Melo (also known as Malo) is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken in the Gamo Gofa Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region in Ethiopia.

Case

There are eight cases in Malo.

1. Nominative

2. Accusative

3. Dative

4. Genitive

5. Instrumental

6. Commutative

7. Ablative

Nominative case

However, if there is a vowel at the end

Examples,Nominative feminine case takes the marker <a> with definite marker <t>.

Examples,

Examples,

Accusative case

The marker <-a> is for masculine nouns.

Example,The maker <-o> is for feminine nouns. It is attached to the definite marker ‘t’.

Example,Proper nouns are not inflected for the accusative case marker.

Similarities Between Nominative and Accusative

Masculine Nominative and Accusative

Nominative and Accusative Case Marker is always to be definite. Indefinite nouns do not take Nominative and Accusative Case.

Dative case

Examples,

Genitive case

Genitive Case uses two different ways to express.

1.      Possessive Pronoun before Possessed Noun.

2.      Third person possessive pronoun marker ‘pa’

1.      Possessive pronoun:Examples,

Deka afila – Deka's cloth

Ta afila – my cloth

E afila – his cloth

2.      Here ‘pa’ refers to ownership. In third person possessive pronouns are replaced with pa.Examples,iz-a pa inda-t-o kad-e-z – She loved her mother.

Instrumental case

Instrumental case markers are <r> and <ar>.

Examples,

Commutative case

Commutative case markers are <r> and -<ar> with ‘wola’.

Here, the word ‘wola’ means together.

Examples,

Ablative case

It depicts the place of departure and a source the noun comes from.

Examples,

Notes