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, ቀተለ (qatele), means "to continuously kill, to persist in killing.”

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

	SINGULAR			PLURAL
1st Person	ባረኩ	barekku			ባረክነ	barekne
2nd Person	ባረከ	barekke (m.)			ባረክሙ	barekkəmu (m.)
	ባረኪ	barekki (f.)			ባረክን	barekkən (f.)
3rd Person	ባረከ	bareke(m.)			ባረኩ	bareku (m.)
	ባረከት	bareket(f.)			ባረካ	bareka (f.)

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, ቀተለ (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	ገሠጸ	geššeşe(m.)			ገሠጹ	geššeşu (m.)
	ገሠጸት	geššeşet(f.)			ገሠጻ	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.

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		ቤትነ <ቤተነ>	betna <betana>	our house
ቤትከ <ቤተከ>	betka <betaka>	your (m.) house		ቤትክሙ <ቤተክሙ>	betkəmu <betakəmu>	your (m. pl.) house
ቤትኪ <ቤተኪ>	betki <betaki>	your (f.) house		ቤትክን <ቤተክን>	betkən <betakən>	your (f. pl.) house
ቤቱ <ቤቶ>	Betu <beto>	his house		ቤቶሙ	betomu	their (m.) house
ቤታ	betā	her house		ቤቶን	beton	their (f.) house

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

ምንዳቤሁ	məndābehu	His anguish		ምንዳቤሆሙ	məndābehomu	Their (m.) anguish
ምንዳቤሃ	məndābeha	Her anguish		ምንዳቤሆን	məndābehon	Their (f.) anguish

12.3: The only exceptions are nouns that end in the vowel –i. In 2^nd person possessions, the accusative form replaces the -i with an -e:

ዝንቱ፡ጸሓፊከ፡ውእቱ።

Zəntu şaḥāfika wə’ətu

This is your scribe.

à

ረከብኩ፡ጸሓፌከ።

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		ነቢያቲክሙ	nabiyātikəmu	your (m. pl.) prophets
አህጉሪሃ	ahgurihā	her cities		አህጉሪሆን	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)-.

አቡየ፡በቤትየ፡ውእቱ።	abuya babetya wə’ətu	My father is in my house.	à	ረእየኩ፡አባየ።	ra'yaku abaya	I saw my father.
በጽሐ፡እኁሁ።	başḥa əxuhu	His brother arrived.	à	መርሐ፡እኁየ፡እኋሁ።	marḥa əxuye  əxʷahu	My brother led his brother.

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

ሎቱ	lotu	to him	ሎሙ	lomu	to them (m.)
ላቲ	lāti	to her	ሎን	lon	to them (f.)
ለከ	laka	to you (m.)	ለክሙ	lakəmu	to you all (m.)
ለኪ	laki	to you (f.)	ለክን	lakən	to you all (f.)
ሊተ	lita	to me	ለነ	lana	to us (m.)