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

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

October 3, 2012

23: Decipher Texts 3 - Book of Psalms

An archivist from the Archdiocese of Toronto contacted me recently to help her identify a codex, having (correctly) posited that its language is Gэ'эz. The exact provenance of the codex is unknown, but it was acquired (either as a gift, or bought) by a French military officer serving in Africa in the 1950s. The officer later brought the codex to Canada and it is now part of the Lerman family estate. The director at the archive has kindly allowed me to put up an image. Here are the opening lines on the first page:




As some of you might have been able to figure out, the codex is an Ethiopic rendition of the Book of Psalms. The hand is quite clear although there are some orthographic peculiarities. The opening lines in the image are Psalm 1:1-2 with a thematic incipit. I've notated and transliterated them here to help you decipher them:


1:
ፍካሬ፡ዘጻድቃን፡ወዘኃጥኣን።
5:
ወዘኢነበረ፡ውስተ፡መንበረ፡
fэkkāre za-żādqān wa-za-xāŧ’ān
wa-za-’inabara wэsta manbara




2:
መዝሙር፡ዘዳዊት፡ሀሌሉያ
6:
መሥተሣልቃን
mazmur za-dāwit halleluyā
mašta šālqān*




3:
ብፁዕ፡ብእሲ፡ዘኢሖረ፡በምክረ፡ረሲዓ
7:
ዘዳሙ፡ሕገ፡እግዚአብሔ[][]
đu'  bээsi za-’iħora ba-mkэra rasi'ā*
za-dā'эmu* ħэgga эgzi’abħe[] šэ[…]*




4:
ወዘኢቆመ፡ውስተ፡ፍኖተ፡ኃጥኣን
8:
ወዘሕጎ፡ያነብብ፡መለተ፡ወሌ[…]
wa-za-’iqoma wэsta fэnota xāŧ’ān
wa-za-ħэggo yānabэb ma'ālata* wa-le[…]*

NOTES:
 ረሲዓ (rasi'ā) = missing a letter;  ረሲዓን (rasi'ān) i.e. the evildoers.
መሥተሣልቃን (mašta šālqān) = unusual spelling for መስተሳልቃን (mastasālqān) i.e. the scornful (pl.)
ሙ (da'эmū) = unusual spelling for ዳእሙ  (da’эmu) i.e. verily.
 ሥምረቱ эmэrtu) i.e. they observe
ለተ (ma'ālata) = unusual spelling for መዕልተ (ma'эlta) or perhaps መዓልተ (ma'ālta) i.e. through the day
ሌሊተ (lelit) i.e. night 



May 9, 2012

22: Decipher Texts 2 - Gospel of Mark

I’ve transcribed these excerpts from Rochus Zuurmond’s text-critical edition for the Synoptic Gospels, Part II: The Gospel of Mark - [Zuurmond, Rochus. Novum Testamentum Aethiopice: The Synoptic Gospels. Stuttgart: F. Steiner Verlag Wiesbaden, 1989.]
In order to facilitate this process of deciphering these texts (and help you review), I’ve color coded my transliteration --> blue indicates roots that appear in the verb glossary [17] and are either in a verbal [10, 14 – 16], nominal [5] or adjectival [19] form; orange indicates prepositions [9] and yellow indicates important prefixes and suffixes: the construct state [8], the accusative marker [11], possession [12] and the medio-passive ta-prefix [21]. What’s left are, for the most part, easily recognizable cognates and proper nouns. I’ve glossed a few important terms below each text. Good luck!

                                                                                                                  
I. MARK 1: 1-5

ቀዳሚሁ፡ለወንጌል፡ኢየሱስ፡ክርስቶስ፡ወልደ፡እግዚአ፡ብሔር፡በከመ፡ጽሑፍ፡ውስተ፡መጽሐፈ፡ነቢያት፡ናሁ፡አነ፡እፌኑ፡መልአክየ፡ቅድመ፡ገጽከ፡ዘይጸይሕ፡ፍኖተከ።

ቃለ፡አዋዲ፡ዘይሰብክ፡በገዳም፡ጺሑአ፡ፍኖቶ፡ለእግዚአ፡ብሔር፡ወዐርዩ፡ወጽያሕቶ።

ወሀሎ፡ዩሐንስ፡ያጠምቅ፡በገዳም፡ወይሰብክ፡ጥምቀተ፡ከመ፡ይነስሑ፡ወየትኀደግ፡ሎሙ፡ኀጢአቶሙ።

ወየሐውሩ፡ኀቤሁ፡ኵሉ፡ሰብአ፡ይሁዳ፡ወኢየሩሳሌም፡ወያጥምቆሙ፡ለኵሎሙ፡በፈለገ፡ዩርዳኖስ፡ወይትአመኑ፡ኀጢአቶሙ።
qadāmihu lawangel iyesus krəstos walda əgziʾabḥer bakama ṣəḥuf wəsta maṣḥafa nabiyāt – nāhu, ana əfenu* malʾakya qədma gaṣṣka* zaṣayḥ* fənotaka //


qāla awādi zasbək* bagadām ṣiḥūʾ fənoto laʾəgziʾabḥer waʿaryu* waṣəyāḥto //


wahalo* yuḥanəs yāṭaməq* bagadām wayəsbək təmqata kamansəḥu* wayatxadag* lomu xaṭiʾatomu //


wayaḥawru* xabehu kʷəlu sabʾa yəhuda waʾiyarusalem waṭməqomu lakʷəlomu bafalaga* yurdanos watʾammanu* xaṭiʾatomu //

ፈነወ (D) = to send
ገጽ = face, appearance, front
ጼሐ (B) to pave a road
ዐረየ (B) = to straighten / to level
ሰበከ (D) = to preach / to announce
ሀለወ (D) = ሀሎ + imperfect verb à past imperfect
()ጥመቀ (Ba) = to baptize / to immerse
ነጽሐ (B) = to be purified
()ኀድገ (Bt) = to cease / to let go
ሖረ (B) = to go forth
ፈለግ = river valley
()አምነ (Bt) = to confess

May 7, 2012

21: Verbs: The Passive Voice etc.

21.1: Most active verbs assume the passive voice when the prefix << >> (ta-) is added to them. This prefix also sometimes produces a reflexive or a reciprocal meaning. The ta-prefix be added to any of the four types of verbs, making Bt, Dt, Lt and Qt.

ACTIVE
PASSIVE
B
ሐነጸ
to build
Bt
to be built
ገብረ
to do
ገብረ
to be done
to be made
ረከበ
to find
ረክበ
to be found
to exist
ነገረ
to speak
ነግረ
to be said
to be proclaimed
ወሀበ
to give
ህበ
to be given

Note that oftentimes, in Bt, the medial vowel disappears, so: (sagada – he worshipped) becomes ተሰደ (tasagda – he was worshipped.) Also, not every Bt, Dt, Lt and Qt form verb has a corresponding “active” form.

ACTIVE
PASSIVE
D
ገሠጸ
to instruct
Dt
ገሠጸ
to be admonished
ፈነወ
to send
ፈነወ
to be sent
ፈወሰ
To cure
ፈወሰ
to be healed
L
ሣቀየ
to torment
Lt
ሣቀየ
to suffer
ባረከ
to bless
ባረከ
to receive benediction
ቤዘወ
to redeem
ቤዘወ
to be redeemed
Q
ተርጐመ
to translate
Qt
ጐመ
to be translated
to be interpreted


21.2: Dt verbs, especially those derived from stative verbs, can also have the meaning of “to show / regard oneself as something”, so:

ጸደቀ
To be righteous
Dt
ተጸደቀ
(taṣaddaqa)
to feign righteousness
ብየ
to be powerful
ዐበየ
(taʿabbaya)
to be arrogant
ሀይመነ
to be a believer
ተሀይመነ
(tahaymana*)
to portray oneself
as a believer
*not Dt, but same idea

21.3: Lt verbs that are derived from B verbs often denote reciprocal, repeated or iterated actions, so:

D
ነጸረ
to see
Lt
ተናጸረ
(tanāṣara)
to look at each other
ነገረ
to say
ተናገረ
(tanāgara)
to converse
ወለደ
to bear
ተዋለደ
(tawālada)
to procreate
ጸብአ
to make war
ተጻብ
(taṣābʿa)
to fight one another

21.4: Some nouns appear verbalized in Dt form, so:

Noun
ነቢይ
a prophet
Dt
ተነበየ
(tanabbaya)
to prophesy
ሰብእ
a man
ተሰብ
(tasabbəʾ)
to become a man
ምስጢር
a secret
ተመስጠረ
(tamasṭara*)
to be kept secret
*not Dt, but same idea.

21.5: Bt, Dt, Lt, Qt verbs take direct and indirect objects. In verbs that take both, figuring out the subject can be a little tricky:

ተመሀረት፡ሕጋግ
vs.
ተመሀረት፡ሕጋ
tamahharat ḥəgāg
tamahharat ḥəgāga
The laws were taught.
She was taught the laws.




April 30, 2012

20: Object Suffixes

In Gəʿəz, pronominal suffixes on transitive verbs typically denote a direct object, i.e. a noun in the accusative case. To review the direct object, have another look at the entry on the accusative case. [If have difficulty viewing the Gəʿəz script on your browser, you may view this blog entry by clicking here.] 

ሐነጸ፡ንጉሥ፡ሀገረ à ሐነ፡ንጉሥ።
ḥanaṣa nəguš hagara // à hanaṣo nəguš //
The king built a city. à The king built it.

ዴገነት፡ወለታ፡ሊቃነ፡ዘመድ à ዴገነቶሙ፡ወለታ።
deganat walattā liqāna zamad // à deganatomu walattā //
Her daughter pursued the tribe’s elders. à Her daughter pursued them.

These same suffixes however may also denote indirect objects, particularly when affixed to verbs of speaking (addressing, telling, asking etc), verbs of giving (surrendering, depriving etc) and verbs of motion (going, befalling etc), so:

መጠወ፡ጳጳስ፡ሀገረነለአፍርንጅà መጠዎሙ፡ጳጳስ፡ሀገረነ
maṭṭawa pāppās hagarana laʾafrənj // à maṭṭawomu pāppās hagarana //
The bishop surrendered our city to the Romans. à The bishop surrendered our city to them.

ነገረ፡ዘንተስመለካህንà ነገዘንተ
nagara zanta səma lakāhən// à nagaro zanta //
He told this name to the priest. à He told this to him.

Oftentimes, as in Aramaic / Syriac, these suffixes will anticipate an object which appears later in the sentence, prefixed with the la- preposition. Lambdin terms this the “qatalo la-nəguš construction.” This type of anticipatory-suffix infuses the object with greater specificity and definiteness. Note that, in this construction, the object affixed with the la- is not marked in the accusative case.

ሐነጸ፡ንጉሥ፡ሀገረ à ሐነ፡ንጉሥ፡ሀገር
ḥanaṣa nəguš hagara // à hanaṣo nəguš lahagar//
The king built a city. à The king built [it,] the city.

ተርጐሙ፡ዛተጻሕፍተ à ተርጐምዛቲመጻሕፍት
targʷamu zāta maṣāhəfta // à targʷaməwwā lazāti maṣāḥəft //
They translated these books. à They translated [them,] these books.

The pronominal suffixes are, for the most part, fairly easy to spot and decipher. Here’s a general overview of how they appear


singular
plural
3rd masc.
-o
-
-omu
-ኦሙ
3rd fem.
-
-on
-ኦን
2nd masc.
-ka
-
-kəmu
-ክሙ
2nd fem.
-ki
-
-kən
-ክን
1st com.
-ni
-
-na
-

Some predictable phonetic changes occur to accommodate the 3rd person suffixes. Importantly, a helping “-h-” appears if they are affixed to stems ending in –ā. If they are affixed to stems ending in –u or -ə, they appear beginning with -əww and -əyy, respectively, so:

ቀተላ፡አነስት፡አርዌምድር à ቀተላ
qatalā ʾanast ʾarwe-mədr // à qatalāhu //
The women killed a snake. à They killed it.

ነጸሩ፡ዕብራዊያን፡መልእክተ à ነጸርዎሙ
naṣṣaru ʿəbrāwiyān malāʾəkta // à naṣṣarəwwomu //  
The Hebrews saw angels à They saw them.