Sebat Bet Gurage/Grammar
Contents
Parts of Speech
| Tag | Part of Speech | Example |
|---|---|---|
| <n> | Noun | ንቭረት<n> ↔ ንቭረት |
| <prn> | Pronoun | እያ<prn> ↔ እያ |
| <v> | Verb | ከፈተ<v> ↔ ከፈተ |
| <vaux> | Auxiliary Verb | ባነ<vaux> ↔ ባነ |
| <adj> | Adjective | እርስየ<adj> ↔ እርስየ |
| <adv> | Adverb | ኸማ<adv> ↔ ኸማ |
| <post> | Postposition | ከፈተራም<v><post> ↔ ከፈተራም |
| <inj> | Interjection | ወግ<inj> ↔ ወግ |
| <pre> | Preposition | በቤት<pre><n> ↔ በቤት |
| <cn> | Conjunction | ባንኸሬ<cn> ↔ ባንኸሬ |
Prefixes
i may combine this one; i want to talk about prefixes and their multiple purposes
«የ»
The prefix «የ» attached to a noun<n> marks accusative case, genitive case, allative case and benefactive case of the sentence.
| case name | ~meaning | tag |
|---|---|---|
| accusative | definite direct object | <acc> |
| genitive | possessor | <gen> |
| allative | direction | <all> |
| benefactive | "for" | <ben> |
| manner | "from" | <man> |
- መናኒ<ben><n> ↔ የመናኒ
- ቭራ<acc><n> ↔ የቭራ
Relative Clauses
Verbs forming a relative clause have a different form depending on the aspect. Relative clause verbs in the continuous form are the same, expect for the requirement of the governing noun (or a definite article) to be in the same sentence. In the Pluperfect/Past continuous form, የ is attached to ነፐረ- instead. In the equative form, የ attaches to perfect form ኸረም for past events, ነፐረም for present events, and continuous form ኸረም for future events.
| Aspect | Independent Clause | Relative Clause | Form |
|---|---|---|---|
| Perfect | ኧርች ችኧነም | የቸነ ኧርች | የ___-ም |
| Continuous | በዄት ሳት ትቸን | በዄት ሳት ትቸን ገረድ | ____+} |
| Pluperfect/Past continuous | ቸነም የረፐረ ምስ | የ ነፐረ-ም | |
| Equative | ዝኽ ዴንⷛ ተማሪ ባነቦ | ተማሪ የረፐሮ ዴንⷛ | የ+ኸረ-ም |
«በ»
locative case, real condition, essive, manner
Aspects
Perfect Aspect
- ቨና<v><p1><sg><perf> ↔ በናኹም
- ቨና<v><m><p2><sg><perf> ↔ በናኸም
- ቨና<v><f><p2><sg><perf> ↔ በናⷕም
- ቨና<v><m><p3><sg><perf> ↔ በናም
- ቨና<v><f><p3><sg><perf> ↔ በናችም
- ቨና<v><p1><pl><perf> ↔ በናነም
- ቨና<v><m><p2><pl><perf> ↔ በናኹም
- ቨና<v><f><p2><pl><perf> ↔ በናኽማም
- ቨና<v><m><p3><pl><perf> ↔ በነቮም
- ቨና<v><f><p3><p1><perf> ↔ በነማም
- ቨና<v><impers><perf> ↔ ᎄነናችም
Continuous Aspect
- ቨራ<v><p1><sg><cont> ↔ ኧቨራ
- ቨራ<v><m><p2><sg><cont> ↔ ትቨራ
- ቨራ<v><f><p2><sg><cont> ↔ ትቨየ
- ቨራ<v><m><p3><sg><cont> ↔ ይቨራ
- ቨራ<v><f><p3><sg><cont> ↔ ትቨራ
- ቨራ<v><p1><pl><perf> ↔ ንቨራነ
- ቨራ<v><m><p2><pl><cont> ↔ ትቨሮ
- ቨራ<v><f><p2><pl><cont> ↔ ትቨራማ
- ቨራ<v><m><p3><pl><cont> ↔ ይቨሮ
- ቨራ<v><f><p3><p1><cont> ↔ ይቨራማ
- ቨራ<v><impers><cont> ↔ ይወረ
Past Continuous
Past Continuous is the continuous form followed by ባነ.
Jussive Aspect
- ብራ<v><p1><sg><jus> ↔ ንብራ
- ብራ<v><m><p2><sg><jus> ↔ ብራ
- ብራ<v><f><p2><sg><jus> ↔ ብየ
- ብራ<v><m><p3><sg><jus> ↔ የብራ
- ብራ<v><f><p3><sg><jus> ↔ ትብራ
- ብራ<v><p1><pl><jus> ↔ ንብራነ
- ብራ<v><m><p2><pl><jus> ↔ ብሮ
- ብራ<v><f><p2><pl><jus> ↔ ብረማ
- ብራ<v><m><p3><pl><jus> ↔ የብሮ
- ብራ<v><f><p3><p1><jus> ↔ የብራማ
- ብራ<v><impers><jus> ↔ የውረ
Negation
| Negation | Affirmative | Negative | Form |
|---|---|---|---|
| Perfect | በናኹም | አንበናኹ | አን___-ም |
| Continuous | ትቨራ | አትቨራ | አ____ |
| Jussive | ብራ | አትብራ | አት_____ |
Verbs
Converbs
There are two converbs: the t(ተ)-converb and the m (መ)-converb.The t-converb, is formed by suffixing -t to a stem identical to the 2nd singular feminine imperative, which exhibits palatalization of a stem consonant.
- ንክስ<v><m><p2><sg><conv> ↔ ንክቭተኸ
- ፍርኸ<v><m><p2><sg><conv> ↔ ፍረኸያተኸ
- ስቭር<v><m><p2><sg><conv> ↔ ሲቪተኸ
- ንቅኢም <v><m><p3><pl><perf> ↔ ንቅኢምተኸ
- ሲዲድ <v><m><p3><pl><perf> ↔ ሲዥዥተኸ
- ንቅኢቅ<v><impers><perf> ↔ ንቅኢ’ይቅ’ይተኸ
Equative Verbs
Equative verbs are irregular verbs that express identity or equivalence (similar to "to be" in English), showing existence or classification, with distinct affirmative and negative conjugations. Found in both past and present tenses.
Past Tense
Affirmative
- ባናኹ<v><p1><sg><eq> ↔ ባናኹ
- ባናኽ<v><p2><m><sg><eq> ↔ ባናኽ
- ባናኽየ<v><p2><f><sg><eq> ↔ ባናኽየ
- ባና<v><p3><m><sg><eq> ↔ ባና
- ባናች<v><p3><f><sg><eq> ↔ ባናች
- ባናና<v><p1><pl><eq> ↔ ባናና
- ባናኹ<v><p2><m><pl><eq> ↔ ባናኹ
- ባናኽማ<v><p2><f><pl><eq> ↔ ባናኽማ
- ባናቾ<v><p3><m><pl><eq> ↔ ባናቾ
- ባናማ<v><p3><f><pl><eq> ↔ ባናማ
Negative
- ኣንአፓርኹ<v><neg><p1><sg><eq> ↔ ኣንአፓርኹ
- ኣንአፓርኽ<v><neg><p2><m><sg><eq> ↔ ኣንአፓርኽ
- ኣንአፓርኽየ<v><neg><p2><f><sg><eq> ↔ ኣንአፓርኽየ
- ኣንአፓርኣ<v><neg><p3><m><sg><eq> ↔ ኣንአፓርኣ
- ኣንአፓርኣች<v><neg><p3><f><sg><eq> ↔ ኣንአፓርኣች
- ኣንአፓና<v><neg><p1><pl><eq> ↔ ኣንአፓና
- ኣንአፓርኹ<v><neg><p2><m><pl><eq> ↔ ኣንአፓርኹ
- ኣንአፓርኽማ<v><neg><p2><f><pl><eq> ↔ ኣንአፓርኽማ
- ኣንአፓርኣቾ<v><neg><p3><m><pl><eq> ↔ ኣንአፓርኣቾ
- ኣንአፓርኣማ<v><neg><p3><f><pl><eq> ↔ ኣንአፓርኣማ
Present Tense
In the present tense, the affirmative equative verb appears as a suffix rather than a standalone word, attaching directly to the subject .
Affirmative
- -ንኹ<v><p1><sg><eq> ↔ -ንኹ
- -ንኽ<v><p2><m><sg><eq> ↔ -ንኽ
- -ንኽየ<v><p2><f><sg><eq> ↔ -ንኽየ
- -ኡ<v><p3><m><sg><eq> ↔ -ኡ
- -ንታ<v><p3><f><sg><eq> ↔ -ንታ
- -እንዳ<v><p1><pl><eq> ↔ -እንዳ
- -ንኹ<v><p2><m><pl><eq> ↔ -ንኹ
- -ንኽማ<v><p2><f><pl><eq> ↔ -ንኽማ
- -ሮ<v><p3><m><pl><eq> ↔ -ሮ
- -ራማ<v><p3><f><pl><eq> ↔ -ራማ
Negatitive
- አንአርኹ<v><neg><p1><sg><eq> ↔ አንአርኹ
- አንአርኽ<v><neg><p2><m><sg><eq> ↔ አንአርኽ
- አንአርኽየ<v><neg><p2><f><sg><eq> ↔ አንአርኽየ
- አንአርኣ<v><neg><p3><m><sg><eq> ↔ አንአርኣ
- አንአርኣች<v><neg><p3><f><sg><eq> ↔ አንአርኣች
- አንአና<v><neg><p1><pl><eq> ↔ አንአና
- አንአርኹ<v><neg><p2><m><pl><eq> ↔ አንአርኹ
- አንአርኽማ<v><neg><p2><f><pl><eq> ↔ አንአርኽማ
- አንአርኣሮ<v><neg><p3><m><pl><eq> ↔ አንአርኣሮ
- አንአርኣራማ<v><neg><p3><f><pl><eq> ↔ አንአርኣራማ
