4. Grammar

Werizoid has SOV word order, as in uso qaw-xo xi?-i *He (uso) saw (xi?-i) the man (qaw-xo) . * At least non-negative finite verbs frequently have prefixed or proclitic person markers: e.g. , an-xi?-i *I saw, ' i-xi?-i 'he saw, ' In addi- tion to the exemplified first person an- and third person i- there is a second person aC- in which C represents the initial consonant of the following verb. These person markers do not distinguish number or gender. A siobject marker -kka is attested as a suffix of both nouns and pronouns: compare qaw-xo-kka uso xi?-i *A man saw him' with the first sentence cited in this paragraph, and note that the final vowel of -kka is elided in uso-kk (a) i-xaf-i 'He came.'

The following table presents the pronouns and the posi- tive and negative perfective and imperfective of the verb xaf- 'corne. •

225

Pronoun

WERIZOID

Perfective

Ifliperfective

Is ino

2 s ico

3in iSso

3f £se

'I*

Positive Negative Positive Negative xAf-i "^ / xdf-na xaf-n£

'you (sg.) ' xif-ti 'he' x^f-i

•she'

xdf-te

* xaf-u

xif-nay xaf-intf xAf-na xaf-ni

xif-nay

(un- attested)

Ip fne 'we' xif-ne xdf-one xdf-nane xaf-nenf

2p xdne *you (pi,)' xdf-te xdf-onku xdf-nanku xaf-intf

3p usunDe 'they' xif-e xdif-onki xif-nanki xaf-n^

'came' 'didn't 'be 'not be come ' coming ' coming '

A verb governed by a facalized subject is invariant in form and in at least the perfective positive resembles the 3m form in the above paradigm. Responses to vaFici: x£?-i for exeunple could include ano xi?-i 'I saw', aco xi?-i *You saw" , and so on.

Singular imperatives are attested with suffixes -i^ and -a: e.g., tafi-i 'Bring it!', a§§-a 'Goi'. ""

Derivational suffixes on verbs include a causative in -is-: e.g., fo:l 'boil (intr.), foil-is- 'cook (tr.)'; a suf- fix -aP- akin to the Cushitic benef active: e.g., Soft- 'wash', 5oPi-aD- 'wash oneself; and, in at least Gawwada of iS^rkuta, a passive in -am-: e.g., gunP- 'break' (tr.), gunP-am- 'become broken ' .

Verbless sentences occur: e.g., t ' ir-akko '(It's a) man.' Questions can be formed from both verbal and verbless sentences by suffixing -m to the final element; e.g., i-xdf-i-m 'Did he come?', t'ir-akk6-m 'Is it a man?'. Questions are also formed from at least some verb forms by means of an intona- tion contour which exaggerates pitch differences and lengthens the final vowel of the verb in gradually falling pitch: e.g., i-xdif-i: 'Pid he come?'.

A noun consists of a stem plus a derivational suffix which determines the potential agreement of the noun with a governed verb. Nouns which can agree with 3m, 3f , and 3p verbs are called masculine, feminine, and plural respectively. Nouns with masculine suffixes include s£:t-o 'tail', sar^-xo 'leopard', op6p-ko 'grandson', and £n-akko 'fly' ; feminines include k6rs-e 'meat' , op6p-te ' granddaughter ' , and ^:x-icce 'leaf; and plurals include in-A:ne 'flies', salcm-i:ne 'honeys ' , kors-d:ne 'meats', op6p-pa ; ne ' granddaughters ' , karm-IPDe 'lions', and op-iDP-a:ne 'grandsons ' . A genitive suffix -ito is attested in qoffol-e kark-ito 'bark of a tree'; cf. kark-o ' tree ' .

Demonstratives include masculine xtisi and xdssa, feminine cisi and cissa, and plural x£si and x£ssa 'this/these/ and "TEat/ those ' .

226

Monograph No. 5 Occasional Papers Series Committee on Ethiopian Studies

ThelNon-Semitic

Languages of EthiopiaJ

Edited by M. Lionel Bender

Acting Series Editor, John Hinnant

^ .ase send two copies of your review to the African Stud.'es Center, MbU, t. Lansing, Mi. 48824 ^^^■"■

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