ጠጠው በል
tetew bel
The Tigrinya phrase ጠጠው በል (tetew bel) means to stop.
Meaning: not to continue (verb)
How do you pronounce it?
tetew bel
Did you know?
- In Tigrinya, the word በል in the phrase ጠጠው በል literally means 'say'. It is used here as a helper verb to transform the action into a command.
- Tigrinya has an 'ejective' sound, a sharp popping noise made by closing the glottis, which appears in many commands including ways to say 'stop'.
- The script used for ጠጠው በል is an 'abugida', a system where the vowel is a modification of the consonant's shape.
Example conversation
Riesa tells Yonas to stop talking while they are in a library.
- ርእሳ Re'esaዮናስ፡ በጃኻ ጠጠው በል።Yonas, bejakha tetew bel.Yonas, please stop.
- ዮናስ Yonasስለምንታይ? ክንደይ ክዛረብ እየ?slemintay? kindey kizareb iye?Why? How much am I talking?
- ርእሳ Re'esaኣብዚ ቅጥምስቲ ክንበል ኣይክእልን ኢና።abzi qitmisti kinbel ayk'ilin ina.We cannot speak loudly here.
- ዮናስ Yonasኦኬ፡ ይቕረየኒ።okay, yiqreyeni.Okay, excuse me.
