Language/Tigrinya/Grammar/Adjectives

Tigrinya Grammar - Adjectives

Hi Tigrinya learners! 😊
In this lesson, we will cover adjectives in Tigrinya grammar. Adjectives are a type of word that describes, identifies, or modifies a noun or pronoun. They can tell us about the size, color, shape, feeling, and more of the noun they are describing. Along with nouns, verbs, and pronouns, they are one of the essential components of a Tigrinya sentence. Knowing how to use them correctly will help you communicate more effectively in Tigrinya. So let's get started! 🚀

What are Adjectives?

An adjective is a word used to describe or modify a noun or pronoun. In Tigrinya, adjectives usually come before the noun they describe. They agree in gender and number with the noun they modify. Here are a few examples:

Tigrinya	Pronunciation	English
እውነት	ʾewnet	truth
ንእሽተይ	nəʾšitye	happy
ካብ	kab	big
ንድፍር	ndifir	cold

As you can see, in Tigrinya, adjectives come before the noun they modify. That means, "the blue sky" would be "ደምካብ ኣብታ," with "blue" coming before "sky."

Here is an example dialogue between two people:

• Person 1: ንምሸት ኣይውልድ ምስ ሰላም እዚ ጊዜ? (N'misht atyeweldi ms səlam əzzgi? - "What's the weather like at this time?")
• Person 2: ንወርሒ ጸጋየኩም ነውሕድዶም ናይ ገብርኤል ትርኢቶም ነይሩ. (Nwerhe ts'agayekumn nähidōm näy Gəbriy'el T'ri'itōm näyru. - "It's sunny and beautiful, like Gabriel's paintings.")

In this dialogue, "sunny" and "beautiful" are used to describe the weather.

Forming Adjectives

In Tigrinya, adjectives are usually formed from nouns by adding the suffix "-awi" for masculine and "-ti" for feminine. Here are some examples:

Tigrinya	Pronunciation	English
ገብርኤል (masculine)	Gəbriy'el	Gabriel	ገብርኤልዋይ (masculine)	Gəbriy'elay	Gabriel-like, similar to Gabriel	ትርኢቶም (feminine)	T'ri'itōm	painting	ትርኢቶምታዊ (feminine)	T'ri'itōmtawi	painterly, related to painting

It's important to note that not all adjectives are formed from nouns, and not all nouns can become adjectives. Some adjectives are formed from verbs or other adjectives, while others are irregular and don't follow a clear pattern.

Here's another dialogue to illustrate adjective formation:

• Person 1: ከም ከምዝተሞ ክትሓትት መመዝገብ ክትሕቡእ? (Käm k'mzitomo kətt'yät'ti mmäzgäb kətt'habu? - "What kind of food tastes good?")
• Person 2: ምርት ዩ። (Mərt yu. - "Grilled meat.")
• Person 1: እቲ ፍትህን ምክንያብን እዩ. (Eti fth'ën mək'nyabn 'yu. - "It smells delicious.")
• Person 2: ኣይስማ ፍትሕን እንተጻእያይ? (Ay'säma fth'ën nät'sa'aya - "What spices did they use?")
• Person 1: መናን'ዶም ምርት ወይ ሓቂ አይተጻእያይ. (Mänandōm mərt wayyä haki 'yat'sa'aya. - "They used different spices and herbs.")

In this dialogue, we can see "grilled" being used as an adjective to describe "meat." Later, "delicious" is used to describe the smell of the food. Finally, "different" is used to describe the various spices and herbs used in the dish.

Comparative and Superlative Forms

In Tigrinya, comparative and superlative forms of adjectives are created by adding "-tir" and "-tama" respectively to the base form of the adjective. Here are some examples:

Tigrinya	Pronunciation	English
ንድፍር (base form)	Ndifir	cold	ንድፍራትር (comparative)	Ndifiratir	colder	ንድፍራተማ (superlative)	Ndifiratama	coldest
ቀለብታል (base form)	Qälbelät'al	curious	ቀለብታሉትር (comparative)	Qälbelät'alutir	more curious	ቀለብታሉተማ (superlative)	Qälbelät'alutama	most curious

Here's another dialogue to illustrate comparative and superlative forms:

• Person 1: ግንባር ራብኢ ዘይበለየን እቲ በተን ዝሓለፈ ዝነበረ ንቡል እየስራሕ ምንዛብ እዩ?

(G'nbär rab'i zeybeleyn eti bətan z'hälefe z'näbbär nubul eyəsrah m'nəzab 'yu? - "Which fruit is the sweetest and most delicious of them all?")

• Person 2: ናቡብ በል ባዙላ ይኽእል ኢኻ. (Näbub bälä bazula yix'el ika. - "Bananas are the sweetest and most delicious.")

In this dialogue, we see the superlative form "sweetest and most delicious" being used to describe bananas.

Placement of Adjectives

Generally, adjectives are placed before the noun they modify. In some cases, however, they can come after the noun or be separated from the noun by another word such as "of" or "with." Here are a few examples:

• ኩሉ ናብ ዝምርምር (kulū näb z'mrəmrə - "all in white")
• ሕማም ኣብ ዕምባቢ እንተ ሃገር (hämmam äb 'embabbi enta hager - "heat is in the air")
• ዘረስ ንእሽተይ ዳዊት ነቲ ኤርትራ ሓሊባ (ziräs nəʾšitye Dawit nəti Eritrea haliba - "David, the happy one, is from Eritrea")

In each of these examples, we see adjectives placed in different positions relative to the noun they modify. In the first example, "in white" comes after "all," while in the second example, "in the air" comes after "heat." In the final example, "the happy one" comes after the name "David."

Conclusion

Congratulations! You now know the basics of Tigrinya adjectives. Remember that in Tigrinya, adjectives come before the nouns they modify and must agree in number and gender. To improve your Tigrinya grammar, you can also use the Polyglot Club website. Find native speakers and ask them any questions!

If you want to learn more Tigrinya grammar, check out our Grammar page. Thanks for reading and see you next time! 👋

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