ምን
Amharic edit
Etymology edit
From Proto-Semitic *mīn-. Cognates include Ge'ez ምንት (mənt) and Akkadian mīnum.
Pronunciation edit
Pronoun edit
ምን • (mən)
- what?
- ምን፡ታረጊዋለሽ? ― mən tarägiwaläš? ― What will you do?
Synonyms edit
- ምንድን (məndən)
See also edit
Amharic interrogative pronouns
References edit
Tigre edit
Etymology edit
From Proto-Semitic *min.
Preposition edit
ምን • (mən)
- from, of, off, out of or away from
- than
- 1913, Enno Littmann, editor, Publications of the Princeton Expedition to Abyssinia. Volume III: Lieder der Tigrē-Stämme: Tigrē Text.[1], Leiden: E. J. Brill, page 167 Nr. 237 line 19:
- ትምባክ፡ፈቴ፡አቡካ፡ምን፡ሐሊብማ፡ወእክል።
- təmbak-fätte-ʾäbuka-mən-ḥälibma-wä-ʾəkəl.
- Tobacco thy father loves more than milk and than cereal.
- translated into German Enno Littmann, editor (1913), Publications of the Princeton Expedition to Abyssinia. Volume IV: Lieder der Tigrē-Stämme: Deutsche Übersetzung und Commentar.[2] (in Tigre), Leiden: E. J. Brill, page 353
Conjunction edit
ምን • (mən)
- when, marks a temporal clause
- if, marks the protasis of a conditional sentence
Usage notes edit
Used before the verb rather than the beginning of the clause.
Derived terms edit
- ምንማ (mənma, “although”)
References edit
- Littmann, Enno, Höfner, Maria (1962) “ምን”, in Wörterbuch der Tigrē-Sprache. Tigrē—Deutsch—Englisch (Veröffentlichungen der Orientalischen Kommission der Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur; XI)[3], Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag GmbH, pages 126–127