Harari language

Harari is an Ethiopian 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 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 Silt'e, 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 'language of the City' (Gēy is the word for how Harari speakers refer to the city of Harar, whose name is an exonym). 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
ሀረሪ (hăräri)
Native to	Ethiopia
Region	Harari Region
Ethnicity	32,000 Harari (2007 census)
Speakers	L1: 27,000 (2007 census) L2: 8,300
Language family	Afro-Asiatic Semitic West Semitic South Semitic Ethiopic South Transversal Harari–East Gurage Harari
Writing system	Harari alphabet (Ge'ez script)
Language codes
ISO 639-3	har
Glottolog	hara1271

Harari was originally written with a version of the Arabic script, then the Ethiopic script was adopted to write the language. Some Harari speakers in diaspora write their language with the Latin alphabet.

Phonology

Harari consonants

		Labial	Dental	Alveolar		Post-alv./ Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Pharyngeal	Glottal
				plain	emphatic
Nasal		m		n		ɲ
Stop	voiceless	p		t		tʃ	k	q		ʔ
	voiced	b		d	dˤ	dʒ	ɡ
	ejective			t’		tʃ’	k’
Fricative	voiceless	f	θ	s	sˤ	ʃ	x		ħ	h
	voiced	v	ð	z	zˁ	ʒ	ɣ		ʕ
Trill				r
Approximant				l		j	w

Harari vowels

	Front		Central	Back
	short	long		short	long
Close	ɪ	iː	ɨ	ʊ	uː
Mid	e	eː		o	oː
Open	æ		aː

Grammar

Nouns

Number

Wolf Leslau discusses Harari–East Gurage phonology and grammar: The noun has two numbers, singular and plural. The affix -ač changes singulars into plurals:

abōč 'a man'; abōčač 'men'

wandaq 'a servant'; wandaqač 'servants'

gar 'a house'; garač 'houses'

Nouns ending in a or i become plural without reduplicating this letter:

gafa 'a slave'; gafač 'slaves'

gubna 'a harlot'; gubnač 'harlots'

liği 'a son'; liğiyač 'sons'

qabri 'a grave'; qabriyač 'graves'

/s/ alternates with /z/:

färäz 'a horse'; färäzač 'horses'

iraaz 'toga'; iraazač 'togas'

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:

rágá 'an old man'; rágít 'an old woman'

buchí 'male dog'; buchít 'female dog'

wasíf 'a slave boy'; wasífít 'a slave girl'

Animals of different sexes have different names. and this forms the second process:

bárá 'an ox'; lám 'a cow'

The third and the most common way of expressing sex is by means of korma 'male or man' and inistí 'woman, female', corresponding to English "he-" and "she-":

korma faraz 'a stallion'; inistí faraz 'a mare'

korma baqal 'a he-mule'; inistí basal 'a she-mule'

Pronouns

English	Independent	Object pronoun suffixes			Possessive suffixes
		Direct	Prepositional
			Benefactive	Locative/adversative
I	ኣን an
you (m. sg.)	አኻኽ äkhakh
you (f. sg.)	አኻሽ akhâsh
you (polite/formal)	አኻኹ akhâkhu
he/him	አዝዞ äzzo
she/her	አዝዜ äzze
s/he (polite/formal)	አዝዚዩ äzziyu
we	ኢኛች ignâch
you (pl.)	አኻኻች akhâkhâch
they	አዝዚያች äzziyach

Harari demonstrative pronouns

Number, Gender		Near	Far
Singular	Masculine	ዪ yi (i)	የእ yäǝ
	Feminine	ኢትተ ittä	የትተ yättä
Plural		ዪያች yiyâch	የኣች Ya’âch

Person	Singular	Plural
1	Án	Innách or Inyách.
2	Akhákh	Akhákhách
3	Azo	(383) Azziyách

The affixed pronouns or possessives attached to nouns are:

Singular.

1st Pers. – e, my or mine. : Gár-e, my house.

2nd Pers. – khá, thy or thine. Gár-khá, thy house.

3rd Pers. – zo, or – so, his. Gár-zo, his house.

Plural.

1st Pers. – zinya or sinya, our. : Gár-zinya, our house.

2nd Pers. – kho, your. Gár-kho, your house.

3rd Pers. – ziyu or siyu, their. Gár-ziyu, their house. (384)

In the same way attached pronouns are affixed to verbs:

Sit-ayn: give (thou to) me.

Sit-ana: give (thou to) us.

The demonstrative pronouns are:

Sing. Yí, this.

Yá', that.

Plur. Yíách, these.

Yá'ách, those.

The interrogative pronouns are the following:

Mántá: who?

Mintá: what?

Án atti'e hárkho: I myself went.

Akhákh attikha hárkhí: thou thyself wentest.

Azo attiizo hára: he himself went.

Verbs

The following are the two auxiliary verbs:

'to be'

			Past		Present		Imperative
			Affirmative	Negative	Affirmative	Negative
Person	(s)	1	Án narkhú.	Án alnárkhúm.	Án halkho.	Án elkhúm.
		2	Akhákh nárkhí.	Akhákh alnárkhím.	Akhákh halkhí.	Akhákh elkhím.	Hal.
		3	Azo nárá.	Azo alnárum.	Azo hal (<A>).	Azo elúm.
	(pl)	1	Inyách nárná.	Inyách alnárum.	Inyách halna.	Inyách elnám.
		2	Akhákhách narkhú.	Akhákhách alnárkhúm.	Akhákhách halkhú.	Akhákhách elkhúm.	Halkhú.
		3	Aziyách nárú.	Aziyách alnárúm.	Aziyách halú	Aziyásc elúm.

Past tense

Sing. 1. I became: Án ikaní náarkho.

2. Thou becamest: Akhákh tikání nárkhí.

3. He became: Azo ikáni nárá.

Plur. 1. We became: Innách nikání nárná.

2. Ye became: Akhákhách tikání nárkhú.

3. They became: Aziyách ikání nárú.

Present tense

Sing. 1. I become: Án ikánákh.

2. Thou becomest: Akhákh tikánákh.

3. He becomes: Azo ikánál.

Plur. 1. We become: Inyách nikánáná.

2. Ye become: Akhákhách tikánákhu.

3. They become: Aziyách yikánálú.

Imperative

Become thou, "Kanni". Become ye, "Kánnú".

Prohibitive

Sing. 2. Become not, ikánnumekh.

Plur. 2. Become not ye, tikánnumekhu.

Past tense

(Affirmative form)

Sing. 1. I went, Án letkho.

2. Thous wentest, Akhákh letkhí.

3. He went, Azo leta.

Plur. 1. We went, Inyách letna.

2. Ye went, Akhákhách letkhú.

3. They went, Aziyách letú.

(Negative form)

Sing. 1. I went not, Án alletkhúm.

2. Thou wentest not, Akbákh alletkhím.

3. He went not, Azo alletám.

Plur. 1. We went not, Inyách aletnám.

2. Ye went not, Akhákách alletkhúm.

3. They went not, Azziyách alletúm.

Present tense.

(Affirmative form)

1. I go, Án iletákh 1. Inyásh niletáná.

2. Thou goest, Akhákh tiletínakh 2. Akhákhách tiletákhú.

3. He goes, Azo yiletál 3. Azziyách yiletálú.

(Negative form)

Sing. 1. I go not, Án iletumekh.

2. Thou goest not, Akhákh tiletumekh.

3. He goes not, Azo yiletumel.

Plur. 1. We go not, Inyách niletumena.

2. Ye go not, Akhákhach tiletumekhú.

3. They go not, Azziyách iletuelú.

Sing. 1. I will go, Án iletle halkho.

2. Thou wilt go, Akháhk tiletle halkhí.

3. He will go, Azo iletle hal.

Plur. 1. We will go, Inyách niletle halns.

2. Ye will go, Akhákhách tiletle halkhú.

3. They will go, Azziyách niletle halns.

Writing system

Harari was originally written in an unmodified and later 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.

Modified Arabic script

Romanization	IPA	Arabic Script Harari Letter
a / '	∅ / ʔ	ا‎
b	b	ب‎
p	p	پ‎
t	t	ت‎
ṫ	θ	ث‎
j	dʒ	ج‎
g	g	ݘ‎
h	ħ	ح‎
kh	x	خ‎
d	d	د‎
dh	ð	ذ‎
r	r	ر‎
z	z	ز‎
zh	ʒ	ژ‎
s	s	س‎
sh	ʃ	ش‎
ch	tʃ	ڛ‎
ṡ	sˁ	ص‎
ḋ	dˁ	ض‎
t'	t’	ط‎
ż	zˁ	ظ‎
c	tʃ’	ڟ‎
ȧ	ʕ	ع‎
gh	ɣ	غ‎
f	f	ف‎
v	v	ڤ‎
q	q	ق‎
k	k	ك‎
k'	k’	ڬ‎
l	l	ل‎
m	m	م‎
n	n	ن‎
gn	ɲ	ڹ‎
h	h	ه‎
w	w	و‎
y	j	ي‎

Vowel markings table

Romanization	IPA	Vowel markings independent	Vowel combined with consonant ب (be)
a	/ˌæ/	َ	بَ
e	/ˌe/	ٚ	بٚ
i	/ˌɪ/	ِ	بِ
o	/o/	ٛ	بٛ
u	/u/	ُ	بُ
â	/aː/	آ, َا	با
ê	/eː/	ٚي	بٚي
î	/iː/	ِي	بِي
ô	/ˌoː/	ٛو	بٛو
û	/ˌuː/	ُو	بُو
ʼa	/ˈæ/	َاٴْ	باٴْ
ʼe	/ˈe/	ٚيٴْ	بيٴْ
ʼi	/ˈɪ/	ِيٴْ	بيٴْ
ʼo	/ˈo/	ٛوٴْ	بوٴْ
ʼu	/ˈʊ/	ُوٴْ	بوٴْ
ʼâ	/ˈaː/	آءْ, َاءْ	باءْ
ʼê	/ˈeː/	ٚيءْ	بٚيءْ
ʼî	/ˈiː/	ِيءْ	بِيءْ
ʼô	/ˈoː/	ٛوءْ	بٛوءْ
ʼû	/ˈuː/	ُوءْ	بُوءْ

Modified Ge'ez script

Further information: Ge'ez script § Adaptations_to_other_languages

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 & IPA consonants along the rows and the Romanized vowel markings along the columns.

Harari writing system

Romanization	IPA	a [æ]	â [aː]	u [ʊ]	û [uː]	i [ɪ]	î [iː]	e [e]	ê [eː]	o [o]	ô [oː]	∅/ə [∅/ɨ]
h	h	ሀ	ሃ	ሁ	ሁ፞	ሂ	ሂ፞	ሄ	ሄ፞	ሆ	ሆ፞	ህ
l	l	ለ	ላ	ሉ	ሉ፞	ሊ	ሊ፞	ሌ	ሌ፞	ሎ	ሎ፞	ል
ḣ	ħ	ሐ	ሓ	ሑ	ሑ፞	ሒ	ሒ፞	ሔ	ሔ፞	ሖ	ሖ፞	ሕ
m	m	መ	ማ	ሙ	ሙ፞	ሚ	ሚ፞	ሜ	ሜ፞	ሞ	ሞ፞	ም
ṫ	θ	ሠ	ሣ	ሡ	ሡ፞	ሢ	ሢ፞	ሤ	ሤ፞	ሦ	ሦ፞	ሥ
r	r	ረ	ራ	ሩ	ሩ፞	ሪ	ሪ፞	ሬ	ሬ፞	ሮ	ሮ፞	ር
s	s	ሰ	ሳ	ሱ	ሱ፞	ሲ	ሲ፞	ሴ	ሴ፞	ሶ	ሶ፞	ስ
sh	ʃ	ሸ	ሻ	ሹ	ሹ፞	ሺ	ሺ፞	ሼ	ሼ፞	ሾ	ሾ፞	ሽ
q	q	ቀ	ቃ	ቁ	ቁ፞	ቂ	ቂ፞	ቄ	ቄ፞	ቆ	ቆ፞	ቅ
b	b	በ	ባ	ቡ	ቡ፞	ቢ	ቢ፞	ቤ	ቤ፞	ቦ	ቦ፞	ብ
v	v	ቨ	ቫ	ቩ	ቩ፞	ቪ	ቪ፞	ቬ	ቬ፞	ቮ	ቮ፞	ቭ
t	t	ተ	ታ	ቱ	ቱ፞	ቲ	ቲ፞	ቴ	ቴ፞	ቶ	ቶ፞	ት
ch	tʃ	ቸ	ቻ	ቹ	ቹ፞	ቺ	ቺ፞	ቼ	ቼ፞	ቾ	ቾ፞	ች
gh	ɣ	ኀ	ኃ	ኁ	ኁ፞	ኂ	ኂ፞	ኄ	ኄ፞	ኆ	ኆ፞	ኅ
n	n	ነ	ና	ኑ	ኑ፞	ኒ	ኒ፞	ኔ	ኔ፞	ኖ	ኖ፞	ን
gn	ɲ	ኘ	ኛ	ኙ	ኙ፞	ኚ	ኚ፞	ኜ	ኜ፞	ኞ	ኞ፞	ኝ
'/a	∅ / ʔ	አ	ኣ	ኡ	ኡ፞	ኢ	ኢ፞	ኤ	ኤ፞	ኦ	ኦ፞	እ
k	k	ከ	ካ	ኩ	ኩ፞	ኪ	ኪ፞	ኬ	ኬ፞	ኮ	ኮ፞	ክ
kh	x	ኸ	ኻ	ኹ	ኹ፞	ኺ	ኺ፞	ኼ	ኼ፞	ኾ	ኾ፞	ኽ
w	w	ወ	ዋ	ዉ	ዉ፞	ዊ	ዊ፞	ዌ	ዌ፞	ዎ	ዎ፞	ው
ȧ	ʕ	ዐ	ዓ	ዑ	ዑ፞	ዒ	ዒ፞	ዔ	ዔ፞	ዖ	ዖ፞	ዕ
z	z	ዘ	ዛ	ዙ	ዙ፞	ዚ	ዚ፞	ዜ	ዜ፞	ዞ	ዞ፞	ዝ
zh	ʒ	ዠ	ዣ	ዡ	ዡ፞	ዢ	ዢ፞	ዤ	ዤ፞	ዦ	ዦ፞	ዥ
y	j	የ	ያ	ዩ	ዩ፞	ዪ	ዪ፞	ዬ	ዬ፞	ዮ	ዮ፞	ይ
d	d	ደ	ዳ	ዱ	ዱ፞	ዲ	ዲ፞	ዴ	ዴ፞	ዶ	ዶ፞	ድ
k'	k’	ዸ	ዻ	ዹ	ዹ፞	ዺ	ዺ፞	ዼ	ዼ፞	ዾ	ዾ፞	ዽ
j	dʒ	ጀ	ጃ	ጁ	ጁ፞	ጂ	ጂ፞	ጄ	ጄ፞	ጆ	ጆ፞	ጅ
g	g	ገ	ጋ	ጉ	ጉ፞	ጊ	ጊ፞	ጌ	ጌ፞	ጎ	ጎ፞	ግ
t'	t’	ጠ	ጣ	ጡ	ጡ፞	ጢ	ጢ፞	ጤ	ጤ፞	ጦ	ጦ፞	ጥ
c	tʃ’	ጨ	ጫ	ጩ	ጩ፞	ጪ	ጪ፞	ጬ	ጬ፞	ጮ	ጮ፞	ጭ
ḋ	dˁ	ጰ	ጳ	ጱ	ጱ፞	ጲ	ጲ፞	ጴ	ጴ፞	ጶ	ጶ፞	ጵ
ṡ	sˁ	ጸ	ጻ	ጹ	ጹ፞	ጺ	ጺ፞	ጼ	ጼ፞	ጾ	ጾ፞	ጽ
dh	ð	ፀ	ፃ	ፁ	ፁ፞	ፂ	ፂ፞	ፄ	ፄ፞	ፆ	ፆ፞	ፅ
f	f	ፈ	ፋ	ፉ	ፉ፞	ፊ	ፊ፞	ፌ	ፌ፞	ፎ	ፎ፞	ፍ
p	p	ፐ	ፓ	ፑ	ፑ፞	ፒ	ፒ፞	ፔ	ፔ፞	ፖ	ፖ፞	ፕ
ż	zˁ	ⶰ	ⶳ	ⶱ	ⶱ፞	ⶲ	ⶲ፞	ⶴ	ⶴ፞	ⶶ	ⶶ፞	ⶵ
Romanization	IPA	a [æ]	â [aː]	u [ʊ]	û [uː]	i [ɪ]	î [iː]	e [e]	ê [eː]	o [o]	ô [oː]	∅/ə [∅/ɨ]

Modified Latin script

Latin Harari script capital letter	Latin Harari script small letter	International phonetic alphabet
A	a	æ
Â	â	aː
Ȧ	ȧ	ʕ
B	b	b
C	c	tʃ’
Ch	ch	tʃ
D	d	d
Dh	dh	ð
Ḋ	ḋ	dˁ
E	e	e
Ê	ê	eː
F	f	f
G	g	g
Gh	gh	ɣ
Gn	gn	ɲ
H	h	h
Ḣ	ḣ	ħ
I	i	ɪ
Î	î	iː
J	j	dʒ
K	k	k
Kh	kh	x
L	l	l
M	m	m
N	n	n
O	o	o
Ô	ô	oː
P	p	p
Q	q	q
R	r	r
S	s	s
Sh	sh	ʃ
Ṡ	ṡ	sˁ
T	t	t
Ṫ	ṫ	θ
U	u	ʊ
Û	û	uː
V	v	v
W	w	w
X	x	x
Xh	xh	k’
Y	y	j
Z	z	z
Zh	zh	ʒ
Ż	ż	zˁ

Numerals

• 1. Ahad
• 2. Ko'ot
• 3. Shi'ishti
• 4. Haret
• 5. Ham'misti
• 6. Siddisti
• 7. Sa'ati
• 8. Su'ut
• 9. Zahtegn
• 10. Asir
• 11. Asra ahad
• 12. Asra ko'ot
• 13. Asra shi'ishti
• 14. Asra haret
• 15. Asra ham'misti
• 16. Asra siddisti
• 17. Asra sa'ati
• 18. Asra su'ut
• 19. Asra zahtegn
• 20. Kuya
• 30. Saasa
• 40. Arbîn
• 50. Hamsein
• 60. Sit'tin
• 70. Sa'ati asir
• 80. Su'ut asir
• 90. Zahtana
• 100. Baqla
• 1,000. Kum or Alfi

References

Works cited

• Garad, Abdurahman; Wagner, Ewald (1998). Harari-Studien : Texte mit Übersetzung, grammatischen Skizzen und Glossar (in German). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. ISBN 3-447-03937-X.
• Cerulli, Enrico. “La lingua e la storia di Harar” in Studi Etiopici, vol. I, 1936 (Roma).
• Cohen, Marcel (1931). Etudes d'éthiopien méridional. Paris. pp. 243–354.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Andrew Cunningham (2011). Harari Harfi (PDF). State Library of Victoria and the Australian Saay Harari Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-04-10.
• Gardner, Simon; Siebert, Ralph (2001). Sociolinguistic survey report of the Zay language area (Report). SIL Electronic Survey Reports. Vol. 2002–024.
• Leslau, Wolf (1937). "Contributions a l'etude du harari (Abyssinie meridionale)". Journal Asiatique. 229.
• Leslau, Wolf (1958). The verb in Harari (South Ethiopic). Berkeley: University of California Press.
• Leslau, Wolf (1965). Ethiopians speak: studies in cultural background. University of California Press. ISBN 9783515036573.
• Leslau, Wolf (1959). "An Analysis of the Harari Vocabulary". Annales d'Ethiopie. 3 (1): 275–298. doi:10.3406/ethio.1959.1310.
• Mondon-Vidailhet, Casimir (1902). La langue Harari et les dialectes Ethiopies du Gouraghê. Paris: Imprimerie nationale.
• Wagner, Ewald (1983). Harari-Texte in arabischer Schrift : mit Übersetzung und Kommentar. Wiesbaden: F. Steiner.

External links

• World Atlas of Language Structures information on Harari
• Grammatical Outline and Vocabulary of the Harari Language