Language/Amharic/Grammar/Gender
Hi Amharic learners! 😊
In this lesson, we will be discussing one of the fundamental aspects of Amharic grammar - gender. As you may already know, gender is present in many languages, including English, where we have masculine and feminine pronouns. In Amharic, the idea of gender goes beyond just pronouns and permeates all aspects of the language. But don't worry, we'll break it down and make it easy to understand!
With the completion of this lesson, consider investigating these related pages: Pronouns and Greetings & Simple Gerundive.
Introduction to Gender
In Amharic, nouns belong to one of two genders: masculine or feminine. Unlike many languages that assign gender based on the biological sex of an object, Amharic gender assignment is mostly arbitrary. There are some general themes like feminine endings often being -it or -et and masculine nouns being a syllabic version of it or et, but it is important to remember that there are many exceptions.
The gender of a noun has many implications. For example, the pronouns that a noun can take are dependent on the gender. Additionally, the form and conjugation of verbs change depending on the gender of the subject. Pronouns, adjectives, and articles also change based on gender.
Let's go deeper into the two genders:
Masculine
Masculine nouns make use of the prefix የ- (ye-) before the noun. For example, the word for "boy" in Amharic is "ወንድ" (wänd), so "a boy" would be "የወንድ" (yewänd). Here are some more examples:
| Amharic | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| የጉድጓድ | yegudugud | a mountain |
| የአልማዝ | yalamaz | a pencil |
| የሚካኤል | yemikael | a name |
Feminine
Feminine nouns, on the other hand, use the suffix -ች (-chə) at the end of the noun. For example, the word for "girl" in Amharic is "ልጅ" (lij), so "a girl" would be "ልጅች" (lijchə). Here are some more examples:
You may have noticed that some of these nouns break the pattern we discussed earlier. For instance, Beteseb ends with -eb but is feminine, while Lij ends with a consonant but is feminine. This is where learning nouns' gender can become tricky, but don't worry too much about getting it perfect right now.
Use of Gender in Grammar
Now that we've covered the basics of gender, let's talk about how it is implemented in Amharic grammar.
Pronouns
Just like in English, Amharic has gender-specific pronouns. Here are the basic subject pronouns in Amharic:
| Subject Pronoun | Masculine Gender | Feminine Gender |
|---|---|---|
| I(sigular) | እኔ (enə) | እኔ (enə) |
| You (singular) | አንቺ (antchi) | አንቺ (antchi) |
| He/She/It | እሱ/እሷ | እሱ/እሷ |
| We | እኛ (eña) | እኛ (eña) |
| You (plural) | እናንተ | እናንተ (enantə) |
| They | እነሱ (enǝsu) | እነሱ (enəsu) |
As you can see, the pronouns for he/she/it, we, and they are dependent on the gender of the noun in question.
Adjectives
Adjectives in Amharic are gender-specific: they change depending on the gender of the noun they are describing. Here's an example:
- ትንሽ (tenṧ) - "small(masculine)"
- ትንሿ (tenṧwa) - " the small '(feminne)
Verbs
Verbs in Amharic are also gender-sensitive. Depending on the gender of the subject, a verb may have a slightly different conjugation.
Let's take the verb "to dance" in its present perfect form as an example:
- መዝነው የሚያሳያችሁ (meznew yemiyasayachihu) - "They (feminine) have been dancing"
- መዘነቱ የሚያሳያችሁ (mezinetu yemiyasayachihu) - "They (masculine) have been dancing"
Notice how the only difference between the two sentences is the gender-specific pronoun? Yet, the verb "yemiyasayachihu" changes slightly to reflect the gender of the subject.
Articles
Amharic uses gender-specific articles as well. Here they are:
| Article | Masculine Gender | Feminine Gender |
|---|---|---|
| A | አምስት (amist) | አራት (arat) |
| The | የ (ye) | ተመርጠሪ (temertəri) |
For example, "the boy" would be "yewänd" and "the girl" would be "lijchə."
Examples in Dialogue
Person 1: ኢትዮጵያ በዓለም አቀፍ የሆነ ወንድ ነው. (Itiopia ba'aläm ak'if yehone wänd new.) ("Ethiopia is a country with a large population of boys.")
Person 2: የባቢሎን ማስታወሻ ድርሻለሁ. (Yäbälon mastaweshadaräshalähun.) ("I'm sending a postcard from Barcelona.")
Person 1: ቀይ ጊዜ ነው. ልክ ተባረክላቸው. (Keye gize new. Lek təbaräklalachu.) ("It's a beautiful time of year. Enjoy it.")
Person 2: ቤተሰብዎ ድረ ገፅ እንዲህ ይላሉ። (Betesebwo dər gasəndihǝ yilaluh.) ("Your church has an interesting history.")
Person 1: ከመስመር ትንሽ ነው ያለው ልጅ. (Kämesmer tənəš new yaləwu lij.) ("The child is shy to strangers.")
Person 2: የጀርመን ቤተመንገድ ብርሃን ነው. (YeJirmen Betämeneged birhan new.) ("Girmen's church is expensive.")
Practice Makes Perfect
To reinforce what we've learned, practice categorizing different nouns by gender. When you come across a new noun, think about what gender it might be based on its ending or its characteristics.
To improve your Amharic grammar, you can also use the Polyglot Club website. Find native speakers and ask them any questions!
Sources
- Gender in Amharic: A Morphosyntactic Approach to Natural and ...
- CHAPTER 3: GENDER IN AMHARIC NOMINALS
- The Amharic gender system and previous approaches to gender ...
➡ If you have any questions, please ask them in the comments section below.
➡ Feel free to edit this wiki page if you think it can be improved. 😎
Videos
Gender in Amharic Grammar፡ ፆታ በአማርኛ ሰዋሰው - YouTube
Other Lessons
- Indirect Object Pronouns
- Pronouns
- Adjectives
- Asking If and Saying Whether It Is “Suitable” or Not
- 2 sequential actions in the present
- The Past and Present Continuous Tenses
- “to be” and “to have”
- The Past Perfect Tense
- Question Words