For autodidact students of Amharic, the first thing to know about "be" is that the English verb has no single Amharic counterpart. English is does at least four jobs: it joins a subject to what it is ("she is a doctor"), it says where something is ("I am at home"), it says that something exists ("there is joy"), and it says that something belongs to someone ("I have a book"). Amharic gives these jobs to different words. This lesson takes the first and most frequent as its headword: the copula ነው (näw), "is", which stands at the end of the sentence and joins the subject to the word or phrase that tells what it is. The other jobs are taught beside it, because a learner needs them at once.
You met ነው, ናቸው, ነች and ነበር in Lesson 1 without being told how they work. Now they become a system. The present copula has one form for each person:
- ነኝ (näññ): I am - ነህ (näh): you (masculine) are - ነሽ (näš): you (feminine) are - ነው (näw): he, it is - ነች (näčč), also written ናት (nat): she is - ነን (nän): we are - ናችሁ (naččəhu): you (plural) are - ናቸው (naččäw): they are
The copula is written as a separate word, and it comes last: እኔ ተማሪ ነኝ (əne tämari näññ), "I am a student", word for word "I student am". What stands before it can be a noun (ተማሪ, student), an adjective (ጥሩ ነው, "it is good"), a place (ቤት ነኝ, "I am at home") or a phrase of belonging (የእኔ ነው, "it is mine"). Because the ending shows the person, the pronoun can be left out: ተማሪ ነኝ alone is a complete sentence, and this lesson writes the pronouns in only for clarity.
Politeness. ናቸው is not only "they are". Amharic speaks of one respected person, such as a teacher or an elder, in the plural, so ዶክተሩ ናቸው (doktäru naččäw) can mean "he (the honoured one) is the doctor".
The copula has no past of its own. For "was" Amharic uses a different word, ነበር (näbbär), which changes for person like an ordinary verb: ነበርኩ (näbbärku), "I was"; ነበር (näbbär), "he was"; ነበረች (näbbäräčč), "she was"; ነበሩ (näbbäru), "they were". The same word means "there was": ደስታ ነበር, "there was joy" (2.21).
"Is not" is a different word again. The negative of ነው is not made by adding a negative to it. It is አይደለም (aydälläm), "he, she, it is not", with the endings of a verb for the other persons: አይደለሁም (aydällähum), "I am not". Compare ቤቱ ትልቅ ነው, "the house is big", and ቤቱ ትልቅ አይደለም, "the house is not big".
"There is": አለ (allä). The copula says what something is. To say that something exists, or is present, Amharic uses አለ (allä), "there is", whose negative is የለም (yälläm), "there is not", the word you met in the Genre Section of Lesson 1. Ownership is expressed with it: Amharic has no verb "to have". Instead the owner is a suffix on አለ, so that መጽሐፍ አለኝ (mäṣḥäf alläññ) means "I have a book", word for word "a book is to me".
"Become": ሆነ (honä). The verb መሆን (mähon), "to be, to become", supplies what the copula lacks. ሆነ (honä) is "became, was", and ይሆናል (yihonal) is "he will be, he will become": ተማሪው ዶክተር ይሆናል (tämariw doktär yihonal), "the student will be a doctor".
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 ነው is two letters, ነ (nä, the first form of n) and ው (wə, the sixth form of w, here standing for the consonant w alone). The ending -w is the ending of "he, it is" and has nothing to do with the article of Lesson 1, though it looks the same on the page. The vowel of the stem is ä in ነው, ነህ, ነች but a in ናት, ናችሁ and ናቸው, so that the plural forms begin with ና. The letter ኝ (ñə) in ነኝ is the sixth form of ñ, the sound of Spanish ñ. In romanisation a long consonant is written double, and the final ññ of ነኝ is written double in this course.
Key Takeaways: - The present copula is ነው and its family: ነኝ, ነህ, ነሽ, ነው, ነች, ነን, ናችሁ, ናቸው - It comes last in the sentence, after a noun, an adjective, a place or a phrase of belonging - ናቸው also stands for one respected person - The past is ነበር, which changes with the person: ነበርኩ, ነበረች, ነበሩ - "Is not" is አይደለም; "was not" is አል- … -ም around ነበር - "There is" is አለ, "there is not" is የለም, and "I have" is አለኝ - "Will be, become" is ሆነ / ይሆናል
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2.1a እኔ I ተማሪ student ነኝ am
2.1b əne (ih-nay) I tämari (tuh-mah-ree) student näññ (nuhnny) COP.1SG
2.2a አንተ you-M መምህር teacher ነህ are
2.2b antä (ahn-tuh) you-M mämhər (muhm-hihr) teacher näh (nuhh) COP.2M
2.3a እሱ he ገበሬ farmer ነው is
2.3b əssu (ihs-soo) he gäbäre (guh-buh-ray) farmer näw (nuhw) COP.3M
2.4a እሷ she ዶክተር doctor ነች is
2.4b əssʷa (ihs-swah) she doktär (dok-tuhr) doctor näčč (nuhch) COP.3F
2.5a ቡናው the-coffee ጥሩ good ነው is
2.5b bunaw (boo-naw) coffee-DEF ṭəru (t'ih-roo) good näw (nuhw) COP.3M
2.6a እናንተ you-all ጥሩ good ተማሪዎች students ናችሁ are
2.6b ənnantä (ihn-nahn-tuh) you-PL ṭəru (t'ih-roo) good tämariwočč (tuh-mah-ree-woch) student-PL naččəhu (nah-chih-hoo) COP.2PL
2.7a እነሱ they የትምህርት of-learning ቤቱ the-house መምህራን teachers ናቸው are
2.7b ənnässu (ihn-nuhs-soo) they yätəmhərt (yuh-tihm-hihrt) of-learning betu (bay-too) house-DEF mämhəran (muhm-hih-rahn) teacher.PL naččäw (nah-chuhw) COP.3PL
2.8a ውሃው the-water ቀዝቃዛ cold ነው is ቡናው the-coffee ግን but ሞቃት hot ነው is
2.8b wəhaw (wih-haw) water-DEF ḳäzḳaza (k'uhz-k'ah-zah) cold näw (nuhw) COP.3M bunaw (boo-naw) coffee-DEF gən (gihn) but moḳat (moh-k'aht) hot näw (nuhw) COP.3M
2.9a ይህ this ቤት house የእኔ of-me አይደለም is-not
2.9b yəh (yihh) this bet (bayt) house yäəne (yuh-ih-nay) of-me aydälläm (ay-duhl-luhm) NEG.COP.3M
2.10a እኛ we ትናንት yesterday ቤት house ውስጥ inside ነበርን were
2.10b əñña (ihn-nyah) we tənant (tih-nahnt) yesterday bet (bayt) house wəsṭ (wihst') inside näbbärn (nuhb-buhrn) COP.PAST-1PL
2.11a አባቴ my-father ገበሬ farmer አይደለም is-not መምህር teacher ነው is
2.11b abbate (ahb-bah-tay) father-1SG.POSS gäbäre (guh-buh-ray) farmer aydälläm (ay-duhl-luhm) NEG.COP.3M mämhər (muhm-hihr) teacher näw (nuhw) COP.3M
2.12a ወንድሜ my-brother ትናንት yesterday ትምህርት learning ቤት house ነበር was እህቴ my-sister ግን but ቤት house ነበረች was
2.12b wändəme (wuhn-dih-may) brother-1SG.POSS tənant (tih-nahnt) yesterday təmhərt (tihm-hihrt) learning bet (bayt) house näbbär (nuhb-buhr) COP.PAST.3M əhte (ih-hih-tay) sister-1SG.POSS gən (gihn) but bet (bayt) house näbbäräčč (nuhb-buh-ruhch) COP.PAST.3F
2.13a እኛ we ትናንት yesterday ትምህርት learning ቤት house አልነበርንም were-not
2.13b əñña (ihn-nyah) we tənant (tih-nahnt) yesterday təmhərt (tihm-hihrt) learning bet (bayt) house alnäbbärnəm (ahl-nuhb-buhr-nihm) NEG-COP.PAST-1PL-NEG
2.14a ይህ this መጽሐፍ book አዲስ new አይደለም is-not ግን but ጥሩ good ነው is
2.14b yəh (yihh) this mäṣḥäf (muh-ts'ih-huhf) book addis (ad-dees) new aydälläm (ay-duhl-luhm) NEG.COP.3M gən (gihn) but ṭəru (t'ih-roo) good näw (nuhw) COP.3M
2.15a እኔ I ዛሬ today ደህና well ነኝ am ትናንት yesterday ግን but ደህና well አልነበርኩም was-not
2.15b əne (ih-nay) I zare (zah-ray) today dähna (duh-hnah) well näññ (nuhnny) COP.1SG tənant (tih-nahnt) yesterday gən (gihn) but dähna (duh-hnah) well alnäbbärkum (ahl-nuhb-buhr-koom) NEG-COP.PAST-1SG-NEG
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2.1 እኔ ተማሪ ነኝ። (əne tämari näññ) "I am a student." 2.2 አንተ መምህር ነህ። (antä mämhər näh) "You are a teacher." 2.3 እሱ ገበሬ ነው። (əssu gäbäre näw) "He is a farmer." 2.4 እሷ ዶክተር ነች። (əssʷa doktär näčč) "She is a doctor." 2.5 ቡናው ጥሩ ነው። (bunaw ṭəru näw) "The coffee is good." 2.6 እናንተ ጥሩ ተማሪዎች ናችሁ። (ənnantä ṭəru tämariwočč naččəhu) "You are good students." 2.7 እነሱ የትምህርት ቤቱ መምህራን ናቸው። (ənnässu yätəmhərt betu mämhəran naččäw) "They are the teachers of the school." 2.8 ውሃው ቀዝቃዛ ነው፤ ቡናው ግን ሞቃት ነው። (wəhaw ḳäzḳaza näw; bunaw gən moḳat näw) "The water is cold, but the coffee is hot." 2.9 ይህ ቤት የእኔ አይደለም። (yəh bet yäəne aydälläm) "This house is not mine." 2.10 እኛ ትናንት ቤት ውስጥ ነበርን። (əñña tənant bet wəsṭ näbbärn) "We were at home yesterday." 2.11 አባቴ ገበሬ አይደለም፤ መምህር ነው። (abbate gäbäre aydälläm; mämhər näw) "My father is not a farmer; he is a teacher." 2.12 ወንድሜ ትናንት ትምህርት ቤት ነበር፤ እህቴ ግን ቤት ነበረች። (wändəme tənant təmhərt bet näbbär; əhte gən bet näbbäräčč) "My brother was at school yesterday, but my sister was at home." 2.13 እኛ ትናንት ትምህርት ቤት አልነበርንም። (əñña tənant təmhərt bet alnäbbärnəm) "We were not at school yesterday." 2.14 ይህ መጽሐፍ አዲስ አይደለም፤ ግን ጥሩ ነው። (yəh mäṣḥäf addis aydälläm; gən ṭəru näw) "This book is not new, but it is good." 2.15 እኔ ዛሬ ደህና ነኝ፤ ትናንት ግን ደህና አልነበርኩም። (əne zare dähna näññ; tənant gən dähna alnäbbärkum) "I am well today, but yesterday I was not well."
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2.1 እኔ ተማሪ ነኝ። 2.2 አንተ መምህር ነህ። 2.3 እሱ ገበሬ ነው። 2.4 እሷ ዶክተር ነች። 2.5 ቡናው ጥሩ ነው። 2.6 እናንተ ጥሩ ተማሪዎች ናችሁ። 2.7 እነሱ የትምህርት ቤቱ መምህራን ናቸው። 2.8 ውሃው ቀዝቃዛ ነው፤ ቡናው ግን ሞቃት ነው። 2.9 ይህ ቤት የእኔ አይደለም። 2.10 እኛ ትናንት ቤት ውስጥ ነበርን። 2.11 አባቴ ገበሬ አይደለም፤ መምህር ነው። 2.12 ወንድሜ ትናንት ትምህርት ቤት ነበር፤ እህቴ ግን ቤት ነበረች። 2.13 እኛ ትናንት ትምህርት ቤት አልነበርንም። 2.14 ይህ መጽሐፍ አዲስ አይደለም፤ ግን ጥሩ ነው። 2.15 እኔ ዛሬ ደህና ነኝ፤ ትናንት ግን ደህና አልነበርኩም።
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These are the grammar rules for expressing "be" in Amharic.
The present copula has a form for each person. It is written as a word of its own, after the noun, adjective, place or phrase it joins to the subject: - ነኝ (näññ), I am: እኔ ተማሪ ነኝ (2.1), እኔ ዛሬ ደህና ነኝ (2.15) - ነህ (näh), you (m.) are: አንተ መምህር ነህ (2.2) - ነሽ (näš), you (f.) are: not used in this lesson's sentences, but built in the same way, አንቺ ተማሪ ነሽ - ነው (näw), he, it is: እሱ ገበሬ ነው (2.3), ቡናው ጥሩ ነው (2.5), ውሃው ቀዝቃዛ ነው (2.8) - ነች (näčč), she is: እሷ ዶክተር ነች (2.4). Many books write ናት (nat) for the same form - ነን (nän), we are: እኛ ተማሪዎች ነን - ናችሁ (naččəhu), you (pl.) are: እናንተ ጥሩ ተማሪዎች ናችሁ (2.6) - ናቸው (naččäw), they are: እነሱ መምህራን ናቸው (2.7)
The verb comes last, and the pronoun is optional. The ending already shows who is meant: ተማሪ ነኝ is "I am a student" with no እኔ. A pronoun is added to stress the person or for clarity, as in this lesson.
What comes before the copula. A noun is bare, with no article: ተማሪ ነኝ, "I am a student" (2.1); ገበሬ ነው (2.3). An adjective stands alone, as in Lesson 1: ጥሩ ነው (2.5), ቀዝቃዛ ነው (2.8). A place may stand bare before the verb: ቤት ውስጥ ነበርን (2.10), ትምህርት ቤት ነበር (2.12). A phrase of belonging is made with የ-, "of": የእኔ አይደለም (2.9), "it is not mine". If the article of Lesson 1 is put on the noun, the sentence changes: እሱ መምህሩ ነው means "he is the teacher", that is, the one already known, where እሱ መምህር ነው means "he is a teacher".
Plural subjects and respect. A plural subject takes the plural copula, ናቸው (2.7) and ናችሁ (2.6). The ናቸው form is also used of one person to whom respect is owed, so that the same words can mean "they are" or "he (honoured) is".
The past: ነበር. The copula has no past form, so ነበር (näbbär) is used, with endings for the person like an ordinary verb: - ነበርኩ (näbbärku), I was - ነበርክ (näbbärk), you (m.) were - ነበርሽ (näbbärš), you (f.) were - ነበር (näbbär), he, it was (2.12) - ነበረች (näbbäräčč), she was (2.12) - ነበርን (näbbärn), we were (2.10) - ነበራችሁ (näbbäraččəhu), you (pl.) were - ነበሩ (näbbäru), they were (Genre Section, 2.27)
"Is not": አይደለም. The present copula has no ordinary negative. Its negative is a separate word with endings for the person: - አይደለሁም (aydällähum), I am not - አይደለም (aydälläm), he, she, it is not (2.9, 2.11, 2.14) - አይደለችም (aydälläččəm), she is not - አይደሉም (aydällum), they are not
The sentence keeps its order and the negative stands where the copula stood: ይህ መጽሐፍ አዲስ አይደለም (2.14), "this book is not new". In 2.11 the two forms stand side by side, ገበሬ አይደለም and መምህር ነው: "is not a farmer, is a teacher".
"Was not": አል- … -ም. For the past the ordinary negative circumfix is used: አል- before the verb, -ም after it. ነበርኩ becomes አልነበርኩም (2.15), ነበርን becomes አልነበርንም (2.13), and ነበረች becomes አልነበረችም (Genre Section, 2.23).
"There is": አለ and የለም. To say that something exists, or is present, Amharic uses አለ (allä), and its negative is የለም (yälläm). The copula and አለ answer different questions: ነው says what something is, and አለ says that it is there. Examples outside the numbered sentences: - ቤት ውስጥ ሰው አለ (bet wəsṭ säw allä): "there is someone in the house" - ቤት ውስጥ ሰው የለም (bet wəsṭ säw yälläm): "there is no one in the house"
Past "there was" is ነበር (2.21, 2.22), as in the Genre Section.
"Have" is "there is to me". The owner is added to አለ as a suffix, and the thing owned comes before it: መጽሐፍ አለኝ (mäṣḥäf alläññ), "I have a book". The negative is መጽሐፍ የለኝም (mäṣḥäf yälläññəm), "I do not have a book".
"Become": መሆን. The verb መሆን (mähon) supplies the forms the copula lacks. Its past is ሆነ (honä) and its future ይሆናል (yihonal): ተማሪው ዶክተር ይሆናል, "the student will be a doctor". The first person future is እሆናለሁ (əhonallähu), and the negative is አይሆንም (ayhonəm).
Common Mistakes: - Putting the copula in the middle of the sentence. Say እኔ ተማሪ ነኝ, not \*እኔ ነኝ ተማሪ - Using ነው for every person. The form must agree: እኔ ተማሪ ነኝ, not \*እኔ ተማሪ ነው - Using ነው for the past. "I was at home" is ቤት ነበርኩ, not \*ቤት ነኝ - Making "is not" with the ordinary negative. Say ተማሪ አይደለሁም, "I am not a student", not \*ተማሪ አልነኝም - Using ነው where English says "there is". Say ቤት ውስጥ ሰው አለ, "there is someone in the house" - Looking for a verb "to have". Say መጽሐፍ አለኝ, "a book is to me" - Leaving out the -ም of አይደለም or አልነበርኩም. The negative ends in -m in both
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The copula is at the centre of the first words an Amharic speaker says to a stranger. The common greeting is እንዴት ነህ? (əndet näh), "how are you?", said to a man, with እንዴት ነሽ? to a woman and እንዴት ናችሁ? to several people. The answer is ደህና ነኝ (dähna näññ), "I am well". A name is asked for with ስምህ ማን ነው? (səməh man näw), "what is your name?", word for word "your-name who is?", and given with ስሜ … ነው (səme … näw), "my name is …". Another greeting is ሰላም ነው? (sälam näw), which asks whether all is well; sälam, "peace", is also a woman's name, and the girl of the Genre Section bears it.
Respect is built into the grammar. Because ናቸው is the plural, a child who speaks of a parent, a teacher or an elder in the plural, as ናቸው, shows respect without any other word. A learner who says ነው of an old man is correct, but may sound too familiar.
The word የለም is heard daily in a shop or a market. Asked whether the shop has something, the seller who has none says የለም, "there is none". It is the same word that ends the verse of Section F.
That verse is the first line of the psalm of the shepherd. Orthodox psalters, which follow the Greek Septuagint, number this psalm 22; here it is given as English Bibles number it, Psalm 23.
✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾ ✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾ ✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾
Psalm 23:1, in the Amharic Bible (መጽሐፍ ቅዱስ, Mäṣḥäf Ḳəddus), in the older printed translation (መዝሙር, Mäzmur)
The text, as printed:
እግዚአብሔር እረኛዬ ነው፥ የሚያሳጣኝም የለም።
F-A: Interlinear
F.1a እግዚአብሔር God እረኛዬ shepherd-my ነው is
F.1b əgziʼabəher (ihg-zee-ah-bih-hehr) God ərräññaye (ihr-ruhn-nyah-yeh) shepherd-1SG.POSS näw (nuhw) COP.3M
F.2a የሚያሳጣኝም that-makes-lack-me-even የለም there-is-not
F.2b yämmiyasaṭṭaññəm (yuhm-mee-yah-suht'-t'uhn-nyihm) REL-CAUS-lack.IMPF.3M-1SG.OBJ-even yälläm (yuhl-luhm) there-is-not
F-B: Original and Translation
እግዚአብሔር እረኛዬ ነው፥ የሚያሳጣኝም የለም።
"God is my shepherd; there is no one who makes me lack." (Translation: Latinum Institute.)
F-C: Original
እግዚአብሔር እረኛዬ ነው፥ የሚያሳጣኝም የለም።
F-D: Grammar and Literary Commentary
The verse is built of the two words of this lesson, one in each half. The first half is a sentence of the plainest kind: a subject, እግዚአብሔር (əgziʼabəher), "God", a bare noun, እረኛዬ (ərräññaye), "my shepherd", and the copula ነው at the end. The noun is bare, as the Grammar Explanation says a predicate noun is, and the ending -ዬ (-ye) is "my"; the same ending, joined to the last consonant, is on አባቴ and ወንድሜ in 2.11 and 2.12. There is no article; "God is my shepherd" says what God is, not which one.
The second half is the negative of existence. የለም (yälläm) is the negative of አለ (allä), "there is": nothing exists that does what the relative clause says. The clause is የሚያሳጣኝ (yämmiyasaṭṭañ), "that makes me lack", a verb with a relative prefix, a causative prefix, and the ending -ኝ (-ñ), "me", which is the same -ñ as in alläññ, "(there is) to me". The ending -ም (-əm) is "even, also": it turns "there is none" into "there is not even one". The line therefore uses the copula for identity and አለ's negative for existence, the two halves of "be" that this lesson sets apart, and the verse puts the one against the other: God is the shepherd, and anything that could take from the speaker is not.
The wording of this verse is the same on the two Amharic Bible sites consulted. Other editions and the Orthodox psalter may differ in wording and in punctuation, and the reader who meets another edition should expect other words; the grammar of ነው and የለም is the same.
✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾ ✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾ ✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾
A short story in the past tense. Watch how ነበር changes with the person who is spoken of, ነበር for "he", ነበረች for "she", ነበሩ for "they", and how "there was" and "was not" are said.
2.16a ሰላም Selam ተማሪ student ነበረች was
2.16b sälam (suh-lahm) Selam tämari (tuh-mah-ree) student näbbäräčč (nuhb-buh-ruhch) COP.PAST.3F
2.17a እሷ she በአዲስ in-Addis አበባ Ababa ነበረች was
2.17b əssʷa (ihs-swah) she bäaddis (buh-ad-dees) in-Addis abäba (ah-buh-bah) Ababa näbbäräčč (nuhb-buh-ruhch) COP.PAST.3F
2.18a አባቷ her-father ገበሬ farmer ነበር was
2.18b abbatʷa (ahb-baht-wah) father-3F.POSS gäbäre (guh-buh-ray) farmer näbbär (nuhb-buhr) COP.PAST.3M
2.19a እናቷ her-mother መምህር teacher ነበረች was
2.19b ənnatʷa (ihn-naht-wah) mother-3F.POSS mämhər (muhm-hihr) teacher näbbäräčč (nuhb-buh-ruhch) COP.PAST.3F
2.20a ቤታቸው their-house ትንሽ small ነበር was
2.20b betaččäw (bay-tah-chuhw) house-3PL.POSS tənš (tihnsh) small näbbär (nuhb-buhr) COP.PAST.3M
2.21a ቤታቸው their-house ውስጥ inside ግን but ደስታ joy ነበር was
2.21b betaččäw (bay-tah-chuhw) house-3PL.POSS wəsṭ (wihst') inside gən (gihn) but dästa (duh-stah) joy näbbär (nuhb-buhr) COP.PAST.3M
2.22a ትናንት yesterday በዓል holiday ነበር was
2.22b tənant (tih-nahnt) yesterday bäʿal (buh-ahl) holiday näbbär (nuhb-buhr) COP.PAST.3M
2.23a ሰላም Selam ትምህርት learning ቤት house አልነበረችም was-not
2.23b sälam (suh-lahm) Selam təmhərt (tihm-hihrt) learning bet (bayt) house alnäbbäräččəm (ahl-nuhb-buh-ruh-chihm) NEG-COP.PAST.3F-NEG
2.24a እሷ she ከወንድሟ with-her-brother ጋር together ቤት house ነበረች was
2.24b əssʷa (ihs-swah) she käwändəmʷa (kuh-wuhn-dihm-wah) with-brother-3F.POSS gar (gahr) together bet (bayt) house näbbäräčč (nuhb-buh-ruhch) COP.PAST.3F
2.25a የወንድሟ of-her-brother ስም name አበበ Abebe ነው is
2.25b yäwändəmʷa (yuh-wuhn-dihm-wah) of-brother-3F.POSS səm (sihm) name abäbä (ah-buh-buh) Abebe näw (nuhw) COP.3M
2.26a አበበ Abebe ትንሽ small ልጅ child ነው is
2.26b abäbä (ah-buh-buh) Abebe tənš (tihnsh) small ləǧ (lihj) child näw (nuhw) COP.3M
2.27a ሰላምና Selam-and አበበ Abebe ደስተኞች happy-ones ነበሩ were
2.27b sälamna (suh-lahm-nah) Selam-and abäbä (ah-buh-buh) Abebe dästäññočč (duhs-tuhn-nyoch) happy-PL näbbäru (nuhb-buh-roo) COP.PAST.3PL
2.28a አባታቸው their-father ግን but እርሻ farm ላይ on ነበር was
2.28b abbataččäw (ahb-bah-tah-chuhw) father-3PL.POSS gən (gihn) but ərša (ihr-shah) farm lay (lie) on näbbär (nuhb-buhr) COP.PAST.3M
2.29a ምሽት evening ላይ at ሁሉም everyone ቤት house ውስጥ inside ነበሩ were
2.29b məšt (mihsht) evening lay (lie) at hullum (hool-loom) everyone bet (bayt) house wəsṭ (wihst') inside näbbäru (nuhb-buh-roo) COP.PAST.3PL
2.30a ያ that ቀን day ለሰላም for-Selam ጥሩ good ቀን day ነበር was
2.30b ya (yah) that ḳän (k'uhn) day läsälam (luh-suh-lahm) for-Selam ṭəru (t'ih-roo) good ḳän (k'uhn) day näbbär (nuhb-buhr) COP.PAST.3M
2.16 ሰላም ተማሪ ነበረች። (sälam tämari näbbäräčč.) "Selam was a student." 2.17 እሷ በአዲስ አበባ ነበረች። (əssʷa bäaddis abäba näbbäräčč.) "She was in Addis Ababa." 2.18 አባቷ ገበሬ ነበር። (abbatʷa gäbäre näbbär.) "Her father was a farmer." 2.19 እናቷ መምህር ነበረች። (ənnatʷa mämhər näbbäräčč.) "Her mother was a teacher." 2.20 ቤታቸው ትንሽ ነበር። (betaččäw tənš näbbär.) "Their house was small." 2.21 ቤታቸው ውስጥ ግን ደስታ ነበር። (betaččäw wəsṭ gən dästa näbbär.) "But inside their house there was joy." 2.22 ትናንት በዓል ነበር። (tənant bäʿal näbbär.) "Yesterday was a holiday." 2.23 ሰላም ትምህርት ቤት አልነበረችም። (sälam təmhərt bet alnäbbäräččəm.) "Selam was not at school." 2.24 እሷ ከወንድሟ ጋር ቤት ነበረች። (əssʷa käwändəmʷa gar bet näbbäräčč.) "She was at home with her brother." 2.25 የወንድሟ ስም አበበ ነው። (yäwändəmʷa səm abäbä näw.) "Her brother's name is Abebe." 2.26 አበበ ትንሽ ልጅ ነው። (abäbä tənš ləǧ näw.) "Abebe is a small child." 2.27 ሰላምና አበበ ደስተኞች ነበሩ። (sälamna abäbä dästäññočč näbbäru.) "Selam and Abebe were happy." 2.28 አባታቸው ግን እርሻ ላይ ነበር። (abbataččäw gən ərša lay näbbär.) "But their father was on the farm." 2.29 ምሽት ላይ ሁሉም ቤት ውስጥ ነበሩ። (məšt lay hullum bet wəsṭ näbbäru.) "In the evening everyone was at home." 2.30 ያ ቀን ለሰላም ጥሩ ቀን ነበር። (ya ḳän läsälam ṭəru ḳän näbbär.) "That was a good day for Selam."
2.16 ሰላም ተማሪ ነበረች። 2.17 እሷ በአዲስ አበባ ነበረች። 2.18 አባቷ ገበሬ ነበር። 2.19 እናቷ መምህር ነበረች። 2.20 ቤታቸው ትንሽ ነበር። 2.21 ቤታቸው ውስጥ ግን ደስታ ነበር። 2.22 ትናንት በዓል ነበር። 2.23 ሰላም ትምህርት ቤት አልነበረችም። 2.24 እሷ ከወንድሟ ጋር ቤት ነበረች። 2.25 የወንድሟ ስም አበበ ነው። 2.26 አበበ ትንሽ ልጅ ነው። 2.27 ሰላምና አበበ ደስተኞች ነበሩ። 2.28 አባታቸው ግን እርሻ ላይ ነበር። 2.29 ምሽት ላይ ሁሉም ቤት ውስጥ ነበሩ። 2.30 ያ ቀን ለሰላም ጥሩ ቀን ነበር።
The past copula agrees with the person. In the story ነበር changes with the one spoken of: ነበረች for Selam and her mother (2.16, 2.17, 2.19, 2.24), ነበር for her father and for things (2.18, 2.20, 2.21, 2.22, 2.28), and ነበሩ for more than one person (2.27, 2.29). Compare the same changes in the Section A sentences 2.10 and 2.12.
"There was" (2.21, 2.22). With a noun that names something that happened or existed, ነበር means "there was": ደስታ ነበር, "there was joy". ትናንት በዓል ነበር is "yesterday there was a holiday", or "yesterday was a holiday". The word is the same one that joins ሰላም to ተማሪ in 2.16; the sentence shows whether it means "was" or "there was".
"Was not" (2.23). The negative is made around the verb: አል- + ነበረች + -ም gives አልነበረችም. It stands where ነበረች stood.
The possessive endings. The person's relatives are named with the suffixes of "her" and "their", which are added to the noun. For "her", a noun that ends in a consonant takes -wa, which joins the last letter as in Lesson 1: አባት → አባቷ, እናት → እናቷ, ወንድም → ወንድሟ (2.18, 2.19, 2.24, 2.25). For "their" the ending is -aččäw, whose vowel a joins the last letter: ቤት → ቤታቸው (2.20, 2.21), አባት → አባታቸው (2.28). The pronoun is not needed: the ending says whose.
The present in the story. The narrator turns to the present for what is still true, the name and the age of the boy: የወንድሟ ስም አበበ ነው (2.25), አበበ ትንሽ ልጅ ነው (2.26). The story then goes on in the past.
ሁሉም takes the plural. ሁሉም (hullum), "everyone, all", is followed by the plural verb: ሁሉም ቤት ውስጥ ነበሩ (2.29), "everyone was at home".
Joining "and". ሰላምና አበበ (2.27) is "Selam and Abebe": the word for "and", -ና (-na), is added to the first name, not placed between the two.
ግን in the middle. ግን (gən), "but", comes after the first word or phrase of its clause and not at the front: ቤታቸው ውስጥ ግን ደስታ ነበር (2.21), አባታቸው ግን እርሻ ላይ ነበር (2.28).
The place name. አዲስ አበባ (addis abäba), Addis Ababa, is two words that mean "new flower": አዲስ is "new", as in 2.14, and አበባ is "flower". The prefix በ- goes on the first word: በአዲስ አበባ (2.17).
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The vowels and signs are those of Lesson 1: ä is /ə/, ə is /ɨ/, the dotted letters ḳ and ṭ are ejectives, and a doubled letter is a long consonant. Two things are new in this lesson: the sound ñ, and the way the copula ends a sentence.
ñ — /ɲ/ — the sound of Spanish "ñ" or of "ny" in "canyon". It is written with the letters of the family ኘ, as in ነኝ (näññ) and ደስተኞች (dästäññočč). In final position, as in ነኝ, it is long and closes the word with no vowel after it.
ነው (näw) — IPA: /nəw/ — one syllable. The vowel of ነ is the mid central vowel of "about", and it glides into w. ነኝ (näññ) — IPA: /nəɲɲ/ — the ñ is held, and the word ends on it. ነች (näčč) — IPA: /nət͡ʃː/ — the long č is held, then released at the end of the word. ናችሁ (naččəhu) — IPA: /nat͡ʃːɨhu/ — the first vowel is a as in "father", and the č is long. ነበር (näbbär) — IPA: /nəbːər/ — the long b is held for twice as long as a short one, and the final r is a light tap of the tongue. አይደለም (aydälläm) — IPA: /ajdəlːəm/ — ay is the vowel of English "eye", and the l is long. የለም (yälläm) — IPA: /jəlːəm/ — the same long l as in aydälläm. አለኝ (alläññ) — IPA: /alːəɲɲ/ — compare አለ (alä), "he said", with a short l. The long l of አለ (allä), "there is", is not shown in the script. እግዚአብሔር (əgziʼabəher) — IPA: /ɨgziʔabɨher/ — the apostrophe is a glottal stop, the catch in the throat before the vowel, which the letter አ stands for. ሰላም (sälam) — IPA: /səlam/ — the first vowel is ä, as in "about", and the second is a, as in "father".
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Course Index: [latinum.substack.com/p/index](https://latinum.substack.com/p/index)