Sunday, July 29, 2007

Lesson 5: Questions, numbers 5-10, To do (present)

OK, so we are learning the building blocks for a language. The following verbs have been covered in the last four lessons:

TO BE (ܗܘܐ)
Past, Present, and Future

TO GO (ܐܸܙܲܠ)
Past, Present, Future, and Progressive

TO MAKE/DO (ܥܘܲܕܼ)
Progressive


We have also learned the following:
• Numbers (1-5)
• School Vocabulary
• Negatives and Questions

Let’s begin Lesson 5 with Questions, which are important when learning any language.

In English, the common phrase is “Who, what, where, when, why, and how?”

We’ll begin with these, plus a couple more:

QUESTIONS (INTERROGATIVES)
Who? - mā-nee?
Whose?  d'mā-nee?
What? - ma-ha? (Only when "what" stands alone)
What/How? - mā**
What For?  - tā ma-ha?
What is it?  - meelih?
Where? - eae-ka? (yen) kaela?*
From Where? - min d'aeykā?
From Here  -  min d'ākha
When? - ee-mahn?
Why? - qay?
Which?  - aey-mā?
Which one of them?  -  aeymā  minnaey?
What For? - ta-ma-ha?
How? - dikh?


How many? - (oo)kma?
How much? - mā-qa?
How often?  - kod māqā?
Isn't he?  -   laelih?
Isn't she?  -  laelah?
Aren't they?  -  laelay?

Note: the Q sound in surath is not the same as the Q sound in English. It is a hard sound that comes from the throat, as in the words shwiq-lukh (you left) or qee-dha (burnt)
________________
* I’m still not quite sure what the difference is between eae-ka and Kaela

** mā = closer to “how” than to “what” though it can mean both. Not quite sure what situations call for mā and what situations call for ma-ha
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NUMBERS - PART TWO

Hopefully you recall numbers 0-5 in both masculine and feminine forms. Now we are going to learn 5-10.

** Remember: It is not the speaker, but the OBJECT, that determines whether masculine and feminine numerals are used.

** Note: ’a is used to denote a sound which is not used in the English language. The sound comes from deep within the throat. An example of two words that use the ‘a are: ‘at-oo (Last Name), or ‘amba.

FEMININE NUMERALS
6 - ishit
7 - eash-waa
8 - tmanae
9 - tesha
10 - esar

MASCULINE NUMERALS
6 - ishta
7 - shoa’a
8 - tmanya
9 - tish’a
10 - esra

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VERB: TO DO
ROOT: ‘wadh (ܥܘܲܕܼ)
TENSE: PRESENT

I make/do - āna k-aw-dhin

You (m) make/do - āyit k-aw-dhit
You (f) do/make - āyat k-aw-dhat

He makes/does - āwo k-aw-idh
She does/makes - āya k-aw-dhah

We make/do - akhny k-aw-dhukh
Ye/Yall do/make - akhtu(n) k-aw-dhutu(n)
They make/do - anay k-aw-dhy
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2 comments:

Unknown said...

Kaela is where is it and eae-ka is where

Unknown said...

eae-ka is where and kaela is where is it