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
87 core words in Blin
Sources
- Ethnologue: byn
- Reinisch, Leo (1887) Wörterbuch der Bilin-Sprache. Wien: Hölder
- Kiflemariam Hamde (1997) Blin lessons (Dehai), via the Wayback Machine
- Glottolog: bili1260
Words compared
Compared with languages in the same classification: Afro-Asiatic (Cushitic, Central)
| Meaning | Blin | Tigre | Tigrinya | Ge'ez | Nhanda | Ubykh | Chibcha |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | ዓቍ /ʕakʷʼ/ | ማይ /maj/ | ማይ /maj/ | ማይ /maːj/ | kapi /kapi/ | bzə /bzə/ | sié /sje/ |
| Fire | ለኻ /ləxa/ | እሳት /ʔəssat/ | ሓዊ /ħawi/ | እሳት /ʔəsaːt/ | warla /waɻla/ | mzʼə /mzʼə/ | gata /ɡata/ |
| Sun | ኳራ /kʷara/ | ጸሓይ /tsʼəħaj/ | ጸሓይ /tsʼəħaj/ | ፀሐይ /sˤaħaj/ | wurʼa /wuɾʔa/ | dəɣʷa /dəɣʷa/ | súa /sua/ |
| Moon | አርባ /ʔarba/ | ወርሕ /warəħ/ | ወርሒ /wərħi/ | ወርኅ /warχ/ | kanyala /kaɲala/ | mazə /mazə/ | chía /tʃia/ |
| Star | ሽንግርዋ /ʃɨnɡrɨwa/ | ኮከብ /kokəb/ | ኮኸብ /koˈxəb/ | ኮከብ /kokab/ | indiya /indija/ | tʃʷʼakʲ /tʃʷʼakʲʼ/ | fagua /faɣwa/ |
| Night | ቂር /kʼir/ | ላሊ /lali/ | ለይቲ /lɐjti/ | ሌሊት /leːlit/ | maru /maru/ | śwa /ɕʷa/ | za /tsa/ |
| Mother | ገና /ɡəna/ | እሞ /ʔəmmo/ | ኣደ /ʔaddə/ | እም /ʔəmm/ | ngamaji /ŋamadʒi/ | nan /nan/ | guaia /ɡwaia/ |
| Father | እኽር /ʔɨxɨr/ | አቦ /ʔabbo/ | ኣቦ /ʔabbo/ | አብ /ʔab/ | kuthurra /kutʰuɻa/ | tʷə /tʷə/ | paba /paba/ |
| I | አን /ʔan/ | አነ /ʔana/ | ኣነ /ˈʔanɐ/ | አነ /ʔana/ | ngayi /ŋaji/ | sʁʷa /sʁʷa/ | hycha /hɨtʃa/ |
| You | እንቲ /ʔɨnti/ | አንታ /ʔɨnta/ | ንስኻ /nɨsˈxa/ | አንተ /ʔanta/ | nyini /ɲini/ | wʁʷa /wʁʷa/ | mue /mue/ |
| We | ይን /jɨn/ | ሕና /ħəna/ | ንሕና /nɨħna/ | ንሕነ /nəħna/ | ngayinu /ŋajinu/ | ʃʁʷała /ʃʁʷaɬa/ | chie /tʃie/ |
| Name | ስⶖ /sɨŋʷ/ | ስም /sɨm/ | ስም /sɨm/ | ስም /səm/ | yini /jini/ | pʼtsʼa /pʼtsʼa/ | hyca /hɨka/ |
| Eye | ዕል /ʕɨl/ | ዐይን /ʕajn/ | ዓይኒ /ʕajni/ | ዐይን /ʕajn/ | kuru /kuɻu/ | bla /bla/ | upqua /upkʷa/ |
| Mouth | አብ /ʔəb/ | አፍ /ʔaf/ | ኣፍ /ʔaf/ | አፍ /ʔaf/ | ngarnmanu /ŋaɳmanu/ | tʃʼa /tʃʼa/ | quyhyca /kɨhɨka/ |
| Tooth | እርኲ /ʔɨrkʷi/ | ንብ /nɨb/ | ስኒ /sɨni/ | ስን /sənː/ | idaji /idadʒi/ | cakʼə /tsakʼʲə/ | sica /sika/ |
| Tongue | ላንቂ /lankʼi/ | ልሳን /lisaːn/ | መልሓስ /mɐlħas/ | ልሳን /ləsaːn/ | thalanyu /t̪alaɲu/ | bza /bʒa/ | pqua /pkʷa/ |
| Hand | ናን /nan/ | እዴ /ʔəde/ | ኢድ /ʔid/ | እድ /ʔəd/ | mara /maɻa/ | ɂa /ʔa/ | yta /ɨta/ |
| Heart | ለበካ /ləbəka/ | ልብ /ləbb/ | ልቢ /lɨbbi/ | ልብ /ləbb/ | pulpara /pulpaɻa/ | gʷə /ɡʷə/ | puyquy /pujkɨ/ |
| Bone | ናሽ /naʃ/ | ዓጽም /ʕatsʼəm/ | ዓጽሚ /ʕatsʼmi/ | ዐፅም /ʕasˤm/ | mambu /mambu/ | pqë /pqə/ | quyne /kɨne/ |
| Blood | ብር /bər/ | ደም /dam/ | ደም /dɐm/ | ደም /dam/ | nguba /ŋuba/ | ła /ɬa/ | hyba /hɨba/ |
| Love | እንከሊ /ʔɨnkəli/ | ፍቅሪ /fəqʼri/ | ፍቕሪ /fɨqʼri/ | አፍቀረ /ʔafqara/ | kanyji /kaɲdʒi/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Tree | ካና /kana/ | ዕጨይ /ʕətʃʼaj/ | ኦም /ʔom/ | ዕፅ /ʕasˤ/ | parntany /paɳʈaɲ/ | ɣʷənə /ɣʷənə/ | quye /kɨe/ |
| Dog | ግድጝ /ɡɨdɨŋ/ | ከልብ /kalb/ | ከልቢ /kəlbi/ | ከልብ /kalb/ | kuwiyarl /kuwijaɻl/ | la /la/ | to /to/ |
| Cat | ዱሙ /dumːu/ | ድሙ /dəmmu/ | ድሙ /dɨmmu/ | ድሙ /dəmmu/ | paka /paka/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Fish | ዓሳ /ʕasa/ | ዓሳ /ʕasa/ | ዓሳ /ʕasa/ | ዓሣ /ʕaʃaː/ | wiitya /wiːca/ | psa /psa/ | gua /ɡua/ |
| Bird | ጀኸላ /dʒəxəla/ | ሰሬረት /sareːrat/ | ዑፍ /ʕuf/ | ዖፍ /ʕoːf/ | — | ʁʷəndʷə /ʁʷəndʷə/ | sue /sue/ |
| House | ሊጝን /liŋən/ | ቤት /beːt/ | ገዛ /ɡəza/ | ቤት /beːt/ | nhurra /ɳuɻa/ | tʷəna /tʷəna/ | gué /ɡwe/ |
| Eat | ቍና /kʷʼɨna/ | በልዐ /balʕa/ | ምብላዕ /mɨblaʕ/ | በልዐ /balʕa/ | ngarna /ŋaɻna/ | f /f/ | quychua /kɨtʃwa/ |
| Drink | ጅዕና /dʒɨʕna/ | ሰትየ /satja/ | ምስታይ /mɨstaj/ | ሰትየ /satja/ | nyuna /ɲuna/ | dzʷa /dzʷa/ | biohotysuca /bjohotɨsuka/ |
| One | ላዅ /laxʷ/ | ዎሮት /worot/ | ሓደ /ħadə/ | አሐዱ /ʔaħadu/ | kuyu /kuju/ | za /za/ | ata /ata/ |
| Two | ለጛ /ləŋa/ | ክልኦት /kɨlʔot/ | ክልተ /kɨlˈtə/ | ክልኤ /kəlʔeː/ | wuthada /wut̪ada/ | tqʷʼa /tqʷʼa/ | boza /boza/ |
| Three | ሰዃ /səxʷa/ | ሰለስ /salas/ | ሰለስተ /sɐlɐste/ | ሠለስቱ /ʃalastu/ | marnngurdu /maɳŋuɖu/ | śa /ɕa/ | mica /mika/ |
| Four | ሰጃ /sədʒa/ | አርበዕ /ʔarbaʕ/ | ኣርባዕተ /ʔarbaʕtə/ | አርባዕቱ /ʔarbaʕtu/ | — | pʼɬʼə /pʼɬʼə/ | muyhyca /mɨhɨka/ |
| Five | አንኳ /ʔankʷa/ | ሐምስ /ħaməs/ | ሓሙሽተ /ħamuʃte/ | ኀምስቱ /xaməstu/ | — | šxə /ʃχə/ | hyzca /hɨzka/ |
| Hundred | ሊኽ /lix/ | ምእት /mɨʔɨt/ | ሚእቲ /miʔti/ | ምእት /məʔət/ | — | — | — |
| Hello | — /—/ | ሰላም /salaːm/ | ሰላም /səlam/ | ሰላም /salaːm/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Thank you | — /—/ | የቀንየለይ /jəqanjəlej/ | የቐንየለይ /jɨqʼɨnjɨlɨj/ | ምስጋና /məsɡaːnaː/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Good | ትክያዅ /təkjaxʷ/ | ጽቡቕ /tsʼəbbuqʼ/ | ጽቡቕ /tsʼɨbuqʼ/ | ሠናይ /sanaːj/ | walykumarra /waʎkumaɻa/ | ʈʂʼa /ʈʂʼa/ | choin /tʃoin/ |
| Red | ሳራዅ /saraxʷ/ | ቀይሕ /qajːəħ/ | ቀይሕ /qɐjːɨħ/ | ቀይሕ /qajːəħ/ | marniwidi /maɳiwidi/ | pɬaʒʲa /pɬaʒʲa/ | hychen mague /hɨtʃen maɡwe/ |
| White | ጫዕዳዅ /tʃʼaʕɨdaxʷ/ | ጸዓዳ /tsʼaʕada/ | ጻዕዳ /sˤaʕda/ | ጸዓዳ /sˤaʕaːdaː/ | wilidi /wilidi/ | — | apquyhyzyn mague /apkɨhɨzɨn maɡwe/ |
| Black | ንሺራዅ /nɨʃiraxʷ/ | ጸሊም /tsʼɐlim/ | ጸሊም /sˤɐlːim/ | ጸሊም /sˤalːim/ | — | dʒa /dʒa/ | muyhyxio /mɨhɨsio/ |
| Green | ቍጣን /kʷʼɨtʼan/ | ሰዐርሰዕሮ /saʕarsaʕəro/ | ቀጠልያ /qɐtʼɐlja/ | ሐመልሚል /ħamalmiːl/ | — | ʁˤaqʼa /ʁˤaqʼa/ | chysquyco /tʃɨskɨko/ |
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