For autodidact students of Amharic, the first thing to know about "and" is that Amharic has no single small word that does all of its work. English and joins nouns ("tea and coffee"), joins verbs ("he went in and sat down"), joins whole sentences ("and then it rained"), and even adds up numbers ("twenty and thirty"). Amharic shares these jobs among four devices. This lesson takes the first and most frequent as its headword, the conjunction እና (əna), together with the suffix -ና (-nna), which means the same thing and is written on the end of a word. The other three are taught beside it, because a learner needs them at once.
1. -ና / እና joins nouns and phrases. The suffix -ና is written on the first of two nouns, and the second noun follows as a separate word: ሻይ (šay), "tea", and ቡና (buna), "coffee", give ሻይና ቡና (šayənna buna), "tea and coffee". The separate word እና can stand between the two nouns instead: ሻይ እና ቡና. The two ways of writing mean the same. This lesson writes the suffix between nouns, and uses the separate word እና at the start of a sentence, as in 3.22 and 3.25.
- ሻይ (šay) + ቡና (buna) → ሻይና ቡና (šayənna buna): tea and coffee - ዳቦ (dabo) + ቅቤ (ḳəbe) → ዳቦና ቅቤ (dabonna ḳəbe): bread and butter - እኔ (əne) + አንተ (antä) → እኔና አንተ (ənenna antä): you and I (word for word "I and you")
For three or more things, the plain separate word is the safe form before the last: ሻይ፣ ቡና እና ወተት (šay, buna əna wätät), "tea, coffee and milk".
How the suffix is written. A noun that ends in a consonant ends in its sixth form, and the suffix is simply added: ሰላም (sälam) → ሰላምና. A short vowel ə is heard between the noun and the suffix, and the script does not show it separately, since the sixth form of the last letter already holds it: sälam-ənna. A noun that ends in a vowel takes the suffix at once: ዳቦ → ዳቦና (dabonna). In both cases the n of the suffix is long, as the double n in the romanisation shows; the script cannot show a long consonant.
Each noun keeps its own endings. The article of Lesson 1 stays on each noun: ልጁና ውሻው (ləǧunna wəššaw), "the child and the dog". When the pair is the object of a verb, each noun takes its own -n of Lesson 1, and the suffix follows the first -n: ወተቱንና ውሃውን (wätätunənna wəhawn), "the milk and the water", as an object. A preposition prefix is repeated on both nouns: ለእናቴና ለአባቴ (läənnatenna läabbate), "for my mother and for my father".
"And" is not "with". ከሰላም ጋር (käsälam gar) means "with Selam". English may say "Abebe and Selam went" or "Abebe went with Selam"; Amharic keeps the two ideas apart, as the Genre Section of Lesson 2 did with ከወንድሟ ጋር.
2. Verbs are joined by the gerund. The suffix -ና is the way to join nouns. To join two actions, standard written Amharic does not put "and" between two verbs. It puts every verb but the last into a special form, the gerund, which says "having done" and carries the person but not the tense; the last verb carries the tense. The gerund of ሄደ (hedä), "went", is ሄዶ (hedo) for "he", ሄዳ (heda) for "she", ሄደው (hedäw) for "they" and ሄጄ (heǧe) for "I". So እሱ ወደ ገበያ ሄዶ ዳቦ ገዛ (3.11) is "he went to the market and bought bread", word for word "he to market having-gone bread bought". The gerund is met again in later lessons; here you only need to know why no እና stands between the verbs.
3. The ending -ም, "also, and". The ending -ም (-m) is written on a word to say "too" or "and too". It is the same -ም that you met on the end of አይደለም and አልነበርኩም in Lesson 2, an ending with several uses. On two words it makes "both ... and": ሰላምም አበበም (3.14), "both Selam and Abebe", word for word "Selam-also Abebe-also". The difference from -ና is that -ና joins the two nouns into one group, while -ም treats each as a separate item.
4. Sentences: እና, ደግሞ, ከዚያም. At the beginning of a sentence, እና (əna) means "and, and so", and is used to carry on a conversation: እና ስንት ነው? (3.22), "and how much is it?" ደግሞ (dägmo) means "also, again": ዳቦና ቅቤ ደግሞ ሠላሳ ብር ነው (3.23). ከዚያም (käzziyam) means "and then, after that". The ending -ስ (-ss) asks "and what about …?" and is the way to turn a question back on the other person: ዳቦና ቅቤስ? (3.20), "and what about bread and butter?"
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 እና is two letters, እ (ə, the sixth form of the vowel letter) and ና (na, the fourth form of n). The suffix is the same ና as the second letter. Take care: ና, written alone, is also a word of its own, the command "come!" (to one man), and it has nothing to do with "and"; the suffix is always joined to the word before it. The letter ቅ (ḳə) in ቅቤ and ትልቅ is an ejective, like ቁ in እንቁላል (ənḳulal), "egg". Lesson 2 wrote the suffix of ሰላምና without doubling the n; from this lesson on the course writes it as it is spoken, with a long n.
Key Takeaways: - "And" between nouns is the suffix -ና on the first noun, or the separate word እና: ሻይና ቡና - After a consonant a short ə is heard before -ና; after a vowel it is added at once; the n is long - Each noun keeps its article, its -n and its preposition: ልጁና ውሻው, ወተቱንና ውሃውን, ለእናቴና ለአባቴ - Verbs are joined by the gerund, not by -ና: every verb but the last takes it, ሄዶ ... ገዛ - -ም on each word means "both ... and, also": ሰላምም አበበም - At the head of a sentence እና means "and, and so"; ደግሞ means "also"; -ስ means "and what about …?" - ከ … ጋር is "with", not "and"
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3.1a ሻይና tea-and ቡና coffee አለ there-is
3.1b šayənna (shy-uhn-nah) tea-and buna (boo-nah) coffee allä (ahl-luh) there-is
3.2a እናቴና my-mother-and አባቴ my-father ቤት house ውስጥ inside ናቸው are
3.2b ənnatenna (ihn-nah-ten-nah) mother-1SG.POSS-and abbate (ahb-bah-tay) father-1SG.POSS bet (bayt) house wəsṭ (wihst') inside naččäw (nah-chuhw) COP.3PL
3.3a እኔና I-and አንተ you-M ተማሪዎች students ነን are
3.3b ənenna (ih-nen-nah) I-and antä (ahn-tuh) you-M tämariwočč (tuh-mah-ree-woch) student-PL nän (nuhn) COP.1PL
3.4a ልጁና the-child-and ውሻው the-dog ትንሽ small ናቸው are
3.4b ləǧunna (lih-joon-nah) child-DEF-and wəššaw (wihsh-shaw) dog-DEF tənš (tihnsh) small naččäw (nah-chuhw) COP.3PL
3.5a ወተትና milk-and ስኳር sugar ገዛች bought
3.5b wätätənna (wuh-tuh-tuhn-nah) milk-and səkwar (sih-kwar) sugar gäzzačč (guhz-zahch) buy.PAST-3F
3.6a ቤቱ the-house ትልቅና big-and ጥሩ good ነው is
3.6b betu (bay-too) house-DEF təlləḳənna (tihl-lihk'-ihn-nah) big-and ṭəru (t'ih-roo) good näw (nuhw) COP.3M
3.7a ወንድሜና my-brother-and እህቴ my-sister ወደ to ትምህርት learning ቤት house ሄዱ went
3.7b wändəmenna (wuhn-dih-men-nah) brother-1SG.POSS-and əhte (ih-hih-tay) sister-1SG.POSS wädä (wuh-duh) to təmhərt (tihm-hihrt) learning bet (bayt) house hedu (hay-doo) go.PAST-3PL
3.8a እኛ we ዳቦና bread-and ቅቤ butter በላን ate
3.8b əñña (ihn-nyah) we dabonna (dah-bon-nah) bread-and ḳəbe (k'ih-bay) butter bällan (buhl-lahn) eat.PAST-1PL
3.9a ድመቷና the-cat-and ውሻው the-dog ወተቱንና the-milk-ACC-and ውሃውን the-water-ACC ጠጡ drank
3.9b dəmmätʷanna (dihm-muht-wan-nah) cat-DEF.F-and wəššaw (wihsh-shaw) dog-DEF wätätunənna (wuh-tuh-too-nuhn-nah) milk-DEF-ACC-and wəhawn (wih-hawn) water-DEF-ACC ṭäṭṭu (t'uht'-t'oo) drink.PAST-3PL
3.10a ሰላምና Selam-and አበበ Abebe ከትምህርት from-learning ቤት house መጡ came
3.10b sälamənna (suh-lah-muhn-nah) Selam-and abäbä (ah-buh-buh) Abebe kätəmhərt (kuh-tihm-hihrt) from-learning bet (bayt) house mäṭṭu (muht'-t'oo) come.PAST-3PL
3.11a እሱ he ወደ to ገበያ market ሄዶ having-gone ዳቦና bread-and ወተት milk ገዛ bought
3.11b əssu (ihs-soo) he wädä (wuh-duh) to gäbäya (guh-buh-yah) market hedo (hay-doh) go.GER-3M dabonna (dah-bon-nah) bread-and wätät (wuh-tuht) milk gäzza (guhz-zah) buy.PAST-3M
3.12a እሷ she ቤት house ገብታ having-entered ወተትና milk-and ቡና coffee ጠጣች drank
3.12b əssʷa (ihs-swah) she bet (bayt) house gäbta (guhb-tah) enter.GER-3F wätätənna (wuh-tuh-tuhn-nah) milk-and buna (boo-nah) coffee ṭäṭṭačč (t'uht'-t'ahch) drink.PAST-3F
3.13a እኔ I ዳቦና bread-and ቅቤ butter በልቼ having-eaten ወደ to ሥራ work ሄድኩ went
3.13b əne (ih-nay) I dabonna (dah-bon-nah) bread-and ḳəbe (k'ih-bay) butter bälče (buhl-chay) eat.GER-1SG wädä (wuh-duh) to səra (sih-rah) work hedku (hayd-koo) go.PAST-1SG
3.14a ሰላምም Selam-also አበበም Abebe-also ተማሪዎች students ናቸው are
3.14b sälaməm (suh-lah-mihm) Selam-also abäbäm (ah-buh-buhm) Abebe-also tämariwočč (tuh-mah-ree-woch) student-PL naččäw (nah-chuhw) COP.3PL
3.15a እኔ I ዳቦ bread በላሁ ate ወንድሜም my-brother-also በላ ate
3.15b əne (ih-nay) I dabo (dah-boh) bread bälahu (buh-lah-hoo) eat.PAST-1SG wändəmem (wuhn-dih-mem) brother-1SG.POSS-also bälla (buhl-lah) eat.PAST-3M
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3.1 ሻይና ቡና አለ። (šayənna buna allä) "There is tea and coffee." 3.2 እናቴና አባቴ ቤት ውስጥ ናቸው። (ənnatenna abbate bet wəsṭ naččäw) "My mother and my father are at home." 3.3 እኔና አንተ ተማሪዎች ነን። (ənenna antä tämariwočč nän) "You and I are students." 3.4 ልጁና ውሻው ትንሽ ናቸው። (ləǧunna wəššaw tənš naččäw) "The child and the dog are small." 3.5 ወተትና ስኳር ገዛች። (wätätənna səkwar gäzzačč) "She bought milk and sugar." 3.6 ቤቱ ትልቅና ጥሩ ነው። (betu təlləḳənna ṭəru näw) "The house is big and good." 3.7 ወንድሜና እህቴ ወደ ትምህርት ቤት ሄዱ። (wändəmenna əhte wädä təmhərt bet hedu) "My brother and my sister went to school." 3.8 እኛ ዳቦና ቅቤ በላን። (əñña dabonna ḳəbe bällan) "We ate bread and butter." 3.9 ድመቷና ውሻው ወተቱንና ውሃውን ጠጡ። (dəmmätʷanna wəššaw wätätunənna wəhawn ṭäṭṭu) "The cat and the dog drank the milk and the water." 3.10 ሰላምና አበበ ከትምህርት ቤት መጡ። (sälamənna abäbä kätəmhərt bet mäṭṭu) "Selam and Abebe came from school." 3.11 እሱ ወደ ገበያ ሄዶ ዳቦና ወተት ገዛ። (əssu wädä gäbäya hedo dabonna wätät gäzza) "He went to the market and bought bread and milk." 3.12 እሷ ቤት ገብታ ወተትና ቡና ጠጣች። (əssʷa bet gäbta wätätənna buna ṭäṭṭačč) "She went into the house and drank milk and coffee." 3.13 እኔ ዳቦና ቅቤ በልቼ ወደ ሥራ ሄድኩ። (əne dabonna ḳəbe bälče wädä səra hedku) "I ate bread and butter and went to work." 3.14 ሰላምም አበበም ተማሪዎች ናቸው። (sälaməm abäbäm tämariwočč naččäw) "Both Selam and Abebe are students." 3.15 እኔ ዳቦ በላሁ፤ ወንድሜም በላ። (əne dabo bälahu; wändəmem bälla) "I ate bread, and my brother ate too."
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3.1 ሻይና ቡና አለ። 3.2 እናቴና አባቴ ቤት ውስጥ ናቸው። 3.3 እኔና አንተ ተማሪዎች ነን። 3.4 ልጁና ውሻው ትንሽ ናቸው። 3.5 ወተትና ስኳር ገዛች። 3.6 ቤቱ ትልቅና ጥሩ ነው። 3.7 ወንድሜና እህቴ ወደ ትምህርት ቤት ሄዱ። 3.8 እኛ ዳቦና ቅቤ በላን። 3.9 ድመቷና ውሻው ወተቱንና ውሃውን ጠጡ። 3.10 ሰላምና አበበ ከትምህርት ቤት መጡ። 3.11 እሱ ወደ ገበያ ሄዶ ዳቦና ወተት ገዛ። 3.12 እሷ ቤት ገብታ ወተትና ቡና ጠጣች። 3.13 እኔ ዳቦና ቅቤ በልቼ ወደ ሥራ ሄድኩ። 3.14 ሰላምም አበበም ተማሪዎች ናቸው። 3.15 እኔ ዳቦ በላሁ፤ ወንድሜም በላ።
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These are the grammar rules for expressing "and" in Amharic.
The suffix -ና joins two nouns, and goes on the first. The first noun takes the suffix, and the second follows it as a separate word, with nothing added to it: - ሻይና ቡና (šayənna buna), tea and coffee: 3.1 - ዳቦና ቅቤ (dabonna ḳəbe), bread and butter: 3.8, 3.11, 3.13 - ወተትና ስኳር (wätätənna səkwar), milk and sugar: 3.5 - ሰላምና አበበ (sälamənna abäbä), Selam and Abebe: 3.10
After a noun that ends in a vowel the suffix is added at once (ዳቦና, እናቴና, እኔና). After a noun that ends in a consonant a short ə is heard before it (ሻይና, ወተትና, ሰላምና); the script has no separate sign for this vowel, because the last letter of the noun, in its sixth form, already carries it. The n of the suffix is long in every case.
The separate word እና. እና (əna) means the same. It stands between two nouns, ሻይ እና ቡና, and it begins a sentence: እና ስንት ነው? (3.22), እና ሌላ ነገር? (3.25). For a list of three or more, the separate word before the last item is the plain form: ሻይ፣ ቡና እና ወተት.
Each noun keeps its own endings. - The article stays on both nouns: ልጁና ውሻው (3.4), ድመቷና ውሻው (3.9). The feminine article of Lesson 1 appears on ድመቷ, the masculine or neuter on ውሻው, and each noun keeps its own. - When the pair is the object of the verb, each noun has the -n of the definite object (Lesson 1): ወተቱንና ውሃውን (3.9). The -n of the first noun comes before the suffix, so that the one word has wätätun- and -ənna. - A preposition is repeated: ለእናቴና ለአባቴ (3.30), "for my mother and for my father".
Pronouns. The pronouns are joined in the same way: እኔና አንተ (3.3). The verb that follows agrees with the two together, here the first person plural ነን, "we are".
The verb after "A and B" is plural. Two singular subjects joined by -ና take a plural verb: ናቸው in 3.2, 3.4 and 3.14, ሄዱ in 3.7, መጡ in 3.10, ጠጡ in 3.9.
Adjectives and numbers are joined too. The suffix goes on an adjective, ትልቅና ጥሩ (3.6), "big and good", and on a number, ሃያና ሠላሳ (3.24), "twenty and thirty".
Verbs: the gerund. Verbs are not joined by the noun suffix -ና. Every verb of a chain but the last takes the gerund, which has the person of the verb it leads into: ሄዶ (hedo, he), ገብታ (gäbta, she), በልቼ (bälče, I) in 3.11, 3.12 and 3.13. Each of these ends in a vowel, -o, -a or -e, not in the ending of the past tense. The last verb is the only one that carries the tense: ገዛ (3.11), ጠጣች (3.12), ሄድኩ (3.13).
The ending -ም. - "Also": ወንድሜም በላ (3.15), "my brother also ate"; ወተትም እፈልጋለሁ (3.26), "I want milk too". - "Both ... and", when it stands on each word: ሰላምም አበበም (3.14). In the dialogue ሁለቱም (3.21) is "both" from ሁለት (hulät), "two", with the article -u and -ም. - Compare -ና and -ም. ሰላምና አበበ puts Selam and Abebe together as one group; ሰላምም አበበም names the two one by one, and each is "also".
The ending -ስ. The ending -ስ (-ss) is written on a word and asks "and what about …?": ዳቦና ቅቤስ? (3.20). It is also the usual way of returning a question: ደህና ነኝ፤ አንተስ? (dähna näññ; antäss), "I am well; and you?"
ደግሞ. ደግሞ (dägmo) is "also, again". It does not join nouns; it adds a new statement: ዳቦና ቅቤ ደግሞ ሠላሳ ብር ነው (3.23), "and bread and butter, in turn, are thirty birr". The sentence form ከዚያም (käzziyam), "and then, after that", is of the same kind, and stands at the head of a sentence.
"With" is not "and". ከ … ጋር (kä … gar) is "with" (Lesson 2, 2.24); it is used when one person does something along with another, and the two are not made one group with -ና.
Common Mistakes: - Putting the suffix on the second noun. Say ሻይና ቡና, not \*ሻይ ቡናና - Joining two actions as if they were nouns. Say ሄዶ ገዛ, "went and bought", with the gerund - Using the singular verb after two nouns. Say እናቴና አባቴ ናቸው, not \*እናቴና አባቴ ነው - Leaving the article off the first noun when both nouns are definite: ልጁና ውሻው, ወተቱንና ውሃውን - Dropping the preposition of the second noun: say ለእናቴና ለአባቴ, with ለ on each - Using ከ … ጋር, "with", where Amharic wants a group of two joined by -ና
✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾ ✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾ ✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾
The commonest use of -ስ is in greeting. After the greeting ደህና ነህ? (dähna näh), "are you well?", the answer is ደህና ነኝ (dähna näññ), "I am well", and the speaker at once returns the question with አንተስ? (antäss), "and you?", to a man, or አንቺስ? (ančiss) to a woman. The greeting is thus a pair of questions, each returned with -ስ, and a learner who knows -ስ can keep a first conversation going before knowing many other words.
The dialogue of the Genre Section is a small scene of the kind a learner may meet in a shop. The currency is the birr (ብር), and the prices in the dialogue are made up for the exercise. The buyer says ስጠኝ, "give me", the plain form of request; a more formal request would use a polite form that is not taught here.
Section F gives the first verse of the Bible in Amharic, which has "and" in the pair "heaven and earth", and the verses after it, which use the ending -ም.
✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾ ✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾ ✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾
Genesis 1:1, in the Amharic Bible (መጽሐፍ ቅዱስ, Mäṣḥäf Ḳəddus), in the older printed translation (ኦሪት ዘፍጥረት, Orit Zäfṭäret)
The text, as printed:
በመጀመሪያ እግዚአብሔር ሰማይንና ምድርን ፈጠረ።
F-A: Interlinear
F.1a በመጀመሪያ in-beginning እግዚአብሔር God ሰማይንና heaven-ACC-and ምድርን earth-ACC ፈጠረ created
F.1b bämäǧämmäriya (buh-muh-jum-muh-ree-yah) in-beginning əgziʼabəher (ihg-zee-ah-bih-hehr) God sämaynənna (suh-mayn-nuhn-nah) heaven-ACC-and mədrən (mihd-rihn) earth-ACC fäṭärä (fuh-t'uh-ruh) create.PAST-3M
F-B: Original and Translation
በመጀመሪያ እግዚአብሔር ሰማይንና ምድርን ፈጠረ።
"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." (Translation: Latinum Institute.)
F-C: Original
በመጀመሪያ እግዚአብሔር ሰማይንና ምድርን ፈጠረ።
F-D: Grammar and Literary Commentary
The verse is a plain sentence with a doubled object, and it shows in one line how "and" and the definite object work together. The two objects are ሰማይ (sämay), "heaven, sky", and ምድር (mədr), "earth". Each takes the -n of the object. On the first noun that -n comes before the suffix, so that the one word is ሰማይን-ና, "heaven-ACC-and"; the second, ምድርን, has the -n and nothing else. This is the order described in Section D: the suffix is on the first noun, and each noun keeps its own endings. A reader who knows only the ending -ና and the -n of the object can take the whole verse apart.
The rest of the verse is simple: በመጀመሪያ (bämäǧämmäriya) is the prefix በ-, "in", on መጀመሪያ, "beginning", a noun made from the verb ጀመረ (ǧämmärä), "began"; እግዚአብሔር is the subject, and ፈጠረ (fäṭärä), "he created", ends the sentence, as an Amharic verb should.
The next two verses show the other "and" of this lesson, the ending -ም on each clause. Verse 2 begins ምድርም ባዶ ነበረች (mədrəm bado näbbäräčč), "and the earth was empty", with the past copula of Lesson 2, and verse 3 reads እግዚአብሔርም። ብርሃን ይሁን አለ፤ ብርሃንም ሆነ (əgziʼabəherəm; bərhan yihun alä; bərhanəm honä), "and God said, Let there be light; and there was light", with the ሆነ of Lesson 2. In these verses the -ም does not join two nouns into one group, as -ና does, but links one clause to the one before it, each time with a new subject.
The wording of verse 1, and of the clause quoted from verse 2, is the same on the two Amharic Bible sites consulted; verse 3 was read on one of them only. A newer translation reads ሰማያትንና (sämayatənna), "the heavens-and", with the plural of "heaven"; the way "and" works is the same. Other editions may differ in wording and in punctuation, and the reader who meets another edition should expect other words.
✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾ ✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾ ✾ ❦ ✾ ❦ ✾
A short dialogue between Selam and a seller. Selam speaks first and the two take turns, so that the even-numbered lines (3.16, 3.18 and so on) are Selam's and the odd-numbered lines (3.17, 3.19 and so on) are the seller's. Watch how -ና joins the things she buys, how the separate word እና begins a question, and how -ም and -ስ are used.
3.16a ቡናና coffee-and ስኳር sugar አለ there-is
3.16b bunanna (boo-nan-nah) coffee-and səkwar (sih-kwar) sugar allä (ahl-luh) there-is
3.17a ቡናና coffee-and ሻይ tea አለ there-is ስኳር sugar ግን but የለም there-is-not
3.17b bunanna (boo-nan-nah) coffee-and šay (shy) tea allä (ahl-luh) there-is səkwar (sih-kwar) sugar gən (gihn) but yälläm (yuhl-luhm) there-is-not
3.18a እሺ all-right ቡናና coffee-and ሻይ tea ስጠኝ give-me
3.18b əšši (ih-shee) all-right bunanna (boo-nan-nah) coffee-and šay (shy) tea səṭäññ (sih-t'uhn) give.IMP-1SG.OBJ
3.19a ይኸው here-it-is ቡናና coffee-and ሻይ tea
3.19b yəhäw (yih-huhw) here-it-is bunanna (boo-nan-nah) coffee-and šay (shy) tea
3.20a ዳቦና bread-and ቅቤስ butter-what-about
3.20b dabonna (dah-bon-nah) bread-and ḳəbess (k'ih-bess) butter-what-about
3.21a ዳቦውና the-bread-and ቅቤው the-butter አለ there-is ሁለቱም both ትኩስ fresh ናቸው are
3.21b dabownna (dah-bown-nah) bread-DEF-and ḳəbew (k'ih-bew) butter-DEF allä (ahl-luh) there-is hulätum (hoo-luh-toom) both təkus (tih-koos) fresh naččäw (nah-chuhw) COP.3PL
3.22a እና and ስንት how-much ነው is
3.22b əna (ih-nah) and sənt (sihnt) how-much näw (nuhw) COP.3M
3.23a ቡናና coffee-and ሻይ tea ሃያ twenty ብር birr ነው is ዳቦና bread-and ቅቤ butter ደግሞ also ሠላሳ thirty ብር birr ነው is
3.23b bunanna (boo-nan-nah) coffee-and šay (shy) tea haya (hah-yah) twenty bərr (bihrr) birr näw (nuhw) COP.3M dabonna (dah-bon-nah) bread-and ḳəbe (k'ih-bay) butter dägmo (dug-moh) also sälasa (suh-lah-sah) thirty bərr (bihrr) birr näw (nuhw) COP.3M
3.24a ሃያና twenty-and ሠላሳ thirty ሃምሳ fifty ብር birr ነው is
3.24b hayanna (hah-yan-nah) twenty-and sälasa (suh-lah-sah) thirty hamsa (hahm-sah) fifty bərr (bihrr) birr näw (nuhw) COP.3M
3.25a አዎ yes ሃምሳ fifty ብር birr ነው is እና and ሌላ other ነገር thing
3.25b awo (ah-woh) yes hamsa (hahm-sah) fifty bərr (bihrr) birr näw (nuhw) COP.3M əna (ih-nah) and lela (lay-lah) other nägär (nuh-guhr) thing
3.26a አዎ yes ወተትም milk-also እፈልጋለሁ I-want
3.26b awo (ah-woh) yes wätätəm (wuh-tuh-tuhm) milk-also əfälləgallähu (ih-fuhl-luh-gahl-luh-hoo) 1SG-want.IMPF-1SG
3.27a ወተትና milk-and እንቁላል egg እዚያ there አለ there-is
3.27b wätätənna (wuh-tuh-tuhn-nah) milk-and ənḳulal (ihn-k'oo-lahl) egg əzziya (ihz-zee-yah) there allä (ahl-luh) there-is
3.28a ሁለት two ሊትር litre ወተትና milk-and ስድስት six እንቁላል egg ስጠኝ give-me
3.28b hulät (hoo-luht) two litər (lee-tihr) litre wätätənna (wuh-tuh-tuhn-nah) milk-and sədsət (sihd-siht) six ənḳulal (ihn-k'oo-lahl) egg səṭäññ (sih-t'uhn) give.IMP-1SG.OBJ
3.29a ይኸው here-it-is ወተቱና the-milk-and እንቁላሉ the-egg
3.29b yəhäw (yih-huhw) here-it-is wätätunna (wuh-tuh-toon-nah) milk-DEF-and ənḳulalu (ihn-k'oo-lah-loo) egg-DEF
3.30a አመሰግናለሁ I-thank ወተቱና the-milk-and እንቁላሉ the-egg ለእናቴና for-my-mother-and ለአባቴ for-my-father ናቸው are
3.30b amäsäggənallähu (ah-muh-suhg-guh-nahl-luh-hoo) 1SG-thank.IMPF-1SG wätätunna (wuh-tuh-toon-nah) milk-DEF-and ənḳulalu (ihn-k'oo-lah-loo) egg-DEF läənnatenna (luh-ihn-nah-ten-nah) for-mother-1SG.POSS-and läabbate (luh-ahb-bah-tay) for-father-1SG.POSS naččäw (nah-chuhw) COP.3PL
3.16 ቡናና ስኳር አለ? (bunanna səkwar allä) "Is there coffee and sugar?" 3.17 ቡናና ሻይ አለ፤ ስኳር ግን የለም። (bunanna šay allä; səkwar gən yälläm) "There is coffee and tea, but there is no sugar." 3.18 እሺ፤ ቡናና ሻይ ስጠኝ። (əšši; bunanna šay səṭäññ) "All right; give me coffee and tea." 3.19 ይኸው፤ ቡናና ሻይ። (yəhäw; bunanna šay) "Here you are: coffee and tea." 3.20 ዳቦና ቅቤስ? (dabonna ḳəbess) "And what about bread and butter?" 3.21 ዳቦውና ቅቤው አለ፤ ሁለቱም ትኩስ ናቸው። (dabownna ḳəbew allä; hulätum təkus naččäw) "The bread and the butter are available; both are fresh." 3.22 እና ስንት ነው? (əna sənt näw) "And how much is it?" 3.23 ቡናና ሻይ ሃያ ብር ነው፤ ዳቦና ቅቤ ደግሞ ሠላሳ ብር ነው። (bunanna šay haya bərr näw; dabonna ḳəbe dägmo sälasa bərr näw) "Coffee and tea are twenty birr, and bread and butter are thirty birr." 3.24 ሃያና ሠላሳ ሃምሳ ብር ነው። (hayanna sälasa hamsa bərr näw) "Twenty and thirty is fifty birr." 3.25 አዎ፤ ሃምሳ ብር ነው። እና ሌላ ነገር? (awo; hamsa bərr näw. əna lela nägär) "Yes, it is fifty birr. And anything else?" 3.26 አዎ፤ ወተትም እፈልጋለሁ። (awo; wätätəm əfälləgallähu) "Yes, I want milk too." 3.27 ወተትና እንቁላል እዚያ አለ። (wätätənna ənḳulal əzziya allä) "There are milk and eggs over there." 3.28 ሁለት ሊትር ወተትና ስድስት እንቁላል ስጠኝ። (hulät litər wätätənna sədsət ənḳulal səṭäññ) "Give me two litres of milk and six eggs." 3.29 ይኸው፤ ወተቱና እንቁላሉ። (yəhäw; wätätunna ənḳulalu) "Here you are: the milk and the eggs." 3.30 አመሰግናለሁ፤ ወተቱና እንቁላሉ ለእናቴና ለአባቴ ናቸው። (amäsäggənallähu; wätätunna ənḳulalu läənnatenna läabbate naččäw) "Thank you; the milk and the eggs are for my mother and my father."
3.16 ቡናና ስኳር አለ? 3.17 ቡናና ሻይ አለ፤ ስኳር ግን የለም። 3.18 እሺ፤ ቡናና ሻይ ስጠኝ። 3.19 ይኸው፤ ቡናና ሻይ። 3.20 ዳቦና ቅቤስ? 3.21 ዳቦውና ቅቤው አለ፤ ሁለቱም ትኩስ ናቸው። 3.22 እና ስንት ነው? 3.23 ቡናና ሻይ ሃያ ብር ነው፤ ዳቦና ቅቤ ደግሞ ሠላሳ ብር ነው። 3.24 ሃያና ሠላሳ ሃምሳ ብር ነው። 3.25 አዎ፤ ሃምሳ ብር ነው። እና ሌላ ነገር? 3.26 አዎ፤ ወተትም እፈልጋለሁ። 3.27 ወተትና እንቁላል እዚያ አለ። 3.28 ሁለት ሊትር ወተትና ስድስት እንቁላል ስጠኝ። 3.29 ይኸው፤ ወተቱና እንቁላሉ። 3.30 አመሰግናለሁ፤ ወተቱና እንቁላሉ ለእናቴና ለአባቴ ናቸው።
Every line has an "and". The things that are bought are always joined with the suffix: ቡናና ሻይ (3.16–3.19, 3.23), ዳቦና ቅቤ (3.20, 3.23), ወተትና እንቁላል (3.27, 3.28). The separate word እና is kept for the head of a question (3.22, 3.25).
The article on both nouns (3.21, 3.29, 3.30). When the buyer has seen the goods, they are definite, and both nouns take the article: ዳቦውና ቅቤው, ወተቱና እንቁላሉ. After the vowel ዳቦ the article is -w, so that the word is ዳቦው, and the suffix follows it: ዳቦውና.
ወተቱና and ወተቱንና. The two words differ by one letter. ወተቱና (wätätunna) in 3.29 and 3.30 is "the milk and" without the object -n, and ወተቱንና (wätätunənna) in 3.9 is "the milk and" as an object, with the -n of Lesson 1.
-ም and -ስ. In 3.26 ወተትም is "milk too", and the buyer adds a new thing to what she has already asked for. In 3.20 ዳቦና ቅቤስ is the buyer's way of asking about two more things, and the -ስ stands at the end of the pair, not on each noun.
ሁለቱም (3.21). ሁለቱም (hulätum) is "both": ሁለት, "two", with the article -u and the ending -ም. It stands before the predicate and takes the plural: ሁለቱም ትኩስ ናቸው.
Adding with "and" (3.24). Numbers are joined in the same way as nouns: ሃያና ሠላሳ ሃምሳ ብር ነው is "twenty and thirty is fifty birr", where ነው follows the sum as the copula of Lesson 2.
ግን and ደግሞ. ግን, "but", comes after the first word of its clause: ስኳር ግን የለም (3.17), as in Lesson 2. ደግሞ, "also", stands after the thing it adds (3.23).
Preposition repeated (3.30). ለእናቴና ለአባቴ has ለ- twice, once on each noun, and the plural ናቸው of Lesson 2 closes the sentence.
The command ስጠኝ (3.18, 3.28). ስጠኝ (səṭäññ) is "give me": the command ስጥ (səṭ), "give", and the ending -ኝ (-ññ), "me", which is the same -ኝ as in አለኝ in Lesson 2. It is addressed to one man; to a woman it would be ስጪኝ.
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The vowels and signs are those of Lessons 1 and 2: 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 long n of the suffix, and the ejective in ቅቤ and እንቁላል.
-ና (-nna) — IPA: /-nːa/ — the n is held for twice as long as a short n, and the vowel is a as in "father". The length is not written in the script. እና (əna) — IPA: /ʔɨna/ — the first vowel is ə, a short vowel that has no English equivalent, between "i" in "bit" and "u" in "put"; it begins with the catch in the throat that the letter እ stands for. The n may also be held long, as in the suffix. ሻይና (šayənna) — IPA: /ʃajɨnːa/ — the first sound is the "sh" of "shy", then the vowel ə is heard between y and the long n. ዳቦና (dabonna) — IPA: /dabonːa/ — the long n follows the o with no vowel between. ሰላምና (sälamənna) — IPA: /səlamɨnːa/ — the vowel ə is a short, light vowel between m and the long n. ቅቤ (ḳəbe) — IPA: /kʼɨbe/ — the first sound is an ejective k, a k said with the throat closed so that the sound comes out with a small pop. እንቁላል (ənḳulal) — IPA: /ʔɨnkʼulal/ — the same ejective k, followed by the vowel u. ሁለቱም (hulätum) — IPA: /hulətum/ — the vowel of the first syllable is u as in "rule". ደግሞ (dägmo) — IPA: /dəgmo/ — two syllables, the first with ä and the second with a cluster gm that has no vowel between. ሃያ (haya) — IPA: /haja/ — the y is the consonant of "yes". ሥራ (səra) — IPA: /sɨra/ — the first letter is a plain s, the same sound as in ሰ.
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