Harari language


Harari is an Ethio-Semitic language spoken by the Harari people of Ethiopia. Old Harari is a literary language of the city of Harar, a central hub of Islam in the Horn of Africa. According to the 2007 Ethiopian census, it is spoken by 25,810 people. Harari is closely related to the Eastern Gurage languages, Zay, and Siltʼe, all of whom are believed to be linked to the now extinct Semitic Harla language. Locals or natives of Harar refer to their language as Gēy Sinan or Gēy Ritma . According to Wolf Leslau, Sidama is the substratum language of Harari and influenced the vocabulary greatly. He identified unique Cushitic loanwords found only in Harari and deduced that it may have Cushitic roots.
Harari was originally written with a version of the Arabic script, Harari script, then the Ethiopic script was adopted to write the language. Some Harari speakers in diaspora write their language with the Latin alphabet.

Phonology

Grammar

Nouns

Number

discusses Harari–East Gurage phonology and grammar:
The noun has two numbers, singular and plural. The affix -ač changes singulars into plurals:
Nouns ending in a or i become plural without reduplicating this letter:
/s/ alternates with /z/:

Gender

Masculine nouns may be converted into feminines by three processes. The first changes the terminal vowel into -it, or adds -it to the terminal consonant:
Animals of different sexes have different names. and this forms the second process:
The third and the most common way of expressing sex is by means of korma and inistí, corresponding to English "he-" and "she-":

Pronouns

PersonSingularPlural
1ÁnInnách or Inyách.
2AkhákhAkhákhách
3Azo Azziyách

The affixed pronouns or possessives attached to nouns are:
Singular.
Plural.
In the same way attached pronouns are affixed to verbs:
The demonstrative pronouns are:
The interrogative pronouns are the following:

Verbs

The following are the two auxiliary verbs:
Past tense
Present tense
Imperative
Prohibitive
Past tense
'
'
Present tense.

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Writing system

Harari today is generally written in three scripts. It was originally written in an unmodified and now in a standardized modified Arabic Script. The Ethiopic script was then adopted to write Harari. There is a Latin version of the script used by the Harari diaspora.
Historically the language was also written in native Harari secret script until the late 70s.

Harari Arabic script

Harari Arabic script consists of 36 letters, made up of the original 28 Arabic letters, plus 8 additional letters for sounds unique to Harari or to loanwords of European origin. 8 of the original 28 letters are only used for writing of loanwords of Arabic origin. 2 of the 8 new letters are only used for writing of loanwords of European origin.
Harari Arabic script is also made up of 5 vowel diacritics. A unique and noteworthy feature of this script is that it indicates stressed syllables in an explicit manner, as explained in the following section.

Vowel markings table

In Harari Arabic script, there are 5 vowels. These vowels are shown with the three Arabic diacritics, plus two additional diacritics. Furthermore, in Harari Arabic script, vowels are also distinguished by length, indicated by mater lectionis letters, and by stress, indicated by a combination of hamza and mater lectionis letters.

Modified Ge'ez script

Harari can be written in the unmodified Ethiopic script as most vowel differences can be disambiguated from context.
The Harari adaptation of the Ethiopic script adds a long vowel version of the Ethiopic/Amharic vowels by adding a dot on top of the letter.
In addition certain consonants are pronounced differently when compared to the Amharic pronunciation.
The table below shows the Harari alphasyllabary with the Romanized, Arabic equivalence, and IPA representation along the rows and the Romanized vowel markings along the columns.
RomanizationArabic EquivalentIPAa â u û i î e ê o ô ∅/ə
hሀሃሁሁ፞ሂሂ፞ሄሄ፞ሆሆ፞ህ
ለላሉሉ፞ሊሊ፞ሌሌ፞ሎሎ፞ል
ḣሐሓሑሑ፞ሒሒ፞ሔሔ፞ሖሖ፞ሕ
መማሙሙ፞ሚሚ፞ሜሜ፞ሞሞ፞ም
ሠሣሡሡ፞ሢሢ፞ሤሤ፞ሦሦ፞ሥ
ረራሩሩ፞ሪሪ፞ሬሬ፞ሮሮ፞ር
ሰሳሱሱ፞ሲሲ፞ሴሴ፞ሶሶ፞ስ
ሸሻሹሹ፞ሺሺ፞ሼሼ፞ሾሾ፞ሽ
ቀቃቁቁ፞ቂቂ፞ቄቄ፞ቆቆ፞ቅ
በባቡቡ፞ቢቢ፞ቤቤ፞ቦቦ፞ብ
ቨቫቩቩ፞ቪቪ፞ቬቬ፞ቮቮ፞ቭ
ተታቱቱ፞ቲቲ፞ቴቴ፞ቶቶ፞ት
ቸቻቹቹ፞ቺቺ፞ቼቼ፞ቾቾ፞ች
ኀኃኁኁ፞ኂኂ፞ኄኄ፞ኆኆ፞ኅ
ነናኑኑ፞ኒኒ፞ኔኔ፞ኖኖ፞ን
ኘኛኙኙ፞ኚኚ፞ኜኜ፞ኞኞ፞ኝ
/ / አኣኡኡ፞ኢኢ፞ኤኤ፞ኦኦ፞እ
ከካኩኩ፞ኪኪ፞ኬኬ፞ኮኮ፞ክ
ኸኻኹኹ፞ኺኺ፞ኼኼ፞ኾኾ፞ኽ
ወዋዉዉ፞ዊዊ፞ዌዌ፞ዎዎ፞ው
ዐዓዑዑ፞ዒዒ፞ዔዔ፞ዖዖ፞ዕ
ዘዛዙዙ፞ዚዚ፞ዜዜ፞ዞዞ፞ዝ
ዠዣዡዡ፞ዢዢ፞ዤዤ፞ዦዦ፞ዥ
የያዩዩ፞ዪዪ፞ዬዬ፞ዮዮ፞ይ
ደዳዱዱ፞ዲዲ፞ዴዴ፞ዶዶ፞ድ
ዸዻዹዹ፞ዺዺ፞ዼዼ፞ዾዾ፞ዽ
ጀጃጁጁ፞ጂጂ፞ጄጄ፞ጆጆ፞ጅ
ገጋጉጉ፞ጊጊ፞ጌጌ፞ጎጎ፞ግ
ጠጣጡጡ፞ጢጢ፞ጤጤ፞ጦጦ፞ጥ
ጨጫጩጩ፞ጪጪ፞ጬጬ፞ጮጮ፞ጭ
ጰጳጱጱ፞ጲጲ፞ጴጴ፞ጶጶ፞ጵ
ጸጻጹጹ፞ጺጺ፞ጼጼ፞ጾጾ፞ጽ
ፀፃፁፁ፞ፂፂ፞ፄፄ፞ፆፆ፞ፅ
ፈፋፉፉ፞ፊፊ፞ፌፌ፞ፎፎ፞ፍ
ፐፓፑፑ፞ፒፒ፞ፔፔ፞ፖፖ፞ፕ
ⶰⶳⶱⶱ፞ⶲⶲ፞ⶴⶴ፞ⶶⶶ፞ⶵ
RomanizationIPAa â u û i î e ê o ô ∅/ə -

  • Gemination can be done by simply writing the "∅/ə" variation of a letter before the letter itself.
  • Stressed vowels can be written by following a letter with
  • * For example, the Harari demonstrative pronoun yaʼ is written as
  • Formerly, long-e and long-i were represented by adding after the character. Now, a dot diacritic is preferred instead.
  • Formerly, Long-o and long-u were represented by adding after the character Now, a dot diacritic is preferred instead.