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Soddo (autonym kəstane "Christian"; formerly called Aymälläl in Western sources, after a particular dialect of it) is a Gurage languages spoken by a quarter million people in southern Ethiopia. It is an Ethiopian Semitic language of the Northern Gurage subfamily. Its native speakers, the Soddo Gurage people (Kistane), live predominantly in the Soddo district of the Gurage Zone.
The definite article is expressed by the suffix -i, e.g.: goš "boy" > goš-i "the boy"; ätit "sister" > ätiti "the sister"; bayyočč "children" > bayyočč-i. If the noun ends in -a or -ä, it normally loses this vowel when -i is suffixed: angačča "cat" > angačč-i "the cat". A noun ending in -i usually stays the same: abi "(the) father, proprietor". A noun ending in -e, -o, -u adds a y before the suffix: ge "house" > geʸi "the house"; wälläho "neighbor" > wällähoʸi "the neighbor". If the noun has a qualifier, the article is used with the first element: maläk' ge "big house" > maläk'-i ge "the big house"; yä-šum-i ge "the house of the official" (lit. "of-official-the house"); yä-mät't'-i məss "the man who came" (lit. "who-came-the man".)
There is no real indefinite article, though indefiniteness can be expressed by preposing the word attə or k'una, meaning "one".
Nouns have two genders, masculine and feminine, which affect verb concord.
Nouns which are definite objects (direct object or indirect object) are both marked with the prefix yä- or nä-: e.g. yä-geʸi ažžo "he saw the house"; yä-zämmihʷan abännət "he gave it to his brother" (lit. "to-his-brother he-gave-him"). may additionally be marked by adding the object suffix pronouns to the verb: e.g. yabiddi täšakkunnət "I asked my father" (lit. "my-father-obj. I-asked-him".)
A possessed noun is marked by the prefix yä-, and the possessor precedes the possessed: yä-šum-i ge "the house of the official" (lit. "of-official-the house"). If the possessed noun has a preposition prefixed to it, this yä- is omitted: babiddi färäz rather than * bä-yä-abiddi färäz for "on my father's horse".
| I | ädi | -əddi | -ddi |
| you (m. sg.) | dähä | -dä | -dä |
| you (f. sg.) | däš | -däš | -däš |
| he | kʷa | -äw, -kʷan | -w, -hʷan |
| she | kʸa | -ki | -hi |
| we | əñña | -əñña | -ñña |
| you (m. pl.) | dähəm | -dähəm | -dähəm |
| you (f. pl.) | dähma | -dähma | -dähma |
| they (m.) | kənnäm | -kənnäm | -hənnäm |
| they (f.) | kənnäma | -kənnäm | -hənnäm |
Possessives can also be formed by simply adding yä- to the standalone pronouns, e.g.: yädähəm t'əb "your clan".
Reflexive pronouns are formed by äras-, gubba-, k'um- plus the possessive suffixes, e.g. ädi äras-əddi mät'afi t'afkunnət "I myself wrote the book".
Distal: za "that, those, that one, those ones"; zani "that one there". E.g. tä-za məss goy mät't'ahi "I came with that man".
kulləm = "all" (placed before or after the noun); kulləm-u, bä-mollaw = "whole". yät'oma = "only, alone". "Each, every" is expressed by noun reduplication.
| I am | näw(h) | ädäbukk |
| you (m. sg.) are | nähä | ädäbəkkä |
| you (f. sg.) are | näš | ädäbəčč |
| he is | -n, -ən (after a consonant) | ädäbəll |
| she is | na | ädäbəlla |
| we are | nänä | ädäbəllänä |
| you (m. pl.) are | nähəm | ädäbəkkəm |
| you (f. pl.) are | nähma | ädäbəkkəma |
| they (m.) are | näm | ädäbəlläm |
| they (f.) are | näma | ädäbəäma |
Example: zämmidi nähä "you are my brother".
The past tense ("he was", etc.) is expressed by the verb näbbär conjugated regularly in the perfect; "he was not" etc. is with annäbär. The future tense is expressed by the imperfect of hono: yəhonu "he will be", etc. The negative future tense is likewise expressed by tihon. The present copula in subordinate clauses is expressed by the subordinate perfect of honä, e.g.: däffär yähonä tädi-goy yalfu "he who is courageous will go with me.
"It is he", etc. can be expressed by adding an element -tt between the pronoun and the copula: e.g. kʷa-ttə-n "it is he".
The existential verb "be at", "exist" in the present is:
| I am | yinähi | yellähu |
| you (m. sg.) are | yinəho | yellähä |
| you (f. sg.) are | yinäšin | yelläš |
| he is | yino | yellä |
| she is | yinätti | yellät |
| we are | yinäno | yellänä |
| you (m. pl.) are | yinähmun | yellähəm |
| you (f. pl.) are | yinähman | yellähma |
| they (m.) are | yinämun | yelləm |
| they (f.) are | yinäman | yelləma |
In the past and future, it is expressed just like the copula, with näbbärä and honä. In subordinate clauses the present is expressed with -allä conjugated in the perfect (negative -lellä), e.g.: bämeda yalləmi säbočč araš näm "the people who are in the field are farmers".
The possessive verb "he has" etc. is expressed with the existential verb yino "it is" (agreeing with the object possessed) plus object suffix pronouns (i.e. "it is to him" etc.)
Derived stems can be formed in several ways:
There are two tenses/aspects, perfective (past) and imperfective (non-past); each has distinct forms for main versus subordinate clauses, and positive versus negative. There are also distinct Jussive mood, Imperative mood, and Impersonal verb forms.
| I measured | säffär-ki | säffär-kʷ | yä-säffär-k-i | säffär-kum |
| you (m. sg.) measured | säffär-ko | säffär-kä | yä-säffär-k-i | säffär-käm |
| you (f. sg.) measured | säffär-šin | säffär-š | yä-säffär-š-i | säffär-šəm |
| he measured | säffär-o | säffär-ä | yä-säffär-i | säffär-äm |
| she measured | säffär-ätti | säffär-ät | yä-säffär-ätt-i | säffär-ättəm |
| we measured | säffär-no | säffär-nä | yä-säffär-n-i | säffär-näm |
| you (m. pl.) measured | säffär-kəmun | säffär-kəmu | yä-säffär-kəm-i | säffär-kəmum |
| you (f. pl.) measured | säffär-kəman | säffär-kəma | yä-säffär-kəma-yi | säffär-kəmam |
| they (m.) measured | säffär-mun | säffär-m | yä-säffär-m-i | säffär-mum |
| they (f.) measured | säffär-man | säffär-ma | yä-säffär-ma-yi | säffär-mam |
The form with suffixed -m is used in subordinate clauses to connect verbs not otherwise connected, in a way analogous to Japanese -te; it can be translated as "and", as a gerund, or as a resultative. The perfect in -m followed by näbbär forms the pluperfect.
The negative perfect is formed by prefixing al-, with vowel change; for the conjugations mentioned above, the resulting forms are al-säfärä, al-täkkälä, and al-č'afärä.
Examples: ge aräššo "he built a house"; banätäw k'ən awänna-m bämida tonnaw "having put butter on the top of his head, he sat outside".
| I advance | äbädru | äbädər |
| you (m. sg.) advance | təbädru | təbädər |
| you (f. sg.) advance | təbädri | təbʸedər |
| he advances | yəbädru | yəbädər |
| she advances | təbädri | təbädər |
| we advance | (ən)nəbädru | (ən)nəbädər |
| you (m. pl.) advance | təbädrəmun | təbädrəm |
| you (f. pl.) advance | təbädrəman | təbädrəma |
| they (m.) advance | yəbädrəmun | yəbädrəm |
| they (f.) advance | yəbädrəman | yəbädrəma |
Like the perfect, the subordinate forms can take the suffix -m to express a series of non-past actions. This can be combined with näbbär to express a habitual past action.
Examples: ahoññ gäbäya nalfu "today we shall go to the market"; yəgädəl məss "the man who kills"; mas tənäsa-m yibara wawt'a tək'ärsi "she picks up the sleeping mats and begins to remove the dung."
It can be augmented by -ən, with no obvious change in meaning.
| I do not begin | täk'ärs | annək'ärs |
| you (m. sg.) do not begin | təttək'ärs | attək'ärs |
| you (f. sg.) do not begin | təttək'erš | attək'erš |
| he does not begin | tik'ärs | ayk'ärs |
| she does not begin | təttək'ärs | attək'ärs |
| we do not begin | tənnək'ärs | annək'ärs |
| you (m. pl.) begin | təttək'ärsəm | attək'ärsəm |
| you (f. pl.) advance | təttək'ärsəma | attək'ärsəma |
| they (m.) advance | tik'ärsəm | ayk'ärsəm |
| they (f.) advance | tik'ärsəma | ayk'ärsəma |
Examples: ahoññ yəmät'a timäsəl "it does not seem that he will come today"; ädahʷan t-aykäfəl alläfo "he left without paying his debt".
These are negated by the prefix ay-: ayəsfär, ayšäkkət, aygalb. The 2nd person forms then change to conform to the others: attəsfär, attəsfer, attəsfärəm, attəsfärma.
E.g.:
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