View source for Tigrinya language

{{Contains Ethiopic text}}
{{Infobox Language
|name=Tigrinya
|nativename=ትግርኛ  ''tigriññā''
|pronunciation={{IPA|/tɨɡrɨɲa/}}
|states=[[Eritrea]], [[Ethiopia]]
|region=[[Eritrea]], [[Ethiopia]], especially in [[Tigray Region|Tigray]]
|speakers=6.7 million<ref>In 2005, Ethnologue estimated a total of 4.45 million Tigrinya speakers ranging over all countries; 3.2 million in Ethiopia, 1.2 million in Eritrea, 10,000 [[Beta Israel]]s in Israel (the remaining 15,000 are unaccounted for).[http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=tir] The Tigrinya ethnic group, almost entirely Tigrinya speaking{{Citation needed|date=March 2007}}, is estimated at 3.3 million by Ethnologue, whereas other estimates indicate 4.3 million in Ethiopia ([http://www.csa.gov.et/text_files/2005_national_statistics.htm CSA 2005 National Statistics], Table B.3.), 2.4 million in Eritrea (July 2006).[https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/er.html]</ref>
|familycolor=Afro-Asiatic
|fam2=[[Semitic languages|Semitic]]
|fam3=[[South Semitic languages|South Semitic]]
|fam4=[[Ethiopic languages|Ethiopic]]
|fam5=[[North Ethiopic]]
|script=[[Ge'ez alphabet]] [[abugida]]
|nation=[[Eritrea]] (working language)
|iso1=ti|iso2=tir|iso3=tir}}

'''Tigrinya''' (ትግርኛ, ''tigriññā''), also spelled '''Tigrigna''', '''Tigrina''', '''Tigriña''', less commonly '''Tigrinian''', '''Tigrinyan''', is a [[Semitic languages|Semitic language]] spoken by the [[Tigrinya people]] in central [[Eritrea]] (there referred to as the "Tigrinya" people), where it is one of the two main languages of Eritrea, and in the [[Tigray Region]] of [[Ethiopia]] (whose speakers are called "Tigray"), where it has official status, and among groups of emigrants from these regions, including some of the [[Beta Israel]] now living in [[Israel]]. 
Tigrinya should not be confused with the related [[Tigre language]], which is spoken in the lowland regions in Eritrea to the north and west of the region where Tigrinya is spoken.

* For the representation of Tigrinya sounds, this article uses a modification of a system that is common (though not universal) among linguists who work on [[Ethiopian Semitic languages]], but it differs somewhat from the conventions of the [[International Phonetic Alphabet]].

== History and literature ==
The earliest written example of Tigrinya is a text of local laws found in the district of [[Logosarda]], [[debub|southern Eritrea]], which dates from the 13th century.<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.lmp.ucla.edu/Profile.aspx?LangID=18&menu=004
| title = UCLA Language Materials Project Language Profiles Page: Tigrinya
| publisher = UCLA
| accessdate = 2006-11-10
}}</ref> 

In Eritrea, during [[History_of_Eritrea#British_administration_and_federalization|British administration]], the Ministry of information put out a weekly newspaper in Tigrinya that cost 5 cents and sold 5,000 copies weekly. At the time, it was reported to be the first of its kind.<ref name="Ministry">Ministry of Information (1944) ''The First to be Freed—The record of British military administration in Eritrea and Somalia, 1941-1943''. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office.</ref> 

Tigrinya (along with Arabic) was one of Eritrea's official languages during its short-lived federation with Ethiopia; in 1958 it was replaced with [[Amharic language|Amharic]] prior to its annexation. Upon Eritrea's independence in 1991, Tigrinya retained the status of working language in the country, the only state in the world to date to award Tigrinya recognition on a national level.

== Speakers ==
There is no generally agreed upon name for the people who speak Tigrinya.
A native of [[Tigray]] is referred to in Tigrinya as ''{{Unicode|tigrāwāy}}'' (male), ''{{Unicode|tigrāweytī}}'' (female), ''{{Unicode|tigrāwōt}}'' or ''tegaru'' (plural).
In Eritrea, Tigrinya speakers are officially known as the ''Bihér-Tigrigna'' which means nation of Tigrigna/Tigrinya speakers. Bihér roughly means nation in the ethnic sense of the word in Tigrinya, [[Tigre language|Tigre]] and [[Amharic]] as well as in [[Ge'ez language|Ge'ez]] from which all these languages originate. [[Islam|Muslim]] native Tigrigna speakers are known as the ''[[Jeberti]]'', an Arabic name which implies conversion to Islam among Horn Africans. 

In Ethiopia, Tigrinya is the third most spoken language, after Amharic and [[Oromo language|Oromo]], while in Eritrea, Tigrinya is by far the most spoken language (see [[Demographics of Eritrea]]). Tigrigna is spoken by large immigrant communities around the world, among them the Sudan, Saudi Arabia, the United States, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada and Sweden. 

Tigrinya dialects differ phonetically, lexically, and grammatically.<ref name="leslau">Leslau, Wolf (1941) ''Documents Tigrigna (Éthiopien Septentrional): Grammaire et Textes''. Paris: Librairie C. Klincksieck.</ref>
So far no dialect appears to be accepted as a standard. This article does not intend to cover dialectal variation.

== Phonology ==
=== Consonant phonemes ===
Tigrinya has a fairly typical set of phonemes for an Ethiopian Semitic language.
That is, there is a set of [[ejective consonant]]s
and the usual seven-vowel system.
Unlike many of the modern Ethiopian Semitic languages, Tigrinya has preserved the two
[[pharyngeal consonant]]s which were apparently part of the ancient [[Ge'ez language]] and
which, along with [x'], a velar or uvular ejective fricative, make it easy to distinguish spoken Tigrinya from related languages such as Amharic, though not from
Tigre, which has also maintained the pharyngeal consonants.

The charts below show the phonemes of Tigrinya. The sounds are shown using the same system for representing the sounds as in the rest of the article. When the [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]] symbol is different, it is indicated in square brackets.

The consonant /v/ appears in parentheses because it occurs only in recent borrowings from European languages.

The [[Fricative consonant|fricative sounds]] {{IPA|[x]}}, {{IPA|[xʷ]}}, {{IPA|[xʼ]}} and {{IPA|[xʷʼ]}} occur as [[#Allophones|allophones]].

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ '''[[Consonant]]s'''
|-
! rowspan="2" colspan="2"|
! rowspan="2" |[[Bilabial consonant|Bilabial]]/<br />[[Labiodental consonant|Labiodental]]
! rowspan="2" |[[Dental consonant|Dental]]
! rowspan="2" |[[Postalveolar consonant|Palato-alveolar]]/<br />[[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! colspan="2" |[[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! rowspan="2" |[[Pharyngeal consonant|Pharyngeal]]
! rowspan="2" |[[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! <small>Plain</small>
! <small>[[Labialization|Lab.]]</small>
|-
!colspan="2"|[[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
|{{unicode|m}}
|{{unicode|n}}
|{{unicode|ñ}} {{IPA|[ɲ]}}
|
|
|
|
|-
!rowspan="3"|[[Stop consonant|Stop]]
![[Voice (phonetics)|Voiceless]]
|{{unicode|p}}
|{{unicode|t}}
|{{unicode|č}} {{IPA|[tʃ]}}
|{{unicode|k}}
|{{unicode|kw}} {{IPA|[kʷ]}}
|
|{{unicode|’}} {{IPA|[ʔ]}}
|-
![[Voice (phonetics)|V\voiced]]
|{{unicode|b}}
|{{unicode|d}}
|{{unicode|ǧ}} {{IPA|[dʒ]}}
|{{unicode|g}} {{IPA|[ɡ]}}
|{{unicode|gw}} {{IPA|[ɡʷ]}}
|
|
|-
![[Ejective consonant|ejective]]
|{{unicode|p'}} {{IPA|[pʼ]}}
|{{unicode|t'}} {{IPA|[tʼ]}}
|{{unicode|č'}} {{IPA|[tʃʼ]}}
|{{unicode|k'}} {{IPA|[kʼ]}}
|{{unicode|kw'}} {{IPA|[kʷʼ]}}
|
|
|-
!rowspan="3"|[[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
![[Voice (phonetics)|voiceless]]
|{{unicode|f}}
|{{unicode|s}}
|{{unicode|š}} {{IPA|[ʃ]}}
|{{unicode|(x)}}
|{{unicode|(xw)}} {{IPA|[xʷ]}}
|{{unicode|ḥ}} {{IPA|[ħ]}}
|{{unicode|h}}
|-
![[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]]
|(v)
|{{unicode|z}}
|{{unicode|ž}} {{IPA|[ʒ]}}
|
|
|{{unicode|‘}} {{IPA|[ʕ]}}
|
|-
![[Ejective consonant|ejective]]
|
|{{unicode|s'}} {{IPA|[sʼ]}}
|
|{{unicode|(x')}} {{IPA|[xʼ]}}
|{{unicode|(xw')}} {{IPA|[xʷʼ]}}
|
|
|-
!colspan="2"|[[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
|
|{{unicode|l}}
|{{unicode|y}} {{IPA|[j]}}
|
|{{unicode|w}}
|
|
|-
!colspan="2"|[[Rhotic consonant|Rhotic]]
|
|{{unicode|r}}
|
|
|
|
|
|}

=== Vowel phonemes ===
The sounds are shown using the same system for representing the sounds as in the rest of the article. When the [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]] symbol is different, it is indicated in square brackets.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+'''[[Vowel]]s'''
|-
!
![[Front vowel|Front]]
![[Central vowel|Central]]
![[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
![[Close vowel|Close]]
|{{unicode|i}}
|{{unicode|ə}} {{IPA|[ɨ]}}
|{{unicode|u}}
|-
![[Mid vowel|Mid]]
|{{unicode|e}}
|{{unicode|ä}} {{IPA|[ɐ]}}
|{{unicode|o}}
|-
![[Open vowel|Open]]
|
|{{unicode|a}}
|
|}

=== Gemination ===
[[Consonant length|Gemination]], the doubling of a consonantal sound, is meaningful in Tigrinya, i.e. it affects the meaning of words. While gemination plays an important role in the morphology of the Tigrinya verb, it is normally accompanied by other marks. But there is a small number of pairs of words which are only differentiable from each other by gemination, e.g. {{IPA|/kʼɐrrɐbɐ/}}, ('he brought forth'); {{IPA|/kʼɐrɐbɐ/}}, ('he came closer'). All the consonants, with the exception of the [[Pharyngeal consonant|pharyngeal]] and [[glottal consonant|glottal]], are amenable to gemination.<ref name="ReferenceA">Rehman, Abdel. English Tigrigna Dictionary: A Dictionary of the Tigrinya Language: (Asmara) Simon Wallenberg Press. Introduction Pages to the Tigrinya Language</ref>

=== Allophones ===
The [[velar consonant|velar]] consonants {{IPA|/k/}} and {{IPA|/kʼ/}} are pronounced differently when they appear immediately after a vowel and are not [[gemination|geminated]]. In these circumstances, {{IPA|/k/}} is pronounced as
a velar [[fricative consonant|fricative]]. {{IPA|/kʼ/}} is pronounced as a fricative, or sometimes as an [[affricate consonant|affricate]]. 
This fricative or affricate is more often pronounced further back, in the [[uvular consonant|uvular]] place of articulation (although it is represented in this article as {{IPA|[xʼ]}}). All of these possible realizations - [[velar ejective fricative]], [[uvular ejective fricative]], [[velar ejective affricate]] and [[uvular ejective affricate]] - are cross-linguistically very rare sounds.

Since these two sounds are completely conditioned by their environments, they can be considered [[allophone]]s of {{IPA|/k/}} and {{IPA|/kʼ/}}.
This is especially clear from verb roots in which one consonant is realized as one or the other allophone depending on what precedes it.
For example, for the verb meaning ''cry'', which has the triconsonantal root |bky|, there are forms such as ምብካይ {{IPA|/məbkaj/}} ('to cry') and በኸየ {{IPA|/bɐxɐjɐ/}} ('he cried'), and for the verb meaning 'steal', which has the triconsonantal root |{{IPA|srkʼ}}|, there are forms such as ይሰርቁ {{IPA|/jəsɐrkʼu/}} ('they steal') and ይሰርቕ {{IPA|/jəsɐrrəxʼ/}} ('he steals').

What is especially interesting about these pairs of phones is that they are distinguished in Tigrinya orthography.
Because allophones are completely predictable, it is quite unusual for them to be represented with distinct symbols in the written form of a language.

=== Syllables ===
A Tigrinya syllable may consist of a consonant-vowel or a consonant-vowel-consonant sequence.
When three consonants (or one geminated consonant and one simple consonant) come together within a word, the cluster is broken up with the introduction of an [[epenthesis|epenthetic]] vowel ''{{unicode|ə}},'' and when two consonants (or one geminated consonant) would otherwise end a word, the vowel ''i'' appears after them, or (when this happens because of the presence of a suffix) ''{{unicode|ə}}'' is introduced before the suffix.
For example,
* ከብዲ ''käbdi'' 'stomach', ልቢ ''{{unicode|ləbbi}}'' 'heart'
* ''-äy'' 'my', ከብደይ ''käbdäy'' 'my stomach', ልበይ ''{{unicode|ləbbäy}}'' 'my heart'
* ''-ka'' 'your (masc.)', ከብድኻ ''{{unicode|käbdəxa}}'' 'your (masc.) stomach', ልብኻ ''{{unicode|ləbbəxa}}'' 'your (masc.) heart'
* ''-n...-n'' 'and', ከብድን ልብን ''{{unicode|käbdən ləbbən}}'' 'stomach and heart'

Stress is neither contrastive nor particularly salient in Tigrinya.
It seems to depend on gemination, but it has apparently not been systematically investigated.

== Grammar ==
{{main|Tigrinya grammar}}
=== Typical grammatical features ===
Grammatically, Tigrinya is a typical [[Ethiopian Semitic languages|Ethiopian Semitic (ES) language]]  in most ways:
* A Tigrinya [[noun]] is treated as either [[grammatical gender|masculine or feminine]].  However, most inanimate nouns do not have a fixed gender.
* Tigrinya nouns have [[grammatical number|plural]], as well as singular, forms, though the plural is not obligatory when the linguistic or pragmatic context makes the number clear.  As in Tigre and Ge'ez (as well as Arabic), noun plurals may be formed through internal changes ("broken" plural) as well as through the addition of [[affixes|suffixes]]. For example, ፈረስ färäs 'horse', ኣፍራሰ {{unicode|''’afras''}} 'horses'.
* [[Adjectives]] behave in most ways like nouns.  Most Tigrinya adjectives, like those in Tigre and Ge'ez, have feminine and plural (both genders) forms.  For example, ጽቡቕ ''{{unicode|s'ǝbbux'}}'' 'good (m.sg.)', ጽብቕቲ ''{{unicode|s'ǝbbǝx'ti}}'' 'good (f.sg.)', ጽቡቓት ''{{unicode|s'ǝbbux'at}}'' 'good (pl.)'
* Within [[personal pronoun]]s and subject [[agreement (linguistics)|agreement]] [[inflection]]s on [[verb]]s, gender is distinguished in second [[grammatical person|person]] as well as third.  For example, ተዛረብ {{unicode|''täzaräb''}} 'speak! (m.sg.)', ተዛረቢ {{unicode|''täzaräbi''}} 'speak (f.sg.)'.
* [[Possession (linguistics)|Possessive]] adjectives take the form of noun suffixes: ገዛ ''gäza'' 'house', ገዛይ ''gäza-y'' 'my house', ገዛኺ ''gäza-xi'' 'your (f.sg.) house'.
* Verbs are based on consonantal [[root (linguistics)|roots]], most consisting of [[triliteral|three consonants]]: {''sbr''} 'break', ሰበረ ''säbärä'' 'he broke', ይሰብር {{unicode|''yǝsäbbǝr''}} 'he breaks', ምስባር {{unicode|''mǝsbar''}} 'to break'.
* Within the [[grammatical tense|tense]] system there is a basic distinction between the perfective form, [[Grammatical conjugation|conjugated]] with suffixes and denoting the past, and the imperfective form, conjugated with prefixes and in some cases suffixes, and denoting the present or future: ሰበሩ ''säbär-u'' 'they broke', ይሰብሩ {{unicode|''yǝ-säbr-u''}} 'they break'.
* As in Ge'ez and Amharic, there is also a separate "gerundive" form of the verb, conjugated with suffixes and used to link verbs within a sentence: ገዲፍካ ተዛረብ '''''gädifka''' täzaräb'' 'stop (that) and speak (m.sg.)'.
* Verbs also have a separate [[jussive mood|jussive]]/[[imperative mood|imperative]] form, similar to the imperfective: ይስበሩ {{unicode|''yǝ-sbär-u''}} 'let them break'.
* Through the addition of [[derivation (linguistics)|derivational]] morphology (internal changes to verb stems and/or prefixes), verbs may be made [[grammatical voice|passive]], [[reflexive voice|reflexive]], [[causative voice|causative]], [[frequentative]], [[reciprocal (grammar)|reciprocal]], or reciprocal causative: ፈለጡ ''fälät'-u'' 'they knew', ተፈልጡ ''tä-fält'-u'' 'they were known', ኣፈልጡ ''’a-fält'-u'' 'they caused to know (they introduced)', ተፋለጡ ''tä-falät'-u'' 'they knew each other', ኣፋለጡ ''’a-f-falät'-u'' 'they caused to know each other'.
* Verbs may take direct [[object (grammar)|object]] and [[adposition|prepositional]] pronoun suffixes: ፈለጠኒ ''fälät'ä-nni'' 'he knew me', ፈለጠለይ ''fälät'ä-lläy'' 'he knew for me'.
* [[Negation]] is expressed through the prefix ''ay-'' and, in [[independent clause]]s, the suffix ''-n'': ኣይፈለጠን ''ay-fälät'ä-n'' 'he didn't know'.
* The [[copula (linguistics)|copula]] and the verb of existence in the present are [[irregular verb|irregular]]: ኣሎ ''’allo'' 'there is, he exists', እዩ {{Unicode|''ǝyyu''}} 'he is', የለን or የልቦን ''yällän'' or ''yälbon'' 'there isn't, he doesn't exist', ኣይኰነን {{unicode|''aykʷänän''}} 'he isn't', ነበረ ''näbärä'' 'he existed, he was, there was', ይኸውን {{unicode|''yǝ-xäwwǝn''}} 'he will be', ይነብር {{unicode|''yǝ-näbbǝr''}} 'he will exist, there will be'.
* The verb of existence together with object suffixes for the possessor expresses possession ('have') and obligation ('must'): ኣሎኒ ''’allo-nni'' 'I have, I must' (lit. 'there is (to) me').
* [[Relative clause]]s are expressed by a prefix attached to the verb: ዝፈለጠ {{unicode|''zǝ-fälät'ä''}} 'who knew'
* [[Cleft sentence]]s, with relative clauses normally following the copula, are very common: መን እዩ ዝፈለጠ {{unicode|''män ǝyyu zǝ-fälät'ä''}} 'who knew?' (lit. 'who is he who knew?').
* There is an [[accusative case|accusative]] marker used on [[definiteness|definite]] [[object (grammar)|direct objects]]. In Tigrinya this is the prefix {{unicode|''nǝ-''}}. For example, ሓጐስ ንኣልማዝ ረኺቡዋ {{unicode|''ḥagʷäs '''nǝ'''’almaz räxibuwwa''}} 'Hagos met Almaz'.
* As in other '''modern''' ES languages, the default [[word order]] in clauses is subject-object-verb, and noun modifiers usually (though not always in Tigrinya) precede their head nouns.

=== Peculiarities of Tigrinya grammar ===
Tigrinya grammar is unique within ES in several ways:
* For second person pronouns, there is a separate vocative form, used to get a person's attention: ንስኻ {{unicode|''nǝssǝxa''}} 'you (m.sg.)', ኣታ ''’atta'' 'you! (m.sg.)'.
* There is a definite article, related (as in English) to the demonstrative adjective meaning 'that': እታ ጓል {{unicode|''’ǝta gʷal''}} 'the girl'.
* The gerundive form is used for past tense, as well as for the linking function as in Ge'ez and Amharic: ተዛሪቡ ''täzaribu'' '(he) speaking, he spoke'.
* Yes-no questions are marked by the particle ዶ ''do'' following the questioned word: ሓፍተይዶ ርኢኺ {{unicode|''ḥaftäydo rǝ’ixi''}} 'did you (f.sg.) see my sister?'.
* The negative circumfix ''ay- -n'' may mark nouns, pronouns, and adjectives as well as verbs: ኣይኣነን {{unicode|''ay-’anä-n''}} 'not me', ኣይዓብይን {{unicode|''ay‘abǝy-ǝn''}} 'not big'
* Tigrinya has an unusually complex tense/aspect system, with many nuances achieved using combinations of the three basic tense/aspect forms (perfect, imperfect, gerundive) and various auxiliary verbs including the copula (እዩ ''ǝyyu'', etc.), the verb of existence (ኣሎ ''’allo'', etc.), and the verbs ነበረ ''näbärä'' 'exist, live', ኮነ ''konä'' 'become', ጸንሔ {{unicode|''s'änḥe''}} 'stay'.
* Tigrinya has compound prepositions corresponding to the preposition-postposition compounds found in Amharic: ኣብ ልዕሊ ዓራት {{unicode|'''''ab lǝ‘li''' ‘arat''}} 'on (top of) the bed', ኣብ ትሕቲ ዓራት {{unicode|'''''ab tǝḥti''' ‘arat''}} 'under the bed'
* Unlike most ES languages, Tigrinya has only one set of prepositional object verb suffixes, used both for the [[dative case|dative]] and [[benefactive case|benefactive]] and for [[locative case|locative]] and adversative senses:  ተቐሚጣሉ ''{{unicode|täx'ämmit'a-'''llu'''}}'' 'she sat down '''for him'''' or 'she sat down '''on it'''' or 'she sat down '''to his detriment''''.

== Writing system ==
Tigrinya is written in the [[Ge'ez alphabet|Ge'ez script]], originally developed for the now-extinct [[Ge'ez language]]. Ge'ez and its script are also called Ethiopic. The Ge'ez script is an [[abugida]]: each symbol represents a consonant+vowel syllable, and the symbols are organized in groups of similar symbols on the basis of both the consonant and the vowel.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
In the table below the columns are assigned to the seven vowels of Tigrinya (and Ge'ez);
they appear in the traditional order.
The rows are assigned to the consonants, again in the traditional order.

For each consonant in an abugida, there is an unmarked symbol representing that consonant followed by a canonical or [[inherent vowel]].
For the Ge'ez abugida, this canonical vowel is ''ä,'' the first column in the table.
However, since the pharyngeal and glottal consonants of Tigrinya (and other Ethiopian Semitic languages)
cannot be followed by this vowel,
the symbols in the first column in the rows for those consonants
are pronounced with the vowel ''a,'' exactly as in the fourth row.
These redundant symbols are falling into disuse in Tigrinya and are shown with a dark gray background in the
table.
When it is necessary to represent a consonant with no following vowel, the ''consonant''+''{{unicode|ə}}'' form is used
(the symbol in the sixth column).
For example, the word ''{{unicode|’ǝntay}}'' 'what?' is written እንታይ, literally {{unicode|’ǝ-nǝ-ta-yǝ}}.

Since some of the distinctions that were apparently made in Ge'ez have been lost in Tigrinya, there are two rows of symbols each for the consonants {{IPA|/h/}}, {{IPA|/s/}}, and {{IPA|/sʼ/}}.
In Eritrea, for {{IPA|/s/}} and {{IPA|/sʼ/}}, at least, one of these has fallen into disuse in Tigrinya and is now
considered old-fashioned.
These less-used series are shown with a dark gray background in the chart.

The orthography does not mark gemination, so the pair of words ''{{unicode|k'ärräbä}}'' 'he approached', ''{{unicode|k'äräbä}}'' 'he was near' are both written ቀረበ.  Since such [[minimal pairs]] are very rare, this presents no problem to readers of the language.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+'''Tigrinya writing system'''
!width="5%"|&nbsp;
!width="5%"|ä
!width="5%"|u
!width="5%"|i
!width="5%"|a
!width="5%"|e
!width="5%"|{{unicode|(ǝ)}}
!width="5%"|o
|-
!h
|style="background:silver"|ሀ||ሁ||ሂ||ሃ||ሄ||ህ||ሆ
|-
!l
|ለ||ሉ||ሊ||ላ||ሌ||ል||ሎ
|-
!{{Unicode|ḥ}}
|style="background:silver"|ሐ||ሑ||ሒ||ሓ||ሔ||ሕ||ሖ
|-
!m
|መ||ሙ||ሚ||ማ||ሜ||ም||ሞ
|- style="background:silver"
!style="background:silver"|s
|ሠ||ሡ||ሢ||ሣ||ሤ||ሥ||ሦ
|-
!r
|ረ||ሩ||ሪ||ራ||ሬ||ር||ሮ
|-
!s
|ሰ||ሱ||ሲ||ሳ||ሴ||ስ||ሶ
|-
!š
|ሸ||ሹ||ሺ||ሻ||ሼ||ሽ||ሾ
|-
!k'
|ቀ||ቁ||ቂ||ቃ||ቄ||ቅ||ቆ
|-
!kw'
|ቈ|| ||ቊ||ቋ||ቌ||ቍ||
|-
!x'
|ቐ||ቑ||ቒ||ቓ||ቔ||ቕ||ቖ
|-
!xw'
|ቘ|| ||ቚ||ቛ||ቜ||ቝ||
|-
!b
|በ||ቡ||ቢ||ባ||ቤ||ብ||ቦ
|-
!v
|ቨ||ቩ||ቪ||ቫ||ቬ||ቭ||ቮ
|-
!t
|ተ||ቱ||ቲ||ታ||ቴ||ት||ቶ
|-
!č
|ቸ||ቹ||ቺ||ቻ||ቼ||ች||ቾ
|-
!h
|style="background:silver"|ኀ||ኁ||ኂ||ኃ||ኄ||ኅ||ኆ
|-
!n
|ነ||ኑ||ኒ||ና||ኔ||ን||ኖ
|-
!ñ
|ኘ||ኙ||ኚ||ኛ||ኜ||ኝ||ኞ
|-
!’
|style="background:silver"|አ||ኡ||ኢ||ኣ||ኤ||እ||ኦ
|-
!k
|ከ||ኩ||ኪ||ካ||ኬ||ክ||ኮ
|-
!kw
|ኰ|| ||ኲ||ኳ||ኴ||ኵ||
|-
!x
|ኸ||ኹ||ኺ||ኻ||ኼ||ኽ||ኾ
|-
!xw
|ዀ|| ||ዂ||ዃ||ዄ||ዅ||
|-
!w
|ወ||ዉ||ዊ||ዋ||ዌ||ው||ዎ
|-
!‘
|style="background:silver"|ዐ||ዑ||ዒ||ዓ||ዔ||ዕ||ዖ
|-
!z
|ዘ||ዙ||ዚ||ዛ||ዜ||ዝ||ዞ
|-
!ž
|ዠ||ዡ||ዢ||ዣ||ዤ||ዥ||ዦ
|-
!y
|የ||ዩ||ዪ||ያ||ዬ||ይ||ዮ
|-
!d
|ደ||ዱ||ዲ||ዳ||ዴ||ድ||ዶ
|-
!{{unicode|ǧ}}
|ጀ||ጁ||ጂ||ጃ||ጄ||ጅ||ጆ
|-
!g
|ገ||ጉ||ጊ||ጋ||ጌ||ግ||ጎ
|-
!gw
|ጐ|| ||ጒ||ጓ||ጔ||ጕ||
|-
!t'
|ጠ||ጡ||ጢ||ጣ||ጤ||ጥ||ጦ
|-
!č'
|ጨ||ጩ||ጪ||ጫ||ጬ||ጭ||ጮ
|-
!p'
|ጰ||ጱ||ጲ||ጳ||ጴ||ጵ||ጶ
|-
!s'
|ጸ||ጹ||ጺ||ጻ||ጼ||ጽ||ጾ
|- style="background:silver"
!style="background:silver"|s'
|ፀ||ፁ||ፂ||ፃ||ፄ||ፅ||ፆ
|-
!f
|ፈ||ፉ||ፊ||ፋ||ፌ||ፍ||ፎ
|-
!p
|ፐ||ፑ||ፒ||ፓ||ፔ||ፕ||ፖ
|}

== See also ==
* [[UCLA Language Materials Project]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}
<!-- Dead note "voigt": Voigt, Rainer Maria (1977) ''Das Tigrinische Verbalsystem''. Berlin: D. Reimer. -->

== Bibliography ==
* Amanuel Sahle (1998) {{unicode|''Säwasäsǝw Tǝgrǝñña bǝsäfiḥ''}}. Lawrencevill, NJ, USA: Red Sea Press. ISBN 1-56902-096-5
* Dan'el Täxlu Räda (1996, Eth. Cal.) ''{{unicode|Zäbänawi säwasəw kʷ'ankʷ'a Təgrəñña}}''. {{unicode|Mäx'älä}}
* Rehman, Abdel. English Tigrigna Dictionary: A Dictionary of the Tigrinya Language: (Asmara) Simon Wallenberg Press. Introduction Pages to the Tigrinya Language ISBN 1-84356-006-2 
* Eritrean People's Liberation Front (1985) ''Dictionary, English-Tigrigna-Arabic''. Rome: EPLF.
* ----- (1986) ''Dictionary, Tigrigna-English, mesgebe qalat tigrinya englizenya''. Rome: EPLF.
* Kane, Thomas L. (2000) ''Tigrinya-English Dictionary'' (2 vols). Springfield, VA: Dunwoody Press.  ISBN 1-881265-68-4
* [[Wolf Leslau|Leslau, Wolf]] (1941) ''Documents tigrigna: grammaire et textes''. Paris: Libraire C. Klincksieck.
* Mason, John (Ed.) (1996) ''{{unicode|Säwasǝw Tǝgrǝñña}}, Tigrinya Grammar''. Lawrenceville, NJ, USA: Red Sea Press.  ISBN 0-932415-20-2 (ISBN 0-932415-21-0, paperback)
* Praetorius, F. (1871) ''Grammatik der Tigriñasprache in Abessinien''. Halle. ISBN 3-487-05191-5 (1974 reprint)
* Täxästä Täxlä et al. (1989, Eth. Cal.) ''{{unicode|Mäzgäbä k'alat Təgrəñña bə-Təgrəñña}}''. Addis Ababa: {{unicode|Nəgd matämiya dərəǧǧət}}.
* [[Edward Ullendorff|Ullendorff, E.]] (1985) ''A Tigrinya Chrestomathy''. Stuttgart: F. Steiner.  ISBN 3-515-04314-4
* Ze'im Girma (1983) ''{{unicode|Lǝsanä Ag’azi}}''. Asmara: Government Printing Press.

== External links ==
{{interwiki|code=ti}}
{{wiktionarylang|code=ti}}
* [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=tir Ethnologue entry for Tigrinya]
* [http://modersmal.skolutveckling.se/tigrinya/ Tigrinya classes for children of Tigrinya-speaking immigrants in Sweden], including teaching materials.
* [http://www.memhr.org/tigrigna/index.shtml Tigrigna online], includes an online English-Tigrinya dictionary.
* Sites with Tigrinya text or sound files (all require a Ge'ez Unicode font such as [ftp://ftp.ethiopic.org/pub/fonts/TrueType/gfzemenu.ttf GF Zemen Unicode]).
** [http://news9.asmarino.com/ Asmarino]: Eritrean exile site.
** [http://www.meskerem.net/ Meskerem]: "Eritrean opposition" website.
** [http://www.shabait.com/staging/publish/category_0012.html Eritrean government site with links to ''Haddas Ertra''], the daily Tigrinya newspaper in Eritrea.
** [http://globalrecordings.net/language/204 Christian recordings in Tigrinya]: [http://globalrecordings.net Global Recordings] website.
** [http://www.filtet.org  Tigrina Learning and Playing Game Board - ጸወታ ፍልጠት]: It provides for playful learning of the Ge'ez script and all languages which are written with it.[http://www.erikids.net]

{{Modern Semitic languages}}
{{African Union languages}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tigrinya Language}}
[[Category:Tigrinya language| ]]
[[Category:Languages of Eritrea]]
[[Category:Languages of Ethiopia]]
[[Category:SOV languages]]

[[am:ትግርኛ]]
[[ar:لغة تجرينية]]
[[an:Idioma tigrinya]]
[[bn:তিগ্রিনিয়া ভাষা]]
[[br:Tigrigneg]]
[[bg:Тигриня]]
[[ca:Tigrinya]]
[[de:Tigrinya (Sprache)]]
[[es:Tigriña]]
[[eo:Tigraja lingvo]]
[[eu:Tigrinyera]]
[[fa:زبان تیگرینیایی]]
[[fr:Tigrigna]]
[[ko:티그리냐어]]
[[hr:Tigrinja jezik]]
[[id:Bahasa Tigrinya]]
[[it:Lingua tigrina]]
[[he:תיגרינית]]
[[sw:Kitigrinya]]
[[ku:Zimanê tigrînya]]
[[lij:Lengua tigrinn-a]]
[[hu:Tigrinya nyelv]]
[[mk:Тигриња]]
[[mr:तिग्रिन्या भाषा]]
[[arz:لغه تيجرينى]]
[[nl:Tigrinya (taal)]]
[[ja:ティグリニャ語]]
[[no:Tigrinja]]
[[pl:Język tigrinia]]
[[pt:Língua tigrínia]]
[[ro:Limba tigrinya]]
[[ru:Тигринья]]
[[sk:Tigriňa]]
[[cu:Тигрин҄ьскъ ѩꙁꙑкъ]]
[[sl:Tigrajščina]]
[[so:Af-Tigrinya]]
[[fi:Tigrinja]]
[[sv:Tigrinska]]
[[ta:திகுரீனிய மொழி]]
[[th:ภาษาทีกรินยา]]
[[ti:ትግርኛ ፊደል]]
[[tr:Tigrinya dili]]
[[uk:Тигринья]]
[[ug:تىگرىنىيەچە]]
[[zh:提格利尼亞語]]