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
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 | Tigrinya | Tigre | Ge'ez | Amharic | Old Aramaic | Sebat Bet Gurage | Sabaean |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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/ |
| Love | ፍቕሪ /fɨqʼɾi/ | ፍቅሪ /fəqʼri/ | አፍቀረ /ʔafqara/ | ፍቅር /fɨkʼɨr/ | רחם /raħem/ | ፍቅር /fɨkʼɨr/ | 𐩥𐩵𐩵 /wadda/ |
| Heart | ልቢ /lɨbbi/ | ልቢ /ləbbi/ | ልብ /ləbb/ | ልብ /lɨbb/ | לב /leb/ | ልብ /lɨb/ | 𐩡𐩨 /lubb/ |
| Tree | ኦም /ʔom/ | ዕጨይ /ʕətʃʼaj/ | ዕፅ /ʕasˤ/ | ዛፍ /zaf/ | עץ /ʕeːsˤ/ | ዛፍ /zaf/ | 𐩲𐩳 /ʕaːð/ |
| House | ገዛ /ɡəza/ | ቤት /beːt/ | ቤት /beːt/ | ቤት /bet/ | בית /beːt/ | ቤት /bet/ | 𐩨𐩺𐩩 /bajt/ |
| Dog | ከልቢ /kəlbi/ | ከልብ /kalb/ | ከልብ /kalb/ | ውሻ /wɨʃʃa/ | כלב /kalb/ | ውሻ /wɨʃa/ | 𐩫𐩡𐩨 /kalb/ |
| Cat | ድሙ /dɨmmu/ | ድሙ /dəmmu/ | ድሙ /dəmmu/ | ድመት /dɨmmɛt/ | — /—/ | ድመት /dɨmɛt/ | — /—/ |
| Hand | ኢድ /ʔid/ | እድ /ʔəd/ | እድ /ʔəd/ | እጅ /ɨd͡ʒː/ | יד /jad/ | እጅ /ɨd͡ʒ/ | 𐩺𐩵 /jad/ |
| Eye | ዓይኒ /ʕajni/ | ዐይን /ʕajn/ | ዐይን /ʕajn/ | ዓይን /ajn/ | עין /ʕajn/ | አይን /ajn/ | 𐩲𐩺𐩬 /ʕajn/ |
| Hello | ሰላም /səlam/ | ሰላም /salaːm/ | ሰላም /salaːm/ | ሰላም /sɛlam/ | שלם /ʃəlaːm/ | እንደምን /ɨndɛmɨn/ | 𐩪𐩡𐩣 /salaːm/ |
| Thank you | የቐንየለይ /jɨqʼɨnjɨlɨj/ | የቀንየለይ /jəqanjəlej/ | ምስጋና /məsɡaːnaː/ | አመሰግናለሁ /amɛsɛɡɡɨnallɛhu/ | — /—/ | ኣምስከነለንት /amɨskɛnɛlɛnt/ | 𐩢𐩣𐩵 /ħamad/ |
| One | ሓደ /ħadə/ | ሓዲ /ħadi/ | አሐዱ /ʔaħadu/ | አንድ /and/ | חד /ħad/ | አት /at/ | 𐩱𐩢𐩵 /ʔaħad/ |
| Good | ጽቡቕ /tsʼɨbuqʼ/ | ጽቡቕ /tsʼəbbuqʼ/ | ሠናይ /sanaːj/ | ጥሩ /tʼɨru/ | טב /tˤab/ | ሞጨ /mot͡ʃɛ/ | 𐩷𐩨 /tˤajjib/ |
Word order compared
Compare with major world languages
Compare with closely-related languages
Part of LangMap — a linguistic visualization project. This is a static, crawlable summary; the interactive maps offer pronunciation audio, filters, and a globe view.