Tigrinya is a member of the Ethiopic branch of Semitic languages spoken mainly in the Tigre region of Ethiopia, and in Central Eritrea. In 2007 there were about 4.4 milion speakers of Tigrinya, and there were 3.1 million Tigrinya speakers in Eritrea in 2016. In 1994 there were about 10,000 speakers of Tigrinya in Israel. There are also communities of Tigrinya speakers in Sudan, Saudi Arabia, the USA, Germany, Italy the UK, Canada and in other countries.
Tigrinya is written with a version of the Ge'ez script and first appeared in writing during the 13th century in a text on the local laws for the district of Logosarda in southern Eritrea.
Download an alphabet chart for Tigrinya (Excel)
Hear how to pronounce Tigrinya letters:
Transliteration
Bəmäns̤ər kəbrən mäsälen kulom
säbat əntəwläṣu näs̤an maʿərän
əyom. Məstəwʿalen ḥəlenan zətäʿadälom
bəməxʷanom bəḥəwnätawi mänfäs
kətäḥalaläyu aläwom.
Hear a recording of this text by Asmeret Hagos
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason
and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)
Information about Tigrinya | Phrases | Numbers
Information about Tigrinya language
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tigrigna_language
http://strategyleader.org/profiles/tigrinya.html
https://www.ethnologue.com/language/tir
http://www.eritrea.be/old/eritrea-languages.htm
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/atlas/tigrinya/language.html
Online Tigrinya lessons
http://www.people.vcu.edu/~gasmerom/Eritrean_languages/tigrigna/
Tigrinya phrases
http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/language/tigrinya-phrases.html
http://www.eritrea.be/old/eritrea-languages.htm
http://www.lulu.com/shop/peter-a-crowther/my-tigrinya-phrasebook/ebook/product-18650358.html
http://tinyurl.com/c2ulssy
Online radio in Tigrinya
http://www.voanews.com/horn/amharic_audio.cfm
Free Ge'ez fonts
http://www.ethiozena.net/info/faq.html
http://hometown.aol.com/Feedel/Feedel.htm
http://www.geezsoft.com/download.html
Akkadian, Amharic, Arabic (Algerian), Arabic (Bedawi), Arabic (Chadian), Arabic (Egyptian), Arabic (Gulf), Arabic (Hassaniya), Arabic (Hejazi), Arabic (Lebanese), Arabic (Modern Standard), Arabic (Moroccan), Arabic (Najdi), Arabic (Syrian), Aramaic, Argobba, Assyrian / Neo-Assyrian, Canaanite, Chaha, Chaldean Neo-Aramaic, Ge'ez, Hadhramautic, Harari, Hebrew, Himyaritic, Jewish Neo-Aramaic, Maltese, Mandaic, Nabataean, Neo-Mandaic, Phoenician, Punic, Qatabanic, Sabaean, Sabaic, Silt'e, Syriac, Tigre, Tigrinya, Turoyo, Ugaritic, Western Neo-Aramaic
Aari, Amharic, Argobba, Awngi, Bench, Blin, Chaha, Dizin, Ge'ez, Gumuz, Hamer(-Banna), Harari, Inor, Sidama, Silt'e, Tigre, Tigrinya, Xamtanga
Page last modified: 07.08.24
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