[DEHAI] TgriNa GRAMMAR (8)

Goitom Ahferom (@germany.net) [Author Profile]
Monday, December 15, 1997 05:47 PM PST
rawÊÊthread

Selam te-dahaiti

Greetings in TgriNa
=========================

In the following introduction you will encounter
various kinds of greetings: T'Ena y'habeley
^hello^, and also kemey aleKa(m.)/ aleKi(f.)/
aleKum(pol. m.)/ aleKin(pol. f.); as well as kemey
Hadirkum.

The first and second set can be used on all
occasions. The second kind of expression relates
to the time of day when the greeting is expressed:
kemey Hadirkum implies meeting in the daytime
after at least one night's absence.

If you meet some one in the evening you would
say kemey wiEl'kum, ^Literally: how did you
spent the day?
^ The phrase deHan waAlu ^good bye^, which
you will see in the table below, contains different
part of the same verb.

Both of the expressions kemey Hadirkum and
kemey wiEl'kum are in the formal or polite
register; for the equivalent informal version you
would have to substitute the following: Hadir-ka
(masculine), Hadir-ki (feminine), Hadir-kum
(plural). wiEl'-ka (masculine), wiEl'-ki
(feminine), wiEl'-kum (plural).

Here are greeting according to the time of a day:
========================================================

Greetings on all occasions:
------------------------------

Hello! T'Ena y'habeley! (Literally: He may give
you health 
on may behalf.)

Daytime Greetings
-------------------------------

Good morning! kemey Hadirkum? (Lit.: how did
you spend the night?)

Thanks God. igz'her y'mesgen. (Lit.: Thanks
God.)

Evening greetings
-------------------------------

Good day! kemey wiEl'kum? (pol. m.) (Lit.: how
did you spent the day?)

Late evening greeting
-------------------------------

Good evening! kemey am'siKum? (pol. m.) (Lit.:
how did you spent the 
late evening?)

Here are all the greetings according to the person &
time of the day:
========================================================================

*************************************************************************
* Daytime evening late evening * Singular * *
________________*_______________________________________________________*
* kemey..................? *
*
2. Person m * Hadir-ka wiEl'-ka am'si-Ka *
2. Person f. * Hadir-ki wiEl'-ki am'si-Ki *
3. Person m. * Hadir-u wiEl'l-u am'si-u *
3. Person f. * Hadir-a wiEl'-a am'si-a *
* * Plural * *
________________________________________________________________________*
*
2. Person * Hadir-kum wiEl'-kum am'si-Kum *
2. Person f. * Hadir-kin wiEl'-kin am'si-Kin *
3. Person * Hadir-om wiEl'-om am'si-om *
3. Person f. * Hadir-en wiEl-en am'si-en *
* Formal *
________________________________________________________________________*
* *
2. Person m. * Hadir-kum wiEl'-kum am'si-Kum
*
2. Person f. * Hadir-kin wiEl'-kin am'si-Kin *
3. Person m. * Hadir-om wiEl'-om am'si-om *
3. Person f. * Hadir-en wiEl-en am'si-en *
*
*************************************************************************

And if you want to say someone good bye in
TgriNa it contains different part of the same verb.

*************************************************************************
* Daytime evening late evening * Singular * *
________________*_______________________________________________________*
* deHan..................! *
*
2. Person m * Hider wiAl am'siy *
2. Person f. * Hider-i wiAl-i am'siy-i *
* * Plural * *
________________________________________________________________________*

2. Person * Hider-u wiAl-u am'si-yu *
2. Person f. * Hider-a wiAl-a am'si-ya *
* * Formal * *
________________*_______________________________________________________*
*
2. Person * Hider-u wiAl-u am'si-yu *
2. Person f. * Hider-a wiAl-a am'si-ya *
*
*************************************************************************

Forming questions
===================

Questions can be of two types: the first anticipates
the answer 'yes' or 'no'. In TgriNa this kind of
question is usually formed simply by using the
question intonation, raising the pitch of your voice
at the end of the sentence. This is in contras to the
simple statement intonation where the pitch drops
towards the end of the sentence: tem'haray iyu?
tem'haray iyu.^is he a student? - He is a student.^
Note that the order of words is not altered in
TgriNa. Another way of forming this kind of
question is to add ' diyu' after the noun at the end
and to use the usual question intonation: mem'h'r
diyu? ^Is he a teacher?.

The second kind of question asks for specific
information and uses a question word like ^who,
what, when. ^. Here are some important question
words in TgriNa:

kemey? how? 
men? who? 
in'tay? what? 
k'ndey? how much?/ how many? 
abey? where? 
kabey? where from? 
s'lem'n'tay? why? 
meAs? when? 
kindey gize? how often? (Lit.: how time?)

Examples:
---------------

is'Ka men iKa? who are you (m.)? 
kemey Hadirka? how did you spent the night?
k'ndey computer ale-ki? how many computer do
you(fem.)have? abey aleKa? where are you(m.)? 
kabey meSi'Ka? where did you(m.) come from?
(m'mSa' means to come) s'lem'nta meSi'Ka? why
did you (m.) come? 
meAs meSi'Ka? when did you (m.)come?

This time it is Christmas time therefore if you want
to greet some one for Christmas in TgriNa you can
say:

r'Hus beAl l'det . Happy Christmas.

wishing you all r'Hus beAl l'det I say good bye
for now.

HawKum 
Goitom Ahferom 
Bonn - Germany

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