t-embi-

Things Made or Used: T-embi-

Level 4

T-embi- names the thing: tembiʼu “food”, tembiporu “tool”, tembiapo “work”.

How It Works

The first letter follows the owner, as with other relational words: tembiʼu “food”, ne rembiʼu “your food”, hembiʼu “his or her food”.

Verbs that take -re- before the root keep it: tembireru “a thing brought”, tembireraha “a thing sent”.

Many of these words are fixed in the language, each with its own meaning. Tembireko “wife” is one of them.

A later lesson covers -py, which names the thing itself without the doer.

Ahechagaʼu ne rembiʼu.
I miss your cooking.
Rembiʼu is “food” with the r- of a possessor. Literally, “I miss your food”.
Che aikuaa hembirekópe.
I know his wife.
Hembireko is “his wife”, with the h- of he or she. The ending -pe marks the person.
Koʼã taʼangakuéra Quino rembiapokue.
These pictures were made by Quino.
Rembiapo is “work” with r- after the possessor Quino. The ending -kue has its own lesson.
Guarani ñeʼẽnguéra niko hembiapo heta.
Guarani words have many jobs.
Hembiapo is “their job”, with h- for the third person.

Using -embi- before a nasal verb.
tembimboʼe
temimboʼe
Mboʼe acts like a nasal verb, so the piece is -emi-, as in temimboʼe “student”.

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

t-embi-Level 4Things Made or Used: T-embi-

The prefix t-embi- begins with a t- that changes like other roots and goes before a verb.

tembi-temi-tembiʼutembiapo

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