Lesson 7

Greetings

Daily greetings consist of introductory greeting, general enquiry about the well-being, and greetings of good wishes in concluding the greeting. Both introductory greeting and concluding greeting are very important and their exact form depends upon the time of the day, that is, whether it is morning afternoon, or evening.

Usually, general greeting applies to all times of the day, or period, and comes between the introductory greeting and the concluding greeting. The entire greeting is concerned with the past (introductory greeting), present (general), and future conditions (best wishes, or saluting), about health and/or the situation (bri jar). A simplified form follows, which does not include details about relatives, the situation (political, economic, social) etc.

Introduction ------>General------------>Closing

We start with general greeting between two individuals, A and B.

General Greeting

Regardless of the time during the day or period of time, the following form of greeting is common. The suffix ma is a question tag.

A. werkema? 				Are you fine? (werk'ma, plural)
B. werka gn. 				Yes, I am fine
A. debanma? 				Are you in good condition? (All right)
B. deban gn, enti werkama. 		Yes, I am OK; are you fine yourself?
A. werka gn, Hamda jar'd aK'ni. 	I am all right, thanks God.
B. bri jar daHnama. 			Is the situation OK?
A. daHna gn. 				It is all right.

Morning, Afternoon and Evening Greetings.

Morning Greetings

A. aja kruKwma? 		Good morning (literally,did you enjoy the night)
B. merHaba, aja kruKwma. 	Ok (or accepted), good morning
A. werka kruKwma? 		Did you enjoy the night?
B. werka gn, enti werka kruKwma? I am fine, are you fine?
A. deban gn. 			I am all right.
B. aja ergi. 			Have a nice day
A. merHaba, aja ergi. 		Ok (or accepted), the same to you

Afternoon Greetings

A. aja ergruKw'ma? 			Good day
B. merHaba aja ergruKw'ma. 		All right, good day
A. werkema? 				Are you fine?
B. werka gn, enti deban ergruKw'ma. 	OK, are you fine yourself?
A. deban gn. 				Fine
B. aja kuni. 				Have a nice evening
A. merHaba, aja kuni. 			Ok (or accepted), the same to you.

Evening Greetings

A. aja kunduKw'ma? 			Good eveeneing?
B. merHaba aja kunduKw'ma. 		Ok (or accepted) good evening
A. werkama? 				Are you all right?
B. werka gn, enti werkama? 		OK, are you fine yourself?
A. deban gn. 				Fine
B. aja ki. 				Have a nice night (enjoy the night)

Summary

The following are used to greet one person

  
                 Morning             Afternoon          Evening
Introduction   	 aja kruKw'ma?   	aja ergruKw'ma?       aja kunduKw'ma?
Closing          aja ergi               aja kuni              ajaki

The following are used to greet two or more people

                  Morning            Afternoon          Evening
Introduction      aja kdnuKw'ma?       aja ergdnuKw'ma?      aja kundnuKw'ma?
Closing           aja erga             aja kuna              aja ka

aja means good, OK, all right. Usually, it is used to introduce or to close the greeting. deban and werka mean well, well-being, OK, all right, fine, and refer to the health. deban and werka are interchangeable and are used mostly in general greetings. merHaba has the same meaning as in tgre (OK, all right?)

In the Morning greeting, it is incorrectly written as "aja kundnuKw'ma"(good evening). The correct form is "aja kdnuKw'ma" (good morning).

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