As copulative conjunctions, they are used to make grammatical affiliations between two or more words, phrases and nouns with the precise meanings ‘and’ and ‘also’.140 According to the tradition of the Qǝne schools, they are known as ዋዌ wāwe.141 Dillamnn claimed ሂ hi to be formed from the root ሀ ha and ኒ ni from ነ na. According to him, ni is somehow a stronger conjunction than hi.142ʾAggabāb does not keep such an implication.
They can be equally attached to nouns, verbs, numerals and other elements in two different ways. Hi and ni are commonly attached to a word at the end while wa is always attached at the beginning of the word.
Textual evidences:
4.1.1.1. (verb + hi) አአምሮሂ፡ ወቃሎሂ፡ አዐቅብ። (John 8:55).
ʾaʾammǝr-o-hi wa-qālo-hi ʾaʿaqqǝb
<V:Imperf.1c.s-PSuff:3m.s-Conj> <Conj-NCom:unm.s.Acc-Conj> <V:Imperf.1c.s>
‘And I know him and keep his word’.
4.1.1.2. (noun + ni) ፀሐይኒ፡ ይጸልም፡ ወወርኅኒ፡ ደመ፡ ይከውን። (Joel 2:31).
ḍaḥayǝ-ni yǝṣallǝm wa-warḫǝ-ni dama
<NCom:unm.s-Conj> <V:Imperf.m.s> <Conj-NCom:unm.s-Conj> <NCom:unm.s.
yǝkawwǝn Acc><V:Imperf.3m.s>
140 Dillmann 1865, 1, 629, 880; Kidāna Wald Kǝfle 1955, 149-150; Leslau 1989, 119, 158.
141 As to mean ‘conjunction’.
142 Dillmann 1907, 411.
Conjunctions
129
‘The sun will be darkened, and the moon will be bloody’.
4.1.1.3. (wa + verb) ወቀርባ፡ ወአኀዛ፡ እገሪሁ፡ ወሰገዳ፡ ሎቱ። (Matt. 28:10).
wa-qarbā wa-ʾaḫazā ʾəgari-hu wa-sagadā
<Conj-V:Perf.3f.p> <Conj-V:Perf.3f.p> <NCom:unm.p.AccPSt-PSuff:3m.s> <Conj- l-ottu
V:Perf.3f.p> <Prep.-PSuff:3m.s>
‘And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him’.
Further references: Gen. 43:8; 1 Kgs 1:46; 2 Kgs 14:26; Job 7:3; Ps. 22:4, 104:23, 27;
Ecclus. 1:21; Sir. 1:26, 15:20; Isa. 14:9, 36:17; Jer. 47:4; Ezek. 8:18, 10:17, 24:13, 15:5;
Dan. 3:33; Amos 7:3; Mich. 3:11, 5:2, 6:12 Matt. 1:6, 2:16, 21:32; 25:22; John 6:55, 8:57, 14:7 2; Acts 7:13, 10:45, 27:10; Heb. 9:28, 11:31.
ወ wa is profoundly engaged in the attachments of ሂ hi or ኒ ni to various elements.143 In some cases, the reason for the engagement is concerned with the introduction of a new sentence because new sentences in Gǝʿǝz mostly begin with the conjunction wa. However, in other cases, the reason why it comes jointly with the same valid particle is not quite clear. Nevertheless, we will have only a mere conception of a copulative conjunction in the translation.
Textual evidences:
4.1.1.4. ርእዩኒሂ፡ ወጸልዑኒሂ፡ ኪያየሂ፡ ወአቡየሂ። (John 15:24).
rǝʾyuni-hi wa-ṣalʿuni-hi kiyāya-hi
<V:Perf.3m.p-PSuff:1c.s-Conj> <Conj-V:3m.p-PSuff:1c.s-Conj> <PObj:1c.s-Conj>
wa-ʾabu-ya-hi
<Conj-NCom:m.s.Acc-PSuff:1c.s-Conj>
‘They have both seen and hated me, me and my father’.
Further references: Prov. (com.) 1:28, 4:12; Matt. 18:5; Luke 13:26; John 12:50, 14:19;
Gal. 1:12.
4.1.1.5. ወዘኒ፡ ይትወለድ፡ እምኔኪ፡ ቅዱስ፡ ውእቱ። (Luke 1:35).
wa-za-ni yǝtwallad ʾǝmǝnne-ki qǝddus wǝʾǝtu
<Conj-PRel:m.s-Conj><V:Imperf.3m.s> <Prep-PSuff:2f.s><NCom:m.s.Nom> <Copu>
‘And he who will be born from you is holy’.
143 Tropper 2002, 145.
Conjunctions
130
Further references: Prov. (com.) 2:3, 6:22, 24:21; Sir. 50:33; John 12:47.
With regard to a position in a sentence, hi and ni have two other common features which are not shared by wa.
1. When they make a link between two or more different verbs, nouns or other language elements in the presence of wa, they can appear only once being attached to the first element or continually after each component. Both trends are equally plausible.
Textual evidences:
4.1.1.6. (verb + hi - wa + verb) ወርዘውኩሂ፡ ወረሳእኩ። (Ps. 36:26).
warzawku-hi wa-rasāʾku
<V:Perf.1c.s.PSuff:1c.s-Conj> <Conj-V:Perf.1c.s-PSuff:1c.s>
‘I have been young and now I became old’.
Further references: Deut 32:6; 1 Sam. 2:6; Jer. 7:9; Luke 15:24.
4.1.1.7. (verb + hi – wa + verb + hi) ወነገርኩሂ፡ ወአድኀንኩሂ፡ ወገሠጽኩሂ። (Isa.
43:12).
wa-nagarku-hi wa-ʾadḫanku-hi wa-gaśśaṣku-hi
<Conj-V:1c.s-PSuff:1c.s-Conj> <Conj-V:Perf.1c.s-PSuff:1c.s-Conj> <Conj-V:1c.s PSuff:1c.s-Conj>
‘And I proclaimed and saved and rebuked’.
4.1.1.8. (noun + hi – wa + noun + hi) ወበምንዳቤሂ፡ ወበተሰዶሂ፡ ወበተጽናስሂ። (2 Cor.
12:10).
wa-ba-mǝnddābe-hi wa-ba-tasaddo-hi wa-ba-taṣnāsǝ-hi
NCom:unm.s.Nom-Conj> V:Inf:s.Nom-Conj> <Conj-Prep-NCom:unm.s.Nom-Conj>
‘With trouble and with persecution, again with difficulty’.
Further references: Num. . 13:24; Josh. 8:35; Job 28:22; Dan. 2:46, 6:27; Philem. 1:11.
4.1.1.9. (verb + ni - wa+ verb + ni) ወቀተሉነኒ፡ ወፄወዉነኒ፡ ወበርበሩነኒ። (Ezra 9:7).
wa-qatalu-na-ni wa-ḍewawu-na-ni wa-barbaru-na-ni
<Conj-V:Perf.3m.p-PSuf f:1c.p-Conj> <Conj-V:Perf.3m.p-PSuff:1c.p-Conj> <Conj-V:
Perf.3m.p-PSuff:1c.p-Conj>
‘They still gave us to death and made us captives and yet plundered us’.
4.1.1.10. (noun + ni – wa + noun + ni) ንጉሥየኒ፡ ወአምላኪየኒ። (Ps. 5:2).
nǝguśǝ-ya-ni wa-ʾamlāki-ya-ni
Conjunctions
131
<NCom:m.s.Nom-PSuff:1c.s-Conj> <Conj-NCom:ms.s.Nom-PSuff:1c.s-Conj>
‘My king and my Lord’.
Further references: Ezra 1:11, 3:7; Neh. 13:12; Job 15:10; Ps. 48:3, 50:21; Dan. 3:52; Luke 15:21.
4.1.1.11. (…ni - wa + …hi) በሥጋሁኒ፡ ወበእግዚእነሂ። (Philem. 1:16).
ba-śǝgā-hu-ni wa-ba-ʾǝgziʾǝ-na-hi
<Prep-NCom:unm.s.Nom-PSuff:3m.s-Conj> <Conj-Prep-NCom:m.s.Nom-PSuff:1c.p Conj>
‘Both in his flesh and in our Lord’.
In connecting proper names preceded or followed by adjectival phrases, the elements are mostly attached only once, to the firstly mentioned element either a noun or an adjectival phrase.
Textual evidences:
4.1.1.12. ወዳዊትኒ፡ ንጉሥ፡ ወለደ፡ ሰሎሞንሃ። (Matt. 1:6).
wa-dāwitǝ-ni nǝguś walada salomonǝ-hā
<Conj-NPro:m.s.Nom-Conj> <NCom:m.s.Nom> <V:Perf.3m.s> <NPro.m.s-PartAcc>
‘And King David begot Solomon’.
Further references: Ezra 1:7, 6:20; Hos. 4:15; Mich. 5:2; John 8:9.
The same can happen when a verb is preceded by a relative pronoun or by another element.
Textual evidences:
4.1.1.13. (pron. + hi - verb) ከመ፡ እለሂ፡ ይፈቅዱ፡ ይኅልፉ ፡ እም፡ ለፌ…። (Luke 16:26).
kama ʾǝlla-hi yǝfaqqǝdu yǝḫlǝfu ʾǝm lafe
<Conj> <PRel-Conj> <V:Imperf-3m.p> <V:Subj.3m.p> <Prep> <Adv>
‘Even those who want to come over from there …’.
Further references: Matt. 10:27, 33; Luke 12:11; John 9:8.
4.1.1.14. (pron. + ni - verb) ወእለኒ፡ ተርፉ፡ አኃዊሆሙ፡ ካህናት....። (Ezra 3:8).
wa-ʾǝlla-ni tarfu ʾaḫāwi-homu kāhnat
<Conj-PRel.Conj> <V:Perf.3m.p> <NCom:m.p-PSuff:3m.p> <NCom:m.p>
‘And the rest of their brothers the priests…’.
Conjunctions
132
However, it is not unavoidable to use them this way in all cases. They can alternately come after the second component, particularly when the adjectival phrase precedes the noun.
Textual evidence:
4.1.1.15. ወእግዚእ፡ ኢየሱስኒ፡ ሖረ፡ ውስተ፡ ደብረ፡ ዘይት። (John 8:1).
wa-ʾǝgziʾ ʾiyyasusǝ-ni ḥora wǝsta dabra zayt
<Conj-NCom:m.s.Nom> <NPro:m.s.Nom-Conj> <V:Perf.3m.s> <Prep>
<NCom:unm.s.ConSt> <NCom:unm.s.Nom>
‘And the Lord Jesus went to the Mount of Olives’.
Likewise, in status constructus, the elements are attached to the dependant noun.
Textual evidences:
4.1.1.16. ወበኵረ፡ እንስሳሂ፡ ዘርኩስ፡ ታቤዙ። (Num. 17:15).
wa-bakwra ʾǝnsəsā-hi za-rəkus tābezzu
<Conj-NCom:unm.s.ConSt> <NCom:ms.s.Nom-Conj> <PRel-NCom:m.s.Nom>
<V:Im perf.2m.s>
‘And the firstborn of unclean animal, you shall redeem.’.
4.1.1.17. ለአህጉረ፡ ሰዶምኒ፡ ወጎሞራ፡ አውዐዮን። (2 Pet. 2:6).
la-ʾahgura sadomǝ-ni wa-gomorā ʾawʿay-on
<Prep-NCom:fs.p.ConSt> <NPro:unm.s.Nom-Conj> <Conj-NPro:unm.s.Nom-Part>
<V:Perf. 3m.s-PSuff:3f.p>
‘He burnt the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah’.
Further references: Num. 26:57; Ezra 2:1, 3:9, 7:7; Neh. 2:8, 9:24, 10:28; Ps. 49:10; 1 Cor.
7:25.
* Notice that the Pronominal suffix of the first person both masculine and feminine singular ኒ nni (በደረኒ badara-nni, ቀደመተኒ qadamatta-nni etc.) is not the same in function with the conjunction ኒ ni that we discussed up to now.