Tigre language

There are several dialects of Tigre, some of them are; Mansa’ (Mensa), Habab, Barka (Beni-Amir), Semhar, Algeden, Senhit (Ad-Tekleis, Ad-Temariam, Bet-Juk, Marya Kayah, Maria Tselam) and Dahalik, which is spoken in Dahlak archipelago. Intelligibility between the dialects is above 91% (except Dahalik), where intelligibility between Dahalik and the other dialects is between 24% to 51%.[6]

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 ä 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.

These notes use the spelling adopted by Camperio (1936 - see bibliography) which seems to approximate to Italian rules.

Nouns are of two genders, masculine and feminine.

• Indefinite article: masculine uoro አሮ e.g. uoro 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 we might expect from a Semitic language, specifically feminine forms, where they exist, are often formed of an element with t:

• masculine: አድግ ādig - donkey, ass; feminine: እድግሀት edghet - she-ass;
• masculine: ከልብ kelb - dog; feminine: ከልበትkelbet - bitch;
• masculine: ከድመይ kedmay - serving man; ከድመይት kadmaiet - serving-woman;
• masculine: መምበ mamba - lord, master; መምበይት mambait - lady, mistress.

In a similar way, sound-changes can also mark the difference between singular and plural:

• ነጉስ negus - king; negüs - kings;
• በሐር'bahar - sea; አብሑር abhur - seas;
• እሲት' esit - woman; አንስ ans - women;
• ወለት welet - girl; አዋልድ āwalid - girls;
• መሆር mehor - foal, colt; አምሁር amhur - foals, colts;
• ነቢ nebi - prophet; ነቢያት nabiat - prophets;
• በገዐት bege‘āt - one sheep; አበግዕ ābagi - sheep, plural;
• አርዌ arwē - Snake; አረዊት ārewīt - snakes, plural;
• ሖግ hog - foot; ሐነግ hanag - feet; plural
• እገር eger - foot; አእጋር ā’igar feet; plural
• አዘን ezen - ear; አእዛን ésenz - ears;
• ሰዐት saat - hour; ሰዓታትsaatat - hours;
• አንፍ ānif - nose; አንፎታት ānfotat - noses;
• ህዳይ hdai - wedding; ህዳያት hdayat - weddings;
• አብ ab - father; አበውabew - fathers;
• እም em - mother; እመወት emewat - mothers;
• ኮኮብ kokob - star;ከዋክብ kewakeb - stars;
• ጓነ gāne - foreigner;ጓኖታት ganötat - foreigners;
• ረአስ rass - head; አርእስ ares - heads;
• ጸፍርts’efir - paw, hoof; አጸፍርatsfar - claws, hooves;
• ከብድ kaböd - belly; አክቡድacbud - bellies.
• ልበስ läbas- ልበሰት läbasatclothes

Personal pronouns distinguish "you, masculine" and "you, feminine" in both singular and plural:

• አነ ʼana - I, me
• እንታ ʼanta - you, singular, masculine
• እንቲ ʼanti - you, singular, feminine
• ህቱ hətu - he, him, it (masc.)
• ህታ həti - she, her, it (fem.)
• ሕነ hənna - we, us
• እንቱም ʼəntu - 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) -ié የ example: chitabié ክታብየ- my book; (b) nai ናየ with masculine nouns; naie ናየ with feminine nouns;
• your (sing. mas. & fem.) - (a) -cá ካ example: chitabcá ክታብካ- your book; (b) with masc. naica ናይካ, with fem. naichi ናይኪ;
• his - (a) -ù ቡ example chitabù ክታቡ - his book; (b) with masc. naiu ናዩ, with fem. naiua ናያ;
• our - (a) -na ና example chitabna ክታብና - her book; (b) with masc. naina ናይና , with fem. naina ናይና;
• your (pl. masc. & fem.) - (a) -cum ኩም (a) -cın ክን example chitabcum ክታብኩም/ክታብክን- your book; (b) with masc. naicum ናይኩም , with fem. naicün ናይክን;
• their - -om ቦም example chitabom ክታቦም- their book; (b) with masc. naium,ናዮም with fem. naiön ናየን.

The verb "to be":

• ana halleco (o) tu - አና ሀለኮ I am; negative: ihalleco ኢሀለኮ- I'm not;
• enta halleco (o) tu - እንታ ህሌካ you (sing. masc.) are; neg. ihalleco ኢሀለኮ- you're not;
• enti hallechi tu - እንቲ ሀሌኪ you (sing. fem.) are; neg. ihalleco ኢሀለኮ;
• hötu halla tu ህቱ ሀላ- he is; neg. ihalla ኢሀላ;
• höta hallet tu ህታ ሀሌት - she is; neg. ihallet ኢሀሌት;
• henna hallena tu ሕና ሀሌና - we are; neg. ihallena ኢሀሌና;
• entum hallecum tu እንቱም ሀሌኩም- you (pl. masc.) are; neg. ihallecum ኢሀሌኩም;
• entim hallechen tu እንትን ሀሌክን- you (pl. fem.) are; neg. ihallecum ኢሀሌክን;
• hötön hallaa tom ህተን ሀሌያ- they (masc.) are; neg. ihallao ኢሀሌያ;
• hötön halleia ten ህተን ሀሌያ - they (fem.) are; neg. ihallao ኢሀሌያ.

The verb "to be", past tense:

• ...alco ዐልኮ- I was; negative: iálco ኢዐልኮ- I wasn't;
• ...alca ዐልካ- you (sing. masc.) were; neg. iálca ኢዐልካ;
• ...alchi ዐልኪ- you (sing. fem.) were; neg. iálca ኢዐልኪ;
• ...ala ዐላ- he was; neg. iála ኢዐላ;
• ...alet ዐለት- she was; neg. iállet ኢዐለት;
• ...alna ዐልና- we were; neg. iálna ኢዐልና;
• ...alcum ዐልኩም- you (pl. masc.) were; neg. iálcum ኢዐልኩም;
• ...alchen ዐልክን- you (pl. fem.) were; neg. iálcum ኢዐልክን;
• ...alou ዐለው- they (masc.) were; neg. iálou ኢዐለው;
• ...alaia ዐለያ- they (fem.) were; neg. iáleia ኢዐለያ.

The verb "to have":

• Uoro chitab bi-e ዎሮ ኪታብ ብየ - I have a book
• Uoro chitab bö-ca ዎሮ ክታብ ብካ- You (sing. masc.) have a book,

and so on, with the last word in each case:

• ...be-chi ብኪ - you (sing. fem.), etc.
• ...bu ቡ - he...
• ...ba በ - she...
• ...be-na ብና- we...
• ...be-cum ብኩም- you (pl. masc.)...
• ...be-chin 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:

• Hatte bēt álet-ilu ሐተ ቤት ዐልት እሉ - He had a house
• Hatte bēt álet-ilka ሐተ ቤት ዐልት እልካ- You (sing. masc.) you had a house,

and so on, with the last word in each case:

• ...el-ki እልኪ - you (sing. fem.) had a house,
• ...álet-ollu ዐለት እሉ- he had, etc.
• ...el-la ዐለት እላ- she had...
• ...ilna ዐለት እልና- we had...
• ...elkum ዐለት እልኩም- you pl. masc.) had ...
• ...el-k-n ዐለት እልክን- you (pl. fem.) had ...
• ...el-om ዐለት እሎም- they (masc.) had ...
• ...el-len ዐለት እለን- they (fem.) had ...

• 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

• 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

Since around 1889, the Ge'ez script (Ethiopic script) has been used to write the Tigre language. Tigre speakers formerly used Arabic more widely as a lingua franca.[7] The Bible has been translated into the Tigre language.[8]

• Tigre people
• Beni-Amer people

• 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

• 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.