25: Relative Clauses

25.1 Relative clauses are formed with the following relative pronouns (i.e. who, which etc):

	M	F
Sng.	ዘ-	እንተ
	za-	ənta
Pl.	እለ
	əlla

ሞተ፡ንጉሥ፡ዘሐነጸ፡ሀገረ።

mota nəguš za-hanaṣa hagara.

The king who built the city died

ሞተት፡ንግሥት፡እንተ፡ሐነጸት፡ሀገረ።

motat nəgəšt ənta hanaṣat hagara.

The queen who built the city died.

ሞቱ፡ንጉሥ፡ወንግሥት፡እለ፡ሐነጹ፡ሀገረ፡።

motu nəguš wa-nəgəšt əlla hanaṣu hagara.

The king and queen who built the city died.

You’ll notice that the masculine singular relative pronoun is written as a proclitic. It is used frequently like a preposition marking a genitive relationship, especially in cases where a construct cannot be made due to an adjective, suffix or proper names.

ስም፡ቅዱስ፡ዘነቢይነ፡ዮሐንስ።

səm qəddus za-nabiyna yoḥannəs.

The holy name of our prophet is John.

ዴገንዎ፡እምጋሊላ፡ዘአሕዛብ።

deganəwwo əm-gālilā za-aḥzāb.

They chased out of the Galilee of the Gentiles.

ተወለደ፡በቤተልሔም፡ዘይሁዳ።

tawalada ba-betalḥem za-yhudā.

He was born in the Bethlehem of Judah.

25.2: Similar to Arabic, when the relative pronoun marks a direct object, the verb (usually) takes on a resumptive pronoun. The same is true for when a relative pronoun is in a prepositional relationship i.e. whose, to whom, of which etc.

ነቢይ፡ዘቀተልዎ፡ተነበየ፡በሀገርየ።

nabiy zaqataləwwo tanabbaya ba-hagarya.

The prophet whom they killed prophesied in my city.

ብእሲት፡እንተ፡ርእያ፡ሞተት።

bə’sit ənta rə’yā motat.

The woman whom he saw died.

ካህናት፡እለ፡ስሞሙ፡ቅድመክሙ፡ህየ፡ውእቱ።

kāhnāt əlla səmomu qədmakəmu həyya wə’ətu.

The priests whose names are before you are here.

ስመ፡ሀገር፡ዘሐነጹ፡ወስቴታ፡ሀይከሎሙ፡ኢየሩሳሌም፡ይእቲ።

səma hagar zahanaṣu wastetā haykalomu iyarusālem yə’əti.

The name of the city in which they built their temple is Jerusalem.

25.3: Relative clauses frequently appear as nominal units.

ዘቀተለ፡ተሠቀየ።

za-qatala tašaqqaya.

The-one –who-killed (i.e. the killer) suffered.

ስመ፡እንተ፡ሰበሕዋ፡አርዳሚስ፡ይእቲ።

səma ənta sebbeḥəwwā ardāmis yə’əti.

The name of the-one-whom they-worshipped-her (i.e. their goddess) is Artemis.

ዴገኑ፡እለ፡ነበሩ፡በምድር።

Deganu əlla nabaru ba-mdər

They persecuted the-ones-who-lived (i.e. the locals) in the land.

25.4: Relative pronouns can also function as absolute nouns on their own and form the first part of a construct.

ርእዩ፡እንተ፡ዮሐንስ፡በቤታ።

rə’yu ənta yoḥannəs ba-baytā

They saw she-of John (i.e. John’s wife) in her house.

እለ፡አጋንንት፡መጽኡ፡ለቤተ ክርስቲያን።

əlla agānənt maṣ’u la-beta krstiyān

They-of demons (i.e. the possessed) came to the church.

ዝብእሲ፡ዘሰገል፡ውእቱ።

za-bə’əsi za-sagal wə’ətu

This man is he-of divination (i.e. a diviner)

25.5: The relative pronoun of time is “አመ” (ama) i.e. “when” in the non-interrogative sense. It can appear as a preposition, a conjunction or a relative adverb.  The relative pronoun of place is “ኀበ” (xaba) i.e. “where” in the non-interrogative sense.

አመ፡ቦእክሙ፡ቤት፡ኀበ፡ነበረ፡ኢረከብክምዎ።

ama bo’əkəmu beta xaba nabara irakabkəməwwo?

 When you entered the house where he lived, you did not find him?

ጐየት፡እምኀበ፡ዴገንዋ፡ወሮጸት፡እስከ፡አመ፡በልሐክዋ።

gʷayyat əm-xaba deganəwwā wa-roṣat əska ama balḥakəwwā.

She fled from where the persecuted her and she ran until the-time-when I saved her.

ዝመካን፡ይእቲ፡ኀበ፡መሀርነ፡ቶማ፡ዋንጌል፡ዘእግዚእነ፡አመ፡ሀለውነ፡ደቅ።

ze-makān yə’əti xaba maharna tomā wāngel za-əgzi’əna ama hallawna daqq.

This is the location where Thomas taught us the gospel of our Lord when we were children.