Unless otherwise indicated, Tigrinya verbs in this article are given in the usual citation form, the third-person singular masculine perfect.
Roots A Tigrinya verb root consists of a set of consonants (or "literals"), usually three, for example, {sbr} 'break' (citation form: ሰበረ säbärä), {drf} 'sing' (citation form: ደረፈ däräfä). Each three-consonant (or "triliteral") root belongs to one of three conjugation classes, conventionally known as A, B, and C, and analogous to the three conjugations of verbs in Romance languages. This division is a basic feature of Ethiopian Semitic languages. Most three-consonant roots are in the A class (referred to in this article as "3A"). In the citation form (perfect), these have no gemination and the vowel ä between both pairs of consonants. Examples are ሰበረ säbärä and ደረፈ däräfä. The B class (referred to in this article as "3B") is distinguished by the gemination of the second consonant in all forms. Examples are ደቀሰ däk'käsä 'sleep' and ወሰኸ wässäxä 'add'. The relatively few members of the C class (referred to in this article as "3C") take the vowel a between the first and second consonants. Examples are ባረኸ baräxä 'bless' and ናፈቐ nafäx'ä 'long for, miss'.
Tigrinya also has a significant number of four-consonant (or "quadriliteral") roots (referred to in this article as "4"). These fall into a single conjugation class. Examples are መስከረ mäskärä 'testify' and ቀልጠፈ k'ält'äfä 'hurry'.
The language also has five-consonant (or "quinquiliteral") roots (referred to in this article as "5"). Most, if not all, of these are "defective" in the sense described below; that is, their simplest form takes the tä- prefix. Examples are ተንቀጥቀጠ tä-nk'ät'k'ät'ä 'tremble' and ተምበርከኸ tä-mbärkäxä 'kneel'.
As is common in Semitic languages, roots containing "laryngeal" (that is, pharyngeal or glottal) consonants in any position or semivowels (y or w) in any but first position undergo various modifications. These are dealt with below under Conjugation.
Derivation Each verb root can be modified through one or more basic derivational processes. Each can be described in terms of its form and its function.
Form Changes to the root form are of two types: prefixes and internal changes.
The prefixes are tä- and ’a- or their combination. When the prefix tä- follows ’a-, it loses its vowel and assimilates to the following consonant (that is, the first root consonant). Without ’a- its realization depends on the tense/aspect/mood of the verb.
Internal changes are of two types. One is a form of reduplication. This produces an extra syllable, consisting of a copy of the second consonant from the end of the root followed by the vowel a; this syllable appears third from the end of the verb stem. A second type of internal change inserts the vowel a, or replaces the existing vowel with a, following the third consonant from the end of the stem. For three-consonant roots, this results in a pattern similar to that of C class verbs.
The table below shows the possible combinations of prefixes and internal changes and their functions, illustrating each with the verb {sbr} (3A).
+Tigrinya Verb Derivation Prefix(es) Internal change Function Examples — — ACTIVE ሰበረ säbärä 'break' — Reduplication FREQUENTATIVE ሰባበረ säbabärä 'break repeatedly'tä- — PASSIVE, REFLEXIVE ተሰብረ tä-säbrä 'be broken' -a- RECIPROCAL ተሳበረ tä-sabärä 'break one another' Reduplication ተሰባበረ tä-säbabärä ’a- — CAUSATIVE ኣስበረ ’a-sbärä 'cause to break' ’a- + -tä- -a- RECIPROCAL CAUSATIVE ኣሳበረ ’a-s-sabärä 'cause to break one another' Reduplication ኣሰባበረ ’a-s-säbabärä
Function For the most part, the two derivational prefixes signal grammatical voice; that is, they govern how the participants in the sentence map onto the roles in the event conveyed by the verb. With neither prefix, the verb is normally in ACTIVE voice; the subject is the agent of the event. By itself, the prefix tä- usually signals PASSIVE voice or REFLEXIVE voice. Some participant which is not the subject of the active sentence, the patient or recipient, becomes the subject; or the subject is both the agent and the patient or recipient of the event. By itself, the prefix ’a- usually signals CAUSATIVE voice; the subject of the sentence is then a causer of the event who is not the immediate agent.
Reduplication with neither of the prefixes signals FREQUENTATIVE, the repetition of the event conveyed by the verb. Together with the prefix tä-, reduplication and internal -a- both signal RECIPROCAL; the subject, most often plural, represents both the agent and patient or recipient of the event. In English, and some other languages, the reciprocal is marked by a pronoun, 'each other'. The addition of ’a- to this patterns yields the RECIPROCAL CAUSATIVE: 'cause to DO to each other'.
Here are examples of the different derivational patterns, using the roots {sbr} (3A) 'break', {ls'y} (3C) 'shave', and sḥk (3A) 'laugh'. The verbs are all in the gerundive tense/aspect form. መስኮት ሰቢሩ mäskot säbiru 'He broke a window'; {sbr}, no prefix, no internal change, ACTIVE መስኮት (ብተኽሉ) ተሰቢሩ mäskot (bǝtäxlu) tä-säbiru 'a window was broken (by Teklu)'; {sbr}, tä-, no internal change, PASSIVE መስኮት ሰባቢሩ mäskot säbabiru 'He repeatedly broke windows'; {sbr}, no prefix, reduplication, FREQUENTATIVE መስኮት ኣስቢሩ mäskot ’a-sbiru 'He caused a window to be broken (by somebody else)'; {sbr}, ’a-, no internal change, CAUSATIVE ተላጺዩ tä-las'iyu 'He shaved (himself)'; {ls'y}, tä-, no internal change, REFLEXIVE ተሳሒቖም tä-saḥix'om / ተሰሓሒቖም tä-säḥaḥix'om 'they (m.) laughed at each other'; sḥk, tä-, -a- / reduplication, RECIPROCAL ኣሳሒቑዎም ’a-s-saḥix'uwwom / ኣሰሐሒቑዎም ’a-s-säḥaḥix'uwwom 'he made them (m.) laugh at each other'; {sḥk}, ’a- + tä-, -a- / reduplication, RECIPROCAL CAUSATIVE
Defective verbs Some verb roots are defective in the sense that they must occur with either or both of the derivational prefixes. For example, from the root {k'mt} (3B) 'sit' there are the forms täx'ämmät'ä 'sit', ax'ämmät'ä 'cause to sit, put' but no form *k'ämmät'ä. Other examples: {ktl} (3B) täxättälä 'follow', {zrb} (3C) täzaräbä 'speak', {ggy} (3C) tägagäyä 'err'. Note that the tä- does not necessarily signify passive or reflexive with these verbs.
Tense, aspect, and mood
The pattern of vowels between the consonants of a verb root, as well as the gemination of one or more consonants in some cases, is determined in part by the verb class (3A, 3B, 3C, 4, 5) and the presence (or absence) of derivational morphemes (ACTIVE, PASSIVE, RECIPROCAL, etc.). But it also depends on the selection of the tense/aspect or mood.
Most Semitic languages make a basic two-way distinction between a tense/aspect stem that is conjugated with suffixes and another stem that is conjugated with prefixes and, in some forms, suffixes as well. In Ethiopian Semitic and in Arabic, the first, known as the perfective, is used for past tense, and the second, known as the imperfective, is used for present and sometimes future tenses.
In Tigrinya the bare imperfective is used mainly for the habitual present: ኩሉ መዓልቲ መስኮት ይሰብር kullu mä‘alti mäskot yǝsäbbǝr 'he breaks a window every day'. In other present and future contexts, auxiliaries are usually used along with the imperfective.
Ethiopian Semitic and Arabic verbs also have a third possibility, which like the imperfective is conjugated with prefixes and sometimes suffixes. This form, known as the jussive/imperative, is tenseless; it is used to express the imperative mood in the second person as well as notions such as 'let him DO', 'that he DO' in the first and third persons. In Ethiopian Semitic, the affirmative imperative drops the prefix, but the negative imperative maintains it. For example, in Tigrinya ንስበር nǝ-sbär 'let's break', ስበራ sǝbär-a 'break! (2p.f.pl.)', ኣየትስበራ ay-tǝ-sbär-a 'don't break! (2p.f.pl.)'.
Some Ethiopian Semitic languages, including Tigrinya, have a fourth possibility, known (somewhat confusingly) as the gerund or gerundive''', which like the perfective is conjugated with suffixes only. As in Amharic, this form in Tigrinya has a tenseless, linking function: '(after) having DONE...', '...DO and (then)...'. In Tigrinya it has an additional and very important function: it is the usual way to express the affirmative past tense in independent clauses, the perfective being restricted mainly to the past negative and to verbs preceded by subordinating conjunctions and the relativizer zǝ-.
Examples:
Conjugation Tigrinya has separate suffixes, prefixes, or combinations of prefixes and suffixes for each of the ten person/number/gender combinations that are distinguished within the personal pronoun system. These are illustrated in the table below for the verb {flt} (3A) 'know' in its ACTIVE form, that is, without derivational prefixes or internal changes.
For the second person jussive/imperative, the tǝ- prefix appears in parentheses because it is used only in the negative. Note that for verbs in the 3A class, the second consonant is geminated in the imperfect when there is no suffix.
{| class="wikitable" |+Tigrinya Verb Conjugation: ACTIVE, Class 3A ! ! Perfect ! Imperfect ! Jussive/Imperative ! Gerundive |- | I | ፈለጥኩ fälät'-ku| እፈልጥ ’ǝ-fällǝt| እፍለጥ ’ǝ-flät | ፈሊጠ felit'-ä |- | you (m.sg.) | ፈለጥካ fälät'-ka | ትፈልጥ tǝ-fällǝt | (ት)ፍለጥ (tǝ-)flät | ፈሊትካ felit'-ka |- | you (f.sg.) | ፈለጥኪ fälät'-ki | ትፈልጢ tǝ-fält'-i | (ት)ፍለጢ (tǝ-)flät'-i | ፈሊጥኪ felit'-ki |- | he | ፈለጠ fälät'-ä | ይፈልጥ yǝ-fällǝt | ይፍለጥ yǝ-flät | ፈሊጡ felit'-u |- | she | ፈለጠት fälät'-ät | ትፈልጥ tǝ-fällǝt | ትፍለጥ tǝ-flät''' | ፈሊጣ felit'-a|- | we | ፈለጥና fälät'-na| ንፈልጥ nǝ-fällǝt| ንፍለጥ nǝ-flät| ፈሊጥና felit'-na|- | you (m.pl.) | ፈለጥኩም fälät'-kum| ትፈልጡ tǝ-fält'-u| (ት)ፍለጡ ((tǝ-)flät'-u| ፈሊጥኩም felit'-kum|- | you (f.pl.) | ፈለጥክን fälät'-kǝn| ትፈልጣ tǝ-fält'-a| (ት)ፍለጣ ((tǝ-)flät'-a| ፈሊጥክን felit'-kin|- | they (m.) | ፈለጡ fälät'-u| ይፈልጡ yǝ-fält'-u| ይፍለጡ yǝ-flät'-u| ፈሊጦም felit'-om|- | they (f.) | ፈለጣ fälät'-a| ይፈልጣ yǝ-fält'-a | ይፍለጣ yǝ-flät'-a| ፈሊጠን felit'-en|}
The same subject agreement affixes appear in the various derivational patterns, but the verb stems are not predictable from the simple, ACTIVE stems.
The derivational prefixes tä- and ’a- undergo various changes when they are preceded by subject agreement affixes. In the imperative/jussive, tä- assimilates to the first consonant of the verb root (except when there is no prefix in the affirmative imperative). In the imperfect, tä- disappears altogether, though its presence can still be detected from the pattern of vowels and gemination in the verb stem. The first person imperfect and jussive prefix ’ǝ merges with a following ’a-, and the vowel of the other prefixes (tǝ, yǝ, nǝ) merges with a following ’a-, yielding the vowel -ä.
The perfect stem following tä- may lose the vowel between the second and third root consonants when the suffix begins with a vowel (ተፈልጠ tä-fält'-ä 'he was known'; ተፈለጥኩ tä-fälät'-ku 'I was known').
The table below shows forms for the verb {flt} (3A) 'know' in each of the possible combinations of derivational prefixes and internal changes. Unless otherwise indicated, the forms given are the third person masculine plural for the RECIPROCAL pattern and the third person masculine singular for the other patterns.
+Tigrinya Verb Conjugation: Derived Forms, Class 3A Derivational pattern Perfect Imperfect Jussive/Imperative Gerundive FREQUENTATIVE ፈላለጠ fälalät'-ä ይፈላልጥ yǝ-fälalǝt ፈላሊጡ fälalit'-u PASSIVE/REFLEXIVE ተፈለጥኩ tä-fälät'-ku (1p.sg.)ተፈልጠ tä-fält'-ä ይፍለጥ yǝ-fǝllät ይፈለጥ yǝ-f-fälätተፈለጥ tä-fälät (2p.m.sg.) ተፈሊጡ tä-fälit'-u RECIPROCAL ተፋለጡ tä-falät'-uተፈላለጡ tä-fälalät'-u ይፋለጡ yǝ-f-falät'-uይፈላለጡ yǝ-f-fälalät'-u ተፋሊጦም tä-falit'-omተፈላሊጦም tä-fälalit'-om CAUSATIVE ኣፍለጠ ’a-flät'-ä የፍልጥ y-ä-fǝllǝtየፍልጡ y-ä-fǝlt'-u (3p.m.pl.) የፍልጥ y-ä-flǝt ኣፍሊጡ ’a-flit'-u RECIPROCAL CAUSATIVE ኣፋለጠ ’a-f-falät'-äኣፈላለጠ ’a-f-fälalät'-ä የፋለጥ y-ä-f-falǝtየፈላለጥ y-ä-f-fälalǝt ኣፋሊጡ ’a-f-falit'-uኣፈላሊጡ ’a-f-fälalit'-u