My heart felt thanks are due to Dr. G. Despatie,rnmy adviser, without whose valuable advice the completionrnof t his study would not have been possible.rnI am also highly indebted to the academic staff ofrnthe Linguistics Department for their unreserved effortrnin explaining some problems with respect to this study.rnI must express my gratitude to Asmerom G/Silassie,rnMulugeta Seyoum and Wossenu Gebeyehu for their assistan,;ernwhile I was dOing fieldwork in Jinka.rnI am grateful to Tesfaye Abera, Ayalew Mitiku andrnGetahun Amare for providing me with valuable materials.rnMy acknowledgement is also due to my informantsrnAzmachew Arfes, Fissiha Terrefe, Namsi Alka, GebrernYintiso and Yilma Demissie.rnI would like to extend my gratitude to my brothersrnErgete Vl/Semat and Mahidere W/Semayat for their commentsrnand encouragement .rnI also express my thanks to WIt Chuchu Hamo forrnher patience in typing this thesis.