Editing Geʽez (section)

== Syntax ==

=== Noun phrases ===

Noun phrases have the following overall order:
:(demonstratives) noun (adjective)-(relative clause)

{{fs interlinear|lang=gez|indent=3
| በዛ ሀገር
| ba-zā hagar
| in-this:F city
| in this city}}

{{fs interlinear|lang=gez|indent=3
| ንጉሥ ክቡር
| nəguś kəbur
| king glorious
| a/the glorious king}}

Adjectives and determiners agree with the noun in gender and number:

{{fs interlinear|lang=gez|indent=3
| ዛቲ ንግሥት ክብርት
| zāti nəgəśt kəbərt
| this:FEM queen glorious:FEM
| this glorious queen}}

{{fs interlinear|lang=gez|indent=3
| እሉ ነገሥት ክቡራን
| ʼəllu nagaśt kəburān
| these:M.PL kings glorious:PL
| these glorious kings}}

Relative clauses are introduced by a pronoun which agrees in gender and number with the preceding noun:

{{fs interlinear|lang=gez|indent=3
| ብእሲ ዘቀተልዎ ለወልዱ
| bəʾsi za{{=}}qatal-əww-o la{{=}}wald-u
| man which:MASC{{=}}kill-3.M.PL-3.M.SG to{{=}}son{{=}}3.M.SG
| the man whose son they killed}}

As in many Semitic languages, possession by a noun phrase is shown through the [[construct state]]. In Geʽez, this is formed by suffixing the construct suffix {{transliteration|gez|-a}} to the possessed noun, which is followed by the possessor, as in the following examples:{{sfn|Lambdin|1978|p=23}}

{{fs interlinear|lang=gez|indent=3
| ወልደ ንጉሥ
| wald-a nəguś
| son-construct king
| the son of the king}}

{{fs interlinear|lang=gez|indent=3
| ስመ መልአክ
| səm-a malʼak
| name-construct angel
| the name of the angel}}

Another common way of indicating possession by a noun phrase combines the pronominal suffix on a noun with the possessor preceded by the preposition /la=/ 'to, for':{{sfn|Lambdin|1978|p=44}}

{{fs interlinear|lang=gez|indent=3
| ስሙ ለንጉሥ
| səm-u la{{=}}nəguś
| name-3SG to{{=}}king
| 'the king's name; the name of the king'}}

Lambdin{{sfn|Lambdin|1978|p=45}} notes that in comparison to the construct state, this kind of possession is only possible when the possessor is definite and specific. Lambdin also notes that the construct state is the unmarked form of possession in Geʽez.

=== Prepositional phrases ===

Geʽez is a prepositional language, as in the following example:{{sfn|Lambdin|1978|p=16}}

{{fs interlinear|lang=gez|indent=3
| ውስተ ሀገር
| wəsta hagar
| to city
| to the city}}

There are three special prepositions, /ba=/ 'in, with', /la=/ 'to, for', /ʼəm=/ 'from', which always appear as clitics, as in the following examples:

{{fs interlinear|lang=gez|indent=3
| እምሀገር
| ʼəm{{=}}hagar
| from{{=}}city
| from the city}}

{{fs interlinear|lang=gez|indent=3
| በሀገር
| ba{{=}}hagar
| in{{=}}city
| in the city}}

{{fs interlinear|lang=gez|indent=3
| እምዲበ ደብር
| ’əm{{=}}diba dabr
| from{{=}}on mountain
| down from the mountain}}

{{fs interlinear|lang=gez|indent=3
| በዝ ቤት
| ba{{=}}zə bet
| in{{=}}this house
| in this house}}

These proclitic prepositions in Geʽez are similar to the [[Hebrew language#Morphology|Hebrew inseparable prepositions]].

=== Sentences ===

The normal word order for declarative sentences is VSO. Objects of verbs show [[accusative case]] marked with the suffix /-a/:

{{fs interlinear|lang=gez|indent=3
| ተከለ ብእሲ ዕፀ
| takal-a bəʾsi ʿəḍ-a
| plant-3.M.SG man tree-ACC
| The man planted a tree}}

Questions with a wh-word ('who', 'what', etc.) show the question word at the beginning of the sentence:

{{fs interlinear|lang=gez|indent=3
| አየ ሀገረ ሐነጹ
| ʾayy-a hagar-a ḥanaṣ-u
| which-ACC city-ACC build-3PL
| Which city did they build?}}

=== Negation ===

The common way of negation is the prefix {{lang|gez|ኢ}} ''ʾi-'' which descends from ''ʾəy-'' (which is attested in Axum inscriptions), from earlier *''ʾay'', from [[Proto-Semitic]] ''*ʾal'' by [[Palatalization (sound change)|palatalization]].{{sfn|Gragg|1997b|p=257}} It is prefixed to verbs as follows:

{{fs interlinear|lang=gez|indent=3
| ንሕነ ኢንክል ሐዊረ
| nəḥna ʾi-nəkl ḥawira
| we {(we) cannot} go
| we cannot go}}