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

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87 core words in Tigrinya

Water

ማይ

maj

Fire

ሓዊ

ħawi

Sun

ጸሓይ

tsʼəħaj

Moon

ወርሒ

wərħi

Star

ኮኸብ

koˈxəb

Night

ለይቲ

lɐjti

Rain

ዝናብ

zɨnab

Snow

ውርጪ

wɨrtʃʼi

Wind

ንፋስ

nɨfas

Earth

መሬት

mɐˈret

Stone

እምኒ

ʔɨmˈni

Mountain

እምባ

ʔɨmba

Sea

ባሕሪ

baħri

Mother

ኣደ

ʔaddə

Father

ኣቦ

ʔabbo

Daughter

ጓል

ɡʷal

I

ኣነ

ˈʔanɐ

You

ንስኻ

nɨsˈxa

We

ንሕና

nɨħna

Name

ስም

sɨm

Person

ሰብ

sɐb

Head

ርእሲ

rɨʔsi

Eye

ዓይኒ

ʕajni

Ear

እዝኒ

ʔizni

Nose

ኣፍንጫ

ʔafəntʃa

Mouth

ኣፍ

ʔaf

Tooth

ስኒ

sɨni

Tongue

መልሓስ

mɐlħas

Hand

ኢድ

ʔid

Foot

እግሪ

ʔɨɡri

Heart

ልቢ

lɨbbi

Bone

ዓጽሚ

ʕatsʼmi

Blood

ደም

dɐm

Poop

ሓርኢ

ħarʔi

Love

ፍቕሪ

fɨqʼri

Tree

ኦም

ʔom

Dog

ከልቢ

kəlbi

Cat

ድሙ

dɨmmu

Fish

ዓሳ

ʕasa

Bird

ዑፍ

ʕuf

Butterfly

ጽምብላሊዕ

tsʼɨmbɨlaliʕ

Egg

እንቋቑሖ

ʔɨnqʷaqʷɨħo

Bear

ድቢ

dɨbi

Horse

ፈረስ

fɐrɐs

House

ገዛ

ɡəza

Milk

ጸባ

tsʼɐba

Honey

መዓር

mɐʕar

Salt

ጨው

tʃʼɐw

Wine

ወይኒ

wɐjni

Rice

ሩዝ

ruz

Chocolate

ችኮላታ

tʃɨkolata

Iron

ሓጺን

ħatsʼin

Wheel

መንኮርኮር

mənkorkor

Silk

ሃሪ

hari

Book

መጽሓፍ

mɐtsʼħaf

Eat

ምብላዕ

mɨblaʕ

Drink

ምስታይ

mɨstaj

Sleep

ደቀሰ

dɐqɐsɐ

One

ሓደ

ħadə

Two

ክልተ

kɨlˈtə

Three

ሰለስተ

sɐlɐste

Four

ኣርባዕተ

ʔarbaʕtə

Five

ሓሙሽተ

ħamuʃte

Hundred

ሚእቲ

miʔti

Hello

ሰላም

səlam

Thank you

የቐንየለይ

jɨqʼɨnjɨlɨj

Good

ጽቡቕ

tsʼɨbuqʼ

New

ሓድሽ

ħaddɨʃ

Red

ቀይሕ

qɐjːɨħ

White

ጻዕዳ

sˤaʕda

Black

ጸሊም

sˤɐlːim

Green

ቀጠልያ

qɐtʼɐlja

Blue

ሰማያዊ

sɐmajawi

Computer

ኮምፒዩተር

kompijutar

Tea

ሻሂ

ʃahi

Coffee

ቡን

bun

Sugar

ሽኮር

ʃɨkor

Orange

ብርቱኳን

bɨrtukʷan

Ninety-nine

ተስዓን ትሽዓተን

təsʕan tɨʃʕatən

Sources

Words compared

Compared with languages in the same classification: Semitic

Meaning TigrinyaTigreGe'ezAmharicSebat Bet GurageHarariSabaean
Water ማይ /maj/ ማይ /maj/ ማይ /maːj/ ውሃ /wɨha/ እኻ /ɨxa/ miy /miːj/ 𐩣𐩥 /maw/
Fire ሓዊ /ħawi/ እሳት /ʔəssat/ እሳት /ʔəsaːt/ እሳት /ɨssat/ እሳት /ɨsat/ isat /isɑt/ 𐩱𐩪 /ʔas/
Sun ጸሓይ /tsʼəħaj/ ጸሓይ /tsʼəħaj/ ፀሐይ /sˤaħaj/ ፀሐይ /tsʼɛhaj/ ጬት /tʃʼet/ ir /iːr/ 𐩦𐩣𐩪 /ʃams/
Moon ወርሒ /wərħi/ ወርሕ /warəħ/ ወርኅ /warχ/ ጨረቃ /tʃʼɛɾɛkʼa/ ጨረቃ /tʃʼɛrɛkʼa/ wahri /wɑhri/ 𐩥𐩧𐩭 /warχ/
Star ኮኸብ /koˈxəb/ ኮከብ /kokəb/ ኮከብ /kokab/ ኮከብ /kokəb/ ዀዀብ /xʷɐxʷɐb/ kokäb /kokəb/ 𐩫𐩨𐩫𐩨 /kabkab/
Night ለይቲ /lɐjti/ ላሊ /lali/ ሌሊት /leːlit/ ሌሊት /leːlit/ ምሳረ /mɨsarɐ/ lelit /lelit/ 𐩡𐩺𐩡 /lajl/
Rain ዝናብ /zɨnab/ ዝለም /zaləm/ ዝናም /zenam/ ዝናብ /zɨnab/ ዝራብ /zɨrab/ — 𐩹𐩬𐩣 /ðanam/
Snow ውርጪ /wɨrtʃʼi/ ዕጥብ በረድ /ʕətʼəb barad/ ሐመዳ /ħamadaː/ በረዶ /bərədo/ በረጀ /bɐrɐdʒɐ/ — —
Page 1/10

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
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 で 見た スーツを 試着 したいです
我 想 试穿 酒店 对面的 商店 里 看到的 那套西装
Я хочу примерить костюм который я увидел в магазине напротив отеля

Compare with languages in the same classification

እኔ ሆቴሉ ፊት ለፊት ባለው ሱቅ ውስጥ ያየሁትን ሙሉ ልብስ ለብሼ ማየት እፈልጋለሁ
אֲנָא בָּעֵא אֲנָא לְנַסָּאָה לְבוּשָׁא דַ חֲזֵית בְּ חֲנוּתָא קֳדָם פּוּנדקָא
أنا عاوز أجرب البدلة اللي شفتها في المحل قصاد الفندق
אני רוצה למדוד חליפה ש ראיתי ב חנות מול המלון
Tigrinya
ኣነ ሆቴል ኣብ ቅድሚ ዱካን ውሽጢ ዝረኣኹዎ ሱት ክፍትኖ ደልየ

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