Oromia Region Oromiya(a)
—  kilil  —
Flag
Map of Ethiopia showing Oromia Region
Country	Ethiopia
Capital	de jure Addis Ababa[1] de facto Adama[2]
Area
• Total	284,538 km2 (109,861 sq mi)
Population (2007)
• Total	27,158,471
• Density	95/km2 (250/sq mi)
ISO 3166 code	ET-OR

Oromia (sometimes spelled Oromiya and spelled Oromiyaa in the Oromo language) is one of the nine ethnic divisions ('regional state) of Ethiopia. Covering 284,538 square kilometers^[3] stretching from the western border in an arc to the southwestern corner of the country, the 2007 census reported its population is at over twenty-seven million, making it the largest state in terms of both population and area. It includes the former Arsi Province along with portions of the former Bale, Hararghe, Illubabor, Kaffa, Shewa, Sidamo, and Welega provinces. Its current capital is Addis Ababa (Oromo: Finfinne); other important cities and towns include Adama, Ambo, Asella, Bishoftu, Dembidolo, Fiche, Gimbi, Goba, Jimma, Metu, Negele Boran, Nekemte, Shashamane and Waliso.

History[link]

Prior to 2000, the Regional capital of Oromia was Addis Ababa, also known as "Finfinne" (the original name in the Oromo language). The relocation of the regional capital to Adama sparked considerable controversy. Critics of the move believed the Ethiopian government wished to deemphasize Addis Ababa's location within Oromia.^[4][5] On the other hand, the government maintained that Addis Ababa "has been found inconvenient from the point of view of developing the language, culture and history of the Oromo people."^[6]

On June 10, 2005, the Oromo Liberation Front, part of the ruling , officially announced plans to move the state capital back to Finfinne.^[7]

Oromia shares a boundary with every Region of Ethiopia except for the Tigray Region. This boundary has been disputed with Oromia's neighbors in a number of cases, most notably between Oromia and the Somali Region. One attempt to resolve the dispute between the two Regions was the October, 2004 referendum held in about 420 kebeles in 12 woredas across five zones of the Somali Region. According to the official results of the referendum, about 80% of the disputed areas have fallen under Oromia administration, though there were numerous allegations of voting irregularities in many of them.^[8] The results led over the following weeks to minorities in these kebeles being pressured to leave. In Oromya, estimates based on figures given by local woreda and kebele authorities suggest that a total of 21,520 people have been displaced in different border woredas, namely Mieso, Doba, and Erer in the Mirab and Misraq Hararghe Zones. On the other hand, Federal authorities believe that this number may be overstated by as much as 11,000. In Doba, the Ministry of Federal Affairs put the number of IDPs at 6,000. There are also more than 2,500 displaced persons in Mieso.^[9] In addition, there were reports of people being displaced in the border area of Moyale and Borena zones due to this conflict.^[10]

Demographics[link]

Based on the 2007 Census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA), Oromia has a total population of 27,158,471, consisting of 13,676,159 men and 13,482,312 women; urban inhabitants number 3,370,040 or 11.3% of the population. With an estimated area of 353,006.81 square kilometers, this region has an estimated population density of 76.93 people per square kilometer. For the entire region 5,590,530 households were counted, which results in an average for the Region of 4.8 persons to a household, with urban households having on average 3.8 and rural households 5.0 people.

In the previous census, conducted in 1994, the region's population was reported to be 18,732,525, of whom 9,371,228 were men and 9,361,297 women; urban inhabitants number 621,210 or 14% of the population.

According to the CSA, as of 2004^[update], 32% of the total population had access to safe drinking water, of whom 23.7% were rural inhabitants and 91.03% were urban.^[11] Values for other reported common indicators of the standard of living for Oromia as of 2005^[update] include the following: 19.9% of the inhabitants fall into the lowest wealth quintile; adult literacy for men is 61.5% and for women 29.5%; and the Regional infant mortality rate is 76 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, which is about the same as the nationwide average of 77; at least half of these deaths occurred in the infants’ first month of life.^[12]

Ethnic groups[link]

However figures of full ethnic background are disputed, since many ethnically mixed Ethiopians are difficult to categorize. Particularly, Shewa Oromos and urban Oromos are known to have assimilated with ethnic Amhara and others, while southwestern Oromos have mixed with the Sidama and other ethnicities. The census and the general system of governance has remained controversial and related to the politics of the country. For instance, mixed Ethiopians with an Oromo father and Amhara mother are registered into the census using only their father's ethnic label. Similarly, Ethiopians with an Amhara father (or from another ethnic background) and Oromo mother are registered using only their father's ethnic label, and hence counted as non-Oromo.^{[citation needed]}

Religion[link]

Religion in entire region:

Religion in urban areas:

Languages[link]

Oromo (Oromiffa), presently written with Latin characters, is the most commonly spoken language, constituting 83.5% of the spoken language. Other major languages are Amharic (11%) (especially in eastern Welega and northern Shewa), Gurage languages (Sebat Bet Gurage, Soddo, Silt'e), Hadiya, Gedeo (0.98%), especially in western and eastern Shewa; and Tigrigna (0.25%). Omotic languages are spoken by significant minorities in Jimma, Illubabor and western Welega; and some Nilo-Saharan languages (including Komo, Majang, Gumuz, and Berta) are spoken in communities scattered in the west.

Economy[link]

The CSA reported that for 2004-2005 115,083 tons of coffee were produced in Oromia, based on inspection records from the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority. This represents 50.7% of the total production in Ethiopia. Farmers in the Region had an estimated total of 17,214,540 cattle (representing 44.4% of Ethiopia's total cattle), 6,905,370 sheep (39.6), 4,849,060 goats (37.4%), 959,710 horses (63.25%), 63,460 mules (43.1%), 278,440 asses (11.1%), 139,830 camels (30.6%), 11,637,070 poultry of all species (37.7%), and 2,513,790 beehives (57.73%).^[14]

According to a March 2003 World Bank publication, the average rural household has 1.14 hectares of land compared to the national average of 1.01 hectares, 24% of the population is in non-farm related jobs compared to the national average of 25%.^[15]

Presidents of the Executive Committee[link]

• Hassen Ali (1992? - 1995)
• Kuma Demeksa (OPDO) (1995 - 24 July 2001)
• Junedin Sado (28 October 2001 - 6 October 2005)
• Abadula Gemeda OPDO (6 October 2005 - September 2010)
• Alemayehu Atomsa OPDO (September 2010 – present)

(This list is based on information from Worldstatesmen.org.)

See also[link]

• Black Gold, film
• Ethiopian Ministry of Culture and Tourism
• List of woredas of the Oromia Region

References[link]

External links[link]

• Oromia State Government
• Map of Oromia Region at UN-OCHA (PDF file)
• Map of Oromia Region at DPPA of Ethiopia (PDF file)
• FDRE States: Basic Information - Oromia

Media[link]

• Oromia President office
• shegertimes
• Oromia TV
• Oromo Index
• Gadaa
• Jimma Times
• Oduu
• Opride
• Yeroo Qubee Afaan Oromo
• Ayyantuu
• arsi zone profile
• over view of oromiya
• east hararghe zone profile
• west hararghe zone profile
• West wollega zone profile
• Qellam wollega zone profile
• East wollega zone profile
• Horroo Gudurru Wollega
• Ballee zone profile
• East shewa zone profile
• North shewa zone profile

v t e First-level administrative divisions of Ethiopia Regions Afar Amhara Benishangul-Gumuz Gambela Harari Oromia Somali Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region Tigray Chartered cities Addis Ababa Dire Dawa Provinces (prior to 1995) Arsi Bale Gamu-Gofa Gojjam Begemder Hararghe Illubabor Kaffa Shoa Sidamo Tigray Welega Wollo

v t e Zones of the Oromia Region Adama Special Zone · Arsi Zone · Bale Zone · Borena Zone · Debub Mirab (Southwest) Shewa Zone · Guji Zone · Horo Gudru Welega Zone · Illubabor Zone · Jimma Zone · Jimma Special-Zone · Kelem Welega Zone · Mirab (West) Arsi Zone · Mirab (West) Hararghe Zone · Mirab (West) Shewa Zone · Mirab (West) Welega Zone · Misraq (East) Hararghe Zone · Misraq (East) Shewa Zone · Misraq (East) Welega Zone · Oromia Special Zone Surrounding Finfinne · Semien (North) Shewa Zone

Coordinates: 7°59′21″N 39°22′52″E / 7.9890616°N 39.3811798°E / 7.9890616; 39.3811798

Oromo
Afaan Oromo, Oromiffa(a)
Spoken in	Ethiopia  Kenya  Somalia
Ethnicity	25.5 million Oromos (2007 census)
Native speakers	17.3 million  (1994 census)
Language family	Afro-Asiatic Cushitic Lowland East Oromo
Writing system	Latin Qubee, formerly also Ethiopic syllabary
Language codes
ISO 639-1	om
ISO 639-2	orm
ISO 639-3	orm – inclusive code Individual codes: gax – Borana–Arsi–Guji–Walagaa Oromo hae – Eastern Oromo orc – Orma gaz – West Central Oromo
This page contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters.

Oromo, also known as Afaan Oromo, Oromiffa(a) (and sometimes in other languages by variant spellings of these names; Oromic, Afan Oromo, etc.), is an Afro-Asiatic language. It is the most widely spoken tongue in the family's Cushitic branch. Forms of Oromo are spoken as a first language by more than 25 million Oromo and neighbouring peoples in Ethiopia and parts of northern Kenya. Some linguists think of Oromo as a dialect continuum, since not all varieties are mutually intelligible. It is a sociolinguistic language, consisting of four varieties: Borana–Arsi–Guji Oromo, Eastern Oromo (also called Qottu), Orma, and West Central Oromo. Older publications often refer to the language as Galla, a term that is considered pejorative and no longer used.

Speakers[link]

About 95 percent of Oromo speakers live in Ethiopia, mainly in Oromia Region. In Somalia, there are also some speakers of the language.^[1] In Kenya, the Ethnologue also lists 322,000 speakers of Borana and Orma, two languages closely related to Ethiopian Oromo.^[2] Within Ethiopia, Oromo is the second most spoken widely spoken language.

Within Africa, Oromo is the language with the fourth most speakers, after Arabic (if one counts the mutually unintelligible spoken forms of Arabic as a single language and assumes the same for the varieties of Oromo), Swahili, and Hausa.

Besides first language speakers, a number of members of other ethnicities who are in contact with the Oromos speak it as a second language. For example, the Omotic-speaking Bambassi and the Nilo-Saharan-speaking Kwama in northwestern Oromia.^[3]

Language policy[link]

Before the Ethiopian Revolution of 1974, publishing or broadcasting in Oromo was very limited. The few works that had been published, most notably Onesimos Nesib's and Aster Ganno's translation of the Bible from the late nineteenth century, were written in the Ge'ez alphabet, as was the 1875 New Testament produced by Krapf. Following the 1974 Revolution, the government undertook a literacy campaign in several languages, including Oromo, and publishing and radio broadcasts began in the language. All Oromo materials printed in Ethiopia at that time, such as the newspaper Barissa, were written in the traditional script.

Plans to introduce Oromo instruction in the schools, however, were not realized until the government of Mengistu Haile Mariam was overthrown in 1991, except in regions controlled by the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF). With the creation of "Oromia" under the new system of ethnic regions, it has been possible to introduce Oromo as the medium of instruction in elementary schools throughout the region (including areas where other ethnic groups live speaking their languages) and as a language of administration within the region. Since the OLF left the transitional Ethiopian government in early 1990s, the Oromo Peoples' Democratic Organization (OPDO) continued developing Afaan Oromo in Ethiopia.

Oromo is written with a Latin alphabet called Qubee which was formally adopted in 1991.^[4] Various versions of the Latin based orthography had been used previously, mostly by Oromos outside of Ethiopia and by the OLF by the late 1970s (Heine 1986).^[5] With the adoption of Qubee, it is believed more texts were written in the Oromo language between 1991 and 1997 than in the previous 100 years.

The Sapalo script was an indigenous Oromo script invented by Sheikh Bakri Sapalo (also known by his birth name, Abubaker Usman Odaa) in the years following Italian invasion of Ethiopia, and used underground afterwards.^[6][7] The Arabic script has also been used intermittently in areas with Muslim populations.

Within Kenya there has been radio broadcasting in Oromo (in the Borana dialect) on the Voice of Kenya since at least the 1980s.^[8] The Borana Bible in Kenya was printed in 1995 using the Latin alphabet, but not using the same spelling rules as in Ethiopian Qubee. The first comprehensive online Afan Oromo dictionary was developed by the Jimma Times Oromiffa Group (JTOG) in cooperation with SelamSoft.^[9] Voice of America also broadcasts in Afan Oromo alongside its other horn of Africa programs. Afan Oromo and Qubee are currently utilized by the Ethiopian government's state radios, TV stations and regional government newspaper.

Sounds and orthography[link]

Consonant and vowel phonemes[link]

Like most other Ethiopian languages, whether Semitic, Cushitic, or Omotic, Oromo has a set of ejective consonants, that is, voiceless stops or affricates that are accompanied by glottalization and an explosive burst of air. Oromo has another glottalized phone that is more unusual, an implosive retroflex stop, "dh" in Oromo orthography, a sound that is like an English "d" produced with the tongue curled back slightly and with the air drawn in so that a glottal stop is heard before the following vowel begins.

Oromo has the typical Eastern Cushitic set of five short and five long vowels, indicated in the orthography by doubling the five vowel letters. The difference in length is contrastive, for example, hara 'lake', haaraa 'new'. Gemination is also significant in Oromo. That is, consonant length can distinguish words from one another, for example, badaa 'bad', baddaa 'highland'.

In the Qubee alphabet, a single "letter" consists either of a single symbol or a digraph ("ch", "dh", "ny", "ph", "sh"). Gemination is not obligatorily marked for the digraphs, though some writers indicate it by doubling the first symbol: qopphaa'uu 'be prepared'. In the charts below, the International Phonetic Alphabet symbol for a phoneme is shown in brackets where it differs from the Oromo letter. The phonemes /p v z/ appear in parentheses because they are only found in recently adopted words. Note that there have been minor changes in the orthography since it was first adopted: <x> ([tʼ]) was originally represented as "th", and there has been some confusion among authors in the use of "c" and "ch" in representing the phonemes /tʃʼ/ and /tʃ/, with some early works using "c" for /tʃ/ and "ch" for /tʃʼ/ and even "c" for different phonemes depending on where it appears in a word. This article uses "c" consistently for /tʃʼ/ and "ch" for /tʃ/.

Grammar[link]

Nouns[link]

Gender[link]

Like most other Afro-Asiatic languages, Oromo has two grammatical genders, masculine and feminine, and all nouns belong to either one or the other. Grammatical gender in Oromo enters into the grammar in the following ways:

• Verbs (except for the copula be) agree with their subjects in gender when the subject is third person singular (he or she).
• Third person singular personal pronouns (he, she, it, etc., in English) have the gender of the noun they refer to.
• Adjectives agree with the nouns they modify in gender.
• Some possessive adjectives ("my", "your") agree with the nouns they modify in some dialects.

Except in some southern dialects, there is nothing in the form of most nouns that indicates their gender. A small number of nouns pairs for people, however, end in -eessa (m.) and -eettii (f.), as do adjectives when they are used as nouns: obboleessa 'brother', obboleettii 'sister', dureessa 'the rich one (m.)', hiyyeettii 'the poor one (f.)'. Grammatical gender normally agrees with biological gender for people and animals; thus nouns such as abbaa 'father', ilma 'son', and sangaa 'ox' are masculine, while nouns such as haadha 'mother' and intala 'girl, daughter' are feminine. However, most names for animals do not specify biological gender.

Names of astronomical bodies are feminine: aduu 'sun', urjii 'star'. The gender of other inanimate nouns varies somewhat among dialects.

Number[link]

Oromo has singular and plural number, but nouns that refer to multiple entities are not obligatorily plural. That is, if the context is clear, a formally singular noun may refer to multiple entities: nama "man" or "people", nama shan "five men" or "five people". Another way of looking at this is to treat the "singular" form as unspecified for number.

When it is important to make the plurality of a referent clear, the plural form of a noun is used. Noun plurals are formed through the addition of suffixes. The most common plural suffix is -oota; a final vowel is dropped before the suffix, and in the western dialects, the suffix becomes -ota following a syllable with a long vowel: mana 'house', manoota 'houses', hiriyaa 'friend', hiriyoota 'friends', barsiisaa 'teacher', barsiiso(o)ta 'teachers'. Among the other common plural suffixes are -(w)wan, -een, and -(a)an; the latter two may cause a preceding consonant to be doubled: waggaa 'year', waggaawwan 'years', laga 'river', laggeen 'rivers', ilma 'son', ilmaan 'sons'.

Definiteness[link]

Oromo has no indefinite articles (corresponding to English a, some), but (except in the southern dialects) it indicates definiteness (English the) with suffixes on the noun: -(t)icha for masculine nouns (the ch is geminated though this is not normally indicated in writing) and -(t)ittii for feminine nouns. Vowel endings of nouns are dropped before these suffixes: karaa 'road', karicha 'the road', nama 'man', namicha/namticha 'the man', haroo 'lake', harittii 'the lake'. Note that for animate nouns that can take either gender, the definite suffix may indicate the intended gender: qaalluu 'priest', qaallicha 'the priest (m.)', qallittii 'the priest (f.)'. The definite suffixes appear to be used less often than the in English, and they seem not to co-occur with the plural suffixes.

Case[link]

An Oromo noun has a citation form or base form that is used when the noun is the object of a verb, the object of a preposition or postposition, or a nominal predicative.

• mana 'house', mana binne 'we bought a house'
• hamma 'until', dhuma 'end', hamma dhuma 'until (the) end'
• mana keessa, 'inside (a/the) house'
• inni 'he', barsiisaa 'teacher', inni barsiisaa (dha) 'he is a teacher'

A noun may also appear in one of six other grammatical cases, each indicated by a suffix or the lengthening of the noun's final vowel. The case endings follow plural or definite suffixes if these appear. For some of the cases, there is a range of forms possible, some covering more than one case, and the differences in meaning among these alternatives may be quite subtle.

Nominative

The nominative is used for nouns that are the subjects of clauses.

• Ibsaa man's name, Ibsaan 'Ibsaa (nom.)', makiinaa, qaba 'he has', Ibsaan makiinaa qaba 'Ibsaa has a car'

Most nouns ending in short vowels with a preceding single consonant drop the final vowel and add -ni to form the nominative. Following certain consonants, assimilation changes either the n or that consonant (the details depend on the dialect).

• nama 'man', namni 'man (nom.)'
• namoota 'men'; namootni, namoonni 'men (nom.)' (t + n may assimilate to nn)

If a final short vowel is preceded by two consonants or a geminated consonant, -i is suffixed.

• ibsa 'statement', ibsi 'statement (nom.)'
• namicha 'the man', namichi 'the man (nom.)' (the ch in the definite suffix -icha is actually geminated, though not normally written as such)

If the noun ends in a long vowel, -n is suffixed to this. This pattern applies to infinitives, which end in -uu.

• maqaa 'name', maqaan 'name (nom.)'
• nyachuu 'to eat, eating', nyachuun 'to eat, eating (nom.)'

If the noun ends in n, the nominative is identical to the base form.

• afaan 'mouth, language (base form or nom.)'

Some feminine nouns ending in a short vowel add -ti. Again assimilation occurs in some cases.

• haadha 'mother', haati (dh + t assimilates to t)
• lafa 'earth', lafti

Genitive

The genitive is used for possession or "belonging"; it corresponds roughly to English of or -'s. The genitive is usually formed by lengthening a final short vowel, by adding -ii to a final consonant, and by leaving a final long vowel unchanged. The possessor noun follows the possessed noun in a genitive phrase. Many such phrases with specific technical meanings have been added to the Oromo lexicon in recent years.

• obboleetti 'sister', namicha 'the man', obboleetti namichaa 'the man's sister'
• hojii 'job', Caaltuu, woman's name, hojii Caaltuu, 'Caaltuu's job'
• barumsa 'field of study', afaan 'mouth, language', barumsa afaanii 'linguistics'

In place of the genitive it is also possible to use the relative marker kan (m.) / tan (f.) preceding the possessor.

• obboleetti kan namicha 'the man's sister'

Dative

The dative is used for nouns that represent the recipient (to) or the benefactor (for) of an event. The dative form of a verb infinitive (which acts like a noun in Oromo) indicates purpose. The dative takes one of the following forms:

• Lengthening of a final short vowel (ambiguously also signifying the genitive)

• namicha 'the man', namichaa 'to the man, of the man'

• -f following a long vowel or a lengthened short vowel; -iif following a consonant

• intala 'girl, daughter', intalaaf 'to a girl, daughter'
• saree 'dog', sareef 'to a dog'
• baruu 'to learn', baruuf 'in order to learn'
• bishaan 'water', bishaaniif 'for water'

• -dhaa or -dhaaf following a long vowel

• saree 'dog'; sareedhaa, sareedhaaf 'to a dog'

• -tti (with no change to a preceding vowel), especially with verbs of speaking

• Caaltuu woman's name, himi 'tell, say (imperative)', Caaltuutti himi 'tell Caaltuu'

Instrumental

The instrumental is used for nouns that represent the instrument ("with"), the means ("by"), the agent ("by"), the reason, or the time of an event. The formation of the instrumental parallels that of the dative to some extent:

• -n following a long vowel or a lengthened short vowel; -iin following a consonant

• harka 'hand', harkaan 'by hand, with a hand'
• halkan 'night', halkaniin 'at night'

• -tiin following a long vowel or a lengthened short vowel

• Afaan Oromo 'Oromo (language)', Afaan Oromotiin 'in Oromo'

• -dhaan following a long vowel

• yeroo 'time', yeroodhaan 'on time'
• bawuu 'to come out, coming out', bawuudhaan 'by coming out'

Locative

The locative is used for nouns that represent general locations of events or states, roughly at. For more specific locations, Oromo uses prepositions or postpositions. Postpositions may also take the locative suffix. The locative also seems to overlap somewhat with the instrumental, sometimes having a temporal function. The locative is formed with the suffix -tti.

• Arsiitti 'in Arsii'
• harka 'hand', harkatti 'in hand'
• guyyaa 'day', guyyaatti 'per day'
• jala, jalatti 'under'

Ablative

The ablative is used to represent the source of an event; it corresponds closely to English from. The ablative, applied to postpositions and locative adverbs as well as nouns proper, is formed in the following ways:

• When the word ends in a short vowel, this vowel is lengthened (as for the genitive).

• biyya 'country', biyyaa 'from country'
• keessa 'inside, in', keessaa 'from inside'

• When the word ends in a long vowel, -dhaa is added (as for one alternative for the dative).

• Finfinneedhaa 'from Finfinnee (Addis Ababa)'
• gabaa 'market', gabaadhaa 'from market'

• When the word ends in a consonant, -ii is added (as for the genitive).

• Hararii 'from Harar'

• Following a noun in the genitive, -tii is added.

• mana 'house', buna 'coffee', mana bunaa 'cafe', mana bunaatii 'from cafe'

An alternative to the ablative is the postposition irraa 'from' whose initial vowel may be dropped in the process:

• gabaa 'market', gabaa irraa, gabaarraa 'from market'

Pronouns[link]

Personal pronouns[link]

In most languages, there is a small number of basic distinctions of person, number, and often gender that play a role within the grammar of the language. Oromo and English are such languages. We see these distinctions within the basic set of independent personal pronouns, for example, English I, Oromo ani; English they, Oromo isaani and the set of possessive adjectives and pronouns, for example, English my, Oromo koo; English mine, Oromo kan koo. In Oromo, the same distinctions are also reflected in subject–verb agreement: Oromo verbs (with a few exceptions) agree with their subjects; that is, the person, number, and (singular third person) gender of the subject of the verb are marked by suffixes on the verb. Because these suffixes vary greatly with the particular verb tense/aspect/mood, they are normally not considered to be pronouns and are discussed elsewhere in this article under verb conjugation.

In all of these areas of the grammar—independent pronouns, possessive adjectives, possessive pronouns, and subject–verb agreement—Oromo distinguishes seven combinations of person, number, and gender. For first and second persons, there is a two-way distinction between singular ('I', 'you sg.') and plural ('we', 'you pl.'), whereas for third person, there is a two-way distinction in the singular ('he', 'she') and a single form for the plural ('they'). Because Oromo has only two genders, there is no pronoun corresponding to English it; the masculine or feminine pronoun is used according to the gender of the noun referred to.

Oromo is a subject pro-drop language. That is, neutral sentences in which the subject is not emphasized do not require independent subject pronouns: kaleessa dhufne 'we came yesterday'. The Oromo word that translates 'we' does not appear in this sentence, though the person and number are marked on the verb dhufne ('we came') by the suffix -ne. When the subject in such sentences needs to be given prominence for some reason, an independent pronoun can be used: nuti kaleessa dhufne 'we came yesterday'.

The table below gives forms of the personal pronouns in the different cases, as well as the possessive adjectives. For the first person plural and third person singular feminine categories, there is considerable variation across dialects; only some of the possibilities are shown.

The possessive adjectives, treated as separate words here, are sometimes written as noun suffixes. In most dialects there is a distinction between masculine and feminine possessive adjectives for first and second person (the form agreeing with the gender of the modified noun). However, in the western dialects, the masculine forms (those beginning with k-) are used in all cases. Possessive adjectives may take the case endings for the nouns they modify: ganda kootti 'to my village' (-tti: locative case).

As in languages such as French, Russian, and Turkish, the Oromo second person plural is also used as a polite singular form, for reference to people that the speaker wishes to show respect towards. This usage is an example of the so-called T-V distinction that is made in many languages. In addition, the third person plural may be used for polite reference to a single third person (either 'he' or 'she').

For possessive pronouns ('mine', 'yours', etc.), Oromo adds the possessive adjectives to kan 'of': kan koo 'mine', kan kee 'yours', etc.

Reflexive and reciprocal pronouns[link]

Oromo has two ways of expressing reflexive pronouns ('myself', 'yourself', etc.). One is to use the noun meaning 'self': of(i) or if(i). This noun is inflected for case but, unless it is being emphasized, not for person, number, or gender: isheen of laalti 'she looks at herself' (base form of of), isheen ofiif makiinaa bitte 'she bought herself a car' (dative of of).

The other possibility is to use the noun meaning 'head', mataa, with possessive suffixes: mataa koo 'myself', mataa kee 'yourself (s.)', etc.

Oromo has a reciprocal pronoun wal (English 'each other') that is used like of/if. That is, it is inflected for case but not person, number, or gender: wal jaalatu 'they like each other' (base form of wal), kennaa walii bitan 'they brought each other gifts' (dative of wal).

Demonstrative pronouns[link]

Like English, Oromo makes a two-way distinction between proximal ('this, these') and distal ('that, those') demonstrative pronouns and adjectives. Some dialects distinguish masculine and feminine for the proximal pronouns; in the western dialects the masculine forms (beginning with k-) are used for both genders. Unlike in English, singular and plural demonstratives are not distinguished, but, as for nouns and personal pronouns in the language, case is distinguished. Only the base and nominative forms are shown in the table below; the other cases are formed from the base form as for nouns, for example, sanatti 'at/on/in that' (locative case).

Verbs[link]

An Oromo verb consists minimally of a stem, representing the lexical meaning of the verb, and a suffix, representing tense or aspect and subject agreement. For example, in dhufne 'we came', dhuf- is the stem ('come') and -ne indicates that the tense is past and that the subject of the verb is first person plural.

As in many other Afro-Asiatic languages, Oromo makes a basic two-way distinction in its verb system between the two tensed forms, past (or "perfect") and present (or "imperfect" or "non-past"). Each of these has its own set of tense/agreement suffixes. There is a third conjugation based on the present which has three functions: it is used in place of the present in subordinate clauses, for the jussive ('let me/us/him, etc. V', together with the particle haa), and for the negative of the present (together with the particle hin). For example, deemne 'we went', deemna 'we go', akka deemnu 'that we go', haa deemnu 'let's go', hin deemnu 'we don't go'. There is also a separate imperative form: deemi 'go (sg.)!'.

Conjugation[link]

The table below shows the conjugation in the affirmative and negative of the verb beek- 'know'. The first person singular present and past affirmative forms require the suffix -n to appear on the word preceding the verb or the word nan before the verb. The negative particle hin, shown as a separate word in the table, is sometimes written as a prefix on the verb.