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Here we go with our TgriNa Grammar lessons! Our today's topic will be the verb 'to have' in TgriNa.Verb to be and verb to have =============================
TgriNa does not have a separate verb meaning 'to have', but uses the verb of existence 'alo'* combined with a pronoun suffix which indicate the possessor, the person who 'has' something. This also means to say the thing which is possessed, the thing which someone 'has', becomes in TgriNa the subject and the verb 'alo', etc., has therefore to agree with this. Accordingly, there are different forms of the verb according to whether the object or thing possessed is masculine, feminine or plural.(*I use here the third person singular as heading, because like English or German in TgriNa we don't use the infinitive form. As far as in TgriNa almost all infinitive starts with /m/ it is difficult to use infinitive even in dictionaries. We use the 3. person singular form and not infinitive)
In the first grammar lesson we learned the verb 'iyu' ^is^, but we have another verb 'alo', which also translates as 'is' or 'there is'. The verb 'alo' is used to point out the existence of something, as in ' geza alo' i.e. equivalent to the English ^there is a house^. It is also used in the sense of 'to be' (in a place), as in 'yonas ab Eritrea alo' ^yonas is in Eritrea^( literally: yonas in Eritrea is). 'memh'rey ab america alo' ^my teacher is in America^(literally: teacher-my in America is).
The inflected form of the verb 'alo' is given below. You should make a special note of the endings. You will meet them again in the negative forms of 'alo' and 'iyu', and also in the simple past tense of all other verbs.
****************************************************************** The base is 'alo-' and the endings are: * ---------------------------------------------------------/-------* Singular / * ---------------------------------------------------------/-------* 1. Person alokhu I am -khu * 2. Person m. alokha you are -kha * 2. Person f. alokhi you are -khi * 3. Person m. alo he is -o * 3. Person f. ala she is -a * _________________________________________________________________* Plural * _________________________________________________________________* 1. Person alona we are -na * 2. Person alokhum you are -khum * 2. Person f. alokhin you are -khin * 3. Person alowu they are -u * 3. Person f. alowa they are -a * _________________________________________________________________* formal * _________________________________________________________________* 2 Person m. alokhum you are -khum * 2. Person f. alokhin you are -khin * 3. Person m. alowu you are -u * 3. Person f. alowa you are -a * ******************************************************************
Expressing 'to have' =========================
As I have mentioned above in TgriNa we uses the verb of existence 'alo'* combined with a pronoun suffix which indicate the possessor, the person who 'has' something. This also means to say the thing which is possessed, the thing which someone 'has', becomes the subject and the verb 'alo', etc., has therefore to agree with this. Accordingly, there are different forms of the verb according to whether the object or thing possessed is masculine, feminine or plural.
Consider how you might say 'I have one hotel' and 'I have two hotels' in TgriNa. Literally, this would be 'one hotel it is to me' and ' two hotels they are to me'; ^Hade hotel alo-ni^ and ^k`lte hotel-at alo-wuni^; or 'I have one computer'--Literally: 'one computer (fem. she) is to me'^Hanti computer ala-tni^ and 'I have two computers'--Literally: 'two computers they are to me'^ k`lte computer-at alo-wani^.
You can see from these last examples that the marker of 'to me' (i.e. ' I ' as possesor) is the consonant /-ni/ added to the end of the verb. The endings of the persons ' to me', 'to you', 'to him' ...etc, are as follows. You will find that they are almost identical to the endings of the verb 'iyu' (to be). ********************************************************** Singular * ---------------------------------------------------------* 1. Person to me -ni * 2. Person (masc.) to you -ka * 2. Person (fem.) to you -ki * 3. Person (masc.) to him -wo * 3. Person (fem.) to her -wa * ---------------------------------------------------------* Plural * ---------------------------------------------------------* 1. Person to us -na * 2. Person to you -kum * 3. Person to them -wom * ---------------------------------------------------------* Formal * ---------------------------------------------------------* 2. Person (masc.) to you -kum * 2. Person (fem.) to you -kin * 3. Person (masc.) to him -wom * 3. Person (fem.) to her -wen * ********************************************************** The verb 'to have' forms the following patterns: ====================================================
******************************************************************************** * with masc.object/ with fem. object/ with pl. object * --------------------------------/-----------------------/----------------------- * Singular / / * --------------------------------/-----------------------/----------------------- * I have alo-ni / ala-tini / alo-wuni * you have (m.) alo-ka / ala-tika / alo-wuKa * you have (f.) alo-ki / ala-tiki / alo-wuKi * he has alo-wo / ala-to / alo-wuwo * she has alo-wa / ala-ta / alo-wuwa * -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Plural / / * -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * we have alo-na / ala-tina / alo-wuna * you have alo-kum / ala-tikum / alo-wuKum * they have alo-wom / ala-tom / alo-wuwom * --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Formal / / * --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* you have (m) alo-kum / ala-tikum / alo-wuKum * you have (f.) alo-kin / ala-tikin / alo-wuKin * he has alo-wom / ala-tom / alo-wuwom * she has alo-wen / ala-ten / alo-wuwen * * ******************************************************************************** *
You may notice that four of the above words are ambiguous: 'alo-Ka' can mean ^you are (m.)^(in a place) or you have; similarly 'alo-Ki', alo-Kum, alo-na ^we are^or ^we have^./END/
Dear Dehaiers if there is any correction or criticisms feel free to correct or criticise. I am not a linguistic scholar nor I had the chance to learn TgriNa at school. Therefore your feedback is more than wellcome.
m's bizuH selamta / with many Greetings Haw-Kum /your brother; (Literally: Brother-yours) Goitom Ahferom Bonn - Germany - -- mailto:101.38486@Germanynet.de ---