Tigrinya verbs
Encyclopedia
In order to view the Tigrinya characters
in this article, you will need a Unicode Ge'ez font, such as [ftp://ftp.ethiopic.org/pub/fonts/TrueType/gfzemenu.ttf GF Zemen Unicode].
Unless otherwise indicated, Tigrinya
verb
s in this article are given in the usual citation form
, the third person singular masculine perfect.
consists of a set of consonant
s (or "literals"), usually three, for example, {sbr} 'break' (citation form: ሰበረ säbärä), {drf} 'sing' (citation form: ደረፈ däräfä).
Each three-consonant (or "triliteral") root belongs to one of three conjugation
classes, conventionally known as A, B, and C, and analogous to the three conjugations of verbs in Romance languages. This division is a basic feature of Ethiopian Semitic languages
.
Most three-consonant roots are in the A class (referred to in this article as "3A"). In the citation form (perfect), these have no gemination and the vowel ä between both pairs of consonants. Examples are ሰበረ säbärä and ደረፈ däräfä. The B class (referred to in this article as "3B") is distinguished by the gemination of the second consonant in all forms. Examples are ደቀሰ däk'k'äsä 'sleep' and ወሰኸ wässäxä 'add'.
The relatively few members of the C class (referred to in this article as "3C") take the vowel a between the first and second consonants. Examples are ባረኸ baräxä 'bless' and ናፈቐ nafäx'ä 'long for, miss'.
Tigrinya also has a significant number of four-consonant (or "quadriliteral") roots (referred to in this article as "4").
These fall into a single conjugation class.
Examples are መስከረ mäskärä 'testify' and ቀልጠፈ k'ält'äfä 'hurry'.
The language also has five-consonant (or "quinquiliteral") roots (referred to in this article as "5"). Most, if not all, of these are "defective" in the sense described below; that is, their simplest form takes the tä- prefix. Examples are ተንቀጥቀጠ tä-nk'ät'k'ät'ä 'tremble' and ተምበርከኸ tä-mbärkäxä 'kneel'.
As is common in Semitic languages, roots containing "laryngeal" (that is, pharyngeal or glottal) consonants in any position or semivowels (y or w) in any but first position undergo various modifications. These are dealt with below under Conjugation.
al processes. Each can be described in terms of its form and its function.
and internal changes.
The prefixes are tä- and or their combination. When the prefix tä- follows , it loses its vowel and assimilates
to the following consonant (that is, the first root consonant). Without its realization depends on the tense/aspect/mood of the verb.
Internal changes are of two types. One is a form of reduplication
. This produces an extra syllable
, consisting of a copy of the second consonant from the end of the root followed by the vowel a; this syllable appears third from the end of the verb stem. A second type of internal change inserts the vowel a, or replaces the existing vowel with a, following the third consonant from the end of the stem. For three-consonant roots, this results in a pattern similar to that of C class verbs.
The table below shows the possible combinations of prefixes and internal changes and their functions, illustrating each with the verb {sbr} (3A).
Reduplication with neither of the prefixes signals FREQUENTATIVE
, the repetition of the event conveyed by the verb. Together with the prefix tä-, reduplication and internal -a- both signal RECIPROCAL
; the subject, most often plural, represents both the agent and patient or recipient of the event. In English, and some other languages, the reciprocal is marked by a pronoun, 'each other'. The addition of to this patterns yields the RECIPROCAL CAUSATIVE: 'cause to DO to each other'.
Here are examples of the different derivational patterns, using the roots {sbr} (3A) 'break', {ls'y} (3C) 'shave', and (3A) 'laugh'. The verbs are all in the gerundive tense/aspect form.
in the sense that they must occur with either or both of the derivational prefixes. For example, from the root {k'mt} (3B) 'sit' there are the forms täx'ämmät'ä 'sit', ax'ämmät'ä 'cause to sit, put' but no form *k'ämmät'ä. Other examples: {ktl} (3B) täxättälä 'follow', {zrb} (3C) täzaräbä 'speak', {ggy} (3C) tägagäyä 'err'. Note that the tä- does not necessarily signify passive or reflexive with these verbs.
Most Semitic languages make a basic two-way distinction between a tense
/aspect
stem that is conjugated with suffixes and another stem that is conjugated with prefixes and, in some forms, suffixes as well.
In Ethiopian Semitic and in Arabic, the first, known as the perfect, is used for past tense, and the second, known as the imperfect, is used for present and sometimes future tenses.
In Tigrinya the bare imperfect is used mainly for the habitual present: ኩሉ መዓልቲ መስኮት ይሰብር 'he breaks a window every day'. In other present and future contexts, auxiliaries are usually used along with the imperfect.
Ethiopian Semitic and Arabic verbs also have a third possibility, which like the imperfect is conjugated with prefixes and sometimes suffixes. This form, known as the jussive/imperative, is tenseless; it is used to express the imperative mood
in the second person as well as notions such as 'let him DO', 'that he DO' in the first and third persons. In Ethiopian Semitic, the affirmative imperative drops the prefix, but the negative imperative maintains it. For example, in Tigrinya ንስበር 'let's break', ስበራ 'break! (2p.f.pl.)', ኣየትስበራ 'don't break! (2p.f.pl.)'.
Some Ethiopian Semitic languages, including Tigrinya, have a fourth possibility, known (somewhat confusingly) as the gerund or gerundive, which like the perfect is conjugated with suffixes only. As in Amharic, this form in Tigrinya has a tenseless, linking function: '(after) having DONE...', '...DO and (then)...'. In Tigrinya it has an additional and very important function: it is the usual way to express the affirmative past tense in independent clause
s, the perfect being restricted mainly to the past negative and to verbs preceded by subordinating conjunctions and the relativizer . Examples:
For the second person jussive/imperative, the prefix appears in parentheses because it is used only in the negative.
Note that for verbs in the 3A class, the second consonant is geminated in the imperfect when there is no suffix.
The same subject agreement affixes appear in the various derivational patterns, but the verb stems are not predictable from the simple, ACTIVE stems.
The derivational prefixes tä- and undergo various changes when they are preceded by subject agreement affixes. In the imperative/jussive, tä- assimilates to the first consonant of the verb root (except when there is no prefix in the affirmative imperative). In the imperfect, tä- disappears altogether, though its presence can still be detected from the pattern of vowels and gemination in the verb stem. The first person imperfect and jussive prefix merges with a following , and the vowel of the other prefixes (, , ) merges with a following , yielding the vowel -ä.
The perfect stem following tä- may lose the vowel between the second and third root consonants when the suffix begins with a vowel (ተፈልጠ 'he was known'; ተፈለጥኩ tä-fälät'-ku 'I was known').
The table below shows forms for the verb {flt} (3A) 'know' in each of the possible combinations of derivational prefixes and internal changes. Unless otherwise indicated, the forms given are the third person masculine plural for the RECIPROCAL pattern and the third person masculine singular for the other patterns.
The subject agreement affixes are the same for verbs in other conjugation classes, but the stems differ in some cases from what would be expected for a verb in the 3A class like fälät'ä. The table below shows the third person singular masculine ACTIVE forms for verbs in other classes: {} (3B) 'offend', {mrk} (3C) 'capture', {t'rt'r} (4) 'doubt'.
Verbs whose roots contain "laryngeal" (pharyngeal or glottal: , , , h) consonants in any position or semivowels (w or y) in any position other than first deviate in various ways from the patterns shown in the tables above. For the laryngeals, most of these deviations stem from the fact that the vowel ä never occurs immediately after a laryngeal. For the semivowels, the deviations result from simplifications that occur when these consonants are preceded and followed by vowels. Some of the changes are illustrated in the following table for these seven verbs, all in the 3A class: {} 'escape', {} 'kiss', {} 'do, work', {mwt} 'die', {ftw} 'like', {} 'go', {} 'drink'. There is considerable variation in the forms; only one possibility is shown here. Third person singular masculine is given in each case, and in addition the first person singular (in the perfect) or third person masculine plural (in the imperfect) for cases where the stem changes within the paradigm.
The very common verbs {nbr} 'live, be' and {gbr} 'do' undergo simplifications in the gerundive, where the b is deleted: ነይሩ näyru, ገይሩ gäyru (3p.m.sg.); ኔርካ nerka, ጌርካ gerka (2p.m.sg.); etc.
Tigrinya has four genuinely irregular verbs: {bhl} 'say', {whb} 'give', {} 'hold', and {hlw} 'exist'. For the first three of these, which are conjugated similarly, the third personal singular masculine forms are shown in the following table. The verb of existence is discussed in a separate section.
As discussed under personal pronouns, there are two sets of such suffixes in the language, a set used for direct objects and a "prepositional" set used for dative
, benefactive
, locative
, or adversative meanings ('to', 'for', 'against'); only one object suffix is permitted on a given verb.
As in some other Ethiopian Semitic languages, there are separate "light" and "heavy" suffixes for all but the second person and first-person plural prepositional object forms. The light suffixes (-ni, -xa, etc.) are characterized by initial ungeminated
consonant
s and the heavy suffixes (-nni, -kka, etc.) by initial geminated consonants. For the third person direct object suffixes, there is a third form with no initial consonant at all (-o, -a, etc.). Roughly speaking, the light suffixes are used with verbs whose subjects are second or third person plural, the third person vowel-initial suffixes are used with verbs that have no agreement suffix, and the heavy suffixes are used in other cases. In the jussive/imperative, the vowel-initial suffixes cause the gemination of the preceding consonant. When an object suffix beginning with a consonant is added to a verb ending in a consonant (either a root or a suffix consonant), a vowel is inserted to break up the cluster, the particular vowel depending on the subject and object. The details are quite complicated; most of the possibilities are illustrated in the following table for two different object and four different subject categories, using the verb fälät'ä (3A) 'know'.
For the present tense, both the copula and the verb of existence use forms with subject agreement suffixes rather than anything resembling the imperfect.
The present of the verb of existence can take conjunctive prefixes, in which case its initial ’a is absorbed: እንተሎ 'if there is', ዘለዉ zälläwu 'which there are'.
The copula cannot take conjunctive prefixes; instead, forms of the regular verb ኮነ konä 'become' are used: እንተኾነ ǝntäxonä if he is, becomes', ዝኾነ 'which is, becomes'.
The perfect or gerundive of the regular verb ነበረ näbärä 'live' normally serves as the past tense of both the copula and the verb of existence: ምሳና ኣይነበረን 'they (f.) weren't with us'.
The verbs ኮነ konä, ነበረ näbärä, and ሃለወ halläwä (a regular verb with restricted use meaning 'exist' and the historical source of allo, etc.) replace the copula and verb of existence in other grammatical roles: ይኹኑ 'let them (m.) be' (jussive), ኪነብር እዩ 'he will be (there)' (near future), ምህላውካ 'your (m.sg.) being (there)' (infinitive).
With object pronoun suffixes, the verb of existence conveys possession; the object represents the possessor and the subject of the verb the possessed entity. Thus there are four ways to express 'have' for a given subject, depending on the number and gender of the possessed entity: ኣሎኒ allo-ni (m.sg.), ኣላትኒ (f.sg.), ኣለዉኒ alläwu-ni (m.pl.), ኣለዋኒ alläwa-ni (f.pl.) 'I have'. The same form is used to express obligation; the subject takes the form of an infinitive, the subject agreement is third person masculine singular, and the object suffix represents the obliged person: ምድቃስ ኣሎኒ , 'I have to sleep'.
The following table shows the affirmative and negative present forms of the copula and verb of existence. In the second person forms of the copula, the first vowel may be either and i.
s by prefixing to the perfect or imperfect form of a verb.
The irregular present of the verb of existence (ኣሎ , etc.) may also take the prefix, in which case it combines with the initial ’a- to yield zä-: ዘሎ zällo 'which exists, is located', etc.
The relativizing prefix precedes subject agreement, derivational, and negative prefixes.
The prefix undergoes the following changes immediately preceding particular prefixes.
Relative clauses may occur without an explicit antecedent: ዝሰበርኩ 'what I broke', ዚብላዕ 'what is eaten'
As in other Ethiopian Semitic languages
very common use of relative clauses is in cleft sentences. The main verb of the corresponding unclefted sentence is replaced by a relative clause and copula, and the relative clause often comes last in the sentence.
and
aspect
distinctions
.
Besides the simple perfect, imperfect, and gerundive, other possibilities consist of combinations of these three with different auxiliary verb
s — the copula (እዩ , etc.), the present of the verb of existence (ኣሎ ’allo, etc.), the verb ነበረ näbärä 'live, be', the verb ኮነ konä 'become, be', and the verb ጸንሔ 'stay' — and sometimes with particular conjunctive prefixes such as . In most cases both the auxiliary verb and the main verb are conjugated. Some of the more common patterns are the following:
Ge'ez alphabet
Ge'ez , also called Ethiopic, is a script used as an abugida for several languages of Ethiopia and Eritrea but originated in an abjad used to write Ge'ez, now the liturgical language of the Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Church...
in this article, you will need a Unicode Ge'ez font, such as [ftp://ftp.ethiopic.org/pub/fonts/TrueType/gfzemenu.ttf GF Zemen Unicode].
Unless otherwise indicated, Tigrinya
Tigrinya language
Tigrinya , also spelled Tigrigna, Tigrnia, Tigrina, Tigriña, less commonly Tigrinian, Tigrinyan, is a Semitic language spoken by the Tigrinya people in central Eritrea , where it is one of the two main languages of Eritrea, and in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia , where it...
verb
Verb
A verb, from the Latin verbum meaning word, is a word that in syntax conveys an action , or a state of being . In the usual description of English, the basic form, with or without the particle to, is the infinitive...
s in this article are given in the usual citation form
Citation form
In linguistics the citation form of a word can mean:* its canonical form or lemma: the form of an inflected word given in dictionaries or glossaries, thus also called the dictionary form....
, the third person singular masculine perfect.
Roots
A Tigrinya verb rootRoot
In vascular plants, the root is the organ of a plant that typically lies below the surface of the soil. This is not always the case, however, since a root can also be aerial or aerating . Furthermore, a stem normally occurring below ground is not exceptional either...
consists of a set of consonant
Consonant
In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. Examples are , pronounced with the lips; , pronounced with the front of the tongue; , pronounced with the back of the tongue; , pronounced in the throat; and ,...
s (or "literals"), usually three, for example, {sbr} 'break' (citation form: ሰበረ säbärä), {drf} 'sing' (citation form: ደረፈ däräfä).
Each three-consonant (or "triliteral") root belongs to one of three conjugation
Grammatical conjugation
In linguistics, conjugation is the creation of derived forms of a verb from its principal parts by inflection . Conjugation may be affected by person, number, gender, tense, aspect, mood, voice, or other grammatical categories...
classes, conventionally known as A, B, and C, and analogous to the three conjugations of verbs in Romance languages. This division is a basic feature of Ethiopian Semitic languages
Ethiopian Semitic languages
Ethiopian Semitic is a language group, which together with Old South Arabian forms the Western branch of the South Semitic languages. The languages are spoken in both Ethiopia and Eritrea...
.
Most three-consonant roots are in the A class (referred to in this article as "3A"). In the citation form (perfect), these have no gemination and the vowel ä between both pairs of consonants. Examples are ሰበረ säbärä and ደረፈ däräfä. The B class (referred to in this article as "3B") is distinguished by the gemination of the second consonant in all forms. Examples are ደቀሰ däk'k'äsä 'sleep' and ወሰኸ wässäxä 'add'.
The relatively few members of the C class (referred to in this article as "3C") take the vowel a between the first and second consonants. Examples are ባረኸ baräxä 'bless' and ናፈቐ nafäx'ä 'long for, miss'.
Tigrinya also has a significant number of four-consonant (or "quadriliteral") roots (referred to in this article as "4").
These fall into a single conjugation class.
Examples are መስከረ mäskärä 'testify' and ቀልጠፈ k'ält'äfä 'hurry'.
The language also has five-consonant (or "quinquiliteral") roots (referred to in this article as "5"). Most, if not all, of these are "defective" in the sense described below; that is, their simplest form takes the tä- prefix. Examples are ተንቀጥቀጠ tä-nk'ät'k'ät'ä 'tremble' and ተምበርከኸ tä-mbärkäxä 'kneel'.
As is common in Semitic languages, roots containing "laryngeal" (that is, pharyngeal or glottal) consonants in any position or semivowels (y or w) in any but first position undergo various modifications. These are dealt with below under Conjugation.
Derivation
Each verb root can be modified through one or more basic derivationDerivation
Derivation may refer to:* Derivation , a function on an algebra which generalizes certain features of the derivative operator* Derivation * Derivation in differential algebra, a unary function satisfying the Leibniz product law...
al processes. Each can be described in terms of its form and its function.
Form
Changes to the root form are of two types: prefixesAffix
An affix is a morpheme that is attached to a word stem to form a new word. Affixes may be derivational, like English -ness and pre-, or inflectional, like English plural -s and past tense -ed. They are bound morphemes by definition; prefixes and suffixes may be separable affixes...
and internal changes.
The prefixes are tä- and or their combination. When the prefix tä- follows , it loses its vowel and assimilates
Assimilation (linguistics)
Assimilation is a common phonological process by which the sound of the ending of one word blends into the sound of the beginning of the following word. This occurs when the parts of the mouth and vocal cords start to form the beginning sounds of the next word before the last sound has been...
to the following consonant (that is, the first root consonant). Without its realization depends on the tense/aspect/mood of the verb.
Internal changes are of two types. One is a form of reduplication
Reduplication
Reduplication in linguistics is a morphological process in which the root or stem of a word is repeated exactly or with a slight change....
. This produces an extra syllable
Syllable
A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds. For example, the word water is composed of two syllables: wa and ter. A syllable is typically made up of a syllable nucleus with optional initial and final margins .Syllables are often considered the phonological "building...
, consisting of a copy of the second consonant from the end of the root followed by the vowel a; this syllable appears third from the end of the verb stem. A second type of internal change inserts the vowel a, or replaces the existing vowel with a, following the third consonant from the end of the stem. For three-consonant roots, this results in a pattern similar to that of C class verbs.
The table below shows the possible combinations of prefixes and internal changes and their functions, illustrating each with the verb {sbr} (3A).
| Prefix(es) | Internal change | Function | Examples | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | ACTIVE | ሰበረ säbärä 'break' | |
| — | Reduplication | FREQUENTATIVE | ሰባበረ säbabärä 'break repeatedly' | |
| tä- | — | PASSIVE, REFLEXIVE | ተሰብረ tä-säbrä 'be broken' | |
| -a- | RECIPROCAL | ተሳበረ tä-sabärä | 'break one another' | |
| Reduplication | ተሰባበረ tä-säbabärä | |||
| — | CAUSATIVE | ኣስበረ 'cause to break' | ||
| + -tä- | -a- | RECIPROCAL CAUSATIVE | ኣሳበረ | 'cause to break one another' |
| Reduplication | ኣሰባበረ | |||
Function
For the most part, the two derivational prefixes signal grammatical voice; that is, they govern how the participants in the sentence map onto the roles in the event conveyed by the verb. With neither prefix, the verb is normally in ACTIVE voice; the subject is the agent of the event. By itself, the prefix tä- usually signals PASSIVE voice or REFLEXIVE voice. Some participant which is not the subject of the active sentence, the patient or recipient, becomes the subject; or the subject is both the agent and the patient or recipient of the event. By itself, the prefix usually signals CAUSATIVE voice; the subject of the sentence is then a causer of the event who is not the immediate agent.Reduplication with neither of the prefixes signals FREQUENTATIVE
Frequentative
In grammar, a frequentative form of a word is one which indicates repeated action. The frequentative form can be considered a separate, but not completely independent word, called a frequentative...
, the repetition of the event conveyed by the verb. Together with the prefix tä-, reduplication and internal -a- both signal RECIPROCAL
Reciprocal (grammar)
A reciprocal is a linguistic structure that marks a particular kind of relationship between two noun phrases. In a reciprocal construction, each of the participants occupies both the role of agent and patient with respect to each other...
; the subject, most often plural, represents both the agent and patient or recipient of the event. In English, and some other languages, the reciprocal is marked by a pronoun, 'each other'. The addition of to this patterns yields the RECIPROCAL CAUSATIVE: 'cause to DO to each other'.
Here are examples of the different derivational patterns, using the roots {sbr} (3A) 'break', {ls'y} (3C) 'shave', and (3A) 'laugh'. The verbs are all in the gerundive tense/aspect form.
- መስኮት ሰቢሩ mäskot säbiru 'He broke a window'; {sbr}, no prefix, no internal change, ACTIVE
- መስኮት (ብተኽሉ) ተሰቢሩ mäskot tä-säbiru 'a window was broken (by Teklu)'; {sbr}, tä-, no internal change, PASSIVE
- መስኮት ሰባቢሩ mäskot säbabiru 'He repeatedly broke windows'; {sbr}, no prefix, reduplication, FREQUENTATIVE
- መስኮት ኣስቢሩ mäskot 'He caused a window to be broken (by somebody else)'; {sbr}, , no internal change, CAUSATIVE
- ተላጺዩ tä-las'iyu 'He shaved (himself)'; {ls'y}, tä-, no internal change, REFLEXIVE
- ተሳሒቖም / ተሰሓሒቖም 'they (m.) laughed at each other'; , tä-, -a- / reduplication, RECIPROCAL
- ኣሳሒቑዎም / ኣሰሐሒቑዎም 'he made them (m.) laugh at each other'; }, + tä-, -a- / reduplication, RECIPROCAL CAUSATIVE
Defective verbs
Some verb roots are defectiveDefective verb
In linguistics, a defective verb is a verb which is missing e.g. a past tense, or cannot be used in some other way that normal verbs come. Formally, it is a verb with an incomplete conjugation. Defective verbs cannot be conjugated in certain tenses, aspects, or moods.-Arabic:In Arabic, defective...
in the sense that they must occur with either or both of the derivational prefixes. For example, from the root {k'mt} (3B) 'sit' there are the forms täx'ämmät'ä 'sit', ax'ämmät'ä 'cause to sit, put' but no form *k'ämmät'ä. Other examples: {ktl} (3B) täxättälä 'follow', {zrb} (3C) täzaräbä 'speak', {ggy} (3C) tägagäyä 'err'. Note that the tä- does not necessarily signify passive or reflexive with these verbs.
Tense, aspect, and mood
The pattern of vowels between the consonants of a verb root, as well as the gemination of one or more consonants in some cases, is determined in part by the verb class (3A, 3B, 3C, 4, 5) and the presence (or absence) of derivational morphemes (ACTIVE, PASSIVE, RECIPROCAL, etc.). But it also depends on the selection of the tense/aspect or mood.Most Semitic languages make a basic two-way distinction between a tense
Grammatical tense
A tense is a grammatical category that locates a situation in time, to indicate when the situation takes place.Bernard Comrie, Aspect, 1976:6:...
/aspect
Grammatical aspect
In linguistics, the grammatical aspect of a verb is a grammatical category that defines the temporal flow in a given action, event, or state, from the point of view of the speaker...
stem that is conjugated with suffixes and another stem that is conjugated with prefixes and, in some forms, suffixes as well.
In Ethiopian Semitic and in Arabic, the first, known as the perfect, is used for past tense, and the second, known as the imperfect, is used for present and sometimes future tenses.
In Tigrinya the bare imperfect is used mainly for the habitual present: ኩሉ መዓልቲ መስኮት ይሰብር 'he breaks a window every day'. In other present and future contexts, auxiliaries are usually used along with the imperfect.
Ethiopian Semitic and Arabic verbs also have a third possibility, which like the imperfect is conjugated with prefixes and sometimes suffixes. This form, known as the jussive/imperative, is tenseless; it is used to express the imperative mood
Imperative mood
The imperative mood expresses commands or requests as a grammatical mood. These commands or requests urge the audience to act a certain way. It also may signal a prohibition, permission, or any other kind of exhortation.- Morphology :...
in the second person as well as notions such as 'let him DO', 'that he DO' in the first and third persons. In Ethiopian Semitic, the affirmative imperative drops the prefix, but the negative imperative maintains it. For example, in Tigrinya ንስበር 'let's break', ስበራ 'break! (2p.f.pl.)', ኣየትስበራ 'don't break! (2p.f.pl.)'.
Some Ethiopian Semitic languages, including Tigrinya, have a fourth possibility, known (somewhat confusingly) as the gerund or gerundive, which like the perfect is conjugated with suffixes only. As in Amharic, this form in Tigrinya has a tenseless, linking function: '(after) having DONE...', '...DO and (then)...'. In Tigrinya it has an additional and very important function: it is the usual way to express the affirmative past tense in independent clause
Independent clause
An independent clause is a clause that can stand by itself, also known as a simple sentence. An independent clause contains a subject and a predicate; it makes sense by itself....
s, the perfect being restricted mainly to the past negative and to verbs preceded by subordinating conjunctions and the relativizer . Examples:
| መስኮት | ሰቢሩ | ሃዲሙ |
| window | break (3p.m.sg., GER) | escape (3p.m.sg., GER) |
| 'He broke a window and escaped.' | ||
| እቲ | መስኮት | ዝሰበረ | ወዲ |
| the | window | REL-break (3p.m.sg., PRF) | boy |
| 'the boy who broke a window' | |||
| መስኮት | ኣይሰበረን | |
| window | NEG-break (3p.m.sg., PRF) | |
| 'He didn't break a window.' | ||
Conjugation
Tigrinya has separate suffixes, prefixes, or combinations of prefixes and suffixes for each of the ten person/number/gender combinations that are distinguished within the personal pronoun system. These are illustrated in the table below for the verb {flt} (3A) 'know' in its ACTIVE form, that is, without derivational prefixes or internal changes.For the second person jussive/imperative, the prefix appears in parentheses because it is used only in the negative.
Note that for verbs in the 3A class, the second consonant is geminated in the imperfect when there is no suffix.
| Perfect | Imperfect | Jussive/ Imperative |
Gerundive | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | ፈለጥኩ | እፈልጥ | እፍለጥ | ፈሊጠ |
| you (m.sg.) | ፈለጥካ | ትፈልጥ | (ት)ፍለጥ | ፈሊትካ |
| you (f.sg.) | ፈለጥኪ | ትፈልጢ | (ት)ፍለጢ | ፈሊጥኪ |
| he | ፈለጠ | ይፈልጥ | ይፍለጥ | ፈሊጡ |
| she | ፈለጠት | ትፈልጥ | ትፍለጥ | ፈሊጣ |
| we | ፈለጥና | ንፈልጥ | ንፍለጥ | ፈሊጥና |
| you (m.pl.) | ፈለጥኩም | ትፈልጡ | (ት)ፍለጡ | ፈሊጥኩም |
| you (f.pl.) | ፈለጥክን | ትፈልጣ | (ት)ፍለጣ | ፈሊጥክን |
| they (m.) | ፈለጡ | ይፈልጡ | ይፍለጡ | ፈሊጦም |
| they (f.) | ፈለጣ | ይፈልጣ | ይፍለጣ | ፈሊጠን |
The same subject agreement affixes appear in the various derivational patterns, but the verb stems are not predictable from the simple, ACTIVE stems.
The derivational prefixes tä- and undergo various changes when they are preceded by subject agreement affixes. In the imperative/jussive, tä- assimilates to the first consonant of the verb root (except when there is no prefix in the affirmative imperative). In the imperfect, tä- disappears altogether, though its presence can still be detected from the pattern of vowels and gemination in the verb stem. The first person imperfect and jussive prefix merges with a following , and the vowel of the other prefixes (, , ) merges with a following , yielding the vowel -ä.
The perfect stem following tä- may lose the vowel between the second and third root consonants when the suffix begins with a vowel (ተፈልጠ 'he was known'; ተፈለጥኩ tä-fälät'-ku 'I was known').
The table below shows forms for the verb {flt} (3A) 'know' in each of the possible combinations of derivational prefixes and internal changes. Unless otherwise indicated, the forms given are the third person masculine plural for the RECIPROCAL pattern and the third person masculine singular for the other patterns.
| Derivational pattern | Perfect | Imperfect | Jussive/ Imperative |
Gerundive |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FREQUENTATIVE | ፈላለጠ | ይፈላልጥ | ፈላሊጡ | |
| PASSIVE/REFLEXIVE | ተፈለጥኩ (1p.sg.) ተፈልጠ |
ይፍለጥ | ይፈለጥ ተፈለጥ (2p.m.sg.) |
ተፈሊጡ |
| RECIPROCAL | ተፋለጡ ተፈላለጡ |
ይፋለጡ ይፈላለጡ |
ተፋሊጦም ተፈላሊጦም |
|
| CAUSATIVE | ኣፍለጠ | የፍልጥ የፍልጡ (3p.m.pl.) |
የፍልጥ | ኣፍሊጡ |
| RECIPROCAL CAUSATIVE | ኣፋለጠ ኣፈላለጠ |
የፋለጥ የፈላለጥ |
ኣፋሊጡ ኣፈላሊጡ |
|
The subject agreement affixes are the same for verbs in other conjugation classes, but the stems differ in some cases from what would be expected for a verb in the 3A class like fälät'ä. The table below shows the third person singular masculine ACTIVE forms for verbs in other classes: {} (3B) 'offend', {mrk} (3C) 'capture', {t'rt'r} (4) 'doubt'.
Verbs whose roots contain "laryngeal" (pharyngeal or glottal: , , , h) consonants in any position or semivowels (w or y) in any position other than first deviate in various ways from the patterns shown in the tables above. For the laryngeals, most of these deviations stem from the fact that the vowel ä never occurs immediately after a laryngeal. For the semivowels, the deviations result from simplifications that occur when these consonants are preceded and followed by vowels. Some of the changes are illustrated in the following table for these seven verbs, all in the 3A class: {} 'escape', {} 'kiss', {} 'do, work', {mwt} 'die', {ftw} 'like', {} 'go', {} 'drink'. There is considerable variation in the forms; only one possibility is shown here. Third person singular masculine is given in each case, and in addition the first person singular (in the perfect) or third person masculine plural (in the imperfect) for cases where the stem changes within the paradigm.
The very common verbs {nbr} 'live, be' and {gbr} 'do' undergo simplifications in the gerundive, where the b is deleted: ነይሩ näyru, ገይሩ gäyru (3p.m.sg.); ኔርካ nerka, ጌርካ gerka (2p.m.sg.); etc.
Tigrinya has four genuinely irregular verbs: {bhl} 'say', {whb} 'give', {} 'hold', and {hlw} 'exist'. For the first three of these, which are conjugated similarly, the third personal singular masculine forms are shown in the following table. The verb of existence is discussed in a separate section.
| Conjugation class | Perfect | Imperfect | Jussive/ Imperative |
Gerundive |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3B | በደለ | ይብድል | ይበድል | በዲሉ |
| 3C | ማረኸ | ይማርኽ | ይማርኽ | ማሪኹ |
| 4 | ጠርጠረ | ይጥርጥር | ይጠርጥር | ጠርጢሩ |
| Laryngeal | ሃደመ ሰዓመ ሰራሕኩ , ሰርሔ |
ይሃድም ይስዕም ይሰርሕ |
ይህደም ይስዓም ይስራሕ |
ሃዲሙ ስዒሙ ሰሪሑ |
| Semivowel | ሞተ ፈቶኹ , ፈተወ ከደ ሰቴኹ , ሰተየ |
ይመውት , ይሞቱ ይፈቱ , ይፈትዉ ይኸይድ , ይኸዱ ይሰቲ , ይሰትዩ |
ይሙት ይፍተው ይኺድ ይስተይ |
ሞይቱ ፈትዩ ከይዱ ሰትዩ |
| Irregular | በለ ሃበ ሓዘ |
ይብል ይህብ ይሕዝ |
ይበል ይሃብ ይሓዝ |
ኢሉ ሂቡ ሒዙ |
Object suffixes
Like other Semitic languages, Tigrinya has object pronoun suffixes that can appear on verbs in any tense-aspect-mood.As discussed under personal pronouns, there are two sets of such suffixes in the language, a set used for direct objects and a "prepositional" set used for dative
Dative case
The dative case is a grammatical case generally used to indicate the noun to whom something is given, as in "George gave Jamie a drink"....
, benefactive
Benefactive case
The benefactive case is a grammatical case used where English would use "for", "for the benefit of", or "intended for", e.g...
, locative
Locative case
Locative is a grammatical case which indicates a location. It corresponds vaguely to the English prepositions "in", "on", "at", and "by"...
, or adversative meanings ('to', 'for', 'against'); only one object suffix is permitted on a given verb.
As in some other Ethiopian Semitic languages, there are separate "light" and "heavy" suffixes for all but the second person and first-person plural prepositional object forms. The light suffixes (-ni, -xa, etc.) are characterized by initial ungeminated
Gemination
In phonetics, gemination happens when a spoken consonant is pronounced for an audibly longer period of time than a short consonant. Gemination is distinct from stress and may appear independently of it....
consonant
Consonant
In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. Examples are , pronounced with the lips; , pronounced with the front of the tongue; , pronounced with the back of the tongue; , pronounced in the throat; and ,...
s and the heavy suffixes (-nni, -kka, etc.) by initial geminated consonants. For the third person direct object suffixes, there is a third form with no initial consonant at all (-o, -a, etc.). Roughly speaking, the light suffixes are used with verbs whose subjects are second or third person plural, the third person vowel-initial suffixes are used with verbs that have no agreement suffix, and the heavy suffixes are used in other cases. In the jussive/imperative, the vowel-initial suffixes cause the gemination of the preceding consonant. When an object suffix beginning with a consonant is added to a verb ending in a consonant (either a root or a suffix consonant), a vowel is inserted to break up the cluster, the particular vowel depending on the subject and object. The details are quite complicated; most of the possibilities are illustrated in the following table for two different object and four different subject categories, using the verb fälät'ä (3A) 'know'.
| Object | Subject | Perfect | Imperfect | Jussive/ Imperative |
Gerundive |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 'me' | 'you(m.sg.)' | ፈለጥካኒ | ትፈልጠኒ | ፍለጠኒ | ፈሊጥካኒ |
| 'he' | ፈለጠኒ | ይፈልጠኒ | ይፍለጠኒ | ፈሊጡኒ | |
| 'they(m.)' | ፈለጡኒ | ይፈልጡኒ | ይፍለጡኒ | ፈሊጦሙኒ | |
| 'they(f.)' | ፈለጣኒ | ይፈልጣኒ | ይፍለጣኒ | ፈሊጠናኒ | |
| 'him' | 'you(m.sg.)' | ፈለጥካዮ | ትፈልጦ | ፍለጦ | ፈሊጥካዮ |
| 'he' | ፈለጦ | ይፈልጦ | ይፍለጦ | ፈሊጡዎ | |
| 'they(m.)' | ፈለጡዎ | ይፈልጡዎ | ይፍለጡዎ | ፈሊጦሙዎ | |
| 'they(f.)' | ፈለጣኦ | ይፈልጣኦ | ይፍለጣኦ | ፈሊጠንኦ |
Negation
Verbs are negated in Tigrinya with the prefix ኣይ ay- and, in independent tensed clauses, the suffix ን -n. The negative prefix precedes any derivational or subject agreement prefixes, and the negative suffix follows any subject agreement or object pronoun suffixes. The first person singular imperfect and jussive prefix is dropped following ay-. The gerundive has no negative; the negative of the perfect is used instead. Examples:- Perfect: ተዓጸወ 'it was closed', ኣይተዓጸወን 'it wasn't closed'
- Imperfect: ትፈልጥኒ 'you (f.sg.) know me', ኣይትፈልጥንን 'you (f.sg.) don't know me'
- Imperative: ክፈቶ 'open (m.sg.) it', ኣይትክፈቶ 'don't open (m.sg.) it'
- Gerundive: ተጋግየ 'I made a mistake', ኣይተጋጌኹን 'I didn't make a mistake' (perfect)
Copula and verb of existence
Like other Ethiopian Semitic languages, Tigrinya has a copula ('be') and a separate verb of existence and location ('exist, be located'), neither of which is conjugated like other verbs.For the present tense, both the copula and the verb of existence use forms with subject agreement suffixes rather than anything resembling the imperfect.
The present of the verb of existence can take conjunctive prefixes, in which case its initial ’a is absorbed: እንተሎ 'if there is', ዘለዉ zälläwu 'which there are'.
The copula cannot take conjunctive prefixes; instead, forms of the regular verb ኮነ konä 'become' are used: እንተኾነ ǝntäxonä if he is, becomes', ዝኾነ 'which is, becomes'.
The perfect or gerundive of the regular verb ነበረ näbärä 'live' normally serves as the past tense of both the copula and the verb of existence: ምሳና ኣይነበረን 'they (f.) weren't with us'.
The verbs ኮነ konä, ነበረ näbärä, and ሃለወ halläwä (a regular verb with restricted use meaning 'exist' and the historical source of allo, etc.) replace the copula and verb of existence in other grammatical roles: ይኹኑ 'let them (m.) be' (jussive), ኪነብር እዩ 'he will be (there)' (near future), ምህላውካ 'your (m.sg.) being (there)' (infinitive).
With object pronoun suffixes, the verb of existence conveys possession; the object represents the possessor and the subject of the verb the possessed entity. Thus there are four ways to express 'have' for a given subject, depending on the number and gender of the possessed entity: ኣሎኒ allo-ni (m.sg.), ኣላትኒ (f.sg.), ኣለዉኒ alläwu-ni (m.pl.), ኣለዋኒ alläwa-ni (f.pl.) 'I have'. The same form is used to express obligation; the subject takes the form of an infinitive, the subject agreement is third person masculine singular, and the object suffix represents the obliged person: ምድቃስ ኣሎኒ , 'I have to sleep'.
The following table shows the affirmative and negative present forms of the copula and verb of existence. In the second person forms of the copula, the first vowel may be either and i.
| Copula 'am', 'are', 'is', etc. |
Verb of existence 'am (located)', etc. |
Verb of existence + obj. pron. 'have, must' |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Affirmative | Negative | Affirmative | Negative | Affirmative | Negative | |
| I | እየ | ኣይኮንህኩን ’aykonkun | ኣሎኹ ’alloxu | የሎኹን yälloxun | ኣሎኒ ’allonni | የብለይን |
| you (m.sg.) | እኻ , ኢኻ ’ixa |
ኣይኮንካን ’aykonkan | ኣሎኻ ’alloxa | የሎኻን yälloxan | ኣሎካ ’allokka | የብልካን |
| you (f.sg.) | እኺ , ኢኺ ’ixi |
ኣይኮንክን | ኣሎኺ ’alloxi | የሎኽን | ኣሎኪ ’allokki | የብልክን |
| he | እዩ | ኣይኮነን ’aykonän | ኣሎ ’allo | የሎን yällon, የልቦን yälbon |
ኣሎዎ ’allowwo | የብሉን |
| she | እያ | ኣይኮነትን | ኣላ ’alla | የላን yällan | ኣሎዋ ’allowwa | የብላን |
| we | ኢና ’ina | ኣይኮንናን ’aykonnan | ኣሎና ’allona | የሎናን yällonan | ኣሎና ’allonna | የብልናን |
| you (m.pl.) | እኹም , ኢኹም ’ixum |
ኣይኮንኩምን | ኣሎኹም ’alloxum | የሎኹምን | ኣሎኩም ’allokkum | የብልኩምን |
| you (f.pl.) | እኽን , ኢኽን |
ኣይኮንክን | ኣሎኽን | የሎኽንን | ኣሎክን | የብልክንን |
| they (m.) | እዮም | ኣይኮኑን ’aykonun | ኣለዉ ’alläwu | የለዉን yälläwun | ኣሎዎም ’allowwom | የብሎምን |
| they (f.) | እየን | ኣይኮናን ’aykonan | ኣለዋ ’alläwa | የለዋን yälläwan | ኣሎወን ’allowwän | የብለንን |
Relativization
Tigrinya forms relative clauseRelative clause
A relative clause is a subordinate clause that modifies a noun phrase, most commonly a noun. For example, the phrase "the man who wasn't there" contains the noun man, which is modified by the relative clause who wasn't there...
s by prefixing to the perfect or imperfect form of a verb.
The irregular present of the verb of existence (ኣሎ , etc.) may also take the prefix, in which case it combines with the initial ’a- to yield zä-: ዘሎ zällo 'which exists, is located', etc.
The relativizing prefix precedes subject agreement, derivational, and negative prefixes.
The prefix undergoes the following changes immediately preceding particular prefixes.
- Imperfect and jussive subject agreement prefixes
- + (1p.sg.): , e.g., ዝገብርሉ 'with which I do (it)'
- + (3p.m.sg., 3p.pl.): zi- or , e.g., ዚቈርጹ 'which they (m.) cut'
- + (2p., 3p.f.sg.): or , e.g., እትርእያ 'which you (f.pl.) see'
- + (1p.pl.): or , e.g., e.g., እንጽሕፍ 'which we write'
- Derivational prefixes
- + (causative): zä-, e.g., ዘምጻእኩ zäms'a’ku 'which I brought (caused to come)'
- + tä- (passive): (or ), e.g., እተሓተመ 'which was printed'
- Negative prefix
- + : zäy-, e.g., ዘይንደሊ 'which we don't want'
Relative clauses may occur without an explicit antecedent: ዝሰበርኩ 'what I broke', ዚብላዕ 'what is eaten'
As in other Ethiopian Semitic languages
Semitic languages
The Semitic languages are a group of related languages whose living representatives are spoken by more than 270 million people across much of the Middle East, North Africa and the Horn of Africa...
very common use of relative clauses is in cleft sentences. The main verb of the corresponding unclefted sentence is replaced by a relative clause and copula, and the relative clause often comes last in the sentence.
- ሓፍተይ እያ ዝኸደት 'it is my sister who left' (lit. 'she is my sister who left')
- መን እዩ ዝፈለጠ 'who knew?' (lit. 'who is he who knew?')
Auxiliary verbs
Tigrinya has a complex set of possibilities for expressing tenseGrammatical tense
A tense is a grammatical category that locates a situation in time, to indicate when the situation takes place.Bernard Comrie, Aspect, 1976:6:...
and
aspect
Grammatical aspect
In linguistics, the grammatical aspect of a verb is a grammatical category that defines the temporal flow in a given action, event, or state, from the point of view of the speaker...
distinctions
.
Besides the simple perfect, imperfect, and gerundive, other possibilities consist of combinations of these three with different auxiliary verb
Auxiliary verb
In linguistics, an auxiliary verb is a verb that gives further semantic or syntactic information about a main or full verb. In English, the extra meaning provided by an auxiliary verb alters the basic meaning of the main verb to make it have one or more of the following functions: passive voice,...
s — the copula (እዩ , etc.), the present of the verb of existence (ኣሎ ’allo, etc.), the verb ነበረ näbärä 'live, be', the verb ኮነ konä 'become, be', and the verb ጸንሔ 'stay' — and sometimes with particular conjunctive prefixes such as . In most cases both the auxiliary verb and the main verb are conjugated. Some of the more common patterns are the following:
- imperfect + copula
- The usual present tense for emotion and sense verbs: እፈትዋ እየ 'I like her'.
- imperfect + näbärä
- Corresponds to the English past progressive: ንሰቲ ነበርና 'we were drinking'.
- gerundive + present of verb of existence or copula
- Corresponds to the English present perfect: መጺኣ ኣላ mäs'i’a ’alla 'she has come'.
- gerundive + näbärä
- Corresponds to the English past perfect: ከይዶም ነበሩ käydom näbäru 'they (m.) had gone'
- imperfect + present verb of existence
- Corresponds to English present progressive: ይጻወታ ኣለዋ 'they (f.) are playing'. (Note how this differs from the corresponding form in AmharicAmharic languageAmharic is a Semitic language spoken in Ethiopia. It is the second most-spoken Semitic language in the world, after Arabic, and the official working language of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. Thus, it has official status and is used nationwide. Amharic is also the official or working...
, which is the normal main clause present tense.) + imperfect + copula - The usual future tense: ክዕድጎ እየ 'I'm going to buy it'