RESOURCES FOR LEARNING GE'EZ: THE CLASSICAL LANGUAGE OF ETHIOPIA

RESOURCES FOR LEARNING GE'EZ-- THE CLASSICAL LANGUAGE OF ETHIOPIA

November 23, 2011

15: Verbs: Frequentative - Perfective


The third type of stem is the frequentative stem, also called the called the “L-stem. It correlates to Form-III in Arabic (فاعل). It’s characterized by a lengthening of the first radical in the root. This stem typically carries a frequentative meaning. For example, the simple verb ቀተለ (qetele) means "to kill" – the frequentative form, ተለ (qatele), means "to continuously kill, to persist in killing.”

ባረከ [bareke = to bless] – L-stem, Perfect


SINGULAR
PLURAL
1st Person
ባረ
barekku

ባረክ
barekne
2nd Person
ባረ
barekke (m.)

ባረክሙ
barekkəmu (m.)
ባረ
barekki (f.)

ባረክን
barekkə(f.)
3rd Person
ባረከ
bareke(m.)

ባረኩ
barek(m.)
ባረከት
bareket(f.)

ባረካ
barek(f.)







November 9, 2011

14: Verbs: Intensive - Perfective


The Intensive verb form, also called the “D-stem”, correlates to the D-stem in Aramaic (קִטֵּל), the Pi’el in Hebrew (פִעֵל) and the Form-II in Arabic (فعّل). It’s characterized by a doubling of the second radical in the root. Unlike these other scripts however, the Ethiopic script does not mark doubled sound (with a dagesh or shadda) which can cause some ambiguity. The intensive form of the verb typically denotes some kind of intensity, but this is not always the case. For example, the simple verb ቀተለ (qetele) means "to kill" -- the intensive form, ተለ (qettele), means "to annihilate, to kill off completely" etc.

ገሠጸ [geššeşe = to teach] – D-stem, Perfect

SINGULAR
PLURAL
1st Person
ገሠጽኩ
geššeşku
ገሠጽነ
geššeşne
2nd Person
ገሠጽከ
geššeşke (m.)
ገሠጽክሙ
geššeşkəmu (m.)
ገሠጽኪ
geššeşki (f.)
ገሠጽክን
geššeşkən (f.)
3rd Person
ገሠ
geššeşe(m.)
ገሠ
geššeşu (m.)
ገሠጸት
geššeşet(f.)
ገሠ
geššeşa (f.)










Here’s a list of some oft-appearing D-stem verbs to get started with. From now on, I’ll put [D] next to new verbs that occur in this stem.
ነጸረ
neşşere
to look, to watch

ነጸርኩ፡ሀገረ፡እምዲበ፡ድብር።
I looked at the city from the hill.
ነስሐ
nesseḥe
to repent

ነሰሐ፡እምነ፡ኀጢአቱ።
He repented for his sin.
ፈነወ
fennewe
to send

ፈነወት፡ንግሥትነ፡ማየ፡ለአግበርታ።
Our queen sent the water to her servants.
ሀለወ
hellewe
to exist

ሀለወት፡ሀገር፡ህየ።
There was a town here.
ጸውዐ
şewwəºe
to call, to proclaim

ጸውዑ፡ሰብአ፡ደቂቆሙ።
The men called their children.





























November 4, 2011

13: Quick Review

I thought I should pause here to review what's been covered so far. These seven sentences are based on the grammatical structures and vocabulary put up in the blog entries up to this point. I hope things are starting to look more transparent now!


ቅድመ፡ፍልሰተ፡ባቢሎን፡ሐነጹ፡ድቂቀ፡እስራኤል፡ቤተ፡መቅደስ፡ዲበ፡ደብር፡ወዐቀቡ፡ሕጋገ፡ነቢያትሆሙ፡በዛምድር።
qədme fəlsete babilon ḥeneşu dəqiqe əsraēl bēte meqdes dibe debr
weºeqebu ḥəgage nebiyathomu bezamədr.
Before the-exile-[cnst.] Babylon [they]-built children-[cnst.] Israel house-[acc.] holy atop the-mount
and [they]-kept the-laws-[cnst.] their-prophets in-this-land.
Before the Babylonian Exile, the Children of Israel built the Temple on the mount and they observed the laws of their prophets in this land.

ወረደ፡ኢየሱስ፡ወልደ፡እጓለ፡እመሕያው፡ኢየሩሳሌመ፡ወሰበከ፡ውስተ፡ዛሀገር።
werede iyesus welde əgʷale əmmeḥeyaw iyerusalēme wesebeke weste zaheger
[He]-descended Jesus son-[csnt.] seed-[cnst.] Eve Jerusalem-[loc.] and [he]-preached in that-city.
Jesus, the son of man, came down to Jerusalem and he preached in that city.

ዝንቱ፡ቤትየ፡ይእቲ፡ወአንተ፡ወካህንከ፡ወወሉደ፡እኁከ፡በቤትየ፡አንተሙ።
zentu bētye yə’əti we’ente wekahənke wewelude əxuke bebētye entəmu
This my-house [she]-is and-you and-your-priest and-sons-[cnst.] your-lord in-my-house [you]-are
This is my house and you, your priest and your nephews are in my house.

ሖረ፡ነቢይከ፡እምሀገር፡ወረከብኩ፡ዛነቢየ፡በአድባረ፡ዛምድር።
ḥore nebiyke emheger werekebku zanebiye be’edbare zamedr.
[He]-went your-prophet from-city and [I]-found this-prophet-[acc.] in hills-[cnst.] that-land.
Your prophet went out of the city and I found this prophet in the hills of that land.

ወረዱ፡መላአክተ፡ሰማይ፡ውስተ፡ሀገርየ፡ወሰአሉ፡ነቢየነ።
Weredu mela’ekte semay wəste hegerye wese’elu nebiyene.
[They]-descended angels-[cnst.] the-sky into my-city and-[they]-questioned our-prophet-[acc.].
The angels of the sky descended into my city and they questioned our prophet.

ወፅዕነ፡እምቤተ፡ወሉደ፡ነጉሥ፡ወረአየነ፡አብያተ፡ክርስቲያን።
weðºene embēte welude nəguš were’yene ebyate krəstiyan.
[We]-departed from-houses-[cnst.] sons-[cnst.] king and-[we]-saw houses-[cnst.] christians.
We departed from the houses of the princes and we saw churches.

ገብረት፡ንግሥትነ፡ዛዕጸደ፡ወነበሩ፡ጸሓፊሃ፡ወአግበርታ፡በአብያትሆሙ።
gebret nəgəštne zaºəşede wenebere şeḥafiha we’egberta be’ebyathome.
[She]-made our-queen this-village-[acc.] and-[he]-lives her-scribe and-her-slaves in-their-houses
Our queen made this village, and her scribe and slaves live in their houses.

12: Possession


As in other Semitic languages, possession in Ge’ez is typically indicated through a set of pronominal suffixes added directly on to the noun:
12.1: Here are all the possessive pronominal suffixes. Some of them have accusative forms which are indicated in the parenthesis: <X>
ቤትየ
betya
my house
<ቤተነ>
betna
<betana>
our house
ቤትከ
<ቤተከ>
betka
<betaka>
your (m.) house
ቤትክሙ
<ቤተክሙ>
betkəmu
<betakəmu>
your (m. pl.) house
ትኪ
<ቤተኪ>
betki
<betaki>
your (f.) house
<ቤተክን>
betkən
<betakən>
your (f. pl.) house
<ቤቶ>
Betu
<beto>
his house
ቤቶ
betomu
their (m.) house
ቤታ
betā
her house
ቤቶ
beton
their (f.) house






















12.2: Nouns that end in a vowel take a helping consonant -h- in all the 3rd person possessions. For instance, with the word “ምንዳቤ” (məndābe =  anguish, suffering, affliction.) There are no distinct accusative forms for nouns that end in vowels:
ምንዳቤ
məndābehu
His anguish
ምንዳቤ
məndābehomu
Their (m.) anguish
ምንዳቤ
məndābeha
Her anguish
ምንዳቤ
məndābehon
Their (f.) anguish









12.3: The only exceptions are nouns that end in the vowel –i. In 2nd person possessions, the accusative form replaces the -i with an -e:
ዝንቱ፡ጸሓፊከ፡ውእቱ።
Zəntu şaḥāfika wə’ətu
This is your scribe.
à
ረከብኩ፡ጸሓከ።
rakabku  şaḥāfeka
I found your scribe.


12.4: All plurals, both regular and broken, take the vowel –i(h)- before for all pronomial suffixes above (12.1). They have no distinct accusative forms:
ሊቃኒየ
liqāniya
my elders
ሊቃኒነ
liqānina
our elders
ነቢያቲከ
nabiyātika
your (m.) prophets
nabiyātikəmu
your (m. pl.) prophets
አህጉሪሃ
ahgurihā
her cities
አህጉሪ
ahgurihon
their (f. pl.) cities














12.5: Most biconsonantal nouns take the vowel –u(h)- before the pronominal suffixes above (12.1). In the accusative form, they vowel changes to –a(h)-.
የ፡በቤትየ፡ውእቱ።
abuya babetya wə’ətu
My father is in my house.
à
ረእየኩ፡አየ።
ra'yaku abaya
I saw my father.
በጽሐ፡እሁ።
başḥa əxuhu
His brother arrived.
à
መርሐ፡እኁየ፡እሁ።
marḥa əxuye  əxʷahu
My brother led his brother.

12.6: The preposition “la-” has a distinct set of pronominal suffixes:

ሎቱ
lotu
to him
lomu
to them (m.)
lāti
to her
lon
to them (f.)
ለከ
laka
to you (m.)
ለክ
lakəmu
to you all (m.)
laki
to you (f.)
ለክ
lakən
to you all (f.)
lita
to me
ለነ
lana
to us (m.)