-ቤ
Harari
Etymology
From Proto-Semitic *bV-. The postpositional instead of prepositional use is a Cushitic loan; it occurs in Ethiopian Semitic in general the more southern the isolect is, with Harari being the outer extreme of them all, having utterly abated the prepositional use of Proto-Semitic *bV-, left to the historical chronolect called “Old Harari”.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [be]
Postposition
-ቤ (-be)
- in
- to, towards
Usage notes
Used often to express circumstances adverbially, for space as well as time.
References
- Gensler, Orin D. (1997), “Mari Akkadian iš “to, for” and Preposition-Hopping in the light of comparative Semitic syntax”, in Orientalia, volume 66, issue 2, pages 138–141
- Enno Littmann, editor (1922), “Harari-Studien”, in Zeitschrift für Semitistik und verwandte Gebiete, volume 1, page 42 line 23