1. Which is gender specific and is translated as :

          aya      for (f)
          ayi      for (m)

       2. aya also means "where" .  
	Where did you go? = aya gieska? But, you never say 
	ayi gieska or ayi gieski
        
	  The  meaning and use of which.

         Let us take some examples for aya and ayi," which " in this case:

Example 16.1

        (enti) ayi ktab qera'ki ? Which book did you (f) read ?  
	(enta) ayi ktab qera'ka ? Which book did you (m) read ?

         In these two examples, the gender of the subjects enti and
         enta are evident from the verbs (read - qera'ki  and 
	qera'ka -) and can be dropped from the sentence.

            ayi ktab qera'ki ?     Which book did (you) read?  (f)
            ayi ktab qera'ka ?     Which book did (you) read?  (m)

         The ktab (book) is perceived as masculine, so we use 
	ayi and not aya.

Example 16.2

         If we use Katm (ring), then we use "aya" as Katm is perceived as feminine.

           aya Katm zabeki?  Which ring did you (f) buy ?
           aya Katm zabeka?  Which ring did you (m) buy ?

           aya mnen ta weletka? Which one of them (f) is your daughter ?
           ayi mnom tu welka? Which one of them (m) is your son?

           [If you don't remember when to use "ta" and "tu" go to Lesson 1]

           aya medinet eta tneber?  In which city/town do you (m) live ?
           aya medinet eta tnebri?  In which city/town do you (f) live ?

           [ "medinet" for city or town is an adaptation from Arabic. In
             the old days when Massawa was the only urban center in Eritrea
             Tigre people used to call it " medayn " which is the plural
             of medinet. This usage can still be heard among some people
             in rural Eritrea. ]

           It might be confusing as far as identifying the gender of
           objects, but if you know Tigrigna, the gender specificity of
           objects in Tigre is similar to that of Tigrigna.

     ayi mnom Heys mesleka ?  Which one of them(m) do you think is better ?
     aya mnen tHeys mesleka?  Which one of them(f) do you think is better?

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         In this lesson we have learned the following new words

          Katm       ring
          medinet    city/town
          mesleka    (what do you) think
          Heys       better
          zabe       to buy
*****************************************
 End of Lesson 16 
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