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

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

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.





























3 comments:

  1. በጣም ደስ ይላል በርታ፣
    i am interested reading this article and learned a lot too. i know i have country having great history , having its on identity,...but i didn't know well this geez language. but now with Gods willing started to learn..once up on a day i wil try to teach others too like you.

    thank you very much...waiting ur next post

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hamza

    What you said, contrary to the other Semitic Languages Ge’ez is not represented enough. It is true You Blog and other literatures will help spread this ancient language. Ge’ez as you know is not a totally dead language. In Ethiopia and Eritrea is main liturgical language for over 40 to 50 million people. Historically, Ge’ez was the language of some tribes in Northern Ethiopia and Southern Eritrea and closely related to Tigrinya, Tigre, Amharic and other Semitic languages in Central Southern Ethiopia.
    As you know Ge’ez and other Semitic language belong to the super-family of Afro-Asiatic Languages. The great part of Afro-Asiatic languages are spoken in the Horn of Africa it is natural to assume that that the homeland of all Semitic languages is most likely Ethiopia. This should prop up interest in an array of studies.

    ReplyDelete
  3. @Anonymous,

    Although it is possible the Semitic languages originate from Africa, it's much more likely they originate from the Arabian peninsula, given that this is the central hub around which all other Semitic languages are distributed. Also the Semitic languages of the Arabian peninsula are by far the most conservative, whilst those languages existing on the periphery of the Arabian peninsula underwent varying degrees of evolution and loss of Semitic features.

    Regards,
    Abu Rashid.

    ReplyDelete

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