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

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

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

9 comments:

  1. Salam Hamza,

    Just wanted to let you know about the new experimental Semitic Transliterator at SemiticRoots. I ran some of your Ge'ez text through it from this article and it came out quite close to your transliterations. The mapping is based on the values in the Wikipedia article about Ge'ez Script.

    Link: http://www.semiticroots.net/index.php?r=site/transliterate

    Regards,
    A.R.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This is a great resource Abu Rashid, I intend to use it - thanks!

      Delete
  2. Hello I wonder if you could help me. A library has provided some scanned pages of a text that they think is Ge'ez, but they aren't sure and they have asked us to identify the language. If you could contact me mark (@) a2ztranslate.com I could send you some samples?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Mark, I'd love to help out -- my email address is hm298@cornell.edu

      Delete
  3. Hamza, I run a website called Lexicity, which features resources for ancient languages. We are interested in featuring some of your resources on our site. Is there an email address or other form of communication at which we can contact you directly?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello! Yes of course, my email address is: hm298@cornell.edu. Looking forwarding to hearing from you.

      Delete
  4. My name is Belay and I hail from Ethiopia, currently living in USA. I am eager to learn Ge'ez but I can tell whether something is Ge'ez or not because my Amharic is a child of Ge'ez. You may either post a sample as an image or email me to belaytekalign at hotmail.com. Change the “ at” to @. Trying to avoid internet bots.
    I am impressed by Hamza, that I started reading Dillman’s "The Ethiopic Text of Enoch" and work it at
    http://ancientethiopic.blogspot.com/

    I Forgot to mention that I am not a linguist, but since learning Ge'ez is a visa to see my grand-grand-grandfathers and understand their thoughts (so to speak), I have tightened my girdle to walk the path.

    Hope to find some amateurs like me in my travel.

    Belay

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Belay,
      I checked out your blog -- it looks wonderful! I'm glad this blog can be of some assistance to you as you start working on your Ge'ez. It's an incredibly beautiful language with a rich literary corpus, as I'm sure you know. Good luck on your travels!
      - Hamza

      Delete
  5. Hi,
    Can someone translate me this text into English, please?:
    ከመዝ አርአያ ወአምሳል እምኵሉ ብርሃን ዘአርአየኒ ኡርኤል መልአክ ዐቢይ ዘውእቱ መራኂሆሙ ።
    (It's from the book of Enoch 79: 6)

    ReplyDelete

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