Maale language
Maale is an Omotic language spoken in the Omo Region of Ethiopia. The Maale people are vigorously maintaining their language despite exposure to outside pressures and languages. It is used for social, religious and local administrative purposes since most of its speakers are monolingual. There are plans to use the language as a medium of education as well.
Phonology
Consonants
The Maale language has a rich array of consonant sounds. The consonant inventory includes:Plain Stops: /p/, /b/, /t/,/d/,/ts/,/c/, /j/, /k/, /ɡ/, /ʔ/ Glottalized Stops: /ɗ/,/ɓ/,/s’/,/c’/,/k’/Nasals: /m/, /n/Spirants: /s/, /z/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/,/h/Liquids: /l/, /r/Glides: /w/, /y/Vowels
The vowel system in the Maale language includes:Short Vowels: /i/, /e/, /a/, /o/, /u/Long Vowels: /ii/, /ee/, /aa/, /oo/, /uu/For example:
| Short vowels | Long vowels |
| Tóki | Tooki |
| Míʃó | Miiʃʃe |
| ʃáʃi | ʃaaʃi |
| ʔála | ʔáálla |
Maale also distinguishes between high and low tones, adding a layer of phonological complexity.
In Maale, there are diphthongs and they are mainly; au, ai and oi. Of these three, ai and oi are the most frequent in the lexicon.
Examples of words with diphthongs.
| Words with "ai" | Words with "oi" | Words with "au" |
| Haitsó | K’oida | Hauʃʃi |
| Naizzi | Koida | Sautti |
| Waizzi | Goitsi | ʃaulle |
| Sáízzí | ʔóíɗi | C’aulle |
| Háíbi | ʔóísi | ʔautti |
Word order
The Maale language typically follows an SOV word order.Subject-Object-Verb :
For example:
ʔííní ginʔ-á-ne
3MS: NOM sleep-IPF-A:DCL
“He is sleeping.”
ʔííní salítsi zér-á-ne
3MS:NOM sesame:ABS sow-IPF-A:DCL
“He is sowing sesame.”
Pluralization
In Maale, pluralization is typically achieved by adding suffixes, such as -asti for definite nouns with a masculine gender marker.| Singular | Plural |
| Piró | Pir-atsi |
| Metó | Met-atsi |
| Móló | Mól-átsi |
| Piis’o | Piis’-atsi |
| Paró | Par-atsi |
| Gúrgúro | Gúrgúr-átsi |
-at- for words which refer to close kin and pets and one term mani
| Citation form | IDF:PL-ABS |
| Nayi | Na-att-ó |
| Baisi | Bais-att-ó |
| Géézzi | Géézz-att-ó |
| Kani | Kan-art-ó |
| Marayi | Mar-att-ó |
There are some plural forms that don’t follow the aforementioned pattern. These are the irregular plurals. These are formed by adding either the suffix á or the suffix ó, and sometimes they change form.
| Citation Form | IDF:PL:NOM | IDF:PL:ABS |
| ʔasi | ʔas-á | ʔasó |
| Baazzi | Bakk-á | Bakkó |
| Múúzzí | Múʔʔ-á | Múʔʔó |
| ʃúcci | ʃúw-á | ʃúwó |
| ɓáɗi | ɓaʒ-à | ɓaʒó |
Adjectives
In Maale, adjectives typically follow the noun they modify.Examples:
ʔííní deetsi bássi bass-é-ne
3MS:NOM heavy load:ABS carry on back-PF -A:DCL
'He carried a heavy load'
ʔííní ʔodossi mítsi tik' -é-ne
3MS:NOM tall tree: ABS cut-PF-A:DCL
'He cut a tall tree'
However, Maale adjectives are grouped into semantic types, which were suggested in Dixon 1982 as seen below:
Dimension Adjectives:
- Kúmútsi
- Dicci
- Púúpi
- K’ulbe
- Gúútsi
- Wóʔʔi
- Mízaɓi
- Maasana
- Deetsi
- C’anci
- Zok’k’e
- Kártsi
- Boore
- ɓáɓi
- gárci
- ʔákki
- ɗégge
- dúúɗɗi
- Walli
- Béls’a
- ʔoso
- Báró
- Kupi
- Kóʃi
- ʔórgocci
- Púrta
- Wúdde
Adverbs
Maale has adverbs that modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. They indicate time, place, and manner.Time Adverbs
- hannó
- hintó
- wánte
Manner Adverbs
- pálle
- haccá
Place adverbs are derived from demonstrative.
Pronouns
Maale has a set of independent subject pronouns that show characteristics that are not observed in nouns. They have their own paradigm for person and number, as illustrated in the table below.The Pronoun paradigm.
| 3LOG | GEN | SBJ/NOM | OBJ/ABS | |
| 1SG | ta | táání tá | táná | |
| 2SG | ne | nééní né | néná | |
| 3MS | pe- | ʔízá | ʔízí ʔííní ʔí | ʔíza |
| 3FS | pe- | ʔízó | ʔízá | ʔízó |
| 1PL | nu | núúní nú | núná | |
| 2PL | ʔíntsi | ʔíntsí | ʔíntsi | |
| 3PL | pe- | ʔiyátó | ʔiyátá | ʔiyátó |
Examples:
- tá ɓaʃk-é-ne
- nú ʔársa maʒʒ-á-ne
- né núú-na maɗ-andá-ne
Negation
Negation in Maale is typically marked by affixing -ibá- or -uwá- to the verb root. The affix -ibá- marks both perfective aspects and negation, and -uwá- marks both imperfective aspect and negation.Examples:
ʔíyátá ɓaʃk-é-ne
3PL:NOM run-PF-A:DCL
‘they ran’
Negation;
ʔíyátá ɓaʃk-ibá-se
3PL:NOM run-PF:NEG-N:DCL
‘They did not run’
ʔíyátá ɓaʃk-uwá-se
3PL:NOM run-IPF:NEG-N:DCL
‘They do not run’
Numbers
Maale has a decimal system. Thus the basic counting forms are;| pétte | one |
| lamʔó | two |
| haitsó | three |
| ʔoidó | four |
| dóngo | five |
| láhhó | six |
| lánkayi | seven |
| sállí | eight |
| tásuɓa | nine |
| táɓɓó | ten |
For numbers 11 to 19, the lower numerals are combined with the word for ten.
| táɓɓó pétte | eleven |
| táɓɓó lamʔó | twelve |
| táɓɓó haitsó | thirteen |
| táɓɓó ʔoidó | fourteen |
| táɓɓó dóngo | fifteen |
| táɓɓó láhhó | sixteen |
| táɓɓó lánkayi | seventeen |
| táɓɓó sállí | eighteen |
| táɓɓó tásuɓa | nineteen |
For multiple tens, this is how they are formed.
| lamá-támmi | twenty |
| haytsí-támmi | thirty |
| ʔoydí-támmi | forty |
| dóngi-támmi | fifty |
| láhhi-támmi | sixty |
| lánkayi-támmi | seventy |
| sálli-támmi | eighty |
| tázuɓi-támmi | ninety |
100 is expressed with a morphologically simplex form as attested in many other Omotic languages, that is:
s’ééta hundred.