ብሊና
Blin
Afro-Asiatic (Cushitic, Central)
Bilen (Bilin, ብሊን) is a Central Cushitic (Agaw) language spoken by the Bilen people of Eritrea's Anseba region, centered on Keren, Halhal and Hagaz, with ~140K speakers. It is the northernmost surviving member of the Agaw branch (which once dominated the Ethiopian Highlands before Semitic Ge'ez/Amharic expansion), other Agaw languages being Awngi (awn) in Ethiopia and the endangered Xamtanga (xan), Qimant (ahg), Kemant. Bilen society is traditionally divided between Christian (Eritrean Catholic and Orthodox Tewahedo) and Muslim Bilen. Both Ethiopic Ge'ez fidäl script and Latin orthography are in use, with active religious and educational publications since the late 19th century.
Where it is spoken
31 core words in Blin
Water
አኳ
/akwa/
Fire
ላእ
/laʔ/
Sun
ኤርሕ
/erəħ/
Moon
ቸራ
/tʃəra/
Star
ኰኵብ
/kʷəkʷəb/
Mother
እና
/əna/
Father
አባ
/aba/
I
አን
/an/
You
እንቲ
/ʔənti/
Name
ስም
/səm/
Eye
ኢላ
/ila/
Hand
አንካዕ
/ankaʕ/
Heart
ሊባ
/liba/
Love
ኩረቦ
/kurəbo/
Tree
ሐጨር
/ħətʃər/
House
ጊና
/ɡina/
Dog
ጋቢራ
/ɡabira/
Cat
ሐራ
/ħara/
Eat
ምሰራ
/məsəra/
Drink
መዕያ
/mətʕəja/
One
አሬ
/are/
Two
ልኛ
/ləŋa/
Hello
ኢራዋ
/irawa/
Thank you
ቀንየለይ
/qənjələj/
Good
ጨጋ
/tʃəɡa/
Sources
- Ethnologue: byn
- Appleyard (2007) Bilen Lexicon (Cushitic Language Studies)
- Glottolog: bili1259
Words compared
Compared with related Afro-Asiatic (Cushitic, Central) languages
| Meaning | Blin | Tigre | Amharic | Mandaic | Tigrinya | Ge'ez | Hassaniya Arabic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | አኳ /akwa/ | ማይ /maj/ | ውሃ /wɨha/ | ࡌࡉࡀ /mia/ | ማይ /maj/ | ማይ /maːj/ | الما /əlma/ |
| Fire | ላእ /laʔ/ | እሳት /ʔəssat/ | እሳት /ɨssat/ | ࡍࡅࡓࡀ /nura/ | ሓዊ /ħawi/ | እሳት /ʔəsaːt/ | النار /ənnaːr/ |
| Sun | ኤርሕ /erəħ/ | ጸሓይ /tsʼəħaj/ | ፀሐይ /tsʼɛhaj/ | ࡔࡀࡌࡔࡀ /ʃamʃa/ | ጸሓይ /tsʼəħaj/ | ፀሐይ /sˤaħaj/ | الشمس /əʃʃəms/ |
| Moon | ቸራ /tʃəra/ | ወርሕ /waɾəħ/ | ጨረቃ /tʃʼɛɾɛkʼa/ | ࡎࡉࡓࡀ /sira/ | ወርሒ /wərħi/ | ወርኅ /warχ/ | القمر /əlɡmər/ |
| Star | ኰኵብ /kʷəkʷəb/ | ኮከብ /kokəb/ | ኮከብ /kokəb/ | ࡊࡅࡊࡁࡀ /ˈkukba/ | ኮኸብ /koˈxəb/ | ኮከብ /kokab/ | نجمة /naʒma/ |
| Mother | እና /əna/ | እሞ /ʔəmmo/ | እናት /ɨnnat/ | ࡀࡌࡀ /ama/ | ኣደ /ʔaddə/ | እም /ʔəmm/ | أم /umm/ |
| Father | አባ /aba/ | አቦ /ʔabbo/ | አባት /abbat/ | ࡀࡁࡀ /aba/ | ኣቦ /ʔabbo/ | አብ /ʔab/ | أب /abb/ |
| I | አን /an/ | አነ /ʔana/ | እኔ /ɨne/ | ࡀࡍࡀ /ˈana/ | ኣነ /ˈʔanä/ | አነ /ʔana/ | أنا /ana/ |
| You | እንቲ /ʔənti/ | አንታ /ʔɨnta/ | አንተ /antə/ | ࡀࡍࡀࡕ /at/ | ንስኻ /nɨsˈxa/ | አንተ /ʔanta/ | انت /ˈənta/ |
| Name | ስም /səm/ | ስም /sɨm/ | ስም /sɨm/ | ࡔࡅࡌࡀ /ˈʃuma/ | ስም /sɨm/ | ስም /səm/ | اسم /ˈɪsm/ |
| Eye | ኢላ /ila/ | ዐይን /ʕajn/ | ዓይን /ajn/ | ࡏࡉࡍࡀ /ʔina/ | ዓይኒ /ʕajni/ | ዐይን /ʕajn/ | عين /ʕajn/ |
| Hand | አንካዕ /ankaʕ/ | እድ /ʔəd/ | እጅ /ɨdʒː/ | ࡏࡃࡀ /ʔida/ | ኢድ /ʔid/ | እድ /ʔəd/ | يد /jədd/ |
| Heart | ሊባ /liba/ | ልቢ /ləbbi/ | ልብ /lɨbb/ | ࡋࡉࡁࡀ /liba/ | ልቢ /lɨbbi/ | ልብ /ləbb/ | قلب /ɡalˤb/ |
| Love | ኩረቦ /kurəbo/ | ፍቅሪ /fəqʼri/ | ፍቅር /fɨkʼɨr/ | ࡓࡅࡄࡌࡀ /ɾuhma/ | ፍቕሪ /fɨqʼɾi/ | አፍቀረ /ʔafqara/ | حب /ħabb/ |
| Tree | ሐጨር /ħətʃər/ | ዕጨይ /ʕətʃʼaj/ | ዛፍ /zaf/ | ࡏࡋࡀࡍࡀ /ilana/ | ኦም /ʔom/ | ዕፅ /ʕasˤ/ | شجرة /ʃəʒra/ |
| House | ጊና /ɡina/ | ቤት /beːt/ | ቤት /bet/ | ࡁࡉࡕࡀ /bita/ | ገዛ /ɡəza/ | ቤት /beːt/ | دار /daːr/ |
| Dog | ጋቢራ /ɡabira/ | ከልብ /kalb/ | ውሻ /wɨʃʃa/ | ࡊࡀࡋࡁࡀ /kalba/ | ከልቢ /kəlbi/ | ከልብ /kalb/ | كلب /kəlb/ |
| Cat | ሐራ /ħara/ | ድሙ /dəmmu/ | ድመት /dɨmmɛt/ | ࡔࡅࡍࡀࡓࡀ /ʃunara/ | ድሙ /dɨmmu/ | ድሙ /dəmmu/ | قط /ɡətˤtˤ/ |
| Eat | ምሰራ /məsəra/ | በልዐ /balʕa/ | መብላት /mɛblat/ | ࡀࡊࡀࡋ /akal/ | ምብላዕ /mɨblaʕ/ | በልዐ /balʕa/ | اكل /aːkəl/ |
| Drink | መዕያ /mətʕəja/ | ሰትየ /satja/ | መጠጣት /mɛtʼɛtʼːat/ | ࡔࡕࡀ /ʃta/ | ምስታይ /mɨstaj/ | ሰትየ /satja/ | يشرب /jəʃrab/ |
| One | አሬ /are/ | ሓዲ /ħadi/ | አንድ /and/ | ࡄࡀࡃ /had/ | ሓደ /ħadə/ | አሐዱ /ʔaħadu/ | واحد /waːħəd/ |
| Two | ልኛ /ləŋa/ | ክልኦት /kɨlʔot/ | ሁለት /hulət/ | ࡕࡓࡉࡍ /tren/ | ክልተ /kɨlˈtə/ | ክልኤ /kəlʔeː/ | اثنين /aθˈnajn/ |
| Hello | ኢራዋ /irawa/ | ሰላም /salaːm/ | ሰላም /sɛlam/ | ࡔࡋࡀࡌࡀ /ʃlama/ | ሰላም /səlam/ | ሰላም /salaːm/ | السلام عليكم /əssalaːm ʕalajkum/ |
| Thank you | ቀንየለይ /qənjələj/ | የቀንየለይ /jəqanjəlej/ | አመሰግናለሁ /amɛsɛɡɡɨnallɛhu/ | ࡈࡀࡁࡅࡕࡀ /ʈabuta/ | የቐንየለይ /jɨqʼɨnjɨlɨj/ | ምስጋና /məsɡaːnaː/ | شكرا /ʃukran/ |
| Good | ጨጋ /tʃəɡa/ | ጽቡቕ /tsʼəbbuqʼ/ | ጥሩ /tʼɨru/ | ࡈࡀࡁࡀ /tˤaba/ | ጽቡቕ /tsʼɨbuqʼ/ | ሠናይ /sanaːj/ | زين /zeːn/ |
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