28: Decipher Text 5 - Gospel of Matthew

A few days ago, a private collector contacted me to identify for him the text on some vellum folios he acquired from Ethiopia. The pages are from a classical Ethiopic translation of the gospels - a bound codex at some point. Here’s an image from one of the folios -- the text is Matthew 17:1-3. The scribal hand is quite clear, but for greater clarity, I’ve transliterated and transcribed it below:

məʿərāf ((17)) waʾəmdəḫ- -ra šellus mewāʿəl nešʾomu agziʾ iyasus lapērosṭros lapeṭros wa- -layaʿqob walayoḥannəs ʾəḫuhu waʾaʿra- -gomu wasta dəbr nawāḫ ʾənta baḥəti- -tomu watawallaṭa rāʿyu baqdumeho- -mu waʾabraha gaṣṣu kama ḍaḥay waʾal- -basihuni kona ḍaʿāy kama bərhān wa- -nāhu ʾastarʾaywomu muse waʾe- -lyās laʾənza yətnāgaru məslehu

። ምዕራፍ ። ፲፯ ፡ ወእምድኅ ረ ፡ ሠሉስ ፡ መዋዕል ፡ ነሥኦሙ ፡ አግዚእ ፡ ኢየሱስ ፡ ለጴሮስጥሮስ ፡ ለጴጥሮስ ፡ ወ ለያዕቆብ ፡ ወለዮሐንስ ፡ እኁሁ ፡ ወአዕረ ጎሙ ፡ ወስተ ፡ ደብር ፡ ነዊኅ ፡ እንተ ፡ በሕቲ ቶሙ ። ወተወለጠ ፡ ራዕዩ ፡ በቅዱሜሆ ሙ ፡ ወአብርሀ ፡ ገጹ ፡ ከመ ፡ ፀሐይ ። ወአል ባሲሁኒ ፡ ኮነ ፡ ፀዓይ ፡ ከመ ፡ብርሃን ፡ ወ ናሁ ፡ አስተርአይዎሙ ፡ ሙሴ ፡ወኤ ልያስ ፡ ለእንዘ ፡ ይትናገሩ ፡ ምስሌሁ ።

27: Indicating Existence and Possession (Contd.)

27.1: The Preposition «ba-» (by, with, in) has several important functions. Much like the preposition «la-» (of, to, for) [see: 12.6], this preposition has a distinct set of pronominal suffixes:

	Singular		Plural
3rd m.	ቦ	bo	ቦሙ	bomu
	ቦቱ	botu
3rd f.	ባ	bā	ቦን	bon
	ባቲ	bāti	ቦቶን	boton
			ቦንቱ	bontu
2nd m.	ብከ	bəki	ብክሙ	bəkəmu
2nd f.	ብኪ	bəka	ብክን	bəkən
1st c.	ብየ	bəya	ብነ	bəna

27.2: The negative particle with this preposition is the enclitic አል «al-»,  thus forming: አልቦሙ (albomu = not in them) አልብነ (albəna = not in us) etc.

27.3: The most important function of this preposition is that (with the 3^rd m. sing. suffix) it indicates existence (there is…, there are…), just like the particle yeš in Hebrew, īt in Aramaic and thamma in Arabic. The following noun may sometimes decline in the accusative.

ቦ፡ቤት፡በዘሀገር።

bo bet ba-za-hagar

There is a house in this city.

አልቦ፡አብያት፡በዘሀገር።

al-bo abyāt ba-za-hagar

There are no houses in this city.

ቦቱ፡ከዋክብት፡በስመይ።

botu kawākəbt ba-smay

There are stars in the sky.

አልቦቱ፡ኮከበ፡በስመይ።

al-botu kokaba ba-smay

There is no star in the sky.

27.4: Also, note these examples:

ቦ፡ዘረከበኒ፡ወባሕቱ፡ኢዜነወ፡ሊተ፡ስሞ።

bo za-rakabani wabāḥəttu i-zenawa lita semo

There is someone who found me but he did not tell me his name.

አልቦ፡ዘሰምዐ፡ቃላቶሙ፡አመ፡ቦኡ፡ሀገረ።

albo za-samʿa qālātomu ama boʾu hagara

There was no one who heard their voices when they entered the city.

ቦ፡ዘጐዩ፡እምቤት፡ኀበ፡ደበዩ።

bo za-gʷayyu əm-bet xaba dabayu

There were those who fled from the house where they were hiding.

27.5: Another very common function of this preposition is that it indicates possession. The possessed object is usually declined in the accusative case, like the object of a verb.

ብነ፡ቤተ፡ዲበ፡ድብር።

bəna beta diba dəbr     

We have a house on the mountain.

ብየ፡ማየ፡ወአልብከ፡ማየ።

bəya māya wa-albəka māya.

I have water and you have no water.

ንግሥት፡አልባ፡አግብርተ፡በጽርሓ።

nəgəšt albā agbərta ba-ṣərḥā.

The queen has no servants in her chamber.

ቦቱ፡ካህን፡ክርታሳኖ።

botu kāhən kərtāsāno.

The priest has his scrolls.

አልቦሙ፡አራሚያን፡ሃይማኖተ።

albomu arāmiyān hāymānota.

The infidels have no faith.

26: Verbs: The Causative Form

26.1: Most verbs take on a causative sense when the suffix << አ >> (a-) is added to them. This sense includes causing directly, ordering, permitting, suggesting etc.  This suffix can give a causative sense to any of the verbal bases, producing Bc, Dc, Lc, Qc.

BASE		CAUSATIVE
B	ሞተ to die	Bc	አሞተ to put to death
	ሐዘነ to be sad		አሕዘነ to sadden
	ሐየወ to live		አሕየወ to restore to life
	ነበረ to reside		አንበረ to deposit
	ሮጸ to run		አሮጸ to cause to run
	ርእየ to see		አርአየ to show
	ሰምዐ to hear		አስምዐ to announce
	ነደ to burn		አንደደ to set aflame

Note in the Bc construction the medial vowel disappears, so: ወደቀ (wadaqa – he fell) becomes አውደቀ (awdaqa– he cast down).

BASE		CAUSATIVE
D	ሠነየ to be beautiful	Dc	አሠነየ to decorate
	ገበረ to pay taxes		አገበረ to impose tribute
	ነሰሐ to repent		አነሰሐ to lead to repentance
L	ማሰነ to perish	Lc	አማሰነ to destroy
	ቤዘወ to redeem		አቤዘወ to have someone redeemed
Q	ደንገፀ to be disturbed	Qc	አደንገፀ to disturb

26.2: Note the slight phonetic change in the negation of causative verbs from “iʾa” to “iya”:

አሠነየት፡ቤቶ።         :         ኢየሠነየት፡ቤቶ።

ašannayat beto                               iyašannayat beto

She decorated his house             She didn’t decorate his house.

አርአይክዎ፡ሎቱ።     :         ኢየርአይክዎ፡ሎቱ።

arʾaykəwwo lotu                              iyarʾaykəwwo lotu

I showed it to him                            I did not show it to him

26.3: Consider the following sentences that use causative verbs:

አሕዘነት፡ሞቱ፡ነገዶ፡ወአቅበርዎ፡ኀበ፡ሞተ።

aḥzanat motu nagado wa-aqbarəwwo xaba mota

His death saddened his family and they had him buried where he died.

አማሰነ፡ንጉሥ፡ሀገረ፡ወአቅተሎሙ፡ለንቡራን፡ወአገበረ፡በምድር፡ዘሞዐ።

amāsana nəguš hagara wa-aqtala nəburānā wa-agabbara ba-mdər za-moʿa.

The king destroyed the city and ordered all its inhabitants killed, and he imposed a tax on the land he conquered.

አንበረ፡እግዚእነ፡አብርሃምሃ፡ውስተ፡ግብጽ፡ወአርከቦ፡ብዙኀ፡እጓለ፡ወብዕለ።

anbara əgzi’əna abrəhāmha wəsta gəbṣ wa-arkabo bəzuxa əgʷala wa-bʿəla

Our Lord settled Abraham in Egypt and he caused him to acquire great progeny and wealth.

አስምዕኩ፡ቃላተ፡ነቢይነ፡ለንቡራነ፡ሀገርየ፡ወባሔቱ፡ኢየብከይዎሙ።

asməʿku qālāta nabiyna la-nəburāna hagar wa-bāḥəttu iyabkayewwomu.

I announced the words of our prophet to the residents of the city but they did not move them to tears.

አንደደ፡ኵሎሙ፡ተርጐምያተ፡ዋንጌል፡እለ፡አጽሕፎሙ።

andadna kʷəllomu targʷamyāta wāngel əlla aṣḥafomu.

All the translations that he has ordered written, we set on fire.