Soddo language

Soddo (autonym kəstane "Christian"; formerly called Aymälläl in Western sources, after a particular dialect of it) is a Gurage language spoken by a quarter million people in southeastern Ethiopia. It is a South Ethiopian Semitic language of the Northern Gurage subfamily. Its native speakers, the Soddo Gurage people live predominately in the Soddo woreda of the Gurage Zone.

Grammar

Noun

As in most Ethiopian languages, noun qualifiers generally follow the noun.

The definite article is expressed by the suffix -i, e.g.: goš "boy" > goš-i "the boy"; ätit "sister" > ätiti "the sister"; bayyočč "children" > bayyočč-i. If the noun ends in -a or -ä, it normally loses this vowel when -i is suffixed: angačča "cat" > angačč-i "the cat". A noun ending in -i usually stays the same: abi "(the) father, proprietor". A noun ending in -e, -o, -u adds a y before the suffix: ge "house" > geʸi "the house"; wälläho "neighbor" > wällähoʸi "the neighbor". If the noun has a qualifier, the article is used with the first element: maläk' ge "big house" > maläk'-i ge "the big house"; yä-šum-i ge "the house of the official" (lit. "of-official-the house"); yä-mät't'-i məss "the man who came" (lit. "who-came-the man".)

Soddo (woreda)

Soddo is one of the woredas in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region of Ethiopia. This woreda is named after the Soddo Gurage people. It is Part of the Gurage Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region. Soddo is bordered on the south by Meskane, and on the west, north and east by the Oromia Region. The administrative center of Soddo is Bue; other towns include Kela.

Landmarks in this woreda include Medrekebd Abo monastery, which is located 22 kilometers from Bue. This 15th-century monastery is a burial place of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church martyr, Abuna Gabra Manfas Qeddus. Although the relics of the monastery were taken to an island in Lake Ziway where they escaped the destruction of Imam Ahmed Gragn in the 16th century, the monastery itself was looted by the Italians during their occupation. Another local landmark is the Geyet Gereno Stelae, a complex of about 100 stones located 14 kilometers from Bue with similarities to the stelae field in Tiya, which is also located in this woreda.