ings, trees, are of either gender; natural objects and means of sustenance, masculine. The distinction of gender is more impaired in Ethiopic than in any other Syro-Arabian language. By far the most of nouns, whether they have a feminine ending or not, may be used as feminine or not. But the later manuscripts, as if from foreign influence, try to avoid the arbitrary variation of gender in the same sentence or section.1 130. The number of nouns is either singular or plural; there is no dual except a trace of it in the word kelḥe, two.2 Only collective nouns and universal appellatives, as gold, snow, honey, form no plural; yet many of these may be so applied as to be capable of a plural.3 There is also a plural of eminence, fulness, or totality. The formation of the plural is, as in Arabic, either outer or inner. The former is -ān, masculine; -āt, feminine; -an is annexed to the last radical; -āt often takes the place of -at, but generally is annexed to the stem whether it end in -at or not. But even nouns, which have not the feminine ending in the singular, are apt to take -at in the plural 5 on account of the natural weakness of the plural (59). In fact, -an is taken only by personal nouns, yet not by all of these, and by adjectives and participles, but these take also -at for feminine.5 All proper names, whether of men or women, form the plural in -āt. Nouns of male persons having an office, business, or situation, form the plural in -at; and this plural is also the abstract of the employment.6 All nouns which have a before the last radical form the outer plural; and most of those which end in a long vowel, some also of the simpler stems which end in a consonant, and a few of those which are formed with ma-.7 The inner plurals are of the following formations, besides remains of other formations still retained in Arabic: Inner plural. 1. gěbar Shagbar 2. ḥagbārět (very rare) Singular. gebr; old abbreviated nouns, hak father, hexuě brother, hed hand, &c., which form this plural as of the form gebr, having taken v for a third radical; many nouns (gebr) denoting parts of the body. gabar, gabr, gebr, oftener than first. 3. hagbur (not many personal nouns of a masculine nature. much used) 4. hagběr (still less used than 3). Inner plural. Singular. 5. hagběrět (this gebr seldom; usually from gubar or gābr. and 2 the most used) 6. gabart 7. tabaděn gabarī; gabir, 126. 4. tabdan; all stems with more than three consonants, or formed with external additions; several triliteral stems with long vowel after second or third radical, equivalent to another radical; some of these stems, mostly personal nouns, add t to the plural, dropping t if they have it in singular. The feminine singular abstract ending (127. 4) is also used to express a collective idea. Many nouns form two or three inner plurals without any difference of meaning. From these inner plurals other plurals can be formed by adding to them -āt, seldom -an; and this formation is used more frequently in Ethiopic than in any other Syro-Arabian language. Some of the inner plurals thus treated express only a singular conception; others an aggregate of parts. Sometimes the double plural is used to denote multitude, or totality, or dignity; sometimes to express gender by the masculine or feminine plural ending. This treatment of the inner plurals shows that they involve still less sense of the individuals in Ethiopic than in Arabic, and approach more nearly to the nature of singular collectives;1 expressing this by additional vocalisation (59). 131. The only case ending retained generally by the noun is that of the accusative -a; but some few nouns have a vocative in -ō.2 Proper names when they form the accusative form it in -ha,3 which is pronominal and arthritic (Def. 7), because proper names are so concrete and independent that they are less immersed than common nouns in the combinations of fact (60). Common nouns form the accusative in -a, this being added to a final consonant, and blended with a final vowel, changing i to ē, and being absorbed into ē, ō, and ā, without making any change in these. If there be several accusatives, the ending is apt to be dropped with the latter ones; as also when the noun has the relative prefix za-, or when it has a pronominal suffix.1 6 The governor of a noun in the genitive relation takes -a to connect it in construction; before a pronominal suffix a noun takes -75 (83, 84). The -a is taken by the noun in this construct state as by the accusative; but proper names are not capable of the formation. No word can intervene between the construct governor and the genitive. The genitive is also expressed by prefixing to the noun the relative za to represent the governor; and if the governor be feminine, the prefix may be the feminine relative henta, and if plural, the plural relative hěla. The genitive with this prefix may either precede or 1 Dillmann, p. 237-251. 2 Ibid. p. 253. 255. 3 Ibid. p. follow the governing noun. This mode of expressing the genitive has quite prevailed over the use of the preposition la for that purpose.1 132. The demonstrative pronoun of the near is: Its singular stem is generally attached as a prefix or suffix to the word to which it refers. This demonstrative is strengthened by subjoining the demonstrative element t with different vowels of gender and case, so that the usual demonstrative of the near is: The pronoun of the third person when used adjectively in the sense of airós or that, is declined: sing. or: no accus. masc. fem. no accus. pl3 Stem věḥětu yeḥětī` ḥěmūntū ḥěmāntū věķētōmū věķětōn Accus. věhěta yèḥěta The relative pronoun is, in the singular, za masculine, henta feminine, in plural hella masculine and feminine; the final a has relative significance; za is used for feminine, and for plural, when the antecedent is expressed in the relative sentence either by a noun or by a suffixed pronoun; za is almost always attached to another word, usually to the next word in the relative sentence which it introduces, sometimes but seldom suffixed, as it is to a preposition.4 The interrogative pronouns used substantively are, manu, who? accusative mana, whom? of both genders and numbers; ment, what? mi-, what manu and ment are indefinite with the negative prefix hi, but then generally take -hi or -ni, which signifies also, and may at the same time prefix va-, and; thus ḥīmanūhī, nobody.5 There is another interrogative haye, what? used adjectively, and forming an accusative singular haya, and feminine plural ḥayāt. For the personal pronouns, separate and affixed, see table (51). When a personal pronoun is emphatic, as object of a verb, it is expressed separately by means of a pronominal stem, kiya, to which it is attached as a possessive suffix (56); and if it be separated as a genitive, the possessive suffix is attached to the relative, which represents the governor, and agrees with it in gender and person, 1 Dillmann, p. 260. 2 Ibid. p. 260-263. 3 Ibid. pp. 266, 267. 6 Ibid. p. 266. the relative z, hent, hel, being joined to the suffix by iḥa, and the formation being preceded immediately by the governing noun in the construct state, as běhěsit a hentiḥa ka, thy wife; but if the governing noun has a suffix of its own, or govern a genitive, the possessive formation is independent, and may precede it; when used adjectively these possessives take an additional relative prefix, as běhěsit za ḥentīḥa ka.1 A demonstrative pronoun may be made emphatic by subjoining to it věḥětu yěḥětī; and both demonstrative and personal pronouns may be emphasised by being followed by kema, even. Self, when nominative, is expressed by lala, with the possessive suffixes joined to it by i; self when not nominative is expressed by rehes, head, with the possessive suffixes; 2 něƒěs, soul, is less used (86). The object suffixes of the verb may be indirect object of it. They are connected with it by a; but if the verb be in a person which ends in a vowel this may suppress the connective a. The four suffixes of the third person drop their h and then contract the concurrent vowels. The subjunctive drops a before the four suffixes of the second person, for the subjunctive has less sense of process than the indicative, and the second person in the plural attracts to itself the accent and in the singular leaves it with the verbal stem,3 so that a being weak and not strengthened by the accent is dropped. Ethiopic, like Arabic, can attach two object suffixes to the verb, a direct and an indirect, the first person preceding the second or third, and the second person preceding the third (56). 4 A plural noun, whether of the outer or of the inner form, in taking the possessive suffixes inserts before them the connective vowel i (84), which may be changed to ē before -ya and -ki; - always has the accent except when the suffix itself has it, viz., the second and third plural. The suffixed noun has no accusative ending.5 Singular nouns ending in a, e, or ō, annex the suffixes immediately, as also do singular nominatives in ; but these preserve the a of the accusative before the second person. If a singular noun end in a consonant and be in the accusative case it has no connective vowel, this being overpowered by the a of the accusative, except that before the suffix ya the connective è overpowers the accusative a. In the nominative case these stems take ě, which before the first person only is accented, and before the third is absorbed by the vowel of the suffix, h having been dropped." The short old nouns hab father, hajuě brother, xam brother-inlaw, haf mouth, have before the suffixes u in the nominative, ā in the accusative.7 The possessive suffixes are used with an adjective when it needs to fled naked his be connected with what it qualifies, as guĕya j'èrāq'ū, he fled naked ; empty 1st sing. sent away thou me geraq ya hamfanav ka ni, thou hadst sent me away empty.8 The words kuěl kuělat, whole, and bāxtīt, lone, always have a possessive suffix.1 133. The cardinal numbers for 3 to 10 are originally substantives. They take the feminine ending with masculine nouns, as in the other Syro-Arabian languages. But they are generally used, not as construct governors of a genitive, but in apposition. The Ethiopic numerals haxad one, and helḥe two, agree in gender with their noun, haxadū masculine, hayati feminine, and in the accusative ḥaxada masculine, hayata feminine; kelḥētu masculine, kelḥētī feminine, and in the accusative kelḥēta masculine and feminine; -u, -tu, -ti, -ta being pronominal; kelḥe means a pair. The numerals 3 to 10 with a masculine noun take -tu, accusative -ta, t being feminine of numeral, u representing the masculine noun. With a feminine noun, these numerals remain in their ground form or shorten their vowels, and in the former case 6, 7, 9, 10 take -ū, which is retained in the accusative and before the suffixes. Now, samānī, 8, has the Arabic dual ending, and u is probably the plural ending (51) appropriate to the higher units. The multiples of 10 have dropped the final consonant of the plural ending. The ordinals have the form of an active participle, and the multiplicatives of a passive participle.2 66 134. The only true simple prepositions are ba in, la to, and ḥěměn or hem from; if indeed the last be so. Except the pair of prepositions which express the cases of the nouns, and which are very frequently used, and extraordinarily shortened, most of the prepositions are derived from nouns and still retained in their original form." "Every preposition governs like a noun in the construct state, and therefore takes -a." "Most of the words used as prepositions are not used otherwise." 3 The simplest conjunctions are va- and, hav or, -hi -ni also, -sa but, hala but, -ke so that. The prepositions as being words in the construct state may govern a sentence, and they may thus become conjunctions. Many conjunctions have this origin, but most have come from the relative pronoun or from a demonstrative used as relative. Some conjunctions are immersed in the sentence which they introduce, others more loosely precede it.4 The lighter particles of relation are in Ethiopic suffixed to other words, more frequently than in the other Syro-Arabian languages. They do not in general cause any change in the utterance or accent of the word to which they are subjoined. Almost always hanka so, ḥangā äga, bāxtu only, are subjoined, often also dāḥěmu much more, and always the following: kama as, hěska till that, hi also, ni for his, &c., part seinerseits, ke thus, ma when, if, sa but, and others.5 Ethiopic has formed a rich supply of words of relation: 6 but they seem to be in a great degree of a nominal nature. 135. There is no article in Ethiopic. But as in the Syro-Arabian languages, a genitive defines its governor (69); so a possessive suffix of the third person, when it refers to a substantive object identical 1 Dillmann, pp. 285, 236. 2 Ibid. p. 288-293. 3 Ibid. pp. 305, 306. Ibid. p. 322-325. 5 Ibid. p. 330. 6 Ibid. p. 393. |