# Maale language

Maale (also spelled Male) 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.
Maale Language Phonology
Consonant Sounds
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/
Vowel Sounds
The vowel system in the Maale language includes:
* Short Vowels: /i/, /e/, /a/, /o/, /u/
* Long Vowels: /ii/, /ee/, /aa/, /oo/, /uu/
Maale also distinguishes between high and low tones, adding a layer of phonological complexity.
Maale also distinguishes between high and low tones, adding a layer of phonological complexity.
Example
| Short vowels | Long vowels |
| Tóki (foot) | Tooki (head) |
| Míʃó (sister) | Miiʃʃe (money) |
| ʃáʃi (vein) | ʃaaʃi (roasted grain) |
| ʔála (beer) | ʔáálla (new born baby) |
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.
| ai | oi | au |
| Haitsó (three) | K’oida (8th month) | Hauʃʃi (rest) |
| Naizzi (hunger) | Koida (chicken) | Sautti (tree) |
| Waizzi (ear) | Goitsi (path) | ʃaulle (left) |
| Sáízzí (flea) | ʔóíɗi (hot) | C’aulle (mixed Color) |
| Háíbi (death) | ʔóísi (butter) | ʔautti (dream) |
Word Order
The Maale language typically follows an SOV word order.
Subject-Object-Verb (SOV):
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 the suffixes such as;
-asti for definite nouns with a masculine gender marker.
Examples
| Singular | Plural (-atsi) |
| Piró (trap) | Pir-atsi (traps) |
| Metó (problem) | Met-atsi (problems) |
| Móló (fish) | Mól-átsi (fishes) |
| Piis’o (comb) | Piis’-atsi (combs) |
| Paró (horse) | Par-atsi (horses) |
| Gúrgúro (crocodile) | Gúrgúr-átsi (crocodiles) |
-at(t)- for words which refer to close kin and pets and one (pejorative) term mani (potter)
Examples
| Citation form | IDF:PL-ABS |
| Nayi (child) | Na-att-ó (children) |
| Baisi (son-in-law) | Bais-att-ó (son-in-laws) |
| Géézzi (younger brother) | Géézz-att-ó (younger brothers) |
| Kani (dog) | Kan-art-ó (dogs) |
| Marayi (sheep) | Mar-att-ó (sheep) |
There are some plural forms that don’t go the above mentioned pattern and these are the irregular plurals. These are formed by adding either suffix á or ó and sometimes they change form.
Examples
| Citation Form | IDF:PL:NOM | IDF:PL:ABS |
| ʔasi (person) | ʔas-á (people) | ʔasó (people) |
| Baazzi (thing) | Bakk-á (things) | Bakkó (things) |
| Múúzzí (food) | Múʔʔ-á (different kinds of food) | Múʔʔó (different kinds of food) |
| ʃúcci (stone) | ʃúw-á (stones) | ʃúwó (stones) |
| ɓáɗi (lash (hitting) ) | ɓaʒ-à (lashes) | ɓaʒó (lashes) |
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 are suggested in Dixon 1982 as seen below;
Dimension Adjectives:
- Kúmútsi (full)
- Dicci (stout)
- Púúpi (big)
- K’ulbe (deep)
- Gúútsi (thin, slim)
Physical property
- Wóʔʔi (wet)
- Mízaɓi (beautiful)
- Maasana (ugly)
- Deetsi (heavy)
- C’anci (bitter)
Colour
- Zok’k’e (red)
- Kártsi (black)
- Boore (white)
- ɓáɓi (unripe, green)
Age
- gárci (old (of people) )
- ʔákki (new)
- ɗégge (young (of male) )
Human Propensity
- dúúɗɗi (selfish)
- Walli (healthy)
- Béls’a (lazy)
- ʔoso (difficult)
- Báró (calm, patient)
Value
- Kupi (poor)
- Kóʃi (good)
- ʔórgocci (rich)
- Púrta (bad)
- Wúdde (expensive)
Adverbs:
Maale has adverbs that modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs, indicating time, place, manner.
Examples:
Time Adverbs
· hannó (today)
- ʔííní hannó mukk-andá-ne
(he will come today)
· hintó (day after tomorrow)
- ʔízí hintó mukk-andá-ne
(He will come the day after tomorrow)
· wánte (yesterday night)
- ʔííní wánte mukk-é-ne
(He came yesterday night)
Manner Adverbs
· pálle (to do something completely/ honestly)
- ʔízí pálle máɗ-á-ne
(He works really good)
· haccá (badly)
- nu ʔác’c’-á haccá Mel-é-ne
(Our area became badly dry)
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 |
| ISG | | 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 (I ran)
* nú ʔársa maʒʒ-á-ne (We are making a bed)
* né núú-na maɗ-andá-ne (“You will work for us”)
Negation:
Negation in Maale is typically marked by affixing -ibá- or -uwá- to the verb root. Where -ibá- marks perfective aspects as well as negation and -uwá- simultaneously marks 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 in Maale:
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 |
From 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 |
For 100, it is expressed with a morphologically simplex form as attested in many other Omotic languages, that is:
s’ééta hundred.