Tigrinya Verbs - Conjugation

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 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.

The same subject agreement affixes appear in the various derivational patterns, but the verb stems are not predictable from the simple, 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 pattern and the third person masculine singular for the other patterns.

The subject agreement affixes are the same for verbs in other conjugation classes, but the stems differ in some cases from what would be expected for a verb in the 3A class like fälät'ä. The table below shows the third person singular masculine forms for verbs in other classes: {bdl} (3B) 'offend', {mrk} (3C) 'capture', {t'rt'r} (4) 'doubt'.

Verbs whose roots contain "laryngeal" (pharyngeal or glottal: ‘, ḥ, ’, h) consonants in any position or semivowels (w or y) in any position other than first deviate in various ways from the patterns shown in the tables above. For the laryngeals, most of these deviations stem from the fact that the vowel ä never occurs immediately after a laryngeal. For the semivowels, the deviations result from simplifications that occur when these consonants are preceded and followed by vowels. Some of the changes are illustrated in the following table for these seven verbs, all in the 3A class: {hdm} 'escape', {s‘m} 'kiss', {srḥ} 'do, work', {mwt} 'die', {ftw} 'like', {kyd} 'go', {sty} 'drink'. There is considerable variation in the forms; only one possibility is shown here. Third person singular masculine is given in each case, and in addition the first person singular (in the perfect) or third person masculine plural (in the imperfect) for cases where the stem changes within the paradigm.

The very common verbs {nbr} 'live, be' and {gbr} 'do' undergo simplifications in the gerundive, where the b is deleted: ነይሩ näyru, ገይሩ gäyru (3p.m.sg.); ኔርካ nerka, ጌርካ gerka (2p.m.sg.); etc.

Tigrinya has four genuinely irregular verbs: {bhl} 'say', {whb} 'give', {tḥz} 'hold', and {hlw} 'exist'. For the first three of these, which are conjugated similarly, the third personal singular masculine forms are shown in the following table. The verb of existence is discussed in a separate section.