For autodidact students of Amharic, the first thing to know about "the" is that Amharic has no separate word for it. It is a suffix, written on the end of the word: ቤት (bet) is "house", and ቤቱ (betu) is "the house".
- ቤት (bet): house → ቤቱ (betu): the house - ልጅ (ləǧ): child → ልጁ (ləǧu): the child - ወንዝ (wänz): river → ወንዙ (wänzu): the river - መጽሐፍ (mäṣḥäf): book → መጽሐፉ (mäṣḥäfu): the book
How the suffix is written. Every letter of the Ethiopic script holds a consonant and a vowel, and each consonant has seven forms, one for each vowel. The seven forms of ተ (t) are ተ (tä), ቱ (tu), ቲ (ti), ታ (ta), ቴ (te), ት (tə), ቶ (to). A noun that ends in a consonant ends in the sixth form, ት, which stands for t with the short vowel ə or with no vowel at all. To add -u, the last letter changes to its second form: ት becomes ቱ, ጅ becomes ጁ, ዝ becomes ዙ, ፍ becomes ፉ, ር becomes ሩ.
A noun that already ends in a vowel takes the letter ው, which stands here for the sound w: - ውሻ (wəšša): dog → ውሻው (wəššaw): the dog - መኪና (mäkina): car → መኪናው (mäkinaw): the car
This is the form of the article for a masculine or neuter noun. A feminine noun takes -wa (ዋ): ሴት (set), woman → ሴቷ (setʷa), the woman; ድመት (dəmmät), cat → ድመቷ (dəmmätʷa), the cat. After a consonant the final letter and wa join into one letter: ት and ዋ together are written ቷ. After a vowel, ዋ is simply added: ውሻ → ውሻዋ (wəššawa), the female dog. A city can be treated as feminine, and you will meet ከተማዋ (kätämawa), "the city", in 1.14.
In the plural the difference between masculine and feminine disappears. The plural ending -očč (-ዎች) comes first, and the article is -u: ቤት → ቤቶች (betočč), houses → ቤቶቹ (betočču), the houses; ልጅ → ልጆች (ləǧočč), children → ልጆቹ (ləǧočču), the children.
With an adjective, the article goes on the adjective. When an adjective stands before its noun, it takes the article, and the noun stays bare: ትልቅ ቤት (təlləḳ bet), "a big house"; ትልቁ ቤት (təlləḳu bet), "the big house". Compare ቤቱ ትልቅ ነው (betu təlləḳ näw), "the house is big", where the article is on the noun and the adjective is the predicate.
"A" is not marked. There is no word for "a" either. A plain noun is indefinite, and አንድ (and), "one", is added when "one" is meant: አንድ ልጅ (and ləǧ), "a child". The difference between "a" and "the" is thus a difference of ending: ልጅ, a child; ልጁ, the child.
A definite object takes -n. When the object of a verb is definite, the ending -n (ን) follows the article: ወተቱን ጠጣች (wätätun ṭäṭṭačč), "she drank the milk". An indefinite object stands bare: ወተት ገዛ (wätät gäzza), "he bought milk".
Prepositions are prefixes. በ- (bä-), "in", ከ- (kä-), "from, at", ለ- (lä-), "to, for", are written on the front of the noun, and the article stays at the back, so that one word is made: በቤቱ (bäbetu), "in the house".
The article is the same in sound and spelling as the ending that means "his": ቤቱ can mean "the house" or "his house", and the context decides. The article grew out of this possessive ending.
This course teaches standard written Amharic, the language of dictionaries and grammars such as Thomas Kane's Amharic–English Dictionary (1990) and Wolf Leslau's Reference Grammar of Amharic (1995).
Script note: the headword ው (wə) is the sixth form of the letter for w, and it is how the article is written after a vowel. After a consonant the article is not a letter of its own: it is the vowel u, in the second form of the last consonant letter. Amharic is written from left to right, and every word is separated from the next by a space; the older Ethiopic word separator ፡ is now rare.
Key Takeaways: - Amharic has no word for "the"; it adds a suffix to the end of the noun - After a consonant the suffix is -u: ቤት → ቤቱ; after a vowel it is -w: ውሻ → ውሻው - A feminine noun takes -wa: ሴት → ሴቷ, ድመት → ድመቷ - The plural is -očč plus -u: ቤቶች → ቤቶቹ - With an adjective before the noun, the article goes on the adjective: ትልቁ ቤት - A definite object takes -n: ወተቱን - "A" has no marker; አንድ means "one"
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1.1a ቤቱ the-house ትልቅ big ነው is
1.1b betu (bay-too) house-DEF təlləḳ (tihl-lihk') big näw (nuhw) COP.3M
1.2a ልጁ the-child መጣ came
1.2b ləǧu (lih-joo) child-DEF mäṭṭa (muht'-t'ah) come.PAST-3M
1.3a ውሻው the-dog ትንሽ small ነው is
1.3b wəššaw (wihsh-shaw) dog-DEF tənš (tihnsh) small näw (nuhw) COP.3M
1.4a መጽሐፉ the-book አዲስ new ነው is
1.4b mäṣḥäfu (muh-ts'ih-huh-foo) book-DEF addis (ad-dees) new näw (nuhw) COP.3M
1.5a ድመቷ the-cat ወተቱን the-milk ጠጣች drank
1.5b dəmmätʷa (dihm-muht-wah) cat-DEF.F wätätun (wuh-tuh-toon) milk-DEF-ACC ṭäṭṭačč (t'uht'-t'ahch) drink.PAST-3F
1.6a ሴቷ the-woman ወደ to ትምህርት learning ቤቱ the-house ሄደች went
1.6b setʷa (sayt-wah) woman-DEF.F wädä (wuh-duh) to təmhərt (tihm-hihrt) learning betu (bay-too) house-DEF hedäčč (hay-duhch) go.PAST-3F
1.7a ሰውዬው the-man ውሃውን the-water ጠጣ drank
1.7b säwəyyew (suh-wih-yay-w) man-DEF wəhawn (wih-hawn) water-DEF-ACC ṭäṭṭa (t'uht'-t'ah) drink.PAST-3M
1.8a ወንበሩ the-chair ከበሩ at-the-door አጠገብ beside ነው is
1.8b wänbäru (wuhn-buh-roo) chair-DEF käbäru (kuh-buh-roo) from-door-DEF aṭägäb (ah-t'uh-guhb) beside näw (nuhw) COP.3M
1.9a ቀዩ the-red መኪና car ከወንዙ at-the-river አጠገብ beside ነው is
1.9b ḳäyyu (k'uhy-yoo) red-DEF mäkina (muh-kee-nah) car käwänzu (kuh-wuhn-zoo) from-river-DEF aṭägäb (ah-t'uh-guhb) beside näw (nuhw) COP.3M
1.10a ትልቁ the-big ቤት house አዲስ new ነው is
1.10b təlləḳu (tihl-lihk'-oo) big-DEF bet (bayt) house addis (ad-dees) new näw (nuhw) COP.3M
1.11a ትንሹ the-small ልጅ child መጽሐፉን the-book ገዛ bought
1.11b tənšu (tihn-shoo) small-DEF ləǧ (lihj) child mäṣḥäfun (muh-ts'ih-huh-foon) book-DEF-ACC gäzza (guhz-zah) buy.PAST-3M
1.12a አዲሱ the-new መምህር teacher ወደ to ትምህርት learning ቤቱ the-house መጣ came
1.12b addisu (ad-dee-soo) new-DEF mämhər (muhm-hihr) teacher wädä (wuh-duh) to təmhərt (tihm-hihrt) learning betu (bay-too) house-DEF mäṭṭa (muht'-t'ah) come.PAST-3M
1.13a ልጆቹ the-children ወተቱን the-milk ጠጡ drank
1.13b ləǧočču (lih-joch-choo) child.PL-DEF wätätun (wuh-tuh-toon) milk-DEF-ACC ṭäṭṭu (t'uht'-t'oo) drink.PAST-3PL
1.14a ቤቶቹ the-houses በከተማዋ in-the-city ውስጥ inside ናቸው are
1.14b betočču (bay-toch-choo) house.PL-DEF bäkätämawa (buh-kuh-tuh-mah-wah) in-city-DEF.F wəsṭ (wihst') inside naččäw (nah-chuhw) COP.3PL
1.15a ልጁ the-child ድመቷን the-cat አየ saw ግን but ውሻው the-dog ሄደ went-away
1.15b ləǧu (lih-joo) child-DEF dəmmätʷan (dihm-muht-wahn) cat-DEF.F-ACC ayyä (ay-yuh) see.PAST-3M gən (gihn) but wəššaw (wihsh-shaw) dog-DEF hedä (hay-duh) go.PAST-3M
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1.1 ቤቱ ትልቅ ነው። (betu təlləḳ näw) "The house is big." 1.2 ልጁ መጣ። (ləǧu mäṭṭa) "The child came." 1.3 ውሻው ትንሽ ነው። (wəššaw tənš näw) "The dog is small." 1.4 መጽሐፉ አዲስ ነው። (mäṣḥäfu addis näw) "The book is new." 1.5 ድመቷ ወተቱን ጠጣች። (dəmmätʷa wätätun ṭäṭṭačč) "The cat drank the milk." 1.6 ሴቷ ወደ ትምህርት ቤቱ ሄደች። (setʷa wädä təmhərt betu hedäčč) "The woman went to the school." 1.7 ሰውዬው ውሃውን ጠጣ። (säwəyyew wəhawn ṭäṭṭa) "The man drank the water." 1.8 ወንበሩ ከበሩ አጠገብ ነው። (wänbäru käbäru aṭägäb näw) "The chair is beside the door." 1.9 ቀዩ መኪና ከወንዙ አጠገብ ነው። (ḳäyyu mäkina käwänzu aṭägäb näw) "The red car is beside the river." 1.10 ትልቁ ቤት አዲስ ነው። (təlləḳu bet addis näw) "The big house is new." 1.11 ትንሹ ልጅ መጽሐፉን ገዛ። (tənšu ləǧ mäṣḥäfun gäzza) "The small child bought the book." 1.12 አዲሱ መምህር ወደ ትምህርት ቤቱ መጣ። (addisu mämhər wädä təmhərt betu mäṭṭa) "The new teacher came to the school." 1.13 ልጆቹ ወተቱን ጠጡ። (ləǧočču wätätun ṭäṭṭu) "The children drank the milk." 1.14 ቤቶቹ በከተማዋ ውስጥ ናቸው። (betočču bäkätämawa wəsṭ naččäw) "The houses are in the city." 1.15 ልጁ ድመቷን አየ፤ ግን ውሻው ሄደ። (ləǧu dəmmätʷan ayyä; gən wəššaw hedä) "The child saw the cat, but the dog went away."
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1.1 ቤቱ ትልቅ ነው። 1.2 ልጁ መጣ። 1.3 ውሻው ትንሽ ነው። 1.4 መጽሐፉ አዲስ ነው። 1.5 ድመቷ ወተቱን ጠጣች። 1.6 ሴቷ ወደ ትምህርት ቤቱ ሄደች። 1.7 ሰውዬው ውሃውን ጠጣ። 1.8 ወንበሩ ከበሩ አጠገብ ነው። 1.9 ቀዩ መኪና ከወንዙ አጠገብ ነው። 1.10 ትልቁ ቤት አዲስ ነው። 1.11 ትንሹ ልጅ መጽሐፉን ገዛ። 1.12 አዲሱ መምህር ወደ ትምህርት ቤቱ መጣ። 1.13 ልጆቹ ወተቱን ጠጡ። 1.14 ቤቶቹ በከተማዋ ውስጥ ናቸው። 1.15 ልጁ ድመቷን አየ፤ ግን ውሻው ሄደ።
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These are the grammar rules for expressing "the" in Amharic.
There is no article word; the suffix does the work. Amharic marks a noun as definite by a suffix. Its form depends on the end of the noun and on gender: - -u (ኡ), after a consonant, for masculine and neuter nouns. The last letter takes its second form: ቤቱ (the house, 1.1), ልጁ (the child, 1.2), መጽሐፉ (the book, 1.4), ወንበሩ (the chair, 1.8), ወንዙ (the river, 1.9), ወተቱ (the milk, 1.28 below) - -w (ው), after a vowel: ውሻው (the dog, 1.3), ሰውዬው (the man, 1.7), ውሃው (the water, 1.7) - -wa (ዋ), for a feminine noun: ሴቷ (the woman, 1.6), ድመቷ (the cat, 1.5), ከተማዋ (the city, 1.14), ውሻዋ (the female dog)
When a noun ends in the consonant ት, the combination of ት with ዋ is one letter, ቷ (tʷa): ሴት → ሴቷ, ድመት → ድመቷ.
The plural. The ending -očč is added to the noun, and the article after it is always -u, for both genders: ቤቶች → ቤቶቹ (1.14), ልጆች → ልጆቹ (1.13).
The article goes on the first word of the noun phrase. With an adjective before the noun, the adjective takes the article and the noun stays bare: - ትልቅ → ትልቁ ቤት (the big house, 1.10) - ትንሽ → ትንሹ ልጅ (the small child, 1.11) - አዲስ → አዲሱ መምህር (the new teacher, 1.12) - ቀይ (red) → ቀዩ መኪና (the red car, 1.9)
The position of the article thus shows the structure. In ቤቱ ትልቅ ነው (1.1), "the house is big", the article is on the noun and the adjective is the predicate with no article. In ትልቁ ቤት አዲስ ነው (1.10), "the big house is new", the article is on the adjective, and the whole noun phrase ትልቁ ቤት is the subject.
The object marker -n. A definite object takes ን after the article: ወተቱን (1.5, 1.13), ውሃውን (1.7), መጽሐፉን (1.11), ድመቷን (1.15). An indefinite object has no ending: ወተት ገዛ (he bought milk, 1.20 below).
A demonstrative usually replaces the article. With ይህ (yəh), "this", and ያ (ya), "that", the noun is normally bare: ይህ ቤት (yəh bet), "this house".
Prefixed prepositions. በ- (in), ከ- (from, at), ለ- (to, for) go on the front, and the article goes on the back: በከተማዋ (in the city, 1.14), ከበሩ (at the door, 1.8), ከወንዙ (at the river, 1.9). The free words ወደ (wädä), "to", and ውስጥ (wəsṭ), "inside", stand separate: ወደ ትምህርት ቤቱ (to the school, 1.6, 1.12).
Word order and the copula. The verb comes last: ድመቷ ወተቱን ጠጣች (the cat the milk drank, 1.5). A sentence that says what something is or is like ends in the copula: ቤቱ ትልቅ ነው (1.1). The forms met in this lesson: - ነው (näw): is (he, it), ናቸው (naččäw): are (they) - ነበር (näbbär): was (he, it), ነበረች (näbbäräčč): was (she, it) - ነች (näčč): is (she, it)
The verb agrees with its subject. The past tense of a verb in the third person ends in the stem vowel for "he": መጣ (came), ጠጣ (drank), ገዛ (bought), ሄደ (went), አየ (saw). For "she" it ends in -čč: ጠጣች (1.5), ሄደች (1.6). For "they" it ends in -u: ጠጡ (1.13). In 1.15 the subject is ልጁ and the verb is አየ, with no ending for the person.
Common Mistakes: - Looking for a word for "the". There is none; put -u, -w or -wa on the end. - Putting the article on both the adjective and the noun: say ትልቁ ቤት, not \*ትልቁ ቤቱ, for "the big house". - Leaving out -n on a definite object: ወተቱን ጠጣች, not \*ወተቱ ጠጣች, for "she drank the milk"; without -n the sentence reads as "the milk drank". - Using -u for a woman or a female animal. Say ሴቷ, not \*ሴቱ, for "the woman". - Writing the article as a separate word. በቤቱ (in the house) is one word. - Leaving out the copula after an adjective. ቤቱ ትልቅ is not a sentence; ቤቱ ትልቅ ነው is.
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The Amharic article is a small ending that carries a long history. It began as the ending for "his", and Ge'ez, the older Ethiopian language of the Church, had no article at all. Amharic thus built its article for itself, and it differs from Arabic and Hebrew, which put the article on the front of the word, as al- and ha-. Amharic puts it at the end.
Gender can be heard in the article. Where English says "the", an Amharic speaker says whether the person or animal is male or female: ሰውዬው, the man; ሴቷ, the woman; ድመቷ, the cat, when it is a she. Inanimate things are usually treated as masculine, but a city can be treated as feminine, which is why this course writes ከተማዋ, "the city", with -wa (1.14).
The script itself is a cultural fact. Fidel is the Ethiopic script, used in Ethiopia and Eritrea for Amharic, Tigrinya and other languages, and it descends from the script of Ge'ez. Unlike the scripts of Arabic and Hebrew, it runs from left to right, and each letter carries a vowel. It has its own punctuation: ። is the full stop, ፣ the comma, ፤ the semicolon, and ፥ the colon.
Amharic is the working language of the Ethiopian federal government, and it is used by many Ethiopians as a second language, which is why the number of people who speak it is almost double the number for whom it is the mother tongue. A learner who reaches the stage of reading the news will meet the article on every line.
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Genesis 1:2, in the Amharic Bible (መጽሐፍ ቅዱስ, Mäṣḥäf Ḳəddus), in the older printed translation
The text, as printed:
ምድርም ባዶ ነበረች፥ አንዳችም አልነበረባትም፤ ጨለማም በጥልቁ ላይ ነበረ፤
F-A: Interlinear
F.1a ምድርም earth-and ባዶ empty ነበረች was
F.1b mədrəm (mihd-rihm) earth-and bado (bah-doh) empty näbbäräčč (nuhb-buh-ruhch) be.PAST-3F
F.2a አንዳችም anything-even አልነበረባትም was-not-in-it
F.2b andaččəm (ahn-dahch-chihm) anything-even alnäbbäräbbatəm (ahl-nuhb-buh-ruhb-bah-tihm) NEG-be.PAST.3M-in-3F-NEG
F.3a ጨለማም darkness-and በጥልቁ in-the-deep ላይ upon ነበረ was
F.3b č̣älämam (ch'uh-luh-mahm) darkness-and bäṭəlḳu (buh-t'ihl-k'oo) in-deep-DEF lay (lie) upon näbbärä (nuhb-buh-ruh) be.PAST.3M
F-B: Original and Translation
ምድርም ባዶ ነበረች፥ አንዳችም አልነበረባትም፤ ጨለማም በጥልቁ ላይ ነበረ፤
"And the earth was empty; nothing was in it; and darkness was upon the deep." (Translation: Latinum Institute.)
F-C: Original
ምድርም ባዶ ነበረች፥ አንዳችም አልነበረባትም፤ ጨለማም በጥልቁ ላይ ነበረ፤
F-D: Grammar and Literary Commentary
The verse has one definite noun, ጥልቁ (ṭəlḳu), "the deep". The word is ጥልቅ (ṭəlḳ), an adjective meaning "deep", and with the article it becomes a noun: "the deep (one)". The change of the last letter from ቅ (ḳə) to ቁ (ḳu) is the one described in the Introduction, as ትልቅ is changed to ትልቁ in 1.10. The preposition በ- (bä-) is written on the front and ላይ (lay), "upon", stands after: one phrase, በጥልቁ ላይ, "upon the deep". The wording of this verse differs between Amharic editions, and the reader who meets another edition should expect other words; the grammar of the article is the same.
The other noun of the verse, ምድር (mədr), "earth", is bare. The verbs are the copula in the past, as in the Genre Section below: ነበረች (näbbäräčč), "she was", for ምድር, which the verse treats as feminine, and ነበረ (näbbärä), "he was", for ጨለማ, "darkness". The ending -ም (-əm, after a vowel -m) is "and, also": ምድርም, "and the earth"; ጨለማም, "and darkness". The negative verb አልነበረባትም (alnäbbäräbbatəm) is made by the circumfix አል- … -ም (al- … -əm) around ነበረ (was), with -ባት (-bbat) after it, "in her", so that the verb means "(there) was not in her": nothing was in it. አንዳች (andačč) is "anything", and with -ም it is "nothing" in a negative sentence.
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A short story in the past tense, of the kind told to children. Watch how each person and thing is brought in bare, or with አንድ ("one"), and named again with the suffix: ልጅ → ልጁ, ድመት → ድመቷ, ውሻ → ውሻው, ወተት → ወተቱ.
1.16a አንድ one ልጅ child ነበር was
1.16b and (ahnd) one ləǧ (lihj) child näbbär (nuhb-buhr) be.PAST.3M
1.17a ልጁ the-child በትንሽ in-small ቤት house ውስጥ inside ነበር was
1.17b ləǧu (lih-joo) child-DEF bätənš (buh-tihnsh) in-small bet (bayt) house wəsṭ (wihst') inside näbbär (nuhb-buhr) be.PAST.3M
1.18a በቤቱ in-the-house ውስጥ inside አንድ one ድመት cat ነበር was
1.18b bäbetu (buh-bay-too) in-house-DEF wəsṭ (wihst') inside and (ahnd) one dəmmät (dihm-muht) cat näbbär (nuhb-buhr) be.PAST.3M
1.19a ድመቷ the-cat ትንሽ small ነበረች was
1.19b dəmmätʷa (dihm-muht-wah) cat-DEF.F tənš (tihnsh) small näbbäräčč (nuhb-buh-ruhch) be.PAST-3F
1.20a ልጁ the-child ወተት milk ገዛ bought
1.20b ləǧu (lih-joo) child-DEF wätät (wuh-tuht) milk gäzza (guhz-zah) buy.PAST-3M
1.21a ድመቷ the-cat ወተቱን the-milk ጠጣች drank
1.21b dəmmätʷa (dihm-muht-wah) cat-DEF.F wätätun (wuh-tuh-toon) milk-DEF-ACC ṭäṭṭačč (t'uht'-t'ahch) drink.PAST-3F
1.22a ልጁ the-child ወደ to በሩ the-door ሄደ went
1.22b ləǧu (lih-joo) child-DEF wädä (wuh-duh) to bäru (buh-roo) door-DEF hedä (hay-duh) go.PAST-3M
1.23a ልጁ the-child በሩን the-door ከፈተ opened
1.23b ləǧu (lih-joo) child-DEF bärun (buh-roon) door-DEF-ACC käffätä (kuhf-fuh-tuh) open.PAST-3M
1.24a አንድ one ውሻ dog ወደ to ቤቱ the-house መጣ came
1.24b and (ahnd) one wəšša (wihsh-shah) dog wädä (wuh-duh) to betu (bay-too) house-DEF mäṭṭa (muht'-t'ah) come.PAST-3M
1.25a ውሻው the-dog ትልቅ big ነበር was
1.25b wəššaw (wihsh-shaw) dog-DEF təlləḳ (tihl-lihk') big näbbär (nuhb-buhr) be.PAST.3M
1.26a ድመቷ the-cat ወደ to ልጁ the-child ሄደች went
1.26b dəmmätʷa (dihm-muht-wah) cat-DEF.F wädä (wuh-duh) to ləǧu (lih-joo) child-DEF hedäčč (hay-duhch) go.PAST-3F
1.27a ልጁ the-child ውሻውን the-dog አየ saw
1.27b ləǧu (lih-joo) child-DEF wəššawn (wihsh-shawn) dog-DEF-ACC ayyä (ay-yuh) see.PAST-3M
1.28a ውሻው the-dog ወተቱን the-milk አየ saw ግን but ወተቱ the-milk የለም is-not
1.28b wəššaw (wihsh-shaw) dog-DEF wätätun (wuh-tuh-toon) milk-DEF-ACC ayyä (ay-yuh) see.PAST-3M gən (gihn) but wätätu (wuh-tuh-too) milk-DEF yälläm (yuhl-luhm) there-is-not
1.29a ልጁ the-child ሳቀ laughed
1.29b ləǧu (lih-joo) child-DEF saḳä (sah-k'uh) laugh.PAST-3M
1.30a ልጁ the-child ለውሻው to-the-dog ወተት milk ሰጠ gave
1.30b ləǧu (lih-joo) child-DEF läwəššaw (luh-wihsh-shaw) to-dog-DEF wätät (wuh-tuht) milk säṭṭä (suht'-t'uh) give.PAST-3M
1.16 አንድ ልጅ ነበር። (and ləǧ näbbär.) "There was a child." 1.17 ልጁ በትንሽ ቤት ውስጥ ነበር። (ləǧu bätənš bet wəsṭ näbbär.) "The child was in a small house." 1.18 በቤቱ ውስጥ አንድ ድመት ነበር። (bäbetu wəsṭ and dəmmät näbbär.) "In the house there was a cat." 1.19 ድመቷ ትንሽ ነበረች። (dəmmätʷa tənš näbbäräčč.) "The cat was small." 1.20 ልጁ ወተት ገዛ። (ləǧu wätät gäzza.) "The child bought milk." 1.21 ድመቷ ወተቱን ጠጣች። (dəmmätʷa wätätun ṭäṭṭačč.) "The cat drank the milk." 1.22 ልጁ ወደ በሩ ሄደ። (ləǧu wädä bäru hedä.) "The child went to the door." 1.23 ልጁ በሩን ከፈተ። (ləǧu bärun käffätä.) "The child opened the door." 1.24 አንድ ውሻ ወደ ቤቱ መጣ። (and wəšša wädä betu mäṭṭa.) "A dog came to the house." 1.25 ውሻው ትልቅ ነበር። (wəššaw təlləḳ näbbär.) "The dog was big." 1.26 ድመቷ ወደ ልጁ ሄደች። (dəmmätʷa wädä ləǧu hedäčč.) "The cat went to the child." 1.27 ልጁ ውሻውን አየ። (ləǧu wəššawn ayyä.) "The child saw the dog." 1.28 ውሻው ወተቱን አየ፤ ግን ወተቱ የለም። (wəššaw wätätun ayyä; gən wätätu yälläm.) "The dog saw the milk, but the milk was gone." 1.29 ልጁ ሳቀ። (ləǧu saḳä.) "The child laughed." 1.30 ልጁ ለውሻው ወተት ሰጠ። (ləǧu läwəššaw wätät säṭṭä.) "The child gave the dog some milk."
1.16 አንድ ልጅ ነበር። 1.17 ልጁ በትንሽ ቤት ውስጥ ነበር። 1.18 በቤቱ ውስጥ አንድ ድመት ነበር። 1.19 ድመቷ ትንሽ ነበረች። 1.20 ልጁ ወተት ገዛ። 1.21 ድመቷ ወተቱን ጠጣች። 1.22 ልጁ ወደ በሩ ሄደ። 1.23 ልጁ በሩን ከፈተ። 1.24 አንድ ውሻ ወደ ቤቱ መጣ። 1.25 ውሻው ትልቅ ነበር። 1.26 ድመቷ ወደ ልጁ ሄደች። 1.27 ልጁ ውሻውን አየ። 1.28 ውሻው ወተቱን አየ፤ ግን ወተቱ የለም። 1.29 ልጁ ሳቀ። 1.30 ልጁ ለውሻው ወተት ሰጠ።
"A" first, "the" after. Every new thing in the story arrives bare or with አንድ and is named again with the suffix: - አንድ ልጅ (a child, 1.16) → ልጁ (the child, 1.17 onward) - አንድ ድመት (a cat, 1.18) → ድመቷ (the cat, 1.19, 1.21, 1.26) - ወተት (milk, 1.20) → ወተቱን (the milk, 1.21, 1.28) - አንድ ውሻ (a dog, 1.24) → ውሻው (the dog, 1.25, 1.28), ውሻውን (1.27)
Notice the gender of the cat: ድመት takes -wa because the story's cat is a she, and the verbs follow (ነበረች, ጠጣች, ሄደች). The child and the dog are he, and the verbs have no ending (ነበር, ሄደ, አየ).
One milk, two descriptions (1.20 and 1.21). In 1.20 the child buys ወተት, "milk", with no article and no -n, because it is not yet a particular milk. In 1.21 it is ወተቱን, "the milk", with the article and -n: now it is the milk they are both talking about.
"There was": ነበር. With a place and አንድ, ነበር (näbbär) means "there was": አንድ ልጅ ነበር (1.16); በቤቱ ውስጥ አንድ ድመት ነበር (1.18). With a noun and an adjective it is the past of "is": ውሻው ትልቅ ነበር (1.25). The feminine is ነበረች (1.19).
Prefixes and the article together. በትንሽ ቤት ውስጥ (1.17) has no article, because the house is "a small house"; በቤቱ ውስጥ (1.18) has one, because it is now "the house". ለውሻው (1.30) is ለ- (to) + ውሻ (dog) + -ው (the): one word.
Two verbs of motion with ወደ. ወደ (wädä) "to" is a separate word before the place or person: ወደ በሩ (1.22), ወደ ቤቱ (1.24), ወደ ልጁ (1.26). The article stays on the noun.
The object marker -n. The definite objects of 1.21, 1.23, 1.27 and 1.28 carry -n: ወተቱን, በሩን, ውሻውን. The indefinite objects of 1.20 and 1.30 do not: ወተት. Notice that -n comes after the article, and after -w it is written ውን: ውሻውን.
"Is not" (1.28). የለም (yälläm) is the negative of "is, there is": ወተቱ የለም, "the milk is not (there)", that is, it is gone. The sentence also shows ግን (gən), "but", which stands between the two clauses.
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The romanisation in this course follows the common scholarly transliteration of Ethiopic. The vowels are ä, u, i, a, e, ə, o, the seven forms of every letter in the order of the fidel chart. In the respellings in parentheses, "uh" is the vowel of "but", "ih" is a short, central vowel between the "i" of "bit" and the "u" of "put", "ay" is the vowel of "say", "ah" is the vowel of "father", and "oo" is the vowel of "moon". The respellings are in lower case because the stress of Amharic is light, and this course does not mark it. A doubled letter in the romanisation, as in wəššaw, is a long consonant.
ä — /ə/ — the vowel of the first form of every letter, as in ሰ (sä); a mid central vowel, like the "a" of "about". ə — /ɨ/ — the sixth form of every letter, as in ት (tə); a short, central, closed vowel. At the end of a word, as in ቤት (bet), it is often not pronounced at all. ḳ, ṭ, č̣, ṣ, p̣ — /k'/, /t'/, /t͡ʃ'/, /t͡s'/, /p'/ — the ejective consonants, spelled with the letters ቀ, ጠ, ጨ, ጸ (or ፀ) and ጰ. They are made with the glottis closed, and the sound is released with a sharp pop. They are different letters from ከ (k), ተ (t), ቸ (č), ሰ (s) and ፐ (p), and a different sound. ḥ — /h/ — written for ሐ, as in መጽሐፍ (mäṣḥäf); in modern Amharic it sounds like h. š, č, ǧ, ñ — /ʃ/, /t͡ʃ/, /d͡ʒ/, /ɲ/ — as in "ship", "chip", "judge" and Spanish "ñ".
Gemination. A consonant can be short or long, and the difference changes the meaning, but the script does not show it. The word አለ is read alä, "he said", and also allä, "there is", with the same letters. The romanisation of this course writes a long consonant double where it is long in the standard dictionaries. A learner must listen to the long consonants in ውሻ (wəšša), ድመት (dəmmät) and ትልቅ (təlləḳ), and in the verbs ጠጣ (ṭäṭṭa) and መጣ (mäṭṭa).
ቤቱ (betu) — IPA: /betu/ — e is a pure vowel, as in the French "été", not the diphthong of English "bay". ልጁ (ləǧu) — IPA: /lɨd͡ʒu/ — ጁ is /d͡ʒ/ with u, as in "judge". ውሻው (wəššaw) — IPA: /wɨʃːaw/ — the long /ʃː/ is held for twice as long as a short one. ድመቷ (dəmmätʷa) — IPA: /dɨmːətʷa/ — the t is rounded, said with the lips pushed forward as in "twin". ትልቅ (təlləḳ) — IPA: /tɨlːɨk'/ — the final ቅ is an ejective k, a sharp stop with no vowel. ጠጣች (ṭäṭṭačč) — IPA: /t'ət'ːat͡ʃː/ — both t's are ejective; the ending -čč is long. ቀዩ (ḳäyyu) — IPA: /k'əjːu/ — the ejective k, then a long y. ናቸው (naččäw) — IPA: /nat͡ʃːəw/ — ች is /t͡ʃ/ as in "chip", and in this word it is long. ጥልቁ (ṭəlḳu) — IPA: /t'ɨlk'u/ — two ejectives, ጥ and ቁ. መጽሐፉ (mäṣḥäfu) — IPA: /mət͡s'həfu/ — the ejective /t͡s'/ is followed at once by /h/; ሐ is pronounced /h/ in modern Amharic.
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