Tigre language - Wikipedia

Tigre language - Wikipedia
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Semitic language spoken in the Horn of Africa
Not to be confused with
Tigrinya language
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May 2019
Tigre
ትግሬ
Təgré
),
ትግራይት
Tigrayit
Native to
Eritrea
Sudan
Region
Anseba
Gash-Barka
Northern Red Sea
Red Sea State
Ethnicity
Tigre
Native speakers
1 million (2022–2024)
Language family
Afro-Asiatic
Semitic
West Semitic
South Semitic
Ethiopic
North
Tigre
Dialects
Mansa (Mensa), Habab, Beni-Amir, Semhar, Algeden, Senhit (Ad-Tekleis, Ad-Temariam, Bet-Juk, Marya Kayah)
Writing system
Geʽez script
(Tigre abugida)
Arabic script
Official status
Recognised minority
language in
Eritrea
Sudan
Language codes
ISO 639-2
tig
ISO 639-3
tig
Glottolog
tigr1270
This article contains
IPA
phonetic symbols.
Without proper
rendering support
, you may see
question marks, boxes, or other symbols
instead of
Unicode
characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see
Help:IPA
This article contains
special characters
Without proper
rendering support
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question marks, boxes, or other symbols
Tigre
ትግሬ
Təgré
), also known as
Tigrayit
ትግራይት
),
is an
Ethio-Semitic
language spoken in the
Horn of Africa
, primarily by the
Tigre people
of Eritrea.
It is believed to be the most closely related living language to
Ge'ez
, which is still in use as the liturgical language of the
Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church
and
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church
. Tigre has a
lexical similarity
of 71% with Ge’ez and of 64% with Tigrinya.
As of 1997, Tigre was spoken by approximately 800,000 Tigre people in Eritrea.
The Tigre mainly inhabit western Eritrea, though they also reside in the northern highlands of Eritrea and its extension into the adjacent parts of Sudan, as well as Eritrea's Red Sea coast north of
Zula
. There is a small number of Tigre speakers in Sudan, as well as communities of speakers found in the
diaspora
The Tigre people are not to be confused with their neighbors to the south, the
Tigrinya people
of Eritrea and the
Tigrayans
of Ethiopia, both of whom speak Tigrinya. Tigrinya is also derived from the parent Geʽez tongue
citation needed
, but is quite distinct from Tigre despite the similarity in name.
Dialects
edit
There are several dialects of Tigre, some of them are; Mansa’ (Mensa), Habab, Barka, Semhar, Algeden, Senhit (Ad-Tekleis, Ad-Temariam, Bet-Juk, Marya Kayah) and
Dahalik
, which is spoken in the
Dahlak Archipelago
. Intelligibility between the dialects is above 91% (except Dahalik), where intelligibility between Dahalik and the other dialects is between 24% and 51%.
Tigre speakers in Sudan also call the language "hāsā".
However the term 'Hasa', and in other variations of names such as 'Xasa' or 'Khasa' is considered pejorative by the Tigre.
Vocabulary
edit
Numerals
edit
The cardinal and ordinal numbers in Tigre are as follows:
Number
Cardinal
Ordinal
Masculine
Feminine
Neutral
Masculine
Feminine
አሮ
’aro
ሐቴ
ḥate
or
ሐንቴ
ḥante
አወል
’awel
አወላይ
’awelay
አወላይት
’awelayit
ቀዳም
q’edam
ቀዳማይ
q’edamay
ቀዳሚት
q’edamit
ክልኤ
kili’ē
ከልእ
kel’
ከለኣይ
kele’ay
ከለኣይት
kele’ayt
ሰለአስ
sel’ās
ሰልስ
sals
አርበዕ
’arbaʽe
ረብዕ
rabʽe
ሐምስ
ḥams
or
ሐሙስ
ḥamus
ሐምስ
ḥams
ስእስ
si’es
or
ሱስ
sus
ሰድስ
sads
ሰቡዕ
sebuʽi
ሰብዕ
sabʽe
ሰመን
seman
ሰምን
samn
ሰዕ
siʽe
ተስዕ
tasʽe
10
ዐስር
ʽasr
ዐስር
ʽasr
11
ዐስር-ሐተ
ʽasr-hatte
20
ዕስረ
ʽisra
21
ዕስረ ወሐተ
ʽisra w ḥate
30
ሰለሰ
selasa
40
አርበዐ
arbaʽa
50
ሐምሰ
ḥamsa
100
ምእት
mi’et
200
ክልኤ ምእት
kil’e mi’et
300
ሰለአስ ምእት
seles mi’et
1000
አልፍ
’alf
Ordinal numbers have both feminine and masculine form. To describe the masculine form -
ay
is added and respective -
ayt
to describe the feminine form.
Phonology
edit
Tigre has preserved the two
pharyngeal consonants
of Ge'ez. The Ge'ez vowel inventory has almost been preserved except that the two vowels which are phonetically close to
[ɐ]
and [a] seem to have evolved into a pair of phonemes which have the same quality (the same articulation) but differ in length; [a] vs.
[aː]
. The original phonemic distinction according to quality survives in Tigrinya. The vowel
[ɐ]
, traditionally named "first order vowel", is most commonly transcribed
in Semitic linguistics.
The phonemes of Tigre are displayed below in both
International Phonetic Alphabet
(IPA) symbols (indicated by the IPA brackets) and the symbols common (though not universal) among linguists who work on
Ethiopian Semitic languages
. For the long vowel
/aː/
, the symbol 'ā' is used per Raz (1983). Three consonants, /p, p', x/, occur only in a small number of loanwords, hence they are written in parentheses.
As in other
Ethiopian Semitic languages
, the phonemic status of
/ə/
is questionable; it may be possible to treat it as an
epenthetic
vowel that is introduced to break up consonant clusters.
Consonants
Labial
Dental
Palatal
Velar
Pharyngeal
Glottal
Nasal
Stop
voiceless
tʃ
⟨č⟩
voiced
dʒ
⟨ǧ⟩
ejective
pʼ
tʼ
tʃʼ
⟨č'⟩
kʼ
Fricative
voiceless
⟨š⟩
voiced
⟨ž⟩
ejective
sʼ
Approximant
⟨y⟩
Rhotic
Vowels
Front
Central
Back
Close
⟨ə⟩
Mid
Open
aː
⟨ā⟩
Consonant length
edit
Consonant length is phonemic in Tigre (that is, a pair of words can be distinct by consonant length alone), although there are few such minimal pairs. Some consonants do not occur long; these include the pharyngeal consonants, the glottal consonants,
/w/
, and
/j/
. In this language, long consonants arise almost solely by
gemination
as a
morphological
process; there are few, if any, long consonants in word roots. Gemination is especially prominent in verb morphology.
Grammar
edit
Nouns are of two genders, masculine and feminine.
Indefinite article: masculine
woro አሮ
e.g.
woro ennas አሮ እነስ
– a man; feminine
hatte ሐተ
e.g.
hatte sit ሐተ እሲት
– a woman.
The definite article, "the", when expressed, is
la ለ
e.g.
ለጸሐይ ወ ለወርሕ
– the sun and the moon.
As with other Semitic languages, specifically feminine forms, where they exist, are often formed of an element with an
affix
masculine: አድግ ʼ
adəg
- donkey, ass; feminine: እድግሀት
ʼədgəhat
– she-ass;
masculine: ከልብ
kalb
– dog; feminine: ከልበት
kalbat
– bitch;
masculine: ከድመይ
kadmay
– serving man; ከድመይት
kadmayt
– serving-woman;
masculine: መምበ
mamba
– lord, master; መምበይት
mambayt
– lady, mistress.
In a similar way, sound-changes can also mark the difference between singular and plural:
ነጉስ
nəgus
– king;
negüs
clarification needed
– kings;
በሐር
bäḥär
– sea; አብሑር
ʼäbhur
– seas;
እሲት
ʼəsit
– woman; አንስ
ʼäns
– women;
ወለት
wälät
– girl; አዋልድ
ʼäwaləd
– girls;
መሆር
mähor
– foal, colt; አምሁር
ʼämhur
– foals, colts;
ነቢ
näbi
– prophet; ነቢያት
näbiyat
– prophets;
በገዐት
baga‘āt
– one sheep; አበግዕ
ʼäbagəʽ
– sheep, plural;
አርዌ
ʼärwē
– Snake; አረዊት
ʼärawit
– snakes, plural;
ሖግ
ḥog
– foot; ሐነግ
ḥanag
– feet; plural
እገር
ʼəgər
– foot; አእጋር
ʼä’əgār
feet; plural
አዘን
ʼäzän
– ear; አእዛን
ʼäʼəzān
– ears;
ሰዐት
säʽät
– hour; ሰዓታት
säʽatat
– hours;
አንፍ
ʼänəf
– nose; አንፎታት
ʼänfotāt
– noses;
ህዳይ
həday
– wedding; ህዳያት
hədayat
– weddings;
አብ
ʼāb
– father; አበው
ʼābaw
– fathers;
እም
ʼəm
– mother; እመወት
ʼəmawat
– mothers;
ኮኮብ
kokob
– star;ከዋክብ
kawākəb
– stars;
ጓነ
gʷāna
– foreigner;ጓኖታት
gʷānotāt
– foreigners;
ረአስ
raʼas
– head; አርእስ ʼ
arʼəs
– heads;
ጸፍር
ṣəfər
– paw, hoof; አጸፍር
ʼāṣfār
– claws, hooves;
ከብድ
kabəd
– belly; አክቡድ
ʼākbud
– bellies.
ልበስ
ləbas
- ልበሰት
ləbasat
clothes
Personal pronouns distinguish "you, masculine" and "you, feminine" in both singular and plural:
አነ ʼ
ana
– I, me
እንታ
ʼənta
– you, singular, masculine
እንቲ
ʼənti
– you, singular, feminine
ህቱ
hətu
– he, him, it (masc.)
ህታ
həta
– she, her, it (fem.)
ሕነ
ḥənna
– we, us
እንቱም
ʼəntum
– you, plural, masculine
እንትን
ʼəntən
– you, plural, feminine
ህቶም
hətom
– they, them, masculine
ህተን
həten
– they, them, feminine
The possessive pronouns appear (a) suffixed to the noun, (b) as separate words:
my – (a)
-ya
የ example:
kətābya
ክታብየ- my book; (b)
nāy
ናየ with masculine nouns;
nāya ናየ
with feminine nouns;
your (sing. mas. & fem.) – (a)
-ka
ካ example:
kətābka
ክታብካ- your book; (b) with masc.
nāyka ናይካ
, with fem.
nāyki ናይኪ
his – (a)
-u -ኡ
example
kətābu ክታቡ
– his book; (b) with masc.
nāyu ናዩ
, with fem.
nāya ናያ
our – (a)
-na ና
example
kətābna ክታብና
– our book; (b) with masc.
nāyna ናይና
, with fem.
nāyna ናይና
your (pl. masc. & fem.) – (a)
-kum ኩም
(a)
-kən ክን
example
kətabkum
ክታብኩም/ክታብክን- your book; (b) with masc.
nāykum ናይኩም
, with fem.
nāykən ናይክን
their –
-om -ኦም
example
kətābom
ክታቦም- their book; (b) with masc.
nāyom
,ናዮም with fem.
nāyan ናየን
The verb "to be":
ana halleko (o) tu
– አና ሀለኮ I am; negative:
ihalleko
ኢሀለኮ- I'm not;
enta halleko (o) tu
– እንታ ህሌካ you (sing. masc.) are; neg.
ihalleko
ኢሀለኮ- you're not;
enti halleki tu
– እንቲ ሀሌኪ you (sing. fem.) are; neg.
ihalleko
ኢሀለኮ;
hətu halla tu
ህቱ ሀላ- he is; neg.
ihalla
ኢሀላ;
həta hallet tu
ህታ ሀሌት – she is; neg.
ihallet
ኢሀሌት;
henna hallena tu
ሕና ሀሌና – we are; neg.
ihallena
ኢሀሌና;
entum hallekum tu
እንቱም ሀሌኩም- you (pl. masc.) are; neg.
ihallekum
ኢሀሌኩም;
entim halleken tu
እንትን ሀሌክን- you (pl. fem.) are; neg.
ihallekum
ኢሀሌክን;
hətən hallaa tom
ህተን ሀሌያ- they (masc.) are; neg.
ihallao
ኢሀሌያ;
hətən halleia ten ህተን ሀሌያ
– they (fem.) are; neg.
ihallao
ኢሀሌያ.
The verb "to be", past tense:
...
ʿalko
ዐልኮ- I was; negative:
iʿalko ኢዐልኮ
- I wasn't;
...
ʿalka
ዐልካ- you (sing. masc.) were; neg.
iʿalka ኢዐልካ
...
ʿalki
ዐልኪ- you (sing. fem.) were; neg.
iʿalka ኢዐልኪ
...
ʿala
ዐላ- he was; neg.
iʿala ኢዐላ
...
ʿalet
ዐለት- she was; neg.
iʿallet ኢዐለት
...
ʿalna
ዐልና- we were; neg.
iʿalna ኢዐልና
...
ʿalkum
ዐልኩም- you (pl. masc.) were; neg.
iʿalkum ኢዐልኩም
...
ʿalken
ዐልክን- you (pl. fem.) were; neg.
iʿalkum ኢዐልክን
...
ʿalou
ዐለው- they (masc.) were; neg.
iʿalou ኢዐለው
...
ʿalaia
ዐለያ- they (fem.) were; neg.
iʿaleia ኢዐለያ
The verb "to have":
woro kitab bye ዎሮ ኪታብ ብየ
– I have a book
woro kitab bəka
ዎሮ ክታብ ብካ
- You (sing. masc.) have a book,
and so on, with the last word in each case:
...
bəki
ብኪ – you (sing. fem.), etc.
...
bu
ቡ – he...
...
ba በ
– she...
...
bəna
ብና- we...
...
bəkum
ብኩም- you (pl. masc.)...
...
bəkin
ብክን- you (pl.fem.) ...
...
bom
ቦም- they (masc.)...
...
ben
በን- they (fem.)...
The verb "to have": past tense, using a feminine noun as an example:
ḥätte bet ʿalet ilu ሐተ ቤት ዐልት እሉ
– He had a house
ḥätte bet ʿalet ilka
ሐተ ቤት ዐልት እልካ
- You (sing. masc.) you had a house,
and so on, with the last word in each case:
...
ʿalet əlki
ዐለት እልኪ – you (sing. fem.) had a house,
...
ʿalet əllu
ዐለት እሉ- he had, etc.
...
ʿalet əlla
ዐለት እላ- she had...
...
ʿalet əlna
ዐለት እልና- we had...
...
ʿalet əlkum
ዐለት እልኩም- you pl. masc.) had ...
...
ʿalet əlkən
ዐለት እልክን- you (pl. fem.) had ...
...
ʿalet əlom
ዐለት እሎም- they (masc.) had ...
...
ʿalet əllen
ዐለት እለን- they (fem.) had ...
Writing system
edit
Since around 1889, the
Geʽez script
(Ethiopic script) has been used to write the Tigre language. Tigre speakers formerly used
Arabic
more widely as a lingua franca.
10
The Bible has been translated into the Tigre language.
11
Ge'ez script
edit
See also:
Ge'ez script § Adaptations to other languages
The Ge'ez script is an
abugida
, with each character representing a consonant and vowel combination. Ge'ez and its script are also called Ethiopic. The script has been modified slightly to write Tigre and is mainly employed by the Eritrean government and Christian speakers.
Tigre Ge'ez script
wä
wi
wa
we
wə
č̣
p̣
wä
wi
wa
we
wə
Arabic script
edit
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does not
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sources
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The Arabic script is an
abjad
, meaning only consonants are represented by each character, and diacritics are used for vowels. This script is used more commonly by Muslim speakers.
Tigre Arabic script
Isolated
IPA
Transcription
none or
/ʔ/
/b/
/p/
/t/
/s/
/dʒ/
/ħ/
/x/
/d/
/z/
/r/
/z/
/ʒ/
/s/
/ʃ/
/tʃ/
/s’/
s’
/d/
/t’/
t’
/z/
/tʃ’/
c’
/ʕ/
/g/
/f/
/p’/
p’
/k’/
/k/
/l/
/m/
/n/
/h/
/w/
/j/
Tigre Arabic script (vowels)
Diacritic/Letter
IPA
Transcription
/ɐ/
/i/
/u/
none or
/ɨ/
none or ə
‎,
اَ
/aː/
ِـي
/e/
ُـو
/o/
Sample text
edit
Article 1 of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
12
Tigre text
English text
ክሎም ውላድ ሚንኣደም ምን አምዕል ተውሊደቶም እንዴ አንበተው ሑር ወአክልሕድቶም። አክልሕድ ላቱ ሕቁቅ ወሕሽመት ቦም። ደሚር ወእህትማም ለትሀየበው ኽሉቃም ሰበት ቶም ኖስ-ኖሶም አድሕድ እግል ለሐሽሞ ወልርሐሞ ወጅቦም።
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.
kəlom wəlad minəʼadäm mən ʼäməʻəl täwəlidätom ʼənədē ʼänəbätäw ḥur waʼäkələḥədətom. ʼäkələḥəd latu ḥəquq waḥəšəmät bom. dämir waʼəhətəmam lätəhäyäbäw xəluqam säbät tom nosə-nosom ʼädəḥəd ʼəgəl läḥäšəmo walərəḥämo waǧəbom.
Basic sentences:
Tigre text
Translation
ሐየት እት ልርእው፣ እብ አሰሩ ሐዙው
When they see a lion, they seek it through its tracks.
ህኩይ ድራሩ ንኩይ
Lazy's dinner is less
ህግየ ፍ’ደት ምን ገብእ። አዚም ደሀብ ቱ
When speaking is an obligation, silence is golden
ምህሮ ኖርቱ ወቅዌት ጽልመት፣
Knowledge is brightness and ignorance darkness.
Other samples:
Tigre text
ሐል ክም እም ኢትገብእ ወጸሓይ ወርሕ ክም አምዕል
ለኢልትሐሜ ኢልትሐመድ፣
ለቤለ ለአሰምዕ ወለዘብጠ ለአደምዕ፣
ሐሊብ መ ውላዱ ሔሰዩ፣
ሐምቅ ሐምቁ ምን ረክብ ዜነት ለአፈግር፣
ምስል ብርድ አከይ ፍርድ
See also
edit
Beni-Amer people
Tigre people
References
edit
Tigre language
at
Ethnologue
(28th ed., 2025)
"Classification of Ethio Semitic languages according to Hudson 2013"
. Research Gate
. Retrieved
21 April
2025
"Issues in mapping and classifying the Semitic languages of Ethiopia"
. Tekabe Legesse Felake
. Retrieved
21 April
2025
Littmann, Enno; Höfner, Maria (1962).
Wörterbuch der Tigrē-Sprache: Tigrē-Deutsch-Englisch
(in German). Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag.
Munzinger, Werner (1865).
Vocabulaire de la langue tigré
(in French). Leipzig: T. O. Weigel.
Булах, Мария, ed. (2013).
Семитские языки. Эфиосемитские языки
. Языки мира / Российская академия наук, Институт языкознания (in Russian). Москва: Academia. p. 217.
ISBN
978-5-87444-366-5
"Tigre language"
Bratannica Encyclopaedia
"Languages of Eritrea"
. Ethnologue
. Retrieved
1 November
2023
Tigre language
at
Ethnologue
(27th ed., 2024)
"Tigré"
. Ethnologue
. Retrieved
30 October
2017
Senai W. Andemariam. 2012. The Story of the Translation of the Bible into Tǝgre.
Ityopis
2:62–88.
Web access
B. Abraham, Dessale (2 December 2016).
"Universal Declaration of Human Rights' articles translated into Tigre language"
Asmarino
Archived
from the original on 24 March 2023
. Retrieved
22 October
2023
External links
edit
Tigre edition
of
Wikipedia
, the free encyclopedia
Online Tigre Language Tutorial By Omar M. Kekia
Woldemikael, Tekle M. 2003. Language, Education, and Public Policy in Eritrea.
African Studies Review
, Apr 2003.
Modaina: History and Language of the Tigre-Speaking Peoples
Tigre in Mozilla Common Voice
Bibliography
edit
Camperio, Manfredo.
Manuale Pratico della Lingua Tigrè
, Hoepli, Milano, 1936.
Beaton, A.C. & A. Paul (1954).
A grammar and vocabulary of the Tigre language (as spoken by the Beni Amer)
. Khartoum: Publications Bureau.
Elias, David L. (2005).
Tigre of Habab: Short Grammar and Texts from the Rigbat People
. Ph.D dissertation. Harvard University.
Elias, David L. (2014).
The Tigre Language of Gindaˁ, Eritrea: Short Grammar and Texts
. (Studies in Semitic Languages and Linguistics, 75.) Brill.
Leslau, Wolf.
(1945)
Short Grammar of Tigré
. Publications of the American Oriental Society, Offprint Series, No. 18. New Haven: American Oriental Society.
Leslau, Wolf. (1945), "The Verb in Tigré", in:
Journal of the American Oriental Society
65/1, pp. 1–26.
Leslau, Wolf. (1945), "Grammatical Sketches in Tigré (North Ethiopic): Dialect of Mensa", in:
Journal of the American Oriental Society
65/3, pp. 164–203.
Leslau, Wolf. (1948), "Supplementary observations on Tigré grammar", in:
Journal of the American Oriental Society
68/3, pp. 127–139.
Littmann, E.
(1897), "Die Pronomina in Tigré", in:
Zeitschrift für Assyriologie
12, pp. 188–230, 291–316.
Littmann, Enno. (1898), "Das Verbum der Tigre-Sprache", in:
Zeitschrift für Assyrologie
13, pp. 133–178; 14, pp. 1–102.
Littmann, Enno. (1910–15).
Publications of the Princeton expedition to Abyssinia
, 4 vols. in 4, Leyden.
Littmann, Enno. and Höfner, Maria. (1962)
Wörterbuch der Tigrē-Sprache: Tigrē-Deutsch-Englisch
. Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag.
Nakano, Aki'o & Yoichi Tsuge (1982).
A Vocabulary of Beni Amer Dialect of Tigre
. Tokyo: Institute for the Study of Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa.
Palmer, F.R.
(1956). "'Openness' in Tigre: a problem in prosodic statement", in:
Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies
18/3, pp. 561–577.
Palmer, F.R. (1961). "Relative clauses in Tigre", in:
Word
17/1, pp. 23–33.
Palmer, F.R. (1962).
The morphology of the Tigre noun
. London: Oxford University Press.
Raz, Shlomo. (1980). "Tigre syntax and Semitic Ethiopian", in:
Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies
43/2, pp. 235–250.
Raz, Shlomo. (1980). "The morphology of the Tigre verb (Mansaʿ dialect)", in:
Journal of Semitic Studies
25/1, pp. 66–84; 25/2, pp. 205–238.
Raz, Shlomo. (1983).
Tigre grammar and texts
. Malibu, California, USA: Undena Publications.
SALEH MAHMUD IDRIS. (2015).
A Comparative Study of the Tigre Dialects
, Semitica et Semitohamitica Berolinensia, 18 (Aachen: Shaker Verlag, 2015)
Sundström, R. (1914). "Some Tigre texts", in:
Le Monde Orientale
8, pp. 1–15.
Voigt, Rainer (2008), "Zum Tigre", in:
Aethiopica (International Journal of Ethiopian and Eritrean Studies)
, volume 11, Wiesbaden: Harrasowitz Verlag 2008, pp. 173–193.
Voigt, Rainer and Saleh Mahmud Idris. Zu einer neuen Grammatik des Tigre.
Aethiopica
19 (2016, pub. 2017), 245–263.
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