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Originally Posted by schizophrenicroom
i'll never complain about english again
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Here is a great example of the more confusing aspects:
the word Mata has two distinct meanings depending on if one properly glotalizes the "t" sound, and depending on regional dialects, many Amharic speakers do NOT glotalize as harshly as others..
(mata) መ
ጣ ~ come here/in
(mata) መ
ታ ~ hit
So if someone says, "Zare yemetah." it can mean either "today he came here" or "today he got punched"..
Want to get even more confused?
"Zare mata yemetah" could mean either "tonight he is coming" or "tonight he is getting punched" or "tonight will you punch him?" depending on exactly how the "t" sound in "meta" is pronounced
That exact same expression could also be a question, "Is he coming tonight?" or "Is he getting punched tonight?" or "Tonight will you punch him?" if there is "uptalk" at the "yemetah"...
No if you READ all these the difference is totally obvious (because of the 256 letter alphabet things are very very precise) but if you are listening? Need to be a very fluent speaker..