ትግርኛ
Tigrinya
Semitic
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
31 core words in Tigrinya
Water
ማይ
/maj/
Fire
ሓዊ
/ħawi/
Sun
ጸሓይ
/tsʼəħaj/
Moon
ወርሒ
/wərħi/
Star
ኮኸብ
/koˈxəb/
Mother
ኣደ
/ʔaddə/
Father
ኣቦ
/ʔabbo/
I
ኣነ
/ˈʔanä/
You
ንስኻ
/nɨsˈxa/
Name
ስም
/sɨm/
Eye
ዓይኒ
/ʕajni/
Hand
ኢድ
/ʔid/
Heart
ልቢ
/lɨbbi/
Love
ፍቕሪ
/fɨqʼɾi/
Tree
ኦም
/ʔom/
House
ገዛ
/ɡəza/
Dog
ከልቢ
/kəlbi/
Cat
ድሙ
/dɨmmu/
Eat
ምብላዕ
/mɨblaʕ/
Drink
ምስታይ
/mɨstaj/
One
ሓደ
/ħadə/
Two
ክልተ
/kɨlˈtə/
Hello
ሰላም
/səlam/
Thank you
የቐንየለይ
/jɨqʼɨnjɨlɨj/
Good
ጽቡቕ
/tsʼɨbuqʼ/
Computer
ኮምፒዩተር
/kompijutar/
Sources
Words compared
Compared with related Semitic languages
| Meaning | Tigrinya | Tigre | Ge'ez | Amharic | Sebat Bet Gurage | Sabaean | Old Aramaic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | ማይ /maj/ | ማይ /maj/ | ማይ /maːj/ | ውሃ /wɨha/ | ሞዬ /moje/ | 𐩣𐩥 /maw/ | מין /majin/ |
| Fire | ሓዊ /ħawi/ | እሳት /ʔəssat/ | እሳት /ʔəsaːt/ | እሳት /ɨssat/ | እሳት /ɨsat/ | 𐩱𐩪 /ʔas/ | נור /nuːr/ |
| Sun | ጸሓይ /tsʼəħaj/ | ጸሓይ /tsʼəħaj/ | ፀሐይ /sˤaħaj/ | ፀሐይ /tsʼɛhaj/ | ፀሐይ /tsʼɛhaj/ | 𐩦𐩣𐩪 /ʃams/ | שמש /ʃamʃ/ |
| Moon | ወርሒ /wərħi/ | ወርሕ /waɾəħ/ | ወርኅ /warχ/ | ጨረቃ /tʃʼɛɾɛkʼa/ | ጨረቃ /tʃʼɛɾɛkʼa/ | 𐩥𐩧𐩭 /warχ/ | שהר /sahr/ |
| Star | ኮኸብ /koˈxəb/ | ኮከብ /kokəb/ | ኮከብ /kokab/ | ኮከብ /kokəb/ | ኮከብ /kokəb/ | 𐩫𐩨𐩫𐩨 /kabkab/ | כוכב /kawkab/ |
| Mother | ኣደ /ʔaddə/ | እሞ /ʔəmmo/ | እም /ʔəmm/ | እናት /ɨnnat/ | ኤንም /enɨm/ | 𐩱𐩣 /ʔumm/ | אמ /ʔem/ |
| Father | ኣቦ /ʔabbo/ | አቦ /ʔabbo/ | አብ /ʔab/ | አባት /abbat/ | አባ /aba/ | 𐩱𐩨 /ʔab/ | אב /ʔab/ |
| I | ኣነ /ˈʔanä/ | አነ /ʔana/ | አነ /ʔana/ | እኔ /ɨne/ | እያ /ɨja/ | 𐩱𐩬 /ʔana/ | אנה /ʔanaː/ |
| You | ንስኻ /nɨsˈxa/ | አንታ /ʔɨnta/ | አንተ /ʔanta/ | አንተ /antə/ | አኸ /axə/ | 𐩱𐩬𐩩 /ʔanta/ | אנת /ʔantaː/ |
| Name | ስም /sɨm/ | ስም /sɨm/ | ስም /səm/ | ስም /sɨm/ | ስም /sɨm/ | 𐩪𐩣 /sim/ | שם /ʃum/ |
| Eye | ዓይኒ /ʕajni/ | ዐይን /ʕajn/ | ዐይን /ʕajn/ | ዓይን /ajn/ | አይን /ajn/ | 𐩲𐩺𐩬 /ʕajn/ | עין /ʕajn/ |
| Hand | ኢድ /ʔid/ | እድ /ʔəd/ | እድ /ʔəd/ | እጅ /ɨdʒː/ | እጅ /ɨdʒ/ | 𐩺𐩵 /jad/ | יד /jad/ |
| Heart | ልቢ /lɨbbi/ | ልቢ /ləbbi/ | ልብ /ləbb/ | ልብ /lɨbb/ | ልብ /lɨb/ | 𐩡𐩨 /lubb/ | לב /leb/ |
| Love | ፍቕሪ /fɨqʼɾi/ | ፍቅሪ /fəqʼri/ | አፍቀረ /ʔafqara/ | ፍቅር /fɨkʼɨr/ | ፍቅር /fɨkʼɨr/ | 𐩥𐩵𐩵 /wadda/ | רחם /raħem/ |
| Tree | ኦም /ʔom/ | ዕጨይ /ʕətʃʼaj/ | ዕፅ /ʕasˤ/ | ዛፍ /zaf/ | ዛፍ /zaf/ | 𐩲𐩳 /ʕaːð/ | עץ /ʕeːsˤ/ |
| House | ገዛ /ɡəza/ | ቤት /beːt/ | ቤት /beːt/ | ቤት /bet/ | ቤት /bet/ | 𐩨𐩺𐩩 /bajt/ | בית /beːt/ |
| Dog | ከልቢ /kəlbi/ | ከልብ /kalb/ | ከልብ /kalb/ | ውሻ /wɨʃʃa/ | ውሻ /wɨʃa/ | 𐩫𐩡𐩨 /kalb/ | כלב /kalb/ |
| Cat | ድሙ /dɨmmu/ | ድሙ /dəmmu/ | ድሙ /dəmmu/ | ድመት /dɨmmɛt/ | ድመት /dɨmɛt/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Eat | ምብላዕ /mɨblaʕ/ | በልዐ /balʕa/ | በልዐ /balʕa/ | መብላት /mɛblat/ | ወቸ /wɛtʃɛ/ | 𐩱𐩫𐩡 /ʔakal/ | אכל /ʔakal/ |
| Drink | ምስታይ /mɨstaj/ | ሰትየ /satja/ | ሰትየ /satja/ | መጠጣት /mɛtʼɛtʼːat/ | ሰታ /sɛta/ | 𐩪𐩩𐩺 /ʃataja/ | שתה /ʃataː/ |
| One | ሓደ /ħadə/ | ሓዲ /ħadi/ | አሐዱ /ʔaħadu/ | አንድ /and/ | አት /at/ | 𐩱𐩢𐩵 /ʔaħad/ | חד /ħad/ |
| Two | ክልተ /kɨlˈtə/ | ክልኦት /kɨlʔot/ | ክልኤ /kəlʔeː/ | ሁለት /hulət/ | ቌት /kʼʷət/ | 𐩻𐩬𐩺 /θanay/ | תרין /treːn/ |
| Hello | ሰላም /səlam/ | ሰላም /salaːm/ | ሰላም /salaːm/ | ሰላም /sɛlam/ | እንደምን /ɨndɛmɨn/ | 𐩪𐩡𐩣 /salaːm/ | שלם /ʃəlaːm/ |
| Thank you | የቐንየለይ /jɨqʼɨnjɨlɨj/ | የቀንየለይ /jəqanjəlej/ | ምስጋና /məsɡaːnaː/ | አመሰግናለሁ /amɛsɛɡɡɨnallɛhu/ | ኣምስከነለንት /amɨskɛnɛlɛnt/ | 𐩢𐩣𐩵 /ħamad/ | — /—/ |
| Good | ጽቡቕ /tsʼɨbuqʼ/ | ጽቡቕ /tsʼəbbuqʼ/ | ሠናይ /sanaːj/ | ጥሩ /tʼɨru/ | ሞጨ /motʃɛ/ | 𐩷𐩨 /tˤajjib/ | טב /tˤab/ |
| Computer | ኮምፒዩተር /kompijutar/ | — | — | ኮምፒዩተር /kompijutər/ | — | — | — |
Word order compared
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