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Unit 4
Amharic

The complete set of Noun Suffix Pronouns is:

Singular After Consonants After Vowels
1st pers. 'my' -e -ye
2nd pers. m. 'your' -ıh -h
2nd pers. f. 'your' -ıš
2nd pers. pol. 'your' -ıwo -wo
3rd pers. m. 'his' -u -w
3rd pers. f. 'her' -wa -wa
Plural
1st pers. 'our' -accın -accın
2nd pers. 'your' - accıhu -accıhu
3rd pers. 'their' -accəw -accəw
(or: polite sing.) 'his, her'


Note 4.2 Verb: Verb forms /allə/ 'there is', /allu/ 'there are' and /yəlləm/ 'there is not', /yəlləm/ 'there are not' as equivalent to English 'have' and 'have not.'

ırsas alləwot. Do you have a pencil?
yəlləññım. [No] I don't ('There is not to me').
bızu ırsasocc alluwot ↑ Do you have many pencils?
yəlləm, and bıcca alləñ. No, I have only one.

/allə/ 'there is', 'there exists' (Note 2.3) and the plural /allu/ 'there are', 'there exist' are used with Verb Suffix Pronouns.

The thing possessed is the subject of /allə/ or /allu/. The owner is indicated by a suffix pronoun, e.g. /məSıhaf alləñ/ 'I have a book', literally 'there is a book to me', /ammıst məSıhafocc alluñ/ 'I have five books', literally 'there are to me five books'.

The forms of /allə/ and /allu/, with the verb suffixed pronouns, are:

Masculine (sing.) Thing Possessed:
Singular Plural
alləñ I have allən we have
alləh you (m.) have
alləš you (f.) have allaccıhu you have
alləwo/alləwot you (pol.) have
alləw he has allaccəw they have
allat she has

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