RESOURCES FOR LEARNING GE'EZ: THE CLASSICAL LANGUAGE OF ETHIOPIA

RESOURCES FOR LEARNING GE'EZ-- THE CLASSICAL LANGUAGE OF ETHIOPIA

October 27, 2011

4: Personal Pronouns

Ge'ez has ten distinct personal pronouns, that act as copulas. The underlined letters in the chart (below) are the stressed syllables.


SINGULAR

PLURAL
1st Person
አነ
ene
I

ንሕነ
nəḥne
We

2nd Person
ንተ
ente
You (m.)

አንትሙ
entəmu
Y’all (m.)

enti
You (f.)

ንትን
entən
Y’all (f.)

3rd Person
ውእ
wə’ətu
He / It

əmuntu
They (m.)

እቲ
yə’əti
She / It

ማን
əmantu
They (f.)




The independent forms of personal pronouns (above) act as copulas when they appear after a noun:
ካህን፡አነ።
kahən ene
I am a priest.
ንጉሥ፡አነ።
nəguš ene
I am a king.
ንግሥት፡አነ።
nəgəšt ene
I am a queen.



ካህን፡አንተ።
kahən ente
You are a priest.
ንጉሥ፡አንተ።
nəguš ente
You are a king.
ብእሲ፡አንተ።
bə’əsi ente
You are a man.
ብእሲት፡አንቲ።
bə’əsit enti
You are a woman.
ንግሥት፡አንቲ።
nəgəšt enti
You are a queen.



ካህን፡ውእቱ።
kahən wə’ətu
He is a priest.
ውእቱ።
eb wə’ətu
He is a father.
ክታብ፡ውእቱ።
kətab wə’ətu
It is a book (masc.)
ንግሥት፡ይእቲ።
nəgəšt yə’əti
She is a queen.
ም፡ይእቲ።
əmm yə’əti
She is a mother.
ኢየሩሳሌም፡ይእቲ።
iyerusalém yə’əti
It is Jerusalem (fem.)










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