Tigrinya Verbs - Copula and Verb of Existence

Copula and Verb of Existence

Like other Ethiopian Semitic languages, Tigrinya has a copula ('be') and a separate verb of existence and location ('exist, be located'), neither of which is conjugated like other verbs. For the present tense, both the copula and the verb of existence use forms with subject agreement suffixes rather than anything resembling the imperfect. The present of the verb of existence can take conjunctive prefixes, in which case its initial ’a is absorbed: እንተሎ ǝntällo 'if there is', ዘለዉ zälläwu 'which there are'. The copula cannot take conjunctive prefixes; instead, forms of the regular verb ኮነ konä 'become' are used: እንተኾነ ǝntäxonä if he is, becomes', ዝኾነ zǝxonä 'which is, becomes'. The perfect or gerundive of the regular verb ነበረ näbärä 'live' normally serves as the past tense of both the copula and the verb of existence: ምሳና ኣይነበረን mǝsana aynäbäran 'they (f.) weren't with us'. The verbs ኮነ konä, ነበረ näbärä, and ሃለወ halläwä (a regular verb with restricted use meaning 'exist' and the historical source of allo, etc.) replace the copula and verb of existence in other grammatical roles: ይኹኑ yǝxunu 'let them (m.) be' (jussive), ኪነብር እዩ kinäbbǝr ǝyyu 'he will be (there)' (near future), ምህላውካ mǝhǝllawka 'your (m.sg.) being (there)' (infinitive).

With object pronoun suffixes, the verb of existence conveys possession; the object represents the possessor and the subject of the verb the possessed entity. Thus there are four ways to express 'have' for a given subject, depending on the number and gender of the possessed entity: ኣሎኒ allo-ni (m.sg.), ኣላትኒ allat-ǝ-nni (f.sg.), ኣለዉኒ alläwu-ni (m.pl.), ኣለዋኒ alläwa-ni (f.pl.) 'I have'. The same form is used to express obligation; the subject takes the form of an infinitive, the subject agreement is third person masculine singular, and the object suffix represents the obliged person: ምድቃስ ኣሎኒ mǝdǝqqas allo-nni, 'I have to sleep'.

The following table shows the affirmative and negative present forms of the copula and verb of existence. In the second person forms of the copula, the first vowel may be either ǝ and i.