ለ-
Ge'ez
Etymology
From Proto-Semitic *lV-.
Preposition
ለ- • (lä-)
- to, for, belonging to.
Inflection
| Base form | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Personal-pronoun- including forms | Singular | Plural | |||
| Masculine | Feminine | Masculine | Feminine | ||
| 1st person | ሊተ (litä) | ለነ (länä) | |||
| 2nd person | ለከ (läkä) | ለኪ (läki) | ለክሙ (läkmu) | ለክን (läkn) | |
| 3rd person | ሎቱ (lotu) | ላቲ (lati) | ሎሙ (lomu) | ሎን (lon) | |
References
- Dillmann, August (1865), “ለ”, in Lexicon linguae aethiopicae cum indice latino (in Latin), Leipzig: T. O. Weigel
Tigre
Article
ለ- • (lä-)
- the, the normal definite article in this language
Usage notes
Unlike Arabic الـ (-al) it can also be met in the construct state, even before nouns bearing pronominal suffixes. If there is a noun with adjective or numeral qualifier then either the noun or the adjective can bear it, usually first article, thereafter adjective, at last the noun. Also, in a list of nouns such as coordinated by ወ- (wä-, “and”) it may be used just once in the beginning to make all nouns determinate.
Pronoun
ለ- • (lä-)
- (differential) the one
Conjunction
ለ- • (lä-)
- A relativizer, used to indicate a relative clause
Usage notes
Usually precedes a verb, while it does need to be in the beginning of the relative clause (as Təgrē has SOV word order). If the verb has a preposition in its government then it goes in front of the preposition
Can be used without antecedent, for example:
- 1913, Enno Littmann, editor, Publications of the Princeton Expedition to Abyssinia. Volume III: Lieder der Tigrē-Stämme: Tigrē Text., Leiden: E. J. Brill, page 209 Nr. 285 line 4:
- ምን፡ሽዒር፡መልእዋ፡ምን፡ማሼላ፡ለገመት።
- mən-šəʿir-mälləʾwa-mən-mašela-lä-gämmät.
- Of barley they filled and of durra what was empty [i.e. the containers which were empty].
- translation into German: Enno Littmann, editor (1913) Publications of the Princeton Expedition to Abyssinia. Volume IV: Lieder der Tigrē-Stämme: Deutsche Übersetzung und Commentar., Leiden: E. J. Brill, page 441
It can also be omitted if the antecedent it refers to has the definite article—an opposite of the behaviour of Arabic اَلَّذِي (allaḏī) which is required after الـ (-al).