Tigrigna Nouns

A noun is a word that is used to refer a person (e.g. teacher), place (e.g. school) or object (e.g. book). In English whenever you are talking about one or more nouns, often you will denote this by adding an "s" at the end of the word; e.g. pencil/pencils.

Sometimes the plural form of the noun is irregularly made by changing the entire word; e.g. person/people.

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Usage in Tigrigna Like in English a small change is made to denote a plural in Tigrigna, a lot of nouns just need "ታት" as a suffix; e.g. ከባቢ region - ከባቢታት regions.

However here are some additional rules:

1. If the noun ends in the 3rd form (ጻዕሪ effort), then the last letter should be changed to the 6th form and "ታት" should be added (ጻዕርታት efforts).

2. If the noun ends in the 6th form (ፈደል letter), then the last letter should be changed to the 4th form and "ት" should be added (ፈደላት alphabet).

Again, as in English, there are many nouns which form the plural irregularly with the noun gaining/losing a prefix/suffix, and/or small changes within the noun itself.

ስም name - ኣስማት names

ወዲ boy - ኣወዳት boys

መንበር chair - መናብር chairs

ወኻርያ fox - ወኻሩ foxes

ገመል camel - ኣግማል camels

ላም cow - ኣሓ cattle

ሰበኣይ man - ሰብኡት men

ጓል girl - ኣዋልድ/ኣጓላት girls

መበለት widow - መበላሉ/መበለታት windows

There is no method to pre-determine if a noun is regular or irregular; as with most cases in learning a new language, trial and error is the only way you will know. My advice is to treat an unknown noun as if it is a regular one; if you're wrong someone will eventually correct you.

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Here is a small list of Tigrigna nouns and how they're made into plurals. Can you spot which ones are formed irregularly?

accident: (n) ሓደጋ - ሐደጋታት account: (n) ሕሳብ - ሕሳባት ache: (n) ቓንዛ - ቓንዛ achievement: (n) ጭብጢ - ጭብጥታት acquaintance: (n) ፍልጠት - ፍልጠታት action: (n) ተግባር - ተግባራት activity: (n) ንጥፈት - ንጥፈታት

administration: (n) ምምሕዳር - ምምሕዳራት adventure: (n) ዕንደራ - ዕንደራታት adversary: (n) ተጻራሪ - ተጻረርቲ advertisement: (n) ረክላም - ረክላማት advocate: (n) ጠበቓ - ጠበቓታት airplane: (n) ነፋሪት - ነፈርቲ alarm: (n) መጠንቀቕታ - መጠንቀቕታት

alphabet: (n) ፈደል - ፈደላት ancestor: (n) ወለዶ - ወለዶታት angel: (n) መልኣኽ - መልኣኽቲ animal: (n) እንስሳ - እንስሳታት announcement: (n) መግለጺ - መግለጽታት answer: (n) መልሲ - መልስታት ant: (n) ጻጸ - ጻጸ

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Source: http://www.memhr.org