Language/Tigrinya/Grammar/Pronouns

Tigrinya Grammar - Pronouns

Hi Tigrinya learners! 😊
In this lesson, we will focus on pronouns. Pronouns are a crucial part of any language, as they are used to refer to people or things without repeating the same word over and over again. Tigrinya has several types of pronouns, such as personal, possessive, and demonstrative pronouns.

Personal Pronouns

A personal pronoun refers to a specific person or thing. In Tigrinya, personal pronouns are often used as the subject or object of a sentence. Here is a table with Tigrinya personal pronouns:

Tigrinya	Pronunciation	English
እኔ	ənɨ	I
ንስሓ	nəsˁħa	you (singular)
እስሃት	əsˁħatə	he/she/it
እኛ	ənˁa	we
ንስሓት	nəsaħət	you (plural)
ስምህ	səmħə	they

Let's look at some examples to see how personal pronouns are used in sentences:

• Person 1: እኔ ብድሕር ምን ዓይነት ኣብዚ ኣይትሓፍትን? (ənɨ bədħər mən ʕaenət ʔabzi ʔaityḥaftən?) (What type of food do you like?)
• Person 2: ንስሓ ክረምተይ ነብሲ ትሓፍትን ኣሎ። (nəsˁħa krəmtəy nəbsi təḥaftən ʔalo.) (I like injera with tsebhi.)

In this example, we see the pronouns "እኔ" (I) and "ንስሓ" (you) used as subjects of the sentence, and "አይትሓፍትን" (do you like) and "ኣሎ" (yes) as the verbs.

Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns indicate ownership or possession of an object. In Tigrinya, possessive pronouns usually come after the noun they describe. Here is a table with some common Tigrinya possessive pronouns:

Tigrinya	Pronunciation	English
እንተደ	ɨntədə	my
ንስሓደ	nəsˁaħadə	your (singular)
እስሃተይ	əsˁħatyə	his/her/its
እንተዝሓበ	ɨntəzḥəba	our
ንስሓዘሓበ	nəsˁaħazḥəba	your (plural)
ስምህደ	səmħadə	their

Let's look at some examples:

• Person 1: እንተደ መወዳእታ ምዝራኾ ናብ መንጋደእታት ትበዓል? (ɨntədə məwədaʔatə məzraχi nəb mənɡadəyatat təbaal?) (Did you plant your vegetables in the garden?)
• Person 2: ንስሓደ ምስ ነቲ ኣድላዕ ናብ ቦታ ተደራቢ? (nəsˁaħadə məs nəti ʔadˁlaʔ nəb botə tedrabəy?) (Did you forget your keys somewhere?)

We can see that the possessive pronouns "እንተደ" (my) and "ንስሓደ" (your) are used to show ownership of the object in the sentence.

Demonstrative Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns are used to indicate a specific person or thing, and they can be either close or far from the speaker. In Tigrinya, demonstrative pronouns are placed before the noun they modify. Here is a table with some common Tigrinya demonstrative pronouns:

Tigrinya	Pronunciation	English
ዝሓለፈ	zḥalefa	this (close)
ሓደ	hadə	that (far)
ዝደረበ	zḥadaerəba	these (close)
ሓደይ	hadəy	those (far)

Let's look at some examples:

• Person 1: ዝሓለፈ በዝተን ምንቅስቓስ ኣሎ? (zḥalefa bəzeten mənqisəsas ʔalo?) (Do you like this type of music?)
• Person 2: ሓደ ኣስታወሰድ ከምብል ዝግበረሉ ክልተ ልዕሊ ወይ? (hadə ʔəstatwəsdə kambəl zəɡəbərlu kəlati lenəli way?) (Do you remember that restaurant we went to last week?)

In these examples, the demonstrative pronouns "ዝሓለፈ" (this) and "ሓደ" (that) are used to indicate a specific object or concept.

Reflexive Pronouns

Reflexive pronouns are used when a subject acts on itself. In Tigrinya, reflexive pronouns are formed by adding the suffix "-ብል" ("-blə") to the personal pronoun. Here is a table with some examples:

Tigrinya	Pronunciation	English
እኔብል	ənɨblə	myself
ንስሓብል	nəsaħəblə	yourself
እስሃትብል	əsˁħatəblə	himself/herself/itself
እኛብል	ənˁablə	ourselves
ንስሓይብል	nəsˁaħayblə	yourselves
ስምህይብል	səmħayblə	themselves

Let's look at some examples:

• Person 1: ትምህርት ብል ምትሕግዝ? (təmhərtə blə məthɡəz?) (Did you teach yourself math?)
• Person 2: ንስሓብል ከመይ ኣለኹም እንተመስገን ነገር ትኾነ? (nəsaħəblə kambəy ʔallekhum ɨntəmasɡen neɡer tekʷəna?) (Did you remind yourself to do that thing?)

In these examples, the reflexive pronouns "እኔብል" (myself) and "ንስሓብል" (yourself) are used to show that the subject is acting on themselves.

To improve your Tigrinya Grammar, you can also use the Polyglot Club website. Find native speakers and ask them any questions!

Sources

• Tigrinya language on Wikipedia
• Pronoun on Wikipedia

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