ምን

Amharic

Etymology

From Proto-Semitic *mīn-. Cognates include Ge'ez ምንት (mənt) and Akkadian mīnum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɨn/
• Hyphenation: ምን

Pronoun

ምን • (mən)

1. what?

   ምን፡ታረጊዋለሽ? ― mən tarägiwaläš? ― What will you do?

Synonyms

• ምንድን (məndən)

See also

Amharic interrogative pronouns

	singular		plural
	subject	object	subject	object
animate	ማን (man)	ማንን (mannən), ማነን (mannän) ማን (man)	ማን፡ማን (man man), እነማን (ʾənnäman) ማን (man)	ማንን (mannən), ማነን (mannän) ማን (man)
inanimate	ምን (mən)		ምን፡ምን (mən mən) ምንና፡ምን (mənənna mən) ምኖች (mənočč)

References

• Thomas Leiper Kane (1990) “ምን”, in Amharic-English Dictionary, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, →ISBN
• Wolf Leslau (2000) Introductory Grammar of Amharic, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, →ISBN, page 23

Tigre

Etymology

From Proto-Semitic *min.

Preposition

ምን • (mən)

1. from, of, off, out of or away from
2. 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

ምን • (mən)

1. when, marks a temporal clause
2. if, marks the protasis of a conditional sentence

Usage notes

Used before the verb rather than the beginning of the clause.

Derived terms

• ምንማ (mənma, “although”)

References

• 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