ትግረ
Tigre
Afro-Asiatic (Semitic, Ethiopian)
Tigre (Xasa) is an Ethiopian Semitic (North) language spoken by ~1.3M in the Eritrean lowlands, closely related to Tigrinya and the liturgical Geʿez. Most Tigre speakers are Sunni Muslim pastoralists, distinguishing them culturally from the Christian Tigrinya highlanders. Despite the Ethiopic Geʿez script being available, Tigre is mostly written in adapted Arabic script reflecting its Muslim community, with limited Latin and Geʿez use. No standardized written tradition.
Where it is spoken
20 core words in Tigre
Water
ማይ
/maj/
Fire
እሳት
/ʔəssat/
Sun
ጸሓይ
/tsʼəħaj/
Moon
ወርሕ
/waɾəħ/
Mother
እሞ
/ʔəmmo/
Father
አቦ
/ʔabbo/
Eat
በልዐ
/balʕa/
Drink
ሰትየ
/satja/
Love
ፍቅሪ
/fəqʼri/
Heart
ልቢ
/ləbbi/
Tree
ዕጨይ
/ʕətʃʼaj/
House
ቤት
/beːt/
Dog
ከልብ
/kalb/
Cat
ድሙ
/dəmmu/
Hand
እድ
/ʔəd/
Eye
ዐይን
/ʕajn/
Hello
ሰላም
/salaːm/
Thank you
የቀንየለይ
/jəqanjəlej/
One
ሓዲ
/ħadi/
Good
ጽቡቕ
/tsʼəbbuqʼ/
Sources
Words compared
Compared with related Afro-Asiatic (Semitic, Ethiopian) languages
| Meaning | Tigre | Ge'ez | Tigrinya | Sabaean | Old Aramaic | Ugaritic | Arabic (Algerian) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | ማይ /maj/ | ማይ /maːj/ | ማይ /maj/ | 𐩣𐩺 /maːʔ/ | מין /majin/ | 𐎎𐎊 /maju/ | الما /lma/ |
| Fire | እሳት /ʔəssat/ | እሳት /ʔəsaːt/ | ሓዊ /ħawi/ | 𐩱𐩪 /ʔas/ | אש /ʔɛʃ/ | 𐎛𐎌𐎚 /ʔiʃt/ | العافية /lʕafja/ |
| Sun | ጸሓይ /tsʼəħaj/ | ፀሐይ /sˤaħaj/ | ጸሓይ /tsʼəħaj/ | 𐩦𐩣𐩪 /ʃams/ | שמש /ʃamʃ/ | 𐎌𐎔𐎌 /ʃapʃ/ | الشمس /ʃʃəms/ |
| Moon | ወርሕ /waɾəħ/ | ወርኅ /warχ/ | ወርሒ /wərħi/ | 𐩥𐩧𐩭 /warkʰ/ | שהר /sahr/ | 𐎊𐎗𐎈 /jaːriχ/ | القمر /lqmər/ |
| Mother | እሞ /ʔəmmo/ | እም /ʔəmm/ | ኣደ /ʔaddə/ | 𐩱𐩣 /ʔumm/ | אמ /ʔem/ | 𐎜𐎎 /ʔumm/ | يما /jəmma/ |
| Father | አቦ /ʔabbo/ | አብ /ʔab/ | ኣቦ /ʔabbo/ | 𐩱𐩨 /ʔab/ | אב /ʔab/ | 𐎜𐎁 /ʔabu/ | بابا /baːba/ |
| Eat | በልዐ /balʕa/ | በልዐ /balʕa/ | ምብላዕ /mɨblaʕ/ | 𐩱𐩫𐩡 /ʔakal/ | אכל /ʔakal/ | 𐎍𐎈𐎎 /laħam/ | كلى /kla/ |
| Drink | ሰትየ /satja/ | ሰትየ /satja/ | ምስታይ /mɨstaj/ | 𐩪𐩩𐩺 /ʃataja/ | שתה /ʃataː/ | 𐎌𐎚𐎊 /ʃataju/ | شرب /ʃrəb/ |
| Love | ፍቅሪ /fəqʼri/ | አፍቀረ /ʔafqara/ | ፍቕሪ /fɨqʼɾi/ | 𐩥𐩵𐩵 /wadda/ | רחם /raħem/ | 𐎜𐎈𐎁 /ʔaːhab/ | حب /ħəbb/ |
| Heart | ልቢ /ləbbi/ | ልብ /ləbb/ | ልቢ /lɨbbi/ | 𐩡𐩨 /lubb/ | לב /leb/ | 𐎍𐎁 /libbu/ | قلب /qəlb/ |
| Tree | ዕጨይ /ʕətʃʼaj/ | ዕፅ /ʕasˤ/ | ኦም /ʔom/ | 𐩲𐩳 /ʕaːð/ | עץ /ʕeːsˤ/ | 𐎓𐎕 /ʕasˤu/ | شجرة /ʃəʒra/ |
| House | ቤት /beːt/ | ቤት /beːt/ | ገዛ /ɡəza/ | 𐩨𐩺𐩩 /bajt/ | בית /beːt/ | 𐎁𐎚 /bajtu/ | دار /daːr/ |
| Dog | ከልብ /kalb/ | ከልብ /kalb/ | ከልቢ /kəlbi/ | 𐩫𐩡𐩨 /kalb/ | כלב /kalb/ | 𐎋𐎍𐎁 /kalbu/ | كلب /kəlb/ |
| Cat | ድሙ /dəmmu/ | ድሙ /dəmmu/ | ድሙ /dɨmmu/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | قط /qətˤtˤ/ |
| Hand | እድ /ʔəd/ | እድ /ʔəd/ | ኢድ /ʔid/ | 𐩺𐩵 /jad/ | יד /jad/ | 𐎊𐎄 /jadu/ | يد /jədd/ |
| Eye | ዐይን /ʕajn/ | ዐይን /ʕajn/ | ዓይኒ /ʕajni/ | 𐩲𐩺𐩬 /ʕajn/ | עין /ʕajn/ | 𐎓𐎐 /ʕajnu/ | عين /ʕin/ |
| Hello | ሰላም /salaːm/ | ሰላም /salaːm/ | ሰላም /səlam/ | 𐩪𐩡𐩣 /salaːm/ | שלם /ʃəlaːm/ | 𐎌𐎍𐎎 /ʃalaːmu/ | السلام /ssalaːm/ |
| Thank you | የቀንየለይ /jəqanjəlej/ | ምስጋና /məsɡaːnaː/ | የቐንየለይ /jɨqʼɨnjɨlɨj/ | 𐩢𐩣𐩵 /ħamad/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | صحة /sˤəħħa/ |
| One | ሓዲ /ħadi/ | አሐዱ /ʔaħadu/ | ሓደ /ħadə/ | 𐩱𐩢𐩵 /ʔaħad/ | חד /ħad/ | 𐎀𐎈𐎄 /ʔaːħadu/ | واحد /waːħəd/ |
| Good | ጽቡቕ /tsʼəbbuqʼ/ | ሠናይ /sanaːj/ | ጽቡቕ /tsʼɨbuqʼ/ | 𐩷𐩨 /tˤajjib/ | טב /tˤab/ | 𐎉𐎁 /tˤaːbu/ | مليح /mliħ/ |
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