-አ

Ge'ez Etymology The etymology of this word is gez not given in any lexicon. Particle gez pcl 1 An enclitic which indicates direct speech. From August Dillmann 1865 714 https://www.tau.ac.il/~hacohen/Lexicon/pp715.html Lexicon linguae aethiopicae cum indice latino 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 nauseam 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 Anführendes -አ፡ im Aethiopischen Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und verwandte Gebiete : Fachzeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft 1900 15 398 https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:gbv:3:5-10128-105676-13/fragment/page=00000410 Genesis 32:5, Ethiopic text from Ran HaCohen, Biblia Veteris Testamenti Aethiopica gez ወአዘዞሙ ፡ ወይቤሎሙ ፡ ከመዝ ፡ በልዎ ፡ ለዔሳው ፡ እግዚእየ ፡ ከመዝ ፡ ይቤ ፡ ገብርከ ፡ ያዕቆብ ፡ ኀበ ፡ ላባአ ፡ ነበርኩ ፡ ወጐንዶይኩ ፡ እስከ ፡ ዮም ። 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 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: gez fem sg acc ምሕረተ mercy + gez -አ yields gez fem sg acc + particle of direct speech ምሕረትአ. 2 Reigns 2:4, Ethiopic text from Ran HaCohen, Biblia Veteris Testamenti Aethiopica gez 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 ። 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. More seldom can the enclitic -አ cause an -ä at the end of a word to be lengthened to [a]: gez prep እንተ፡ መንገለ by the side of + gez -አ can yield gez prep + particle of direct speech መንገላእ, e.g. Numbers 20:19. With words, mostly prepositions, which end in [ä] but originally ended in [e], the enclitic -አ can cause the [e] to reappear: gez prep 1s መንገለ by the side of + gez -አ can yield gez prep + particle of direct speech መንገሌአ, e.g. Numbers 20:19. In some instances, the combination -eyä becomes simply -e after the enclitic -አ: gez prep 1s ኀበየ with me + gez -አ can yield gez prep + particle of direct speech ኀቤአ, e.g. Joshua 10:4. The enclitic -አ may also be suffixed to the interjection gez ኦ: gez interjection expressing pain, grief, or admiration ኦአ. 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 714 አ 1a -አ