English-Amharic context dictionary

1517 Pages·1973·83.45 MB·English

by  Wolf Leslau

WOLF LESLAU
ENGLISH-AMHARIC CONTEXT DICTIONARY
To
CHARLOTTE
ELIANE SYLVIA
LISA MONIQUE LYNN CHRISTINE
Every other aullwr mq)J tupfr11 to
[11'aise; tile lexictJgrapher cun only
hope lo e;Jcape reproach, tlJid eve.11
this Mgative recompense has hee11
gra11ted ta very few.
SAMUEL JOHNSON
Pf'eface to a Dictionary
of tbe English langua.ae
PREFACE
Amharic is the national language of Ethiopia. The scientific investigation of Amharic goes back to
the 17th century, but little attention was given to furni5hlng the student with practical tools for the
acquisition of the language.
The most recent English-Amharic dictionaries are those of C. H. Armbril:iter, Initia Amharfca,
part II, 1910, and of C. H. Walker, English-Amharic Dictionary, 1928. Since these publications
Amharic has developed considerably. The progress that Ethiopia has made in the field of education,
the literary documents of the last fifty years, the technical needs for new expressions, the contact with
the Western world, and the natural development within the language itself have contributed greatly
not only to the enrichment of the language but also to numerous changes within the existing vocabulary.
A few examples taken from .ApnbruSter's dictionary illustrate the changes in the expressions. Thus,
'address' is rendered in Armbruster by IJ"A.h-l- in contrast with the present-day h~t.ti; 'bank'
11")1" • tL-l-as against q.,h; 'bicycle' f(lf.tll') • 1-l.:h as against n.ll.htt.T; 'cigarette' Rml..,..'J- • ,..,.
m.,.l\1\ 1 .'J-IJ"ttU" (1it. 'tobiU:CO that is wrapped in paper') as against M~; 'coin' -rhA:,. as against
iVJ-1:9'"; 'doctor' ql\ • DltJ'.:•·u. . :t- as against .hh.-9'" or P..h..,.c; 'general' ~'"'*as against 1:):6-A;
'map' nc 1 PilA. as against ltC;t-; 'sea' fOJ-? • ttihe as against qmc; 'story of a house' .t.cil as
against £:..,., and many more.
Needless to say, in Armbruster's time there was no need for expressions ruch as 'United Nations,
Trusteeship committee, Security Council, control tower, review of books, agenda, airlines, basketball,
elevator', and so on. Moreover, the practical interest in Amharic has increased in the last few decades.
If to all this we add the fact that at present English is the language of instruction in the high schools
of Ethiopia as well as at the University, we can easily justify the urgent need for a modern English-
Amharic dictionary.
The most useful approach to the understanding of English lexical items and to the translation
process from English into Amharic appears to be to illustrate English words in context, that is, in a
sentence showing the usage of the word, rn.ther than simply to enumerate the various Amharic render
ings of any given single English lexeme. This is particularly important wherever a single English lexeme
varies in meaning according to the context of the sentence. A few example.~ bear out the point.
The Engliili 'box' can be rendered by (rt~:t i ;r}'l and by RR·fP. 1 -ou;t-:t-. It is only the context
that helps the reader to choose the appropriate Amharic expression. Thus, in the sentence, "Shall l
put the shoes in a box?" *"1...,9"1fi") • {t.,~:,. 1 ~~D-{1'1" 1 o'\~G;J>=t¢1.D'l, 'box' is rendered by {t'},IJ.:t.
In the sentence, "I have another box of cigars" M 1 :rfl 1 it.:J&-1M'S, 'box' is rendered by :r\1.
Finally, in the sentence, "A box on the ear hurts" ](r: 1 4\.& 1 Oll"m. • -010;-;r. • $/}f"'A., 'box' is
rendered by Rll"m.. 1 --.:1'-l-.
Or, the English 'draw' can be rendered in Amharic by 40 I "'A I .,.~ I 1\mnJ J +nlllld 1 hfl.'lq I
Vlll
A+t!d. t .,.lh I DfiiiH, and probably by other expressions. Here again, only the context helps the
reader to choose the appropriate expression. Thus, "The horses draw the wagon" ~t:.l'\lti • 1'h~1~ 1 f.h
rur; "He drew a picture of his teacher" .t"il.,...,tk&"t • P'6A • "''ll; "The boy drew water from the
weU" A)l: • h.,.~~ • (1)<:.0 • 4'.';; "He drew his hands from his pockets" ~!Ji'J • htu\o • AmtiJ;
"They drew lots to see who should go first" OJJ'1,.a-t;,.t • ...,,..,. ,.•.q lpl '•t~ ··tz~ • l)tfJ • -r-nl"'fto; "You
should draw fresh air intO your lungs" 1A-ih • l'lfC • CDR. • "'7lrJil·l-• AMltJ; "His speech
drew long applause" 't~<G- • t:.H,.. • J!it • 1,•11"'-11 • .1\.,..t:.LA-l-; "Her elegant dress drew the eyes
of all onlookers" .til'O<l..,.ID' • Ail I). • f.,._Alt¥1fi"t • 'H'·"t • fJoh- • •U.h; "He drew his sword and
nm at the enemy" .,.,t..F.,(&'} • _,. • mF. • mo\41 • t"m.
The ambiguity of meaning applies to many English lexemes, and it therefore dictated the principle
of using the lexeme in context.
The various meanings of the same English lexeme were taken from the existing English dictionaries.
Sentence~ were chosen to illustrate the various meanings. Nevertheless, not all the meanings of the same
lexeme were always considered, since to do so would have greatly increased the bulk of the dictionary.
Occasionally, a sentence is limited to a specific situation. St:e, for example, 'incidence' where the sen
tence refers to 'a high :incidence' only; or 'going, get going' is limited in reference to holding a con
versation. The verb 'adulterate' (no. 2) refers only to adulteration of meat, but of course in Amharic
for other kinds of food the verb 'adulterate' has to be translated differently.
In other situations, a main entry has to supplement a subentry or the other way around. Thus, in
the entry 'inhospitable', the sentence of the subentry 'be inhospitable' refers only to the desert, but
if the reader needs to translate 'be inhospitable' speaking of a host in relation to his guests, he must
choose the translation of the main entry 'inhospitable' hh-K.?~t!'t • f.,..Xr\m-and convert the relatiye
f.,.. XI\ into the verb 1-M. Or, in the entry 'reasonable', it is evident that the subentry 'be reasonable'
illustrated with the sentence "chicken is reasonable this week" refers to a specific situation. The transla
tion of the verb 'be reasonable' in any other context is made possible by using any of the five adjectives
translating 'reasonable' by the addition of tm-'he is'.
There are sentences illustrating a lellCme in which the context does not seem to vary from the
standpoint of English, but nevertheless require different Amharic translations. See the entry 'attitudC',
or 'uncover', nos. 3 and 4.
It is true that some Iexemes have only one meaning and an illustrative sentence may not have been
necessary. For other entries, the sentence may be considered supcrl)uous since it is not meaningful, .u
"my father left for Harar" to illustrate the noun 'father' t,q:,O. How~er. it is interesting to see that
the same Amharic ~<.q.'f-is also used in the sentence "God is called Our Father," but in the sentence
"I talked with Father Giyorgis about the church", 'father' is rendered by hq.
For the sake of consistency I therefore thought it advisable to illustrate every word with a sentence.
An additional reason for doing so was to provide the learner of Amharic as well as the Ethlopian
:;;tudent studying English with concrete illustrations.
An exception has been made for a few categories, such as the numerals (outside of the numerals
1 to 12 referring to time), certain animals, and a few isolated words.
INFORMAL USAGE, SLANG
The English usage is mostly that of American English. Likewise, the orthography is that of American
English.
Expressions that are considered informal in a dictionary such as ''The Holt's Intermediate Dictionary
of American English" are occasionally included. Thus, 'close call'; 'easy' in 'take it eMy'; 'fancy' as in
'fancy rate$,' and so on.
Slang expressions are not given.
IX
TECHNICAL EXPRESSIONS
Technical expressions in the fields of technology, mechanics or exact sciences are not included since
normally Amharic would use the foreign word. Thus, 'electrodynamics, electron, helium, hydrogen,
biopsy, biochemistry' will not be found in the dictionary. However, the everyday expressions dealing
with electricity, cars, and telephone are included even though most of them are foreign loanwords.
TRANSLATION
The translation of each sentence was checked with several translators. The main objective was to
have a correct translation oft~ English sentence in idiomatic Amharic. Needless to say, because of
stylistic preferences, various translators rendered the same sentence differently. Only one translation
wu chosen in order to keep the bulk of the dictionary within bounds.
For many words, Amharic offered only an approximate translation and thus the translation proved
to be pale.
Since the main objective is a «~rrect transJation in idiomatic Amharic, stylistic and syntactic diver
gencies between the English sentences and the Amharic translations arc inevitable. Only a few examples
illustrate this point.
"He banged his fist on the table" m~A..IIID-1' • Ofl<m, • -:1-m- (English bang on, Amharic -:J
with the direct object).
"Under the ~ulse off riendship, he plotted treachery" m.ll~ • tN{tfr> 1 hihf..+'t 1 hl'lR (lit. "looking
like a friend").
"Donations are welcome" "'-C~;f-1 "'-'+RII.il.") (lit. "we accept help" or "donation").
"It is evident that he cannot come" il.-9'""1:,.• h.il.tN~Ir • '1Ait 1 }m-(lit. "his not being able to
come").
"His brief was printed in the newspaper" fl'lmiD' 1 h"PC • ou1fl.-.. 1 n;n1"1 • ;J-TDB (lit. "the brief
that he gave").
"Can you discriminate gMd books/rom bad?" ,...,.l::.c; • 'No • or>A'.rhi:!~'J • A,..il.f:,. 1 T";fl\il.11?
(lit. "bad and good books").
"You will be surprised how he changed" "'-').J.'..T 1 "J'.")f..+ilmm • 11.:1'~ • Y/JCf"''A (lit. "if you
see how he changed").
"The boy•s apology conciliated the angry father" fl\"K, • f.rt>c:l" • oumf'-l» 1 _tq·J:'J 1 ')I...)- 1 Adt:~
(lit. "appeased the father's anger").
"What is the frequency of the Addis Ababa statiOn?" fh4,n 1 t.nq 1 o!..4,f'" • "'RJ 1 ~71
9""t 1 .ttJA 1 ~mo? (lit. "how much?)".
"SM is in the work heart and soul" P~,.., 1 hA9.. ' -l-w.&-A~ (lit. "she does her work").
"He is thirty years of age" u>o\ta 1 'l-..z 1 t.,. (lit. "his age is").
"She waited at the street (".()mer for a bus" (1-')1.(-1 .I;C 1 .fo"7 1 hd)o.fortn 1 mR+:Y. (lit. "standing
at the street corner").
GEEZ AS SOURCE OF NEW EXPRESSIONS
Geez morphological patterns as well as the Geez vocabulary are occasionally used for the creation
of new expressions. Thus, the passive participle q<Jtul is used in : 'th-1'1 • J>D't-t 'subcommittee',
Jtth.llj: 'article' A_,. 'axio-mo';
Verbal nou~s with -o1, ni • h..l':"&-iT 'welfare'. h¥:l;.,.:,. 'admiration', hlMlC"+ 'respect',
X
h"tK"C'+ • JI'A (in the so-called construct state) 'abbreviation', 1\~IA, 'bias', ..,At' 'theory',
.,..;JY:tr-'campaign', +:lrll'i" 'influence', AM..,...,.. • +4'RA 'acquiesce'.
Geez construct state : htj:A • h1C 'region', h'i!A • II,..'J 'century', Pl. • UC 'bottom of
things', hill. • Rtt-A 'celebration'. A reversed construct state, that is, the Amharic word order with
the -ii of the Geez construct state: ID"lam • ~")ofl 'bylaw', m-{lm • 'ltl."i" 'subconscience', .,1M • A
Rc 'accomplice', h"t~n.,. • Cirl'IH· 'eloquence'.
With an adjective as second element: ou,.,.t:..+ • O.h 'baseless',""'""~'~' C.,. 'calm', q.,.e.t • I'UD·C
'blir~O.'.
CALQUE TRANSLATIONS
With the spread of foreign languages, and particuJarly of English, it is to be expected that calque
translations are being used in Amharic. Examples : 'weekend' fltM-l- • -~t:.Ti; 'cross-c;amina
tion' ou{I4"A~ • Tl'<t; 'slide rule' +'Jil"~;t-';f • or>ptPJ~I'. and others.
Of particular interest is the usage of the verb m(IJ'. 'take'. The example of lllf"RC • m-ilS: for
'take a seat!' is recognized by most Ethiopians as a calque and is frowned upon. The verb mtV..
'take' seems to be extended in usage. however, and it is at times qifficult to decide whether we are
faced with a calque translation or a correct Amharic expression. Thus, for instance, 'take' is idiomati
cally translated by 4.'£ in the sentence, "it took• th e firemen two hours to put out the blaze" .4'mi'P,.
'd)e r1e dll "b""y'J "m'..(.-I,F. . •i nf1 t.h4e..- ,s. en1 teh}n!.c;Jei. D"<th •e w.,o~u.n,.di fto* ok fal .l/ol:nt g1 timlt<eH t-o 1h e4a.l)"!; 4-:l:fli'DIA"-', 1 H:loow..llehv.1eirc, 1 't1a1kft<e ' •i s' LHre. n •
IDfl'-. The question arises whether this is a calque translation or whether it is idiomatic Amharic.
Another important question is the plural marker. Amharic does not normally use the plural marker.
Thus, "there are many trees in this park" is normally rendered by OH.U • ~4.7( r (l;J- 1 -nu· • ~~~ 1
hit There is, however, an increasing tendency to use the plural marker -oCC, a tendency that is proba
bly due to the influence of foreign languages. The above-mentioned sentence is translated by DH.U 1
lP'fiL'l'i • 11;1- • ofllfo • lf~l- • h&. Or, in the sentence "they raise fine cattle in this country" OH.U •
h1C • ID"'llT r '1"~ ' hofl.,.* 1 J'C:Qh-, 'cattle' has the plural marker. Whether the tendency to use the
plural marker is due to the influence of a foreign language or whether it is a naturul development
within Amharic itself can be ascertained only by examining the writings of authors whoarenotfamiliar
witb a foreign languase.
CULTURE-BOUND TRANSLATIONS
Many English expressions cannot be translated into Amharic because the object or the institution
does not eJr.ist in Ethiopian culture. Thus, there is no way of translating 'jury' or 'cheese' in Amharic,
since: the institution of jury does not exist in the legaJ system of Ethiopia, and Amharic hiAI is really
not 'cheese'. The method adopled in the dictionary is to give an explanation in brackets (see 'ale,
allergy, delta, galley'), or to use an existing loanword as in the case of 'cheese' rendered by S:C...,;£,
Italian 'formaggio', even though some loanwords are rarely used outside the confines of the literate
class of Ethiopians.
Likewise complicated is the rendering of lexemcs that are not equivalent in English and Amharic.
Thi9 is the case of 'winter' and 'sununer'. Neither the time nor the character of the continental winter
or summer corresponds to the seasons in Ethiopia. The only recourse was to translate 'winter' by
ho~..,-:,. (ac.tually 'the rains' from July to September) and 'summer' by U,.!) (actually 'the dry season').
It is due to the culture-bound phenomena that no literal translation can be given for certain English
expressions. This is the case of 'temperate climate' in the sentence "we live in a temperate climate"
XI
rendered by ff"'fCOT I fl;f- I tD,.t; I S!;J I ~dl'o, but IDPi ' 1.;J (the intermediate region between
highland and lowland) applies only to Ethiopia.
The sentence, "write the alphabet in reYerse order" is rendered by AJ.~') • h:l'"f. • tJJJ/.. • l!,.f,. •
0.,.&-•~ because the Ethiopian student when studyiog the alphabet mites it from top to bottom.
The expression 'period' is translated by AM • )'1'-n 'four dots' in the sentence, "you forgot to put
a period here" ).ff_p • .l'tt.-l-• 1-'1'11• "''I: .f.., • il.IJV because Amharic uses four dots where English
uses a period.
The sentence, "I did not get your last 1fat!le" rendered by .fQ>lolJ • ll9"' • h.Ad"''IJof'" means literally
"I did not get your father's name., because the last name in Western culture is in rea1ity the father's
name in Ethiopian culture. •
The cxprc!l.'!ion 'bang out' is rendered by hi\tll 'spread out on the ground' in the sentence "she was
hanging out the wash when 1 came" il"""llf • f:J-mn • A:flil • :l"'i'to1J • ~nc because the Ethiopian
woman spreads out the wash near the river instead of hanging it out. The verb d+A 'hang out' couJd
probably be used in the sentence, but the verb h(I11J 'spread out on the ground' is a more natural
expression.
Anothcc interesting lexeme inherent to Amharic is the verb 'borrow' or 'lend'. While English uses
the same verb for borrowing money or objects, Amharic differentiates between borrowing money or
grain (+O~l) and borrowing objects (-I''PI\). The same differentiation is expressed for lending money
or grain (h!U.C::) and lending objects (h'Pn).
English 'empress' expresses both the wife of an emperor or a woman who rules an empire. Amharic
differentiates between the two meanings using 1..-t-1. for the wile of an emperor, and 't"!P'+ ' ~"JI"':,..T
for a woman ruler. In the entry 'empress', in the first sentence the empress Menen was the wife of the
emperor (therefore 1.-1:1.) whereas in the second sentence Zawditu was empress in her own right (there
fore 'l'1P'+ ' ~"JP':I-T).
LOANWORDS
The purist will probably object to the listing of loanwords in the dictionary. These loanwords
are, however, normally used in the language and no systematic attempt has been made to replace them
with Amharic expressions. There are about 300 loanwords in the dictionary from English, French
and Italian.
NEW EXPRESSIONS
There are many English lexemes for which there is no Amharic equivalent, mostly because they are
culture-bound expressions. An attempt was made to create an Amharic equivalent, as in the case
for 'dessert' ..,oTI"''"tf; 'dressing (for salad)' "'fiiJL~; 'lawn' f.,O. 1 -il.h; 'oasis' fOC::'Ii • "1~+.
and other.:;.
Other lexemes are ad-hoc creations, such as 'brochure' oP"'JAAf.' A'tft.'j:.; 'leaflet' Jt'b'i: (also 'article
in a newspaper'); 'diagram' P"M'I! • oo.,AAf.; 'dock:' f..,.Ch-11 1 .,6-"'tl.f; 'drain' f1t.t1Jil • """m-C::)f,
and others.
ORTHOGRAPHY AND PUNCTUATION
An important deciiion had to be made in the domain of the orthography of Amharic. The Amharic
alphabet has various leUer.:; representing originally only consonants, some of which have become iden-
XII
ticaJ in pronunciation. This is tho case of .h and 0 (letters that have lost their consonantal value
and serve mainly when a word must be written with an initial vowel); 0, dt and 'l pronounced h;
u> and 1"1 pronounced s; II. and D pronounced ~· As a result of the identical pronunciation of these
letters, there is lack of consistency in Amharic spelling. There are three possible solutiOns in dealing
with Amharic spelling : 1, a radical reform of the alphabet; 2, the adoption of the commonly accepted
orthography; and 3, the standardization of spelling through etymology.
In a radical refonn of the alphabet, wherever there is a choice of two or three letters for the same
pronunciation, one would have to adopt arbitrarily only one letter, regardless of the origin of the root.
Thus, if in the case oft. and o, one were to choose, say, the letter 11., one would have to write h(l'
'imprison', h.m+ 'know', ht.1 ' 'eye', all with the h, even though .1',10.,. goes back to Geez I+ (with 0),
and h.f..') likewise goes back to Geez O.&') (cognate with Semitic 'ayn). Similarly, if between"" and il
one were to choose il, one would have to spell ..,.IJA 'vow' and +IJA 'be painted' both with ll, even
though etymologically .,.. .. A 'vow' goes back to Geez MA, and "''r\ 'paint' goes back to Oeez IPdfl..
The same arbitrary principle wou.ld ha.ve to be applied to the other letters that have become identical
in pronunciation. I did not feel that I could use this solution in a dictionary that is intended for
use by Amharic speakers.
The orthography currently and commonly accepted is highly unsatisfactory. Indeed, not only
different speakers of Amharic. but even the same speaker will spell indiscciminately Mol- and :r.o:,.
'sister', ~'1111 and .(.tJ'i" 'well', fJtJA and fJifiA 'culture', rh+l1 and v+l1'just', om+ and 11om+ 'know',
and so on. In this connection it is interesting to mention two authoritative dictionaries published by
Ethiopian scholars. Abba Yohann~ Giibtii Egli'a~her (JI.Q 1 \"'rh")h 1 Hit: 1 2\"'tU.ofl:.r..C) in his
..-,,n 1 .+o'\-1-J -1-"'K?l-hf"rhC,_, (a Tigrinya-Amharic dictionary) spells the Amharic verbs hOC:
(p. 46), h.(.C:: .(p. 47), hr\L (p. 49), all with h., whereas Kidana Wa.J.d K::~Oe (h.-'1~ • mA~ • h'AA.)
in his OUK'rhL • fl'I"Rm-ltDOU'tJ1R • J>o'\T• hJth (A Geez-Amharic dictionary) spells the same words
withO; thus, one: (p.470), ou (p.473),andPA"-(p.478).Incidentallythewordfor 'Amharic' is spelled
h....,C~ (with h) by Abba Yohann;)S Giibrii Egzi'abQher, but D"7Cii" (with II) by Kasate B:u-han
TAsimma (h"fir •-flcn • Tl\"7) in his f0"7Cii'-• -1t10 • ?11-l- (Amharic-Amharic dictionary),
p. 979. On the basis of this evidence it seems to me that it is not practical to follow the normally accepted
speUing.
I decided to adopt the principle of standardization through etymologies even though this principle,
too, presents certain pitfalls. In the case of h and D, Geez as well as Tigre and Tigrinya and the other
Semitic languages could be used as guides for oorcect spelling. In the ca!le of V (h), .h (b) 01 -1 (b),
only Geez (and Arabic) could serve as a guide since Tigre and Tigrinya retain only 0 h and dt b. this
last sound representing a merger of th b and.., !J. For w and (I as well as foe ~ and I, Geez alone
could serve as source of information, since in both Tigre and Tigrinya IP and (I ace represented as
(I s, and " and 6 have merged into " I· It is on tho basis of this principle that I adopted spellings
such as OCD4' 'know' (Geez 1+), UFC 'ten' (G. dFC), 7.1-l- 'sister' (G. 7..'1-l-), rM· 'three' (G.
wAn-tt), ift'tlt 'building' (G. ifa'l~) • .nn 'baby' (G . .nn), :r..+ 'things, baggage' (Tigrinya lt_.da),
bi:A 'fortune, luck' (Tigrinya IJ.Rr\), and so on. Less generally accepted spellings ace those of om.t.
'double', a~ 'mow•, IJ")Q-:,0 'wood', and 'tCD-1'\<' • ~<f.n 'whirlwind', but here again the speJling
with o was adopted be<::ause these roots have an fl as first radical in Geez : om.t. I IJP.R J /JiJ and
IJID'tr, re'!pectively.
Special mention shoUld be made of w6-'work, do', and its derivatives F~ 'work' (noun), V"&-+11
'worker', ""'Yf/.f 'tool', all with~~'. It is true that this root is the closest connected with Geez flCdl
'labor, endeavor' (with ll), but it can also be connected with Oeez u•co 'arrange, dispose' (with 1.1").
If one adds to it the fact that the most frequently used Amharic spelling is,~ (with 1P), I thought
it advisable to spell it with IP.
The Amharic verb for 'to take a rest, to die' is spelled 1\C:I. (with h) even though the root is DU• .
The spellinj: with h is justified since Amharic hU comes from hM.L becoming hU., the h of which
is that of the prefixed morpheme of the 1\-stem. The noun 'rest, vacation' is spelled,. however,
M~+ (with o) going back to its root.
xm
Etymological spelling is also used in Arabic loanwords. Thus, .h.llil 'bill', Arabic ~,.,.~I_.; rhh.f'"
'doctor', Ar. ~; O,o\'"7 'aim', Ar. -;_.~; 1-ol\., 'object, purpose', Ar-l...:N.. and sO on. It-is like
ly that ).:,OJ!' 'plan' comes from Arabic~ but since its origin is doubtful and it is normally written
with ilt., I adopted the spelling :P..lt~.
The standardization of spelling through etymology is not intended to conflict with actual pro
nunciation of a lexeme. Thus, for instance, the verb 'be went out' is pronounced wdtra, with J,
and is therefore written tatiJ (with "1), and not m~ as it would he if one adhered strictly to the origin
of the verb, namely Geez OJirlt.. Also, the verb 'he is' is pronounced a/Iii, with an initial a. It is therefore
written hi\ and not PI\ as it would be if one adhered strictly to the etymology, namely Geez 1.11\ ...
The samecoosideration applies to 'new' addis, written h.ll.n and not rhJI,h as the etymology would have
required.
In roots for which there is no corresponding Ethiopic or Semitic ctymoloJY, I have adopted h
for an initial vowel, fJ for h (except in lit? 'water'), 1\ for s, and A for ~·
A labiovelar with the vowel ii is often reduced in pronunciation and in writing to a velar followed by
o. Genetally, I kept the spelling with the labiovelar; thus ojLm.l. (and not "'m4 This spelling is,
however, not consistent.
In the verb forms of the 1.2.2. verbs in which the last two consonants are in contact I have adopted
the spelling with one consonant; thus, -+(pronounced marro) for ,..:t+ (from ,..:"').
Jn forms in wbich there is a meeting of the vowels tl-tJ I have no:rmally adopted the system of eliding
the vowel a; thus, /1C for fA1C. In entries, however, I also keep both vowels; thus, fMC (see
'airlincs'). In the meeting of the vowels 11--a I ha.ve normally kept the two vowels; thus n.~ (and not
f~J, but Ml'lo (and not hl'\:l'!.{t).
Tile conjuoctions are not separated from the verb5l; thus, RAI»>IJ, The prepositions that have more
than one letter-are written separately; thus, ilr\ 1 11"i"il. They are not separated from a pronoun;
e.g. 111'\ll-(for ilA"Il-), or occasionally in combination of nouns in which the f of the first noun is
omitted as in ilr\tJ')P.':f- 1 ).~forM 1 (f)tnJl.olC • >c.
The end of the Amharic sentence is not marked by •. Only the question mark(?) is given wherever
required, and occasionally the exclamation mark (!).
PRONUNCIATION
No pronunciation is given for the English Iexemes. The student will have to know that the pro
nunciation of 'entrance' (n.) is different from that of 'entrance' (v.). Only in exceptional cases where
the swne part of speech is pronounced in two different ways is there an ind.ication for the pronuncia
tion; see 'row' (n.) rhyming with 'low' or 'how'; or 'tear' (n.) rhyming with 'pear' or 'fear',
As for the Amharic lexemes, it would have been hJghly desirable to indicate the gemination with a
special symbol, but this would have increased the cost of the dictionary considerably.
ENTRIES AND THEIR ARRANGEMENT
In the enumeration of entries, the verb is given before the noun.
Within each entry, the arrangement is alphabetical. Example : 'close. close down, close in, close in on,
close out'. A word in parentheses does not count for alphabetic arrangement; therefore '(be) closed
up' is not placed under 'be', but after 'close out'.ln the subentries in which the word of the main entry
is at the beginning, it is treated first. Thus, under the main entry 'near', the subentries 'near at hand.
near here', are listed first. Only then follow the subentries in alphabetical order where 'near' is not the
first word, as in •as near as. come near, get near, nowhere near.'
XIV
An English entry is occasionally translated by two Amharic entries. In this case the symbol J
is used to separate the equivalents; see 'anger' (vt.) h.'iU I lt.lt. ..I IJ; 'abduct' mill. 1 .l't'i=IIJ" • m(l,_
The second Amharic lexeme is either illustrated with a different sentence (as in the case of 'anger'),
or is used in the same sentence. The second lexeme is then put in pareotheses (as in the case of'abduct').
Wherever there is only one meaning for the English entry, the Amharic equivalent follows imme
diately after the English entry (see 'ail'). ff the English entry has more than one meaning, no Amharic
equivalent follows the entry directly, but the Amharic equivalents are below the entry and are
numbered according to the various meanings o£ the entry (see 'aim').
The English verb entry is normally rendered by the Amharic verb in the perfect, singular 3rd
masculine; e.g. 'build' w&., lit. 'he built'. The Amharic verb is cited in a verb form other than the
perfect wherever the perfect is not used; see 'not bad' (under 'bad') Mf" • Af.l\ since in this idiom
the verb is used only in the negative imperfect.
The Amharic verbs translating the English verbs with the prefix un-are also occasionally given in a
verb form other than the perfect; SEe '(be) uninhabited'.
The 3rd person singular, masculine is alro used if the Amharic entry is a gerundive or a relative
imperlect translating an adjective. This is the case of'late' (adv.) !MIA-, but one of the cited sentences is
'she arrived late' Jl..,,.;f- • f.~(l"f where the fonn is that of the Jrd person, singular, feminine. Or,
'favorite' (adj.) f"'l.tD.Rm-, lit. 'that he likes it', but the cited sentence is 'my favorite' f'/"tJJf.ID"
lit. 'that I like it', that is, the first person.
The Amharic impersonal verbs are cited in the perfect, singular, 3rd masculine followed by the object
suffix pronoun of the singular, 3rd masculine in parentheses; thus '(be) thirsty' m"7(tD-); 'under
stand' 'l'l(ID').
An Amharic verb that is used with prepositional suffixes is cited with the prepositional suffixes in
parentheses. Examples: 'rage' Qf'\(O·'f-); 'rally (to)', 2. Ufi(RT).
While the Amharic verb entry is cited in the perfect, singular, 3rd masculine, the verb of the trans
lated sentence can be used in any verb form. Thus, in 'base' (v.) -.,.~.,., the verb of the translated
sentence is likewise in the perfect <-.,.~Thm-); in 'backbite' (h."'J), the verbal noun ("7..,-fit) is used
in the Amharic sentence; and in 'benefit' (m+"-), the imperfect (,_m't'"YA.) is used.
Occasionally an active or a transitive verb is illustrated with a passive in the English sentence.
In this ca..«<:, the Amharic verb is cited in the active with its passive form in parentheses. Thus, for
'announce', no. 6, the sentence has the verb 'was announced'; the Amharic entry is therefore i'l~ (+i1
"),
At other times, the cited English entry is in the passive rather than in the active; see '(be) imprinted',
without the active 'imprint'. This procedure was adopted for cases where the p&SSive usage is more
frequent than the active usage. When an active form is required, the reader will then use the Amharic
active verb of tho cited verbs ++"a and~. that is •a and li+o-.
+
Whenever a stative verb is expressed by 'be adjective', it may occasionally have a special entry
beside the adjective entry. Most often, however, this kind of verb has no special entry. but can easily
be translated by using the cited Amharic adjective followed by irD< 'he ill'. Thus, the adjectives 'curious,
nasty, hollow' and others can serve as bases for the stative ve_rb.,s6 (:.' b•e + adjective') by the addition
of idt- 'he is' to the adjective: 'be nasty' h.llm~lo • t•, or t~~to,
The passive of an English vecb is not cited as subentry since normally the passive is formed in Am
haric by the -f<-stem. For instance, only 'betray' h-'1 is cited, since 'be betrayed' would normally be
expressed by .,.M, However, in verbs in which the passive is not rendered in Amharic by the +-stem,
but rather PY the basic stem or by another root altogether, the English passive is cited as subentry.
Examples : 'demolish' l\toXrno (expressed by the h.-stem), but 'be demolished' m~- (expressed by the
basic stem); or 'lift' ht.., J h~ • AU1, but 'be lifted' i9 translated by other roots (l\R..+ I +li~H).
See also 'affoct' and 'be affected'; 'form' and 'be formed'.