Language/Tigrinya/Grammar/Questions

Tigrinya Grammar - Questions

Hi Tigrinya learners! 😊
In this lesson, you will learn how to form questions in Tigrinya. Asking questions is an essential part of communication, and this lesson will help you master the art of questioning in Tigrinya. We will also delve into the cultural values that shape the language, and you will learn how to use questions to express yourself more effectively. At the end of this lesson, you will be able to form different types of questions in Tigrinya, ask for the information you need, and communicate more effectively with native speakers.

Basic Question Structure

Forming questions in Tigrinya is relatively straightforward. Unlike in English, you don't need to change the word order to change a statement into a question. Instead, you add a question particle to the end of the sentence. The most common question particle in Tigrinya is "mehon?", which means "right?". Here's an example:

Tigrinya	Pronunciation	English
እንታይ ተመስሶ መመስምርታ ኣለኻ ፡ መልእኽት ምስ ምንቑፍ ምዃኑድ ዝስምዖም ?	entay t'emmeso memsmerta aléka : mel'ehtimsanu meynekum mey'anut zismeu?	Did you understand the exercise: Do you know which way to go?

In this example, the speaker has used the question particle "mehon?" at the end of the sentence. When asking a question with "mehon?", the speaker is asking for information or a confirmation of what they've just said. The word "mehon?" itself means "right?" or "isn't it?". Here's another example:

Tigrinya	Pronunciation	English
እዚ መርገመን ዘምሃቡ፥ ንሕና ዓዋተይ ኣሎ ፡ ልክ እንዲደርሰን ምእንቅስቓስ ተቀቲተን ?	ezi mereggemen zemeHabu,nHina ’AwHatey ala : l'æk əndiďrəssen me'enqəsqsabəs tek'etiten?	We have practiced this several times, haven't we? Can we start the quiz now?

In this example, the speaker has used "ala" at the end of the sentence. Similar to "mehon?", "ala" is another question particle used to elicit information.

Other Question Particles

In addition to "mehon?" and "ala", there are other question particles used in Tigrinya. Here are some examples:

Tigrinya	Pronunciation	English
ስምዕ ኣይምልክ ፡ እንታይ ተመስሮ በዝሒ ፡ ምንቕፋብ ዝነበረ ፡ ምንቕነብ መመስምርቲ እዩ ?	sem'aay aymlike : entay t'emmesro bezha : me'nk'fab zenebér : me'nk'neb memesmerti ayyu?	What is it you don't like about the proposal? (What is the thing which is not good about the proposal?)
ኣሕቲ ነይሩ ፡ ኣሎ ፡ ኣሕቲኡ ቂሎም ኣለኻ ?	aHti nayru : ala : aHti'u qilom a l'eka?	You are not tired, are you?

In these examples, "sem'aay" and "aHti" are other question particles commonly used in Tigrinya. "Sem'aay" means "what is it that" or "what is it you". "aHti" means "you are not". Note that unlike in English, the verb comes after the subject when using "aHti" to form a question.

Open Questions

In addition to using question particles, you can also ask open questions in Tigrinya. Open questions require more than a simple "yes" or "no" answer, and they usually begin with a question word. Here are some examples:

Tigrinya	Pronunciation	English
ከም ፍልልያ ኣይትበልካ ኣሎ ፡ ንግዚኡ መን መራሪ።	kim fellaLyam aytibelleka ala : ngižu maN marari?	What are some benefits of learning Tigrinya?
ዘለናዮ ምምሃር ዝተረኸበፍ ዝሃበለ ፡ ፍሉይልና ወዶ ?	zelənayo mMhar zetereHəbbeff zehabele : fullinylana wode?	How do you express your feelings in Tigrinya?

In these examples, we have used question words such as "kim", which means "what", "zelənayo", which means "how", and "ngižu", which means "what are". When asking open questions, it's important to use the appropriate question word, and to phrase the question in a way that requires a longer, more detailed answer.

Exercises

To practice forming questions, let's use the following exercise. Try to ask a question using the given prompt, and then compare your question with the example:

English	Tigrinya
The red pen is on the table.	እቲ ዓይነት ቀይሕ ተሓምሞ ኣብ ምልእካ ኣለዎ ።
Example:	ኣታ ተሓምምካ ኣብ ምልእካ ወይ ኣይወልድ ፡ ኣሎ ?

Dialogue

Here's an example dialogue to help you better understand how to form questions in Tigrinya:

• Person 1: ኣኽሪሕ ሓደ አይደልዮም ? (akriH hadi aydeliyom?) (Did you finish your homework?)
• Person 2: ይልብ ኣብ ኣምሓራ ኣድኻኸ (yel'ib ab AmHaara adikahku) (Yes, I did it in the morning)

Conclusion

Asking questions is an important part of communication, and in Tigrinya, there are many ways to form questions. By understanding the basic sentence structure and using different question particles and question words, you can ask for the information you need and communicate more effectively with native speakers. Remember to also use body language and tone of voice to convey your meaning more clearly. To improve your Tigrinya grammar, you can also use the Polyglot Club website. Find native speakers and ask them any questions!

Sources

• Tigrinya_language
• Tigrigna_grammar
• Question