Sidaama

Abstract This chapter describes the grammatical structure of Sidaama (Sidamo), a Highland East Cushitic language spoken in the south-central part of Ethiopia. Although more than three million people speak Sidaama, there has been relatively little research on the language. The introduction gives background information on the Sidaama language and the Sidaama people. The phonology section lists phonemes, consonant clusters, and geminates, and describes the suprasegmentals; it also presents morphophonemic rules. The section on parts of speech deals with types of nouns and verbs, similarities and differences between adjectives and nouns as well as between adjectives and verbs, various pronominal forms, and clitics. The morphology section discusses reduplication of verb roots, suprafixes on nouns and adjectives, and suffixes on nouns, adjectives, and verbs. Finally, the syntax section discusses grammatical relations, word order issues, external possessor constructions, and relative clauses.