18 Introduction to Classical Ethiopic.pdf

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface ix

Abbreviations and Conventions x

Introduction 1

Distributed by

Scholars Press

PO Box 5207

Missoula, Montana 59806

Phonology 2

A. The Vowels 2

B. The Consonants 3

C. Stress 5

D. Root and Pattern 5

E. The Ethiopic Alphabet 6

F. Special Phonological Rules 7

INTRODUCTION TO CLASSICAL ETHIOPIC

Thomas O. Lambdin

G. Manuscript Errors and Normalization 13

1.1 Absence of Definite and Indefinite Articles 15

1.2 Prepositions 15

1.3 Third Person Forms of the Verb (Perfect) 15

2.1 Noun Plurals 18

2.2 Syntax (Verb plus Noun Subject) 18

3.1 Noun Plurals (cont.) 21

The President and Fellows of Harvard College

3.2 Collectives 21

4.1 The Construct State 23

5.1 Gender 26

5.2 Number 27

5.3 Some Demonstrative Adjectives 27

6.1 The Personal Pronouns (Independent Form) 29

6.2 Non-verbal Sentences with a Nominal Predicate 29

Library of Congress Cataloging

Publication Data

6.3 The Plural Demonstratives 30

Lambdin, Thomas Oden.

Introduction to Classical Ethiopic (Ge'ez)

7.1 The Accusative Case 33

7.2 Word Order in a Verbal Clause 33

(Harvard Semitic studies; v. 24 ISSN 0147·

9342)

Bibliography: p.

1. Ethiopic language-Grammar. I. Harvard

University. Semitic Museum. II. Title. III. S e ries:

Harvard Semitic series; v. 24.

PJ9023.L3

7.3 The Accusative of Goal 33

7.4 The Accusative Forms of the Demonstratives 34

8.1 Interrogative Pronouns and Adjectives 36

8.2 Interrogative Adverbs 36

492'.8

78-12895

8.3 The Particles -nu and -hu

ISBN 0-89130-263-8

8.4 The Remote Demonstratives 37

Printed in the United Stut('H or Alll('rim

l 4 i

8.5 Accusative of Time 37

10.1

Prepositions with Pronominal Suffixes

27.1 Causative Verbs: CG (cont.)

117

10.2

The waldu la-negus Construction

27.2

Causative Verbs: CD, CL, CQ

118

10.3 t eZZ- 45

11 .1 Types of Verbs

27.3

General Remarks on the Verbal System

118

28.1 Ba- with Pronominal Suffixes

122

11.2

The Full Inflection of the Perfect

28.2 Ba- Indicating Possession 122

28.3 Bo(tu) Indicating Existence 123

28.4 Bo za- as the Equivalent of an Indefinite Pronoun

12 .1 The Perfect: Roots II-Guttural

13.1

The Perfect: Roots III-Guttural

123

13.2 The Perfect with Object Suffixes

28.5 'Albo ... za'enbala: Only 123

29.1 Interrogatives with' za- 128

29.2 Indefinite Pronouns

14.1 The Perfect: Roots III-W!Y

15.1

The Perfect: Roots II-W!Y

128

15.2

The Perfect with Object Suffixes (cont.)

29.3 'Akko 129

30.1 The Infinitive: Form 134

30.2 The Infinitive: Uses 134

31.1 The Perfective Active Participle

15 .3 The qatalo la-negu s Construction

16.1 Adjectives 68

16 .2 Attribut�ve Adjectives

140

17.1

Adjectives: The Pattern Qetul

32.1

The Imperfect: G Verbs from Sound Roots

144

.2 Adjectives as P re di c ates

32 .2 Independent Uses of the Imperfect

144

17 .3 Adv rblal Predicates 73

18. I AdJ eli v s: 'h

Pattern Qatil

32 .3 Dependent Uses of the Imperfect 145

33 .1 The Subjunctive: G Verbs from Sound Roots

149

1 30 2 Tllu C;OlllplIl'nllv

33 .2 The Uses of the Subjunctive 149

34 .1 The Imperative: G Verbs from Sound Roots

Ifl.1

Ad) ltlv I: 'I'll

Pattern QattaZ

154

11)."

AdJ l't 1 Vll. In -Ji and -y

34.2 The Agent Noun qatali 154

35 .1 The Verbal Adjective qetuZ

ll).�

AdJ ctJvos: Miscellaneous Types

159

I�).\

Qualification

35.2

Further Remarks on Complements

160

H).S

Substantivization

36.1 The Verbal Noun (G Verbs)

164

20.1

La- with Pronominal Suffixes

36 .2 The Cognate Accusative

166

20.2

Object suffixes in a Dative or Prepositional Sense

37.1

Nouns of Place: The Pattern meqtal

170

20.3 Partitive Apposition 85

21 .1 Medio-passive Verbs: Gt 88

22.1 Medio-passive Verbs: Dt, Lt, Qt

37.2

Nouns of the Pattern maqtaZ(t)

170

38.1

G Verbs from Roots I-Guttural: Remaining Forms

174

39.1 G Verbs from Roots II-Guttural: Remaining Forms

180

23 .1 Cardinal Numbers (1-10) 97

23.2 Ordinal Numbers (1-10) 97

23 .3 Cardinal Adverbs (1-10) 98

24.1 Associative (Reciprocal) Verbs: G1t

39.2 The Verb behZa to say

181

40.1

G Verbs from Roots III-Guttural: The Remaining Forms

186

101

41.1 G Verbs from Roots I-W: The Remaining Forms 191

42.1 G Verbs from Roots II-W!Y: The Remaining Forms

195

25.1

Relative Pronouns and Relative Clauses

106

43 .1 G Verbs from Roots III-W!Y: The Remaining Forms

200

25 .2 'Ama and xaba

108

44.1 Gt Verbs: Imperfect, Subjunctive, and Imperative

205

26.1 Causative Verbs: CG, CD, CL, CQ

III

44.2

Glt Verbs: Imperfect, Subjunctive, and Imperative

205

26.2

The Meaning of CG Verbs

III

44.3 HaZZwa with the Subjunctive and Imperfect

206

45 .1 CG Verbs: The Remaining Forms 209

46.1 0 Verbs: Iperfect, Subjunctive, and Imperative 214

46 .2 The Names of the Months 214

46 .3 The Numbers Above Ten 215

47 .1

47 .2

PREFACE

Verbs:

Verbal Adjectives 218

Agent Nouns 218

Verbal Nouns 219

Nouns with Prefixed m-

Imperfect, Subjunctive,

Verbal Nouns 222

223

The present work was developed during more than a decade of

teaching Classical Ethiopic on the elementary and intermediate levels.

It is designed to provide a detailed but carefully graded introduc

tion to the grammar and basic vocabulary of the language. The mate

rial covered in this book should be adequate in itself for those who,

as Semitists or students of textual criticism, require only a working

knowledge of the language as a tool within a wider discipline . I

Verbs:

Verbs

47 .3

47 .4

220

and Imperative 222

48.1

48 .2

48. 3

hope too that beginning Ethiopicists will find it an orderly and com

prehensive introduction to their study of the classical language.

Because the gramar is presented entirely in transliteration,

the student is urged to familiarize himself with the Ethiopic alpha

bet as soon as possible and to copy out and study at least the

vocabulary of each lesson in the native script . In this way he will

considerably lessen the difficulty in making the transition to the

reading of published texts and manuscripts.

It is a pleasure to acknowledge my gratitude to the many

classes which have worked with me through the successive drafts of

this grammar. I have profited greatly from their criticism, ques

tions, and corrections, but most of all from the practical experience

of teaching so many interested and gifted students.

also wish to express my sincere thanks to Miss Carol Cross

for the great care and professional skill which she exercised in pre

paring the copy for publication. Her patience with a tedious manu

script and author is undoubtedly registered in the Ma��afa jeywat.

Lastly, I cannot let go unexpressed my deep appreciation for

the genius and diligence of August Oillmann, whose grammatical, tex

tual, and lexical work in the last century laid the firmest possible

foundation for all subsequent scholarly investigation in the field.

It is on that foundation that the present work is based.

48. 4 Independent Personal Pronouns (Secondary Forms) 223

49. 1 L, CL, and Lt Verbs: The Remaining Forms 225

49 .2 CGt, COt, CLt, and CGlt Verbs 226

50 .1 Quadriliteral Verbs: The Remaining Forms 228

50. 2 Quinquiliteral Verbs 229

50 .3 N Verbs 229

50 .4 A Special Adjective Type: Qataltil 230

51.1 Conditional Sentences 231

51 .2 Optative Sentences 232

51.3 The Syllogistic Construction Za .. , 'efo 232

51.4 The Sentence Particles 232

51 .5 The Repeated Prepositions ba-ba-, la-la-, za-za- 234

51 .6 A Special Use of the Third Person Singular Pronominal

Suffixes 234

51.7 The Periphrastic Passive 235

51 .8 Attributive Adjectives in Construct Phrases 235

Texts in Transliteration with Glosses 236

Lives of the Saints (from the Synaxarion) 236

The Book of Baruch 276

The Gospel of Matthew 298

Matthew V, 1-24, in Ethiopic Script 377

A Selected Bibliography 378

Glossary 381

Principal Part of G Verbs 450

Thomas O. Lambdin

Cambridge, Massachusetts

June

1978

Abbreviations and Conventions

a. d. o.

accusative direct

object

agent noun (also an.)

accusative

adjective

adverb

common gender

causative

collective

complement

coordinated

dative

demonstrative

direct

for example

enclitic

especially

exaple(s)

exclamation

feminine

figuratively

following, followed

Greek

that is.

imperfect

indefinite

indirect

infinitive

interrogative

introductory

literally

neg.

o. S.

O. T.

obj.

part.

pass.

perf.

pers.

pI.

pred.

prep.

pron.

q. V.

reI.

subj.

sing.

suff.

v. n.

voc.

negative

object suffix

Old Testament

object

particle

passive

perfect

person

plural

predicate

preposition

pronoun

which see

relative

subjunctive, subject

singular

suffix(es)

verbal noun (also n.)

vocative

with

Introduction

a. n.

acc.

adj.

adv.

caus.

colI.

comp!.

coord.

dat.

demo

dir.

e.g.

encl.

esp.

ex(x).

exclam.

fem.

fig.

foIl.

Gk.

i. e.

imperf.

indef.

indir.

inf.

interrog.

introd.

lit.

masc.

N. 1'.

Classical Ethiopic, or Ge'ez, is the literary language devel

oped by missionaries for the translation of the scriptures afte � the

Christianization of Ethiopia in the 4th century. The new written

language was presumably based on the spoken language of Aksum, the

commercial and political center �t the time. Some inscriptional

material survives from this earliest p eriod of the language, but our

main source is the extensive religious literature which was trans-

. ,

lated into Ge'ez during the ensuing centuries. As the official lan-

guage of the church, the written language survived the demise of its

spoken counterpart in a manner analogous to the survival of Latin in

Europe.

millennium B.C.

or (used in listing alter

nate constructions, tran

scriptions, or meanings)

"has the same meaning(s) as

the preceding entry"

"has the same range of

meanings as the main entry'

"is completely equivalent

to in regard to meanings

and constructions"

wi th or without

idem

�r thog �

etc.

masculine

m.scul n

nOLl11

N w 'I' � Llunc nl

In tho reading of plurals, suffixes are to

b .dded to the preceding item: te'mert

(p I. -I! J ,' ne' J

-at) = te'mert (p 1.

I '11/ t' Trl. , ,1' ner J

ta' merat) .

(usually Amharic). In developing the grammar of Ge ' ez in the follow

ing lessons I have followed as closely as possible the traditional

pronunciation as studied and published by E. Mittwoch, Die tradi

tioneZZe Aussprache des Athiopischen (Berlin 1926). All major devia

tions from this tradition are noted in the appropriate sections of

the lessons; these result either from a choice among variant forms or

from an attept to minimize the influence of Amharic present in the

pronunciation. Since all deviations involve either consonantal dou

bling or the presence of an e-vowel, the reader is not likely to be

seriously misled by my interpretation of a particular form. To

attempt a harmonization of all published material would be far more

confusing. The interested reader may consult the Bibliography.

High

High-Mid

Mid

Mid-Low

Low

Front

i [i]

e [e]

Central

e [i]

Back

u [u]

o [0]

a [e, 1]

a [a,a]

prononced [b Y et W on]. This feature is

not represented in the script, and unless the student is determined

to imitate the modern reading pronunciation in every detail, it may

be ignored. The correct pronunciation of e and a is very difficult

for the speaker of English. Since Ge'ez is no longer a spoken lan

guage, the following approximations should prove adequate:

� ��

Phonology

..... ;

.�"

A. The Vowels

a as in father, short

e as in let, short

a as in father, long

i as in machine, long

o as in boat, long

u as in boot, long.

The distinction between long and short vowels, a property of

earlier Semitic according to standard reconstruction, probably per

sisted into the period when Ge'ez was first reduced to written form,

but because this cannot be proven except by appeal to certain struc

tural features, an argument that not all scholars would accept, and

because the moden reading traditions do not recognize vowel length

as a significant vowel feature, reference to long and short vowels in

the following discussion should be regarded as a classification which

the writer finds convenient for the description of the phonology

rather than a universally accepted fact about the Ge'ez vowel system.

� �

as in bait, long

The length distinction between a and a is not difficult to make. For

those who have no concept of vowel length, however, a may be pro

nounced like the vowel of up, and a like the first vowel of father,

in order to maintain this importnt distinction.

B. The_Consonants

There are seven vowels:

r; �

�.. "", i' I

l) ' I Long:

Most of the Ethiopic consonants have an approximate counterpart

in English and offer no problems in pronunciation:

..!.,,'

short: a, e" /

i, i, u, e, 0

b as in boy

d as in dog

f as in foot

g as in goat

h as in hope

k as in king

Z as in leaf

s like sh in should

t as in tea

W as in wall

� "

Only a and � are marked with macrons in our transcription, since no

confusion can result from leaving i, u, and 0 unmarked. The vowels e

and 0 usually result from the contraction of the diphthongs ay and w

respectively. There are many situations where w and 0 altenate

optionally (e.g. taZoku, taZawku I followed) . Optional alternation

between ay and e is less common but not problematic.

The modern reading pronunciation of these vowels is indicated

by their position on the following standard chart. Brackets enclose

_. __ .. .. 1..

as in man

n as in no

s as in so

as in yet

as in zoo

,1" No distinction is made between 8 and s in the moden tradition; both

are pronounced as s. b tends to be pronounced as a voiced bilabial

spirant [a], in medial positions when not doubled.

�_The five sounds ' (h � x will be referred to collectively as

gutturals. Three of the gutturals (h � x) are pronounced simply as I

e and 0 are very often preceded by palatal and labial glides respec

tively: for exaple, beton is

Plik z chomika:

Inne pliki z tego folderu:

Inne foldery tego chomika: