The Oromo Alphabet (Qubee) & Pronunciation
Learn the 31 letters of the Oromo alphabet and master their pronunciation with audio examples.
Chapter 1: The Oromo Alphabet (Qubee)
The Afaan Oromo writing system is called Qubee. It's a Latin-based alphabet and is very phonetic, meaning words are pronounced as they are written.
The Alphabet
Qubee consists of 26 basic letters, with some additional combined letters (digraphs) to represent specific sounds.
Single Letters
| Letter | Pronunciation (in English) | Example Word |
|---|---|---|
| A, a | as in "father" | Abbaa (father) |
| B, b | as in "boy" | Buna (coffee) |
| C, c | a "ch" sound, as in "church" | Ciraa (wax) |
| D, d | as in "dog" | Daabboo (bread) |
| E, e | as in "bet" | Ebelu (so-and-so) |
| F, f | as in "father" | Farda (horse) |
| G, g | as in "go" | Gala (evening) |
| H, h | as in "hat" | Harka (hand) |
| I, i | as in "see" | Ija (eye) |
| J, j | as in "jump" | Jaalala (love) |
| K, k | as in "key" | Kitaaba (book) |
| L, l | as in "love" | Laga (river) |
| M, m | as in "mother" | Mana (house) |
| N, n | as in "no" | Nama (person) |
| O, o | as in "more" | Oda (sycamore tree) |
| P, p | as in "pen" (often explosive) | Paappaasii (papaya) |
| Q, q | an explosive "k" sound from the back of the throat | Qube (letter) |
| R, r | a rolled "r", like in Spanish | Roobii (Wednesday) |
| S, s | as in "see" | Saree (dog) |
| T, t | as in "top" | Tola (free/grace) |
| U, u | as in "flute" | Uffata (clothes) |
| V, v | as in "victory" (rare, mostly in loan words) | Viidiyoo (video) |
| W, w | as in "water" | Waraana (war) |
| X, x | an explosive "t" sound | Xalayaa (letter/mail) |
| Y, y | as in "yes" | Yoom (when) |
| Z, z | as in "zoo" (rare, mostly in loan words) | Zayitii (oil) |
Combined Letters (Digraphs)
| Letter | Pronunciation (in English) | Example Word |
|---|---|---|
| CH, ch | same as "C" | check |
| DH, dh | an implosive "d" sound | dhagaa (stone) |
| NY, ny | like the Spanish "ñ" | nyaachuu (to eat) |
| PH, ph | an explosive "p" sound | phaaphaasi (pope) |
| SH, sh | as in "shoe" | shakkii (doubt) |
| TS, ts | as in "cats" (rare) | Tsehay (sun - loanword) |
Vowels (Dubbachiiftuu)
There are five main vowels, but they can be short or long, which changes the meaning of a word.
- a (short, like 'a' in 'cat') vs. aa (long, like 'a' in 'father')
- e (short, like 'e' in 'bet') vs. ee (long, like 'ey' in 'they')
- i (short, like 'i' in 'sit') vs. ii (long, like 'ee' in 'see')
- o (short, like 'o' in 'hot') vs. oo (long, like 'o' in 'go')
- u (short, like 'u' in 'put') vs. uu (long, like 'oo' in 'food')
For example: Laga (river) vs. Laagaa (palate).
Alternation of glottal stop and h before a vowel
Glottal stop sometimes alternates with h. Vowels in word- or syllable initial position may be pronounced with h- or with a glottal stop.
- hiriyaa beside iriyaa friend
- hantuuta beside antuuta mouse”
- angafa or hangafni first born child
- akka dandahu in order that he can or ni danda’a he can
- dhagahe or dhaga’ee he heard (and ...)
Syllable structure
Considering the fact that there is no syllable initial vowel in Oromo which is pronounced without a glottal stop we have to realize that no syllable in Oromo starts with a vowel. The glottal stop belongs to the consonants in Oromo. As was shown in 1.1.2.6 a glottal stop at the beginning of a word may alternate with h-, e.g. antuuta/hantuuta mouse.
A glottal stop at the beginning of a word was not marked in Oromo spelling. In the publication “Mammaaksa Oromco”, vol. 4, an attempt was made to mark the glottal stop at the beginning of words, but - interestingly enough - only before long vowels. Within a word the glottal stop has to be marked in any case, e.g. har’a, baay’ee, danda’amuu, hundaa’uudhaan.
The following table shows the different possibilities of syllable structure in Oromo. (VV always means a long vowel. Diphthongs do not occur in Oromo.)
- (i) CV lama (la-ma) two, afur (’a-fur) four, warra (war-ra) people
- (ii) CVV naannoo (naan-noo) region, area, malee (ma-lee) without, except, ilaaluu (’i-laa-luu) to look, afuufuu (’a-fuu-fuu) to blow
- (iii) CVC afur (’a-fur) four, warra (war-ra) people, danda’amuu (dan-da-’a-muu) to be possible
- (iv) CVVC saddeettama (sad-deet-ta-ma) eighty, saddeet (sad-deet), eight, baay’ee (baay-’ee) much, bishaan (bi-shaan) water
W and y function as consonants, not as vowels or semivowels. Instead of becoming diphthongs -ayna- becomes -eenya-, e.g. dhageenya (instead of dhagay-na) we listen, and -aw- becomes -of-, e.g. beelofta (instead of beelawta) you are becoming hungry.
The word hobombolleettii or obombolleettii kind of whirl-wind is a good example including all Oromo variants of syllables: (ho-bom-bol-leet-tii), (?0-bom-bol-leet-tii)
Most of the Oromo nouns terminate in a vowel. Words terminating in a consonant are relatively rare in written Oromo, e.g. bishaan water, afaan mouth, language. In some dialects these words terminate in -ni.
Suprasegmentals
Tone
Pitch or tone is not marked in official Oromo spelling. The problem of ambiguity of the written form of the particle hin in some Oromo dialects, where hin denotes the focus marker of the predicate if pronounced with a high tone and the negative particle if pronounced with a low tone was solved in the early nineties by using the Harar form of the focus marker ni while hin in modern written Oromo always has a negative meaning.
Stress
Stress is not marked in Oromo spelling.