1.  There are several words used for affirmation with very close 
          meanings. 

          Words used in affirmation are the following:

          afo      yes.
        
          Abe      yes

          aywa     yes.
 
          aho      yes

          These words are used to express agreement. aho is mostly used
          in familiar conversation, where the listner shows he is attentive.

          aywa , which could very well be an adaptation from Arabic, is 
          nowadays used more often than the others, specially among 
          people who use Arabic as a second language.
          
        Examples :32.1
  
           ela gebey neQfa ta ?  aywa, re'aska Qedem gis. 
           Is this the road to Nekfa ? yes, go forward.

           eli nayka tu ?        aywa, nayie tu.
           is this yours ?       yes, it is mine.

       2.  afo is also used to mean "why" if used in a question context. 

          Examples 32.2
   
          afo k'na wedeka ?     why did you do like this ?
        
          afo k'na wedekahom ?  why did you do this to them ?  
           
          afo ela bela ?        why did he say this ?                    

       3.  Words of negation:

          la'       no        adaptation from Arabic.
         
          lala'     no     this is used fpr emphasise. 

          'ifalu    no

          'ekon     no 

           ya ya    not at all ( used when one wants to emphasize)

         Examples :

           mn deAm laha iritriya geska ?  Did you go to Eritrea since 
                                          before last year?

           la'.     no
           'ifalye  no    'ifal is subject dependent as seen here. 
                          'ifalu  for he
                          'efala  for she and so on....           

          le 'esit mn musteshfa fegret ?  Was the women discharged from
                                          the hospital ?
          la', etu halet.                 no, she is still there.

          'ifala, etu halet               "   "    "   "    ".    

---------------------------------------------------------------

End of Lesson 32 

This material is for dehai use only;
thus, it can not be distributed in any form.

© Omar M. Kekia. All Rights Reserved.

Write Your Comments to Omar M.Kekia