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Chapter Three: Adverbs
This chapter deals with the linguistic elements which are used as adverbs focusing on their etymology, meaning and use. Ninety-seven individual elements are provided in three separate sections. The majorities are originally nouns which are placed in their accusative forms so that they may play the role of an adverb, and very few elements have neither other origins nor clear relations with verbs or nouns. Let us see each in detail.
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3.1.1.1. ወእምዝ፡ ሰከበ፡ ወኖመ፡ ህየ፡ ታሕተ፡ ዕፅ። (1 Kgs 19:5).
wa-ʾǝmz sakaba wa-noma hǝyya tāḥta ʿǝṣ́
<Conj-Adv> <V:Perf.3m.s> <Conj-V:Perf.3m.s> <Adv> <Prep> <NCom:unm.s.Nom>
‘And then, he lay down and slept at that place under a tree’.
3.1.1.2. ወይትሀወኩ፡ ለፌ፡ ወለፌ። (Enoch (com.) 42:4).
wa-yǝthawwaku lafe wa-lafe
<Conj-V:Imperf.3m.p> <Adv> <Conj-Adv>
‘And they had been moving here and there’.
3.1.1.3. ትብልዎ፡ ለዝ፡ ደብር፡ ፍልስ፡ እም፡ ዝየ፡ ኀበ፡ ከሃ፡ ወይፈልስ። (Matt. 17:20).
təblə-wwo la-zǝ dabr fələs
<V:Imperf.2.m.p-PSuff:3m.s> <Prep-PDem:m.s.Nom> <NCom:ms.Nom> <V:Impt.2 ʾəm zəya ḫaba kahā wa-yəfalləs
m.s> <Prep> <Adv> <prep> <Adv> <Conj-V:Imperf.3m.s>
‘You will say to this mountain ‘Move from here to there’, and it will move’.
3.1.1.4. ነዋ፡ ሀለዉ፡ ክልኤቱ፡ መጣብሕ፡ ዝየ። (Luke 22:38).
nawā hallawu kǝlʾettu maṭābǝḥ zǝya
<PartPres> <V:Perf.3m.p> <NumCa.Nom> <NCom:ms.p> <Adv>
‘Behold there are two swords here’.
Further references: Ezek.11:18, 32:23; Matt. 24:33; Mark 14:32, 34; Luke 19:24; John 18:1,2 19:18; Acts 22:5, 19.
The elements which are recognized as prepositions of place or direction such as መንገለ mangala, በ ba, ኀበ ḫaba, እም ʾǝm, እስከ ʾǝska and እንተ ʾǝnta can be attached to each one of the elements, keeping or not keeping their own ordinary meaning.
Textual evidences:
3.1.1.5. አንሰኬ፡ በህየ፡ ተወለድኩ። (Acts 22:28).
ʾansa-ke ba-hǝyya tawaladku
<PPer:1c.s-Part> <Prep-Adv> <V:Perf.1c.s>
‘But I was actually born there’. (here no word representing ba).
3.1.1.6. ፀቈን፡ እም፡ ለፌ፡ ወፀቈን፡ እም፡ ለፌ። (Num. 22:24).
ḍaqwan ʾǝm lafe wa-ḍaqwan ʾǝm lafe
<NCom:unm.s.Nom> <Prep> <Adv> <Conj-NCom:unm.s.Nom> <Prep> <Adv>
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‘A wall on this side and a wall on that side…’.
3.1.1.7. ተንሥኡ፡ ንሑር፡ እም፡ ዝየ። (John 14:31).
tanśǝʾu nǝḥur ʾǝm zǝya
<V:Impt.2m.p> <V:Subj (Impt).2c.p> <Prep> <Adv>
‘Get up, let us go from here’.
Further references: Neh. 3:30 Ps. 131:17; Job 13:9; S. of S. 7:12, 8:5; Jer. 38:9; Ezek.
8:4,14, 29:31; Acts 27:12.
But even in the absence of the above-mentioned elements, the elements by themselves can introduce the concept of any possible element in translation.
Textual evidences:
3.1.1.8. ወበጺሖ፡ ህየ፡ ይቤሎሙ፡ ጸልዩ። (Luke 22:40).
wa-baṣiḥo hǝyya yǝbel-omu ṣallǝyu
<Conj-V:Ger.3m.s> <Adv> <V:Perf.3m.s-PSuff:3m.p> <V:Impt.2m.p>
‘And having been arrived at the place, he said them ‘pray!’.
3.1.1.9. ረቢ፡ ማእዜ፡ በጻሕከ፡ ዝየ። (John 6:25).
rabbi māʾǝze baṣāḥ-ka zǝya
<NCom.m.s> <AInt> <V:Perf.2m.s-PSuff:2m.s> <Adv>
‘Rabbi, when did you come up to this place?’.
Further references: Job 3:17; Ps. 131:14; Jer. 37:12; Mark 14:69, 15:35, 16:6; Luke 19:27.
ለፌ lafe and ከሃ kahā can take pronominal suffixes to determine persons in both singular and plural forms. As usual the pronominal suffixes are hu (3m.s), ka (2m.s), ha (3f.s), ki (2f.s), homu (3m.p), kǝmu (2m.p), hon (3f.p), kǝn (2f.p), ya (1c.s) and na (1c.p).
3.1.2. ላዕለ lāʿəla, ላዕሉ lāʿəlu and ላዕሊተ lāʿəlita
ላዕለ lāʿəla in such a specific case is the accusative form of the noun ላዕል lāʿəl which is etymologically related with the verb ለዐለ laʿala, ተለዐለ talaʿala, ተልዕለ talʿǝla ‘go upward’, ‘be great’, ‘be superior’, ‘be the highest one’.
ላዕሊተ lāʿəlita is also the accusative form of ላዕሊት lāʿǝlit ‘the highest one’
(feminin). The elements of the same category ታሕተ tāḥta, ታሕቱ tāḥtu, ታሕቲተ tāḥǝtita and መትሕተ matḥǝta are their negative counterparts.
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They are used as adverbs in expression of place or position with the meanings
‘above’, ‘greatly’, ‘superiorly’, ‘upward’ and ‘upwardly’.54 In a sentence, each occurs alone either before or after a verb. Lāʿəlu exceptionally takes an initial attachment of a possible place preposition such as ba and əm.
Textual evidences:
3.1.2.1. ወንስአል፡ አንቃዕዲወነ፡ ላዕለ። (Haym. (com.) 10:2).
wa-nəsʾal ʾanqāʿǝdiwana lāʿəla
<Conj-V:Subj.2m.p> <V:Ger.1c..p> <Adv>
‘And we may pray gazing upward’.
3.1.2.2. ተፋቀዱ፡ ዘእም፡ እስራ፡ ዓም፡ ወላዕሉ። (Num. 26:4).
tafāqadu za-ʾǝm ʾǝsrā ʿām wa-lāʿəlu
<V:Impt.2m.p> <PRel-Prep> <NumCa> <NCom:unm.s> <Conj-Part>
‘Take a census of those who are twenty years old and over’.
3.1.2.3. አልቦ፡ ከማከ፡ አምላክ፡ በሰማይ፡ በላዕሉ፡ ወበምድር፡ በታሕቱ። (1 Kgs 8:21).
ʾalbo kamā-ka ʾamlāk ba-samāy
<ExNeg-Verb> <Prep-PSuff:2m.s> <NCom:m.s.Nom> <Prep-NCom:unm.s.Nom>
ba-lāʿəlu wa-ba-mǝdr ba-tāḥtu
<Prep-Prep-Psuff:3m.s> <Conj-Prep-NCom:unm.s.Nom> <Prep-Prep-Psuff:3m.s>
‘There is no God like you in heaven above or on earth beneath’.
Further references: Sir. 43.1; 2 Chr. 25:5.
3.1.3. መንጸረ manṣara and አንጻረ ʾanṣara
Both elements share the same root with the verb ነጸረ naṣṣara ‘see’, ‘look’ and ‘watch’.
They are the accusative forms of the substantives መንጸር manṣar and አንጻር ʾanṣār respectively. The elements have the same grammatical function and meaning even if different affixes (መ ma and አ ʾa) are added to their roots ንጸር nəṣar and ንጻር nəṣār initially. They are used equally as adverbial elements with the meanings ‘forward’,
‘forwardly’, ‘opposite facing’ and ‘parallel’ concerned with the notions of direction, position and site.55
Theoretically, as adverbs, they occur alone either before or after a verb without being convinced to any word attachment.
54 Dillmann 1865, 56, 59; Kidāna Wald Kǝfle 1955, 89; Leslau 2006, 304.
55 Dillmann 1865, 702-703; Kidāna Wald Kǝfle 1955, 650; Leslau 1989, 130.
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Textual evidence:
3.1.3.1. ኢሖረ፡ በከመ፡ ያለምድ፡ መንጸረ፡ ቅድሜሁ፡ ለአስተቃስሞ። (Num. 24:1).
ʾi-ḥora ba-kama yālammǝd manṣara qǝdme-hu la-ʾastaqāsǝmo
<PartNeg-V:Perf.3m.s> <Prep> <Conj-V:Imperf.3m.s> <Adv> <Prep-PSuff:3m.s>
<Prep-V:Inf.Nom>
‘He did not go forward before him to seek omens as he was accustomed’.
3.1.4. መትሕተ matḥəta, ታሕተ tāḥta and ታሕቲተ tāḥtita56
Tāḥt is the the noun which is etymologically affiliated with the substantives matḥət and tāḥtit including the verb ተትሕተ tatḥəta ‘be humble’, ‘be lower’. Leslau claimed that the original form of the verb is ትሕተ təḥta or ተሐተ taḥata but not tatḥəta.57 But it is difficult to find any textual reading in these forms.
The elements are used as adverbs in expression of place and position. They occur alone before or after a verb with the meanings ‘under’, ‘down’, ‘downward’ and
‘beneath’.
Textual evidences:
3.1.4.1. ወታሕተ፡ ውስተ፡ ምድር፡ ትሬእዩ። (Isa. 8:22).
wa-tāḥta wǝsta mǝdr tǝreʾǝyu
<Conj-Adv> <Prep> <NCom:unm.s.Nom> <V:Imperf.2m.p>
‘And you look downward to the earth’.
3.1.5. ትርአሰ tərʾasa and ትርጋጸ tərgāṣa
ትርአሰ tǝrʾasa is the accusative form of the noun ትርአስ tǝrʾas which is etymologically affiliated with the verb ተተርአሰ tatarʾasa ‘lie on a cushion’. Similarly, the noun ትርጋጸ tərgāṣa is the accusative form of ትርጋጽ tərgāṣ which is related with the verb ረገጸ ragaṣa ‘trample’.58
Both are not considered as parts of the adverbial elements by almost all grammarians whose works are mentioned in the review. However, according to the tradition of ʾAggabāb, they are used as adverbs in expressing a position with the meanings ‘at the head’/ ‘at the top’ and ‘at the foot’/ ‘at the bottom’ respectively. They occur alone. Their frequent position is after the verb.
56 Dillmann 1865, 319; Kidāna Wald Kǝfle 1955, 895; Leslau 1989, 106, 107.
57 Leslau 2006, 572.
58 Dillmann 1865, 1389; Kidāna Wald Kǝfle 1955, 157; Leslau 1989, 64, 107.
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Textual evidences:
3.1.5.1. ወይነብሩ፡ አሐዱ፡ ትርአሰ፡ ወአሐዱ፡ ትርጋጸ። (John 20:12).
wa-yǝnabbǝru ʾaḥadu tǝrʾasa wa-ʾaḥadu tǝrgāṣa
<Conj-V:Imperf.3m.p> <NumCa> <Adv> <Conj-NumCa> <Adv>
‘They were sitting, one at head and the one at the feet’.
3.1.6. ፍጽመ fǝṣma
ፍጽመ fǝṣma is initially the accusative form of ፍጽም the noun which is related with the verb ፈጸመ faṣṣama ‘finish’, ‘accomplish’, ‘complete’. Its grammatical function is to be used as an adverb in expression of place with the meanings ‘before’, ‘face-to-face’, ‘in front’ and ‘personally’.59
Textual evidence:
3.1.6.1. ወአቅምዎ፡ ፍጽመ፡ ወተመየጡ፡ ወኅድግዎ፡ ይቍስል፡ ወይሙት። (2 Sam.
11:16).
wa-ʾaqəmǝ-wwo fǝṣma wa-tamayaṭu
<Conj-V:Impt.2m.p-PSuff:3m.s> <Adv> <Conj-V:Impt.2m.p-PSuff:3m.s> <Conj- wa-ḫǝdgǝ-wwo yǝqwǝsǝl wa-yǝmut
V:Impt.2m.p-PSuff:3m.s> <V:Subj.3m.s> <Conj-V:Subj.3m.s>
‘Place him in front and come back leaving him alone so that he shall be wounded and die’.
3.1.6.2. እስመ፡ ተቃወምከ፡ ፍጽመ፡ አመ፡ ጼወውዎሙ፡ ካልእ፡ ሕዝብ። (Obad.
1:11).
ʾǝsma taqāwamka fǝṣma ʾama ṣewawǝ-wwomu kālǝʾ ḥǝzb
<Conj> <V:Perf.3m.s-PSuff:2m.s> <Adv> <Prep-V:Perf-3m.p-PSuff:3m.p>
<NumOr.Nom> <NCom:ms.p.Nom>
‘…because you opposed him personally when stranger people captured them’
59 Dillmann 1907, 383; Leslau 2006, 169.
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3.2. Adverbs of Time