Phrasebook

en In the discotheque   »   ti ኣብ ዲስኮ

46 [forty-six]

In the discotheque

In the discotheque

46 [ኣርብዓንሽዱሽተን]

46 [aribi‘anishidushiteni]

ኣብ ዲስኮ

[abi dīsiko]

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English (UK) Tigrinya Play More
Is this seat taken? እዚ-ቦ- ----ዩ? እዚ ቦታ ነጻ ድዩ? እ- ቦ- ነ- ድ-? ------------ እዚ ቦታ ነጻ ድዩ? 0
i-ī b--a nets-- ----? izī bota nets’a diyu? i-ī b-t- n-t-’- d-y-? --------------------- izī bota nets’a diyu?
May I sit with you? ምሳ----ፍ ክብል ይ-እ--ዶ? ምሳኹም ኮፍ ክብል ይኽእል ዶ? ም-ኹ- ኮ- ክ-ል ይ-እ- ዶ- ------------------- ምሳኹም ኮፍ ክብል ይኽእል ዶ? 0
m-sah--m--ko-i-k-b-li---ẖ-’i-- do? misah-umi kofi kibili yih-i’ili do? m-s-h-u-i k-f- k-b-l- y-h-i-i-i d-? ----------------------------------- misaẖumi kofi kibili yiẖi’ili do?
Sure. ደስ ይ--ና ። ደስ ይብለና ። ደ- ይ-ለ- ። --------- ደስ ይብለና ። 0
de----i---e---። desi yibilena ። d-s- y-b-l-n- ። --------------- desi yibilena ።
How do you like the music? ነቲ--ዚ---መይ-ረ--ኩሞ? ነቲ ሙዚቃ ከመይ ረኺብኩሞ? ነ- ሙ-ቃ ከ-ይ ረ-ብ-ሞ- ----------------- ነቲ ሙዚቃ ከመይ ረኺብኩሞ? 0
n--- ------a ke--y- ---̱-b--u--? netī muzīk’a kemeyi reh-ībikumo? n-t- m-z-k-a k-m-y- r-h-ī-i-u-o- -------------------------------- netī muzīk’a kemeyi reẖībikumo?
A little too loud. ቅ-ብ-ዓ- --። ቅሩብ ዓው ኢሉ። ቅ-ብ ዓ- ኢ-። ---------- ቅሩብ ዓው ኢሉ። 0
k-ir-b--‘a-- īlu። k’irubi ‘awi īlu። k-i-u-i ‘-w- ī-u- ----------------- k’irubi ‘awi īlu።
But the band plays very well. ግ--እ--በንድ--ቡቕ እዩ -ጻ--። ግን እቲ በንድ ጽቡቕ እዩ ዝጻወት። ግ- እ- በ-ድ ጽ-ቕ እ- ዝ-ወ-። ---------------------- ግን እቲ በንድ ጽቡቕ እዩ ዝጻወት። 0
gi------ ------ -s’--uk-’i i-u z--s’---t-። gini itī benidi ts’ibuk-’i iyu zits’aweti። g-n- i-ī b-n-d- t-’-b-k-’- i-u z-t-’-w-t-። ------------------------------------------ gini itī benidi ts’ibuḵ’i iyu zits’aweti።
Do you come here often? ኣ-ኹም---------ኣ-ዚ ኣሎኹም ዶ ኩሉ ግዜ ኣብዚ ኣ-ኹ- ዶ ኩ- ግ- ኣ-ዚ ---------------- ኣሎኹም ዶ ኩሉ ግዜ ኣብዚ 0
aloẖ-mi--o ku-u -i-ē-----ī aloh-umi do kulu gizē abizī a-o-̱-m- d- k-l- g-z- a-i-ī --------------------------- aloẖumi do kulu gizē abizī
No, this is the first time. ኣ-ኮንኩን፣ -መ--ርያ-ግዝየ- እ-። ኣይኮንኩን፣ ንመጀመርያ ግዝየይ እዩ። ኣ-ኮ-ኩ-፣ ን-ጀ-ር- ግ-የ- እ-። ----------------------- ኣይኮንኩን፣ ንመጀመርያ ግዝየይ እዩ። 0
a-ik--i-u-i፣--i-------iya g----ey- -y-። ayikonikuni፣ nimejemeriya giziyeyi iyu። a-i-o-i-u-i- n-m-j-m-r-y- g-z-y-y- i-u- --------------------------------------- ayikonikuni፣ nimejemeriya giziyeyi iyu።
I’ve never been here before. ኣብዚ ምጺ- -ይ----። ኣብዚ ምጺአ ኣይፈልጥን። ኣ-ዚ ም-አ ኣ-ፈ-ጥ-። --------------- ኣብዚ ምጺአ ኣይፈልጥን። 0
a-i-ī-mit-------yif-l-t’in-። abizī mits’ī’ā ayifelit’ini። a-i-ī m-t-’-’- a-i-e-i-’-n-። ---------------------------- abizī mits’ī’ā ayifelit’ini።
Would you like to dance? ትስ-ስ---ኹም? ትስዕስዑ ዲኹም? ት-ዕ-ዑ ዲ-ም- ---------- ትስዕስዑ ዲኹም? 0
t--i-isi‘- ----u--? tisi‘isi‘u dīh-umi? t-s-‘-s-‘- d-h-u-i- ------------------- tisi‘isi‘u dīẖumi?
Maybe later. ምናል-ት-ድሓ-። ምናልባት ድሓር። ም-ል-ት ድ-ር- ---------- ምናልባት ድሓር። 0
m-----bati--ih----። minalibati dih-ari። m-n-l-b-t- d-h-a-i- ------------------- minalibati diḥari።
I can’t dance very well. ጽቡ-----ክ---ዕ -ይክእ-ን እየ። ጽቡቕ ጌረ ክስዕስዕ ኣይክእልን እየ። ጽ-ቕ ጌ- ክ-ዕ-ዕ ኣ-ክ-ል- እ-። ----------------------- ጽቡቕ ጌረ ክስዕስዕ ኣይክእልን እየ። 0
t---b--̱’- g-re -i-i--s--i-a--ki’i--ni iy-። ts’ibuk-’i gēre kisi‘isi‘i ayiki’ilini iye። t-’-b-k-’- g-r- k-s-‘-s-‘- a-i-i-i-i-i i-e- ------------------------------------------- ts’ibuḵ’i gēre kisi‘isi‘i ayiki’ilini iye።
It’s very easy. ኣዝ- ቀ-ል-እዩ። ኣዝዩ ቀሊል እዩ። ኣ-ዩ ቀ-ል እ-። ----------- ኣዝዩ ቀሊል እዩ። 0
az--------īli -y-። aziyu k’elīli iyu። a-i-u k-e-ī-i i-u- ------------------ aziyu k’elīli iyu።
I’ll show you. ከ--ኩም-እዩ። ከሪኤኩም እዩ። ከ-ኤ-ም እ-። --------- ከሪኤኩም እዩ። 0
kerī’ēkumi iy-። kerī’ēkumi iyu። k-r-’-k-m- i-u- --------------- kerī’ēkumi iyu።
No, maybe some other time. ኖ ድ-ን፣ -ልእ ግ-። ኖ ድሓን፣ ካልእ ግዜ። ኖ ድ-ን- ካ-እ ግ-። -------------- ኖ ድሓን፣ ካልእ ግዜ። 0
n---------፣ --li’i -iz-። no dih-ani፣ kali’i gizē። n- d-h-a-i- k-l-’- g-z-። ------------------------ no diḥani፣ kali’i gizē።
Are you waiting for someone? ሰብ-ት--- ኣሎ---ዲኹም? ሰብ ትጽበዩ ኣሎኹም ዲኹም? ሰ- ት-በ- ኣ-ኹ- ዲ-ም- ----------------- ሰብ ትጽበዩ ኣሎኹም ዲኹም? 0
s-bi-ti-s’ibe-- a--ẖum----h-u-i? sebi tits’ibeyu aloh-umi dīh-umi? s-b- t-t-’-b-y- a-o-̱-m- d-h-u-i- --------------------------------- sebi tits’ibeyu aloẖumi dīẖumi?
Yes, for my boyfriend. እ- ን--ከይ። እወ ንዓርከይ። እ- ን-ር-ይ- --------- እወ ንዓርከይ። 0
i-e-n-‘--ike-i። iwe ni‘arikeyi። i-e n-‘-r-k-y-። --------------- iwe ni‘arikeyi።
There he is! እወ-በቲ------መጽእ --። እወ በቲ ንየው ይመጽእ ኣሎ። እ- በ- ን-ው ይ-ጽ- ኣ-። ------------------ እወ በቲ ንየው ይመጽእ ኣሎ። 0
iwe betī--iy-wi --met--i----l-። iwe betī niyewi yimets’i’i alo። i-e b-t- n-y-w- y-m-t-’-’- a-o- ------------------------------- iwe betī niyewi yimets’i’i alo።

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Genes influence language

The language we speak is dependent on our ancestry. But our genes are also responsible for our language. Scottish researchers have come to this conclusion. They examined how English differs from Chinese. In doing so they discovered that genes play a role, too. Because genes influence the development of our brain. That is to say, they shape our brain structures. With this, our ability to learn languages is determined. Variants of two genes are crucial to this. If a particular variant is scarce, tonal languages develop. So tonal languages are spoken by people without these gene variants. In tonal languages, the meaning of words is determined by the pitch of the tones. Chinese is included in the tonal languages, for example. If this gene variant is dominant, however, other languages develop. English is not a tonal language. The variants of this gene are not evenly distributed. That means they occur with differing frequency in the world. But languages only survive if they are passed down. In order to do this, children must be able to imitate the language of their parents. So they must be able to learn the language well. Only then will it be passed down from generation to generation. The older gene variant is the one that promotes tonal languages. So there were probably more tonal languages in the past than there are today. But one mustn't overestimate the genetic components. They can only add to explaining the development of languages. But there isn't a gene for English, or a gene for Chinese. Anybody can learn any language. You don't need genes for that, but rather only curiosity and discipline!
Did you know?
Thai is a member of the Tai-Kadai language family. It is the native language of 20 million people. In contrast to most western languages, Thai is a tonal language. In tonal languages, the pronunciation of syllables changes their meaning. Most Thai words consist of only one syllable. A word takes on a different meaning depending on the pitch in which a syllable is spoken. Altogether Thai distinguishes between five pitches. Thai society was strictly divided over many centuries. As a result, Thai still recognizes at least five different levels of speech today. These range from a simple vernacular to a very polite form of speech. Furthermore, Thai is divided into many local dialects. The language's semiotic system is a hybrid of an alphabet and syllabic writing. The grammar construction is not very complex. Because Thai is an isolating language, there are no declensions or conjugations. Learn Thai - it is really a fascinating language!