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Basic Course
Unit 6
| new | addis |
| flower | abəba |
| Addis Ababa | addis abəba |
| When are you going to Addis Ababa? | ırsıwo wədaddis abəba məcé yıhədallu. |
| he is drinking, drinks, will drink | yıTəTTal |
| before his going | kəməhədu bəfit |
| He'll have ('drink') [a cup of] coffee before going to town. | wədə kətəma kəməhədu bəfit, bunna yıTəTTal. |
| she is wanting, wants, will want or: looking for, will look for |
tıfəllıgalləc |
| She's looking for a hotel. | hotel tıfəllıgalləc. |
| we are coming, come, will come | ınməTallən |
| We'll come in two hours. | bəhulətt səat wısT, wədə bet ınməTallən. |
| you (pl.) are seeing, see | tayallaccıhu |
| today | zare |
| You'll see the house today. | betun zaré tayallaccıhu. |
| they are going, go, will go | yıhədallu |
| They are going to school with their teacher. | kastəmariyaccəw gár, wədə tımıhırtbet yıhədallu. |
Grammatical notes
Note 6.1 The Relational Prefix /y(ə)-/
| yamerikan embassi, yét nəw. | Where is the America Embassy? |
| sıme jón nəw, yərsıwoss ↑ | My name's John, what's yours? |
| yəwıCC gudday ministr. | The Minister of Foreign Affairs. |
The prefix /y(ə)-/ indicates 'pertaining to' or 'possessed by'. It is affixed to the 'possessor' which always precedes the 'possessed' item, and is generally equivalent to English 'of' or the apostrophe-plus-s possessive suffix, e.g.
| /yətəmariw bet/ | 'the student's house' ('of the student [the] house') |
| /yaddis abəba kətəma/ | 'the city of Addis Ababa' |
If the 'possessor' itself is modified, /y(ə)-/ is prefixed to the modifier, e.g.
| /yəKonjo set bet/ | 'A house of a pretty girl'. |
| /yəTıruw təmari məSıhaf/ | 'The good student's book'. |
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