Editing Amharic (section)

====Gender====
Amharic nouns can have a masculine or feminine [[grammatical gender|gender]]. There are several ways to express gender. An example is the old suffix ''-t'' for femininity. This suffix is no longer productive and is limited to certain patterns and some isolated nouns. Nouns and adjectives ending in {{Lang|am-latn|-awi}} usually take the suffix ''-t'' to form the feminine form, e.g. {{Lang|am-latn|ityop̣p̣ya-(a)wi}} 'Ethiopian (m.)' vs. {{Lang|am-latn|ityop̣p̣ya-wi-t}} 'Ethiopian (f.)'; {{Lang|am-latn|sämay-awi}} 'heavenly (m.)' vs. {{Lang|am-latn|sämay-awi-t}} 'heavenly (f.)'. This suffix also occurs in nouns and adjective based on the pattern {{transliteration|am|qǝt(t)ul}}, e.g. {{transliteration|am|nǝgus}} 'king' vs. {{transliteration|am|nǝgǝs-t}} 'queen' and {{transliteration|am|qǝddus}} 'holy (m.)' vs. {{transliteration|am|qǝddǝs-t}} 'holy (f.)'.

Some nouns and adjectives take a feminine marker {{Lang|am-latn|-it}}: {{transliteration|am|lǝǧ}} 'child, boy' vs. {{transliteration|am|lǝǧ-it}} 'girl'; {{Lang|am-latn|bäg}} 'sheep, ram' vs. {{Lang|am-latn|bäg-it}} 'ewe'; {{transliteration|am|šǝmagǝlle}} 'senior, elder (m.)' vs. {{transliteration|am|šǝmagǝll-it}} 'old woman'; {{Lang|am-latn|ṭoṭa}} 'monkey' vs. {{Lang|am-latn|ṭoṭ-it}} 'monkey (f.)'. Some nouns have this feminine marker without having a masculine opposite, e.g. {{transliteration|am|šärär-it}} 'spider', {{Lang|am-latn|azur-it}} 'whirlpool, eddy'. There are, however, also nouns with the {{Lang|am-latn|-it}} suffix that are treated as masculine: {{Lang|am-latn|säraw-it}} 'army', {{Lang|am-latn|nägar-it}} 'big drum'.

The feminine gender is not only used to indicate biological gender, but may also be used to express smallness, e.g. {{Lang|am-latn|bet-it-u}} 'the little house' (lit. house-<small>FEM</small>-<small>DEF</small>). The feminine marker can also serve to express tenderness or sympathy.