Tigrinya/Grammar

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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')

Adjective Declension

Tigrinya adjectives take one of three declension forms - masculine, feminine, and plural - depending on the gender and number of the noun they modify.

m [CVCiC] - f [CVCaC] - pl [CVCɐCti]

    • ገዛፍ<a><m> ↔ ገዚፍ ([gɐzif] big (m))
    • ገዛፍ<a><f> ↔ ገዛፍ ([gɐzaf] big (f))
    • ገዛፍ<a><pl> ↔ ገዘፍቲ ([gɐzɐfti] big (pl))
    • ጸላም<a><m> ↔ ጸሊም ([sʼɐlim] black (m))
    • ጸላም<a><f> ↔ ጸላም ([sʼɐlam] black (f))
    • ጸላም<a><pl> ↔ ጸለምቲ ([sʼɐlɐmti] black (pl))
    • ዓባይ<a><m> ↔ ዓብዪ ([ʕabji] great/old (m))
    • ዓባይ<a><f> ↔ ዓባይ ([ʕabaj] great/old (f))
    • ዓባይ<a><pl> ↔ ዓበይቲ ([ʕabɐjti] great/old (pl))
    • ነዋሕ<a><m> ↔ ነዊሕ ([nɐwiħ] tall/long (m))
    • ነዋሕ<a><f> ↔ ነዋሕ ([nɐwaħ] tall/long (f))
    • ነዋሕ<a><pl> ↔ ነዋሕቲ ([nɐwaħti] tall/long (pl))
    • ከባድ<a><m> ↔ ከቢድ ([kɐbid] heavy (m))
    • ከባድ<a><f> ↔ ከባድ ([kɐbad] heavy (f))
    • ከባድ<a><pl> ↔ ከበድቲ ([kɐbɐdti] heavy (pl))
    • ቀያሕ<a><m> ↔ ቀይሕ ([kʼɐjɨħ] red (m))
    • ቀያሕ<a><f> ↔ ቀያሕ ([kʼɐjaħ] red (f))
    • ቀያሕ<a><pl> ↔ ቀያሕቲ ([kʼɐjaħti] red (pl))
    • ረቃቕ<a><m> ↔ ረቂቕ ([rɐkʼixʼ] thin (m))
    • ረቃቕ<a><f> ↔ ረቃቕ ([rɐkʼaxʼ] thin (f))
    • ረቃቕ<a><pl> ↔ ረቀቕቲ ([rɐkʼɐxʼti] thin (pl))
    • ጸፋሕ<a><m> ↔ ጸፊሕ ([sʼɐfiħ] flat (m))
    • ጸፋሕ<a><f> ↔ ጸፋሕ ([sʼɐfaħ] flat (f))
    • ጸፋሕ<a><pl> ↔ ጸፋሕቲ ([sʼɐfaħti] flat (pl))

m [CɨCuC] - f [CɨCɨCti] - pl [CɨCuCat]

    • ጽምእቲ<a><m> ↔ ጽሙእ ([sʼɨmuʔ] thirsty (m))
    • ጽምእቲ<a><f> ↔ ጽምእቲ ([sʼɨmɨʔti] thirsty (f))
    • ጽምእቲ<a><pl> ↔ ጽሙኣት ([sʼɨmuʔat] thirsty (pl))
    • ውዕይቲ<a><m> ↔ ውዑይ ([wɨʕuj] hot (m))
    • ውዕይቲ<a><f> ↔ ውዕይቲ ([wɨʕɨjti] hot (f))
    • ውዕይቲ<a><pl> ↔ ውዑያት ([wɨʕujat] hot (pl))
    • ስብሕቲ<a><m> ↔ ስቡሕ ([sɨbuħ] fat (m))
    • ስብሕቲ<a><f> ↔ ስብሕቲ ([sɨbɨħti] fat (f))
    • ስብሕቲ<a><pl> ↔ ስቡሓት ([sɨbuħat] fat (pl))
    • ምልእቲ<a><m> ↔ ምሉእ ([mɨluʔ] full (m))
    • ምልእቲ<a><f> ↔ ምልእቲ ([mɨlɨʔti] full (f))
    • ምልእቲ<a><pl> ↔ ምሉኣት ([mɨluʔat] full (pl))
    • ጥዕይቲ<a><m> ↔ ጥዑይ ([tʼɨʕuj] healthy (m))
    • ጥዕይቲ<a><f> ↔ ጥዕይቲ ([tʼɨʕɨjti] healthy (f))
    • ጥዕይቲ<a><pl> ↔ ጥዑያት ([tʼɨʕujat] healthy (pl))
    • ንፍዕቲ<a><m> ↔ ንፉዕ ([nɨfuʕ] clever (m))
    • ንፍዕቲ<a><f> ↔ ንፍዕቲ ([nɨfɨʕti] clever (f))
    • ንፍዕቲ<a><pl> ↔ ንፉዓት ([nɨfuʕat] clever (pl))
    • ጽብቕቲ<a><m> ↔ ጽቡቕ ([sʼɨbuxʼ] good (m))
    • ጽብቕቲ<a><f> ↔ ጽብቕቲ ([sʼɨbɨxʼti] good (f))
    • ጽብቕቲ<a><pl> ↔ ጽቡቓት ([sʼɨbuxʼat] good (pl))
    • ህድእቲ<a><m> ↔ ህዱእ ([hɨduʔ] calm/quiet (m))
    • ህድእቲ<a><f> ↔ ህድእቲ ([hɨdɨʔti] calm/quiet (f))
    • ህድእቲ<a><pl> ↔ ህዱኣት ([hɨduʔat] calm/quiet (pl))
    • ንጽርቲ<a><m> ↔ ንጹር ([nɨsʼur] clean (m))
    • ንጽርቲ<a><f> ↔ ንጽርቲ ([nɨsʼɨrti] clean (f))
    • ንጽርቲ<a><pl> ↔ ንጹራት ([nɨsʼurat] clean (pl))
    • ሕምምቲ<a><m> ↔ ሕሙም ([ħɨmum] sick (m))
    • ሕምምቲ<a><f> ↔ ሕምምቲ ([ħɨmɨmti] sick (f))
    • ሕምምቲ<a><pl> ↔ ሕሙማት ([ħɨmumat] sick (pl))
    • ጥምይቲ<a><m> ↔ ጥሙይ ([tʼɨmuj] hungry (m))
    • ጥምይቲ<a><f> ↔ ጥምይቲ ([tʼɨmɨjti] hungry (f))
    • ጥምይቲ<a><pl> ↔ ጥሙያት ([tʼɨmujat] hungry (pl))

m [CVCVC] - f [CVCVC] - pl [CVCVCat]

    • ሕጉስ<a><m> ↔ ሕጉስ ([ħɨgus] happy (m))
    • ሕጉስ<a><f> ↔ ሕጉስ ([ħɨgus] happy (f))
    • ሕጉስ<a><pl> ↔ ሕጉሳት ([ħɨgusat] happy (pl))
    • ለባም<a><m> ↔ ለባም ([lɐbam] wise (m))
    • ለባም<a><f> ↔ ለባም ([lɐbam] wise (f))
    • ለባም<a><pl> ↔ ለባማት ([lɐbamat] wise (pl))
    • ሃካይ<a><m> ↔ ሃካይ ([hakaj] lazy (m))
    • ሃካይ<a><f> ↔ ሃካይ ([hakaj] lazy (f))
    • ሃካይ<a><pl> ↔ ህኩያት ([hɨkujat] lazy (pl))
    • ሃብታም<a><m> ↔ ሃብታም ([habtam] rich (m))
    • ሃብታም<a><f> ↔ ሃብታም ([habtam] rich (f))
    • ሃብታም<a><pl> ↔ ሃብታማት ([habtamat] rich (pl))
    • ዝሓላፈ<a><m> ↔ ዝሓለፈ ([zɨħalɐfɐ] late/previous (m))
    • ዝሓላፈ<a><f> ↔ ዝሓላፈ ([zɨħalafɐ] late/previous (f))
    • ዝሓላፈ<a><pl> ↔ ዝሓለፋት ([zɨħalɐfat] late/previous (pl))
    • ሕማቕ<a><m> ↔ ሕማቕ ([ħɨmaxʼ] bad (m))
    • ሕማቕ<a><f> ↔ ሕማቕ ([ħɨmaxʼ] bad (f))
    • ሕማቕ<a><pl> ↔ ሕማቓት ([ħɨmaxʼat] bad (pl))
    • ሓያል<a><m> ↔ ሓያል ([ħajal] strong (m))
    • ሓያል<a><f> ↔ ሓያል ([ħajal] strong (f))
    • ሓያል<a><pl> ↔ ሓያላት ([ħajalat] strong (pl))
    • ግናይ<a><m> ↔ ግናይ ([gɨnaj] ugly (m))
    • ግናይ<a><f> ↔ ግናይ ([gɨnaj] ugly (f))
    • ግናይ<a><pl> ↔ ግናያት ([gɨnajat] ugly (pl))
    • ነዳይ<a><m> ↔ ነዳይ ([nɐdaj] poor (m))
    • ነዳይ<a><f> ↔ ነዳይ ([nɐdaj] poor (f))
    • ነዳይ<a><pl> ↔ ነዳያት ([nɐdajat] poor (pl))

something else

    • ንእሽቶ<a><m> ↔ ንእሽቶ ([nɨʔɨʃto] short (m))
    • ንእሽቶ<a><f> ↔ ንእሽቶ ([nɨʔɨʃto] short (f))
    • ንእሽቶ<a><pl> ↔ ናእሽቱ ([naʔɨʃtu] short (pl))
    • ዓሻ<a><m> ↔ ዓሻ ([ʕaʃa] foolish (m))
    • ዓሻ<a><f> ↔ ዓሻ ([ʕaʃa] foolish (f))
    • ዓሻ<a><pl> ↔ ዓያሹ ([ʕajaʃu] foolish (pl))

Irregular Verbs

Tigrinya verbs conjugate for three persons and two numbers of the subject, as well as two genders for second and third person subject.

  • ኣሎ<v><p1><sg> ↔ ኣሎኹ ([ʔaloxu])
  • ኣሎ<v><p2><m><sg> ↔ ኣሎኻ ([ʔaloxa])
  • ኣሎ<v><p2><f><sg> ↔ ኣሎኺ ([ʔaloxi])
  • ኣሎ<v><p3><m><sg> ↔ ኣሎ ([ʔalo])
  • ኣሎ<v><p3><f><sg> ↔ ኣላ ([ʔala])
  • ኣሎ<v><p1><pl> ↔ ኣሎና ([ʔalona])
  • ኣሎ<v><p2><m><pl> ↔ ኣሎኹም ([ʔaloxum])
  • ኣሎ<v><p2><f><pl> ↔ ኣሎኽን ([ʔaloxɨn])
  • ኣሎ<v><p3><m><pl> ↔ ኣለዉ ([ʔalɐwu])
  • ኣሎ<v><p3><f><pl> ↔ ኣለዋ ([ʔalɐwa])