-አ

Ge'ez

Etymology

The etymology of this word is not given in any lexicon.

Enclitic particle

-አ • (-ä)

An encliltic which indicates direct speech. From

August Dillmann (1865) Lexicon linguae aethiopicae cum indice latino, page 714:

A particle which, wherever the words of one, either by messenger or by letter sent to any other, are referred to, is usually attached to the individual or principal terms of the quotation. Of course, the Abyssinian scribes are not tired of repeating it ad nauseum after each word of a longer quotation; and the editors of printed books preferred either to add it sparingly or to omit it altogether.

This particle may occur in narration without direct speech; see also Carl Bezold (1900) “Anführendes -አ፡ im Aethiopischen”, in Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und verwandte Gebiete : Fachzeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, volume 15, page 398

1. • Genesis 32:5, Ethiopic text from Ran HaCohen, Biblia Veteris Testamenti Aethiopica

     ወአዘዞሙ ፡ ወይቤሎሙ ፡ ከመዝ ፡ በልዎ ፡ ለዔሳው ፡ እግዚእየ ፡ ከመዝ ፡ ይቤ ፡ ገብርከ ፡ ያዕቆብ ፡ ኀበ ፡ ላባአ ፡ ነበርኩ ፡ ወጐንዶይኩ ፡ እስከ ፡ ዮም ።

     wäʾäzäzomu wäybelomu kämäz bälwo läʿesaw ʾəgziʾyä kämäz yəbe gäbrəkä yaʿḳob ḫäbä labaʾä näbärku wägʷändoyku ʾəskä yom .

     Then he commanded them and said to them, "Say to Esau, my lord: 'Thus says your servant Jacob: "I have continued to wait with Laban until today."'"

Notes

1. The particle -አ can delete the vowel [ä] at the end of a word. This is most common when the word is in the accusative case; the result is that the word appears to be nominative: ምሕረተ (məḥrätä, “mercy”, fem sg acc) + -አ (-ä) yields ምሕረትአ (məḥrätʾä, fem sg acc + particle of direct speech).
   • 2 Reigns 2:4, Ethiopic text from Ran HaCohen, Biblia Veteris Testamenti Aethiopica

     ወፈነወ ፡ ዳዊት ፡ ዕደወ ፡ ኀበ ፡ መኳንንት ፡ ኢያቤስ ፡ ዘገለአድ ፡ ወይቤሎሙ ፡ ዳዊት ፡ ቡሩካኑአ ፡ አንትሙአ ፡ ለእግዚአብሔርአ ፡ እስመአ ፡ ገበርክሙአ ፡ ዘንተ ፡ ምሕረትአ ፡ ላዕለ ፡ እግዚእክሙአ ፡ እስራኤልአ ፡ ወላዕለ ፡ መሲሑአ ፡ ለእግዚአብሔርአ ፡ ወቀበርክምዎአ ፡ ሎቱአ ፡ ወለወልዱአ ፡ ዮናታንአ ።

     wäfänäwä dawit ʿədäwä ḫäbä mäkʷannət ʾiyabes zägäläʾäd wäybelomu dawit burukanuʾä ʾäntəmuʾä läʾgəziʾäbḥerʾä ʾəsmäʾä gäbärkəmuʾä zäntä məḥrätʾä laʿlä ʾəgziʾkəmuʾä ʾəsraʾelʾä wälaʿlä mäsiḥuʾä läʾgəziʾäbḥerʾä wäḳäbärkəmwoʾä lotuʾä wäläwälduʾä yonatanʾä .

     Then David sent off men to the governors <of> Jabes of Gilead and David said to them, "You are God's blessed ones, for you have done this mercy for your lord Israel and for God's anointed and buried him and his son Jonathan"

     Note the recurrence of the particle -አ after almost every word in the quotation.

2. More seldom can the enclitic -አ cause an -ä at the end of a word to be lengthened to [a]: እንተ፡ መንገለ (ʾəntä mängälä, “by the side of”, prep) + -አ (-ä) can yield መንገላእ (mängälaʾ, prep + particle of direct speech), e.g. Numbers 20:19.
3. With words, mostly prepositions, which end in [ä] but originally ended in [e], the enclitic -አ can cause the [e] to reappear: መንገለ (mängälä, “by the side of”, prep 1s) + -አ (-ä) can yield መንገሌአ (mängäleʾä, prep + particle of direct speech), e.g. Numbers 20:19. In some instances, the combination -eyä becomes simply -e after the enclitic -አ: ኀበየ (ḫäbäyä, “with me”, prep 1s) + -አ (-ä) can yield ኀቤአ (ḫäbeʾä, prep + particle of direct speech), e.g. Joshua 10:4.
4. The enclitic -አ may also be suffixed to the interjection ኦ (ʾo): ኦአ (ʾoʾä, interjection expressing pain, grief, or admiration).
5. In the modern recitation of Ge'ez texts, this particle -አ is not pronounced as such; rather, it indicates to the reader a change in intonation of the voice used to express direct speech.

References

• Dillmann, August (1865) “አ”, in Lexicon linguae aethiopicae cum indice latino (in Latin), Leipzig: T. O. Weigel, column 714
• Leslau, Wolf (1991) “-አ”, in Comparative Dictionary of Geʿez (Classical Ethiopic), 2nd edition, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, →ISBN, page 1a