19: Adjectives

The majority of adjectives in Gəʿəz, as in other Semitic languages, are verbal participles. A smaller number are denominal. They appear in a few different patterns and I’ve explained these patterns further below. Adjectives always reflect the number, gender and case of the nouns they modify and all the patterns follow, more or less, the following scheme:

	M	F
Sng.	- / -	-ት‎ / -t
Pl.	-ኣን / -ān	-ኣት /- āt

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As in other Semitic languages, adjectives usually adjectives appear after the noun(s) they modify, so:

ሐነጹ፡ንጉሥ፡ምሁር፡ወአግብርቱ፡ጠበብት፡ሀገረ፡ሠናይተ፡ለካህናት፡ጻድቃን።

ḥeneṣu nəguš məhur waʾagbərtu ṭababt hagara šannāyta lakāhnāt ṣādəqān //

The learned king, and his skilled servants, built a beautiful city for the pious priests.

ዴገነት፡ንግሥትነ፡ክብርት፡ሊቃነ፡ዕልዋነ፡ወእሙንቱ፡ጐዩ፡ብሔረ፡ባዕደ።

deganat nəgəštna kəbərt liqāna ʿələwāna waʾəmuntu gʷayyu bḥera bāʿəda //

Our mighty queen pursued the rebellious elders and they fled to another land.

Similarly, cardinal / ordinal numbers and some quantifying adjectives generally precede the noun(s) they modify.

ቀለመ፡ብዙኃነ፡መጻሐፍተ፡ወተርጐመ፡ጸሓፊሁ፡ክታቦ፡ቅዱሰ፡ለካልእተ፡ልሳነ።

qalama bəzuxāna maṣāḥəfta watargʷama ṣaḥāfihu kətābo qəddūsa lakālʾəta ləsāna //

He authored many books and his scribe translated his sacred writing into another language.

And, as you would expect, adjectives are also fully functioning nouns. They can thus appear as predicates or in the construct state:

ራትዕ፡ነቢይክሙ።ኢራትዓን፡አንትሙ።እኩያነ፡ለብ፡ወነዳያነ፡መንፈስ፡አንትሙ።

rātʿə nabiykəmu // ʾirātʿān ʾantəmu // ʾəkuyāna ləbb wanaddāyāna manfas antəmu //

Your prophet is righteous. You all are not righteous. You all are evil of heart and poor of spirit.

ADJECTIVAL PATTERNS

1. The most frequently appearing adjectival pattern is characterized by an /-u/ on the second radical, so: ቅቱል (qətul) from B-verbs; ቅቱል (qəttul) from D-verbs and ቁቱል (qutul) from L verbs. Note that the –u is absent in the feminine singular inflection:

መሀረ mahara = to teach :

ምሁር məhur = educated / learned

	M	F
Sng.	ምሁር	ምህርት
	məhur	məhərt
Pl.	ምሁራን	ምሁራት
	məhurān	məhurāt

ነጸሐ naṣaḥa = to be pure :

ንጹሕ nəṣuḥ = pure / innocent / sincere

	M	F
Sng.	ንጹሕ	ንጽሕት
	nəṣuḥ	nəṣəḥt
Pl.	ንጹሓን	ንጹሓት
	nəṣuḥān	nəṣuḥāt

ሰበሐ sabbaḥ = to praise :

ስቡሕ səbbuḥ = honorable / glorious / praised

	M	F
Sng.	ስቡሕ	ስብሕት
	səbbuḥ	səbbəḥt
Pl.	ስቡሓን	ስቡሓት
	səbbuḥān	sebbuḥāt

Slight phonetic change accommodates roots that end with a -የ or a -ወ, so:

ሠነየ šannaya = to be beautiful :

ሥኑይ šannuy = adorned / decorated

	M	F
Sng.	ሥኑይ	ሥኒት
	šannuy	šannit

ለበወ labbawa = to understand :

ልብው ləbbəw = wise / prudent

	M	F
Sng.	ልብው	ልቡት
	ləbbəw	ləbbut

2. Another adjectival pattern is characterized by an /-ā/ on the first radical, so: ቃትል (qātəl). The ordinal numbers appear in this pattern (ኃምስ xāməs = fifth), which inflects quite simply:

ረትዐ ratʿa = to be righteous :

ራትዕ rātəʿ = righteous / just

	M	F
Sng.	ራትዕ	ራትዕት
	rātəʿ	rātəʿt
Pl.	ራትዓን	ራትዓት
	rātəʿān	rātəʿāt

ብዕለ bəʿla = to be / become wealthy :

ባዕል bāʿəl = rich / wealthy

	M	F
Sng.	ባዕል	ባዕልት
	bāʿəl	bāʿəlt
Pl.	ባዕላን	ባዕላት
	bāʿəlān	bāʿəlāt

3. The third adjectival pattern includes few, albeit important, adjectives and is characterized by a /-i/ on the second radical, so: ቀቲል (qatil) from B-verbs and ቀቲል (qattil) for D-verbs. Note that the feminine form does not contain a /-t/ and that there is a common plural form:

ሐደሰ ḥaddasa = to restore :

ሐዲስ ḥadis = new

	M	F
Sng.	ሐዲስ	ሐዳስ
	ḥadis	ḥadās
Pl.	ሐደስት
	ḥadast

ዐብየ ʿabya = to enlarge :

ዐቢይ ʿabiy = large

	M	F
Sng.	ዐቢይ	ዐባይ
	ʿabiy	ʿabāy
Pl.	ዐበይት
	ʿabayt

4. The fourth adjectival pattern contains a characteristic doubling and elongation of the second radical, so: ቀታል (qattāl). Note that this form resembles the f. sing. form in the previous pattern.

ኄረወ xerawa = to be good :

ኄር xer = good

	M	F
Sng.	ኄር	ኄርት
	xer	xert
Pl.	ኄራን	ኄራት
	xerān	xerāt

ሠነየ šannaya = to be beautiful :

ሠናይ šannāy = beautiful

	M	F
sng.	ሠናይ	ሠናይት
	šannāy	šannāyt
pl.	ሠናያን	ሠናያት
	šannāyān	šannāyāt

5. Gəʿəz also derives adjectives from nouns. Whereas a few denominal adjectives have idiosyncratic patterns, e.g. ዐብድ ʿabd = ignorant, from ዐብድ ʿabd  = a fool, most denominal adjectives are formed with the suffix –āwi or –āy.

ዓለም ʿālam = the world :

ዓለማዊ ʿālamāwi = worldly

	M	F
Sng.	ዓለማዊ	ዓለማዊት
	ʿālamāwi	ʿālamāwit
Pl.	ዓለማዊያን	ዓለማዊያት
	ʿālamāwiyān	ʿālamāwiyāt

መንፈስ manfas = the spirit / the essence :

መንፈሳዊ manfasāwi = spiritual

	M	F
Sng.	መንፈሳዊ	መንፈሳዊት
	manfasāwi	manfasāwit
Pl.	መንፈሳዊያን	መንፈሳዊያት
	manfasāwiyān	manfasāwiyāt