF-3PL
Boottsa miizati haik'k'ida
white.OBL cow.PL-DEF.NOM die.PF-3PL
The white cows died Unknown glossing abbreviation(s) (help);
(Reference page 151)
Adverbs
Adverbial notion however, can be expressed in a wide variety of ways. In terms of syntactic constructions the two most frequent means of expressing adverbial notions are postpositional phrases and converbial clauses.
A number of verb lexemes contain some intrinsic reference to temporal or spatial features. Thus,
Examples:
gam’-‘~k’am’-‘ ‘be(come)/last a long time’
giddotsiss-‘ ‘stay late’
na’at-‘ ‘act childishly’
minétt- ‘act bravely’
miizat- ‘behave naively
godat-‘ ‘behave in a masterly way
Other more examples
1
K’uma
Lunch
katso
cook-VNO
wontara
dawn
oikkadus
OBL+PP(-ra)
start.PF-3F
K’uma katso wontara oikkadus
Lunch cook-VNO dawn OBL+PP(-ra) start.PF-3F
She started cooking lunch very early in the morning Mismatch in the number of words between lines: 4 word(s) in line 1, 5 word(s) in line 2 (help); Unknown glossing abbreviation(s) (help);
Since last year they have been corresponding secretly. Mismatch in the number of words between lines: 5 word(s) in line 1, 3 word(s) in line 2 (help); Unknown glossing abbreviation(s) (help);
(Reference page 300)
Postpositions
Gamo has very few postpositions; my analysis recognizes just six;
(-n), (-s), (-ppe), (-kko), (-ra) and (-u).
Phonologically, these are fairly minimal and in all cases their phonological structure obliges them to occur as attachments to other words.
There are however, instances where a postposition attaches to other clitic elements, such as to the inclusivity marker (-kka) or to the hypotheticality marker (-kko).
You won't find (it) anywhere at all Mismatch in the number of words between lines: 2 word(s) in line 1, 4 word(s) in line 2 (help); Unknown glossing abbreviation(s) (help);
2
Banga
barley.OBI
buuts'an
straw.OBL+PP(-n)house
keettse
cover.PF-SG
kammadis
Banga buuts'an keettse kammadis
barley.OBI straw.OBL+PP(-n)house cover.PF-SG
I thatched a house with barley straw Mismatch in the number of words between lines: 4 word(s) in line 1, 3 word(s) in line 2 (help); Unknown glossing abbreviation(s) (help);
The range of senses for the postposition (-s) may not appear to be quite so extensive but perhaps this is because English itself uses the preposition "for" so widely
Bring up one of your puppies for me Unknown glossing abbreviation(s) (help);
(Reference page 155)
Pronouns
Personal pronouns have long and short forms, but while, for most of them, the short form can clearly be identified with the leftmost portion of the long form, in the 3rd person singular pronouns the short form consists of the rightmost portion of the long form.
Example:
verb complement
clause subject
noun phrase modifier
long
short
long
short
long
short
1Sg
tána
-
táni
tá
-
tá
2Sg
néna
-
néni
né
-
né
1Pl
nứna
-
nứni
nứ
-
nứ
2Pl/Pol
íntena
-
ínteni
ínte
-
ínte
3M
íza
a
ízi
í
íza
a
3F
ízo
o
íza
á
ízi
i
3pl/Pol
ísta
-
ísti
-
ísta
-
(Reference page 99)
Negation of verb
Negation in all subordinate clauses employs the simple-base with (-onta), which is also the form that functions in converbial negation. Since this form shows no agreement with its clause subject, the 'same subject': 'changed subject' marking which distinguishes converbial from subordinate clauses is neutralized. This situation is apparent in sentences (a - c). In other cases a subordinate clause status is made clearer periphrastically by the addition of the perfect or imperfect forms of the inherently negative verb (-agg).
Remaining silent (at the time) when she would not have refused to listen to advice, they allowed her to get into a real disaster Mismatch in the number of words between lines: 7 word(s) in line 1, 6 word(s) in line 2 (help); Unknown glossing abbreviation(s) (help);
He drinks when I don't buy it! Unknown glossing abbreviation(s) (help);
(Reference page 266)
Numerals
In Gamo, the counting forms are in general identical to the citation (absolutive) forms, except in the case of issinno ‘one’, for which a variant form ista can be used.
Numeral
absolutive
nominative
oblique
1
issinnó ~ istá
issinnóì ~ isstóì
issί
2
nam’á ~ na’’á
nam’áì ~ nam’ί
nam’ί
3
heeddzá
heeddzί
heeddzί
4
oiddá
oiddí
oiddí
5
iččáča ~ iččáč
iččáci
iččáč
6
usúppuna ~ usúppun
usúppuni
usúppun
7
láappuna ~ laappun
láappuni
láappun
8
όspuna ~ όspun
όspuni
όspun
9
uddúpuna ~ uddúpun
uddúpuni
uddúpun
10
támma
támmi
támmi
100
ts’eetá
1000
kúma
The forms denoting multiples of ten are based on tamma, which is preceded by the appropriate cardinal numeral in its pre-nominal oblique case form.
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