Grammatical Sketches in Tigre (North Ethiopic): Dialect of Mensa Wolf Leslau Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 65, No. 3 (Jul. - Sep., 1945), 164-20: Stable URL: btp//links jstor.org/sici?sic!=0003-0279% 28 194507%2F09%2965%3A3%3C 164% 3A GSIT%28E% 3E2.0,CO%3B2-1 Journal of the American Oriental Society is currently published by American Oriental Society. ‘Your use of the ISTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR’s Terms and Conditions of Use, available at hhup:/www.jstororg/about/terms.hml. JSTOR’s Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at hup:/www jstor.org/journals/aos.himl Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the sereen or printed page of such transmission, STOR is an independent not-for-profit organization dedicated to creating and preserving a digital archive of scholarly journals, For more information regarding JSTOR, please contact support @jstor.org. hupslwww jstor.org/ Mon Jun 6 18:47:26 2005,GRAMMATICAL SKETCHES IN TIGRE (NORTH ETHIOPIC), Dracsor oP Mansa Worr Lestav ‘foun Linares Hoven roses, New Your Chapter 1 Proxo.ooy ‘Table of consonante and vowela GeSeRAL PUONEIIO PHENOMENA, euestee 3. Gemination 3. Prepalatalization |. Assimilation and voealie harmony 5. Dissimilation of vowels ‘Metathesia Infleetion Consonant clusters Abbrevintion and contraction of vowels and ‘diphthongs $10, Treatment of laryngela Chapter If Novx A, Nouns wor pEmIvEp waox vias sn. m2 ‘Nouns ending in e consonant Nouns ending in a vowel 'B. Nouxs DERIVED Fnos VERB . Adjectives and participles . Nouns of relation and profession 5. Abstract nouns, verbal nouns, nouns of ai tion and ease 3. Nouns of instrument and place . Nouns of product (substantive passive) Diminutive end auigmentative Singulative 3. Nouns with sulix |. Compound nouns Alliterative compound noune external plural fet, 435, 26, ae 428, $20. Gexorn Plural with internal voeali change ‘Plural with internal vooalie change and sufi ‘Plural with internal voealie change and prefix’s Internal and external plural Dust Concord in mumber Gender of living beings | Gender of some nominal forme 2: Gender of inanimated objecte 3. Feminine by voeulie change |. Gender by a word specifying the sex Impersonal use of the feminine Quauirrearrves $30, Adjective Arieu 437. Indefinite article #88. Definite article Courtewesre £50. Complement of appurtenance 4140. Inditect complement F141, Direct complement 442, Complement of relation Choptor 111 Paoxoun fa, aa, 4, 40, Personal pronoun Pronoun of insistence and reflexive pronoun Pronoun of reciprocity Sulfied pronouns with the nouns and prepo- ‘titons ‘Use and value of the suixed pronouns Sufized pronouns with ie verb sonive pronoun aod adjective mnonstrative adjective and pronoun; presen tative ‘pronoun ® pe Relative pronoun Tnterrogaive pronoun and adjective 453, Indetermined pronoun and adjective $54, Distributive pronoun Chapter IV sar 448, fa, $60. 451 482, Corvta axo vean op extsrExce 455. Copula 450. Verb of existence and expression of possession Chepter ¥ Nowraace 497. Cardinal and ordinal numbers Chepter VI Pasriotes $58. Prepositions 50. Adverbs $00. Conjunetions of subordination $51. Conjunetions of coordination $02, Vocative and interjeations Chopter Vit Srwrax ‘AwAtrere oF 4 Text 164Lastav: Grammatical Sketches in Tigré (North Ethiopic) ‘Ture PRESENT ARTICLE requires an explanation, When studying the ‘Tigré texts published by Litt- mann I intended to treat the Tigeé verb only, and the result of this investigation was published in this Jounwat v, 65 (1945).1-26. But since there is no scientific grammar of ‘Tigré, as was pointed ‘out in the introduction of the Verb, it has seemed to me advisable to investigate the parts of the speech other than the verb, and to treat them in the same way as it was done for the verb. Until investigations in Ethiopia itself or work with na- tive informants outside Ethiopia furnish us with ‘more complete material for a description of Tigré, these “ Grammatical sketches in Tigré” when re- printed together with “The verb in ‘Tigré” will form a “Short grammar of Tigré.” All the necessary indications concerning the Tanguage as well as the principal studies of ‘Tigré were mentioned in the introduction to the Verb, and will, therefore, not be repeated here, For the abbreviations, see Verb note 1. ‘The following abbreviations should, however, be added: Konig Neue Studion — Neue Studien Wher Schrift, Aus- spracke und aligemeine Formentchre den Acthiopischen Leslau Cushitic influence m= The Cushitio inftuence om ‘Semitic language of Bthiopie. problem of ube stratum, Jn Word 1 (1048) 6382, Littmann Protomen m= Die Pronomina én Tigré in ZA 12 (1857). 188230, 91-316 Practorius Amh, Spr. = Die ambericke Sprache Reinisch Bilin = Die Bitn-Spracke. IL, Worterbuch. Sundstrim Sing = Bn sing pd Tigréprite. Verb = Leslau, The verb én Tigré, in JAOS 65 (1945). 126, ‘The texts in transliteration published by Litte ‘mann in ZDMG 65 (1911). 697-708 and by Sund- atréim in MO $ (1914). 1-15 wore also utilized well as the grammatical forms transliterated by Littmann from some religious texts and published by Brockelmann passim in his Grundriss, Cuarren I PHONOLOGY ‘The problems of phonology will be considered here only in so far as they have a beating on the grammatical phenomena, and not on the ety- mologies. A historical treatment of the phonetic facts would be beyond the scope of the present study and should be undertaken within the frame- work of the Ethiopie languages in general, or, at least, of North-Ethiopic. Detailed problems’ of 165: pronunciation cannot be indicated here either Since the stuy is based on texts printed in Ethio- pie characters; the spelling is mostly traditional, and does not indicate the actual pronunciation, Only an investigation with native informants ean furnish us with the necessary material for a phonetic study. §1. Table of consonants and vowela Labial bgmp Dentals tdtecs Liquids Irn Prepalatals egetian Occlusive palatals 9 9 Laryngals hh Semivowels wy ‘The vowels are in the Ethiopic order: 1st order @ (vowel between a and e), 2nd order u, 3rd order i, 4th order a, Sth order , 6th order @ (a very short vowel), 7th order 0, ‘The phonemes p ¢ ¢ & q are glottalized conso- nants, that is, they are pronounced with a glottal stop following the ordinary consonants, as is the case in all the Ethiopie languages. ‘The prepalatels are not as frequent as in South Ethiopic. ‘The situation is the same in Tigriiia. ‘The laryngal f represents a coalescence of fi and b of Geez and of Semitic in general, as in igri Note the absence of the labiovelars found in the other Ethiopic languages. The Ethiopic labio- velars b¥ g! g® are reprosented in Tigré as kg q* For the aspiration of f, according to Littmann, see Verb nota 56, 2 For the pronunciation of the eonsonanta in Ethiopfe, sco Armbruster, Initia Amharica Lpp. O47, Mittvock ““Proben aus ambarethem Vakemune,” in S808 1007, pp. 180-3, 3f Cohen ‘Tvaite pp. 20-42. For the Pre: Aunelation of the vowels of the lst and 6th ordey ta ‘igre, oe Sundstrom in MO 8 (1918). 12. Yor the influence of Cishitis on th glottalized pro dunclation ofthese phonemes, see Laslan Cushitc te. fee, 68. According to. Littmann. in. Brockcimann Grundries p, 126 4 ta reduced into" ab the end of the byllatos tia for total ‘Ror the laryngals 1 the Ethiopie languages, sso Lesa Gojat Dor p24, re The reduction of the Inbiovelars to. the ordinary serosa the palatal and velar consonants es ae fn Harart; for Gurague, see Polotaky in Dal, Sox, Ling, 39 (1895). 14461. See also Leta Cuehtt tues, pp. ole,