ትግርኛ

Tigrinya

Semitic

FamilySemitic Speakers~9M ScriptGe'ez (Ethiopic) CountriesEritrea, Ethiopia Official inEritrea, Ethiopia (regional) Vitalitysafe ISO 639-3tir

Tigrinya is a North Ethiopian Semitic language with ~9M speakers — primarily in Eritrea (~3M, where it is the de facto national working language alongside Arabic and English) and the Tigray Region of northern Ethiopia (~6M, where it is the regional working language including the historic city of Aksum, capital of the 4th-7th c. Aksumite Empire). Closely sister to Tigre and direct descendant of Geʽez, the liturgical language of the Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Churches. Uses the same Geʽez (Ethiopic) abugida as Amharic. Typologically SOV with rich verbal morphology, including a distinctive root-and-pattern Semitic system with broken plurals.

Where it is spoken

20 core words in Tigrinya

Water

ማይ

/maj/

Fire

ሓዊ

/ħawi/

Sun

ጸሓይ

/tsʼəħaj/

Moon

ወርሒ

/wərħi/

Mother

ኣደ

/ʔaddə/

Father

ኣቦ

/ʔabbo/

Eat

ምብላዕ

/mɨblaʕ/

Drink

ምስታይ

/mɨstaj/

Love

ፍቕሪ

/fɨqʼɾi/

Heart

ልቢ

/lɨbbi/

Tree

ኦም

/ʔom/

House

ገዛ

/ɡəza/

Dog

ከልቢ

/kəlbi/

Cat

ድሙ

/dɨmmu/

Hand

ኢድ

/ʔid/

Eye

ዓይኒ

/ʕajni/

Hello

ሰላም

/səlam/

Thank you

የቐንየለይ

/jɨqʼɨnjɨlɨj/

One

ሓደ

/ħadə/

Good

ጽቡቕ

/tsʼɨbuqʼ/

Sources

Words compared

Compared with related Semitic languages

Meaning TigrinyaTigreGe'ezAmharicOld AramaicSebat Bet GurageSabaean
Water ማይ /maj/ ማይ /maj/ ማይ /maːj/ ውሃ /wɨha/ מין /majin/ ሞዬ /moje/ 𐩣𐩺 /maːʔ/
Fire ሓዊ /ħawi/ እሳት /ʔəssat/ እሳት /ʔəsaːt/ እሳት /ɨssat/ אש /ʔɛʃ/ እሳት /ɨsat/ 𐩱𐩪 /ʔas/
Sun ጸሓይ /tsʼəħaj/ ጸሓይ /tsʼəħaj/ ፀሐይ /sˤaħaj/ ፀሐይ /tsʼɛhaj/ שמש /ʃamʃ/ ፀሐይ /tsʼɛhaj/ 𐩦𐩣𐩪 /ʃams/
Moon ወርሒ /wərħi/ ወርሕ /waɾəħ/ ወርኅ /warχ/ ጨረቃ /t͡ʃʼɛɾɛkʼa/ שהר /sahr/ ጨረቃ /t͡ʃʼɛɾɛkʼa/ 𐩥𐩧𐩭 /warkʰ/
Mother ኣደ /ʔaddə/ እሞ /ʔəmmo/ እም /ʔəmm/ እናት /ɨnnat/ אמ /ʔem/ ኤንም /enɨm/ 𐩱𐩣 /ʔumm/
Father ኣቦ /ʔabbo/ አቦ /ʔabbo/ አብ /ʔab/ አባት /abbat/ אב /ʔab/ አባ /aba/ 𐩱𐩨 /ʔab/
Eat ምብላዕ /mɨblaʕ/ በልዐ /balʕa/ በልዐ /balʕa/ መብላት /mɛblat/ אכל /ʔakal/ ወቸ /wɛt͡ʃɛ/ 𐩱𐩫𐩡 /ʔakal/
Drink ምስታይ /mɨstaj/ ሰትየ /satja/ ሰትየ /satja/ መጠጣት /mɛtʼɛtʼːat/ שתה /ʃataː/ ሰታ /sɛta/ 𐩪𐩩𐩺 /ʃataja/
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Word order compared

Compare with major world languages

أنا أريد أن أجرب بدلة رأيتها في محل مقابل الفندق
Tigrinya
ኣነ ሆቴል ኣብ ቅድሚ ዱካን ውሽጢ ዝረኣኹዎ ሱት ክፍትኖ ደልየ
试穿 酒店 对面的 商店 看到的 那套西装
I want to try on a suit I saw ‌in a shop across from the hotel
Ich möchte einen Anzug anprobieren den ich in einem Geschäft gegenüber vom Hotel gesehen habe
मैं होटल के सामने एक दुकान में देखा सूट को पहनकर देखना चाहता हूँ
私は ホテルの 向かいの お店 見た スーツを 試着 したいです
Я хочу примерить костюм который я увидел в магазине напротив отеля

Compare with closely-related languages

እኔ ሆቴሉ ፊት ለፊት ባለው ሱቅ ውስጥ ያየሁትን ሙሉ ልብስ ለብሼ ማየት እፈልጋለሁ
أنا عاوز أجرب البدلة اللي شفتها في المحل قصاد الفندق
أني أريد أجرب البدلة اللي شفتها بـ المحل مقابل الفندق
أنا بدي جرب البدلة يلي شفتها بـ المحل قبال الفندق
Tigrinya
ኣነ ሆቴል ኣብ ቅድሚ ዱካን ውሽጢ ዝረኣኹዎ ሱት ክፍትኖ ደልየ

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