Essentials of Amharic, by

Anbessa Teferra & Grover Hudson

Published by Rüdiger Köppe Verlag, Köln, 2008

Contents

Preface 9

List of abbreviations 10

PART 1. History and Society

1. People and territory 11

1.2. Other Ethiopian languages 11

1.3. The linguistic classification of Amharic 14

1.3.1. Semitic 14

1.3.2. Afroasiatic 19

1.3.3. Ethiopian Semitic 19

1.4. Bilingualism in Ethiopia 22

1.5. Ethiopian national language policy 23

1.6. Amharic literature 24

1.7. Books for learning Amharic 25

1.8. References for §1 27

PART 2. Grammar

2. Amharic sounds 29

2.1. Consonants 29

2.1.1. Consonant variants 30

2.1.2. Labiovelar consonants 31

2.1.3. y and w insertion 31

2.1.4. y replacement 32

2.1.5. Long consonants 32

2.1.6. Palatalization 32

2.1.7. Labialization 33

2.2. Vowels 34

2.2.1. Vowel variants 34

2.2.2. Vowel elision 35

2.2.3. Vowel insertion 35

2.2.4. Vowel replacement 35

2.2.5. Voiceless vowel 35

2.3. Stress 35

2.4. Structure of words 36

2.5. Writing Amharic in European alphabets 37

3. Amharic words 39

3.1. Pronouns 39

3.1.1. Independent pronouns 39

3.1.2. Noun-possessive suffix pronouns 40

3.1.3. Verb-object suffix pronouns 41

3.1.4. Reflexive emphatic pronouns 42

3.1.5. Interrogative pronouns 42

3.2. Nouns 42

3.2.1. Masculine and feminine nouns 42

3.2.2. Definite nouns 43

3.2.3. Indefinite article 43

3.2.4. Noun plural suffix 43

3.2.5. Possessive 43

3.2.6. Definite object suffix 44

3.2.7. Contrast / topic suffix 44

3.2.8. Nouns derived from verbs 45

3.2.8.1. Verbal noun / infinitive 45

3.2.8.2. Place and instrument noun 45

3.2.8.3. Agent noun 46

3.2.8.4. Abstract noun 46

3.2.8.5. Nationality and language names 46

3.3. Prepositions 46

3.4. Adjectives 47

3.4.1. Derived adjectives 48

3.4.2. Comparative and superlative 48

3.5. Demonstratives 49

3.6. Numerals and time 50

3.7. Verbs 51

3.7.1. Roots, stems, and words 51

3.7.1.1. Twelve verb types 52

3.7.1.2. A-type and B-type verbs 53

3.7.1.3. C-type verbs 54

3.7.1.4. Verb roots with two consonants 54

3.7.1.5. Verb roots with initial a 54

3.7.2. Four basic verb conjugations 55

3.7.2.1. Past 55

3.7.2.2. Nonpast 56

3.7.2.3. Jussive and imperative 59

3.7.2.4. Converb 60

3.7.3. Infinitive 63

3.7.4. Verb of being 63

3.7.5. Verb of presence 64

3.7.6. Having / possession 65

3.7.7. Other tenses and moods 67

3.7.7.1. Past perfect 67

3.7.7.2. Obligation 67

3.7.7.3. Habitual past 67

3.7.7.4. Conditional perfect 67

3.7.7.5. Progressive aspect 67

3.7.7.6. To be about to do 68

3.7.7.7. To intend to do 68

3.7.8. Derived verbs 68

3.7.8.1. Causative 68

3.7.8.2. Passive / reflexive 70

3.7.8.3. Reciprocal (‘each other’) 71

3.7.8.4. Adjutative (‘help to’) 72

3.7.8.5. Repetitive 72

3.7.8.6. Verbs derived from nouns 73

3.7.8.7. Defective verbs 73

3.7.9. Derived verbs in Amharic dictionaries 73

3.7.10. ‘Say’ verbs 74

3.7.11. ‘Do’ verbs 75

3.7.12. Impersonal verbs 75

4. Amharic sentences 77

4.1. Sentence word order 77

4.1.1. Verb last 77

4.1.2. Subject and object order 77

4.1.3. Preverbal question words 78

4.1.4. Adverbs 78

4.1.5. The logic of word-order differences 78

4.2. Question particles 79

4.3. Noun-phrase word order 79

4.4. Prepositions and postpositions 80

4.5. Coordination (‘and’) 81

4.6. Contrast (‘but’) 82

4.7. Adjective clauses 83

4.8. Noun clauses 84

4.9. Adverb clauses 85

4.10. Cleft sentences 87

4.11. Sentences in the appendices 88

5. Amharic writing 89

5.1. History of Amharic writing 89

5.1.1. Sumerian 89

5.1.2. Egyptian 89

5.1.3. Sinaitic 91

5.1.4. Greek 92

5.1.5. South Arabian 92

5.1.6. Ethiopic 93

5.1.7. Amharic 95

5.1.8. References for §5.1 95

5.2. Consonants and vowels in Amharic writing 96

5.3. Structure of the Amharic writing system 99

5.3.1. Patterns of vowel modification 99

5.3.1.1. Two-legged fidel 100

5.3.1.2. One-legged fidel 101

5.3.1.3. Three-legged fidel 101

5.3.1.4. Legless fidel 102

5.3.2. Homophonous fidel 102

5.3.2.1. Two ways to write ÷ 103

5.3.2.2. Four ways to write h 104

5.3.2.3. Two ways to write s 104

5.3.2.4. Two ways to write s’ 105

5.3.3. Labiovelar and labialized consonants 105

5.3.4. Historically later fidel 106

5.3.5. Numbers 107

5.3.6. Long consonants not written 107

5.3.7. Alphabetical and dictionary order 108

Appendices to Part 2 (list of appendices) 111

PART 3. Learn to Read Amharic

Introduction 145

25 Exercises for learning to read Amharic 146

Answers to the exercises 174

PART 4. Wordlists

Introduction to the wordlists 187

Amharic-English 189

English-Amharic 217

Index 251

Preface

This is a book for adult learners of Amharic, for linguists, and for students of Ethiopian history and society who early in their study need a broad but thorough introduction to the history, society, phonetics, grammar, vocabulary, and writing system of this major language of Ethiopia. Nowadays Amharic is also being increasingly studied by the second and third generation of emigrants from Ethiopia, who wish to preserve their linguistic heritage in families where other languages may have become the first language. Travelers in Ethiopia will have an interest in Amharic, which is the lingua franca, spoken throughout the country. As a thorough introduction to the language, this book should be of interest to all these groups.

Amharic is one of the fifty most important languages in the world, in terms of number of speakers, and political, historical, and cultural importance. Its eighteen million or so speakers live mainly in Ethiopia, but as the result of emigration since the 1970s, hundreds of thousands in Amharic speakers now reside in Europe, the U.S., and Israel. Because of its importance as a Semitic, African, and Ethiopian language, Amharic more than other African languages has benefitted from the interest of linguists, who have written much on the language, but most of this addressed to other specialists. In fact, the first European-language grammar of Amharic was written in 1698, by Hiob Ludolf, in Latin.

There is a lengthy and excellent Amharic reference grammar by Wolf Leslau (1995), a two-volume Amharic-English dictionary by Thomas Kane (1990), good textbooks for studying the language, and clever and imaginative books published in Addis Ababa and directed either at learners or written for Amharic-speaking children. There are good introductory grammars, and good short dictionaries of Amharic; see the list of books for learning Amharic, on pp. 25-27. But one can find both grammar and vocabulary only in the textbooks, in which these are spread through the lessons. And the textbooks lack discussion of Amharic history and the Ethiopian linguistic setting.

This book therefore satisfies the need for a thorough book-length introduction to Amharic which includes an introduction to Amharic history and society (Part 1), a basic survey of the grammar including the writing system (Part 2), and lengthy Amharic-English and English-Amharic wordlists (Part 4). We satisfy two additional needs of such a book: Amharic examples are fully presented in phonetic writing so knowledge of the Amharic writing system is not required, while much of the grammar and vocabulary are also presented in Amharic writing for those who want and expect it. For those who want to learn to read Amharic – absolutely necessary for those who expect to continue their study of the language – a thorough presentation of the Amharic writing system is provided, and as Part 3 a set of graded lessons to learn it, as a way to write English.

We gratefully acknowledge funding from the Department of Linguistics and Germanic, Slavic, Asian and African Languages and the College of Arts and Letters of Michigan State University, which made publication possible. The language map of Ethiopia, Fig. 1.2, was drawn by Monika Feinen (Cologne). We owe thanks also to the publisher, Rüdiger Köppe, for important editorial assistance and advice.

Anbessa Teferra, Hadera, Israel

Grover Hudson, East Lansing, Michigan, USA