Difference between revisions of "Tigrinya/Grammar"

Revision as of 21:25, 12 February 2018

Tigrinya plurals

Tigrinya optionally uses plural morphology, which either takes the form of a suffix or an irregular templatic alteration of the word.

Regular plurals

The primary plural marker is the suffix ታት [tat].

• • ከባቢ<n> ↔ ከባቢ ([kɐbabi] 'region')
  • ከባቢ<n><pl> ↔ ከባቢታት ([kɐbabitat] 'regions')

There is sometimes a vowel loss at the end of the stem triggered by the plural suffix.

• • ጻዕሪ<n> ↔ ጻዕሪ ([sʼaʕɨri] 'effort')
  • ጻዕሪ<n><pl> ↔ ጻዕርታት ([sʼaʕɨrtat] 'efforts')

Stems ending in a consonant are simply suffixed with [at].

• • ፈደል<n> ↔ ፈደል ([fɐdɐl] 'letter')
  • ፈደል<n><pl> ↔ ፈደላት ([fɐdɐlat] 'letters')

Irregular plurals

Like other Semitic languages, Tigrinya has a set of nouns with "broken" plural forms, created via templatic vowel alternations, usually over a three-consonant stem.

• • ስም<n> ↔ ስም ([sɨm] 'name')
  • ስም<n><pl> ↔ ኣስማት ([ʔasmat] 'names')

• • ወዲ<n> ↔ ወዲ ([wɐdi] 'boy')
  • ወዲ<n><pl> ↔ ኣወዳት ([awɐdat] 'boys')

• • መንበር<n> ↔ መንበር ([mɐnbɐr] 'chair')
  • መንበር<n><pl> ↔ መናብር ([mɐnabɨr] 'chairs')

• • ወኻርያ<n> ↔ ወኻርያ ([wɐxarja] 'fox')
  • ወኻርያ<n><pl> ↔ ወኻሩ ([wɐxaru] 'foxes')

• • ገመል<n> ↔ ገመል ([gɐmɐl] 'camel')
  • ገመል<n><pl> ↔ ኣግማል ([ʔagmal] 'camels')

• • ሰበኣይ<n> ↔ ሰበኣይ ([sɐbɐʔaj] 'man')
  • ሰበኣይ<n><pl> ↔ ሰብኡት ([sɐbʔut] 'men')