Tigrinya is spoken by about 7 million people in Eritrea, where it is a working language, and in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. Written in the Ge'ez alphabet, it carries an ancient Orthodox Christian culture and a rich poetic tradition. With this kit, you have the essentials to greet, eat, ask for directions and handle an emergency.
Tigrinya is spoken by about 7 million people, mainly in Eritrea, where it serves as a working language alongside Arabic, and in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia. It belongs to the South Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic languages, like Amharic, Hebrew and Arabic, and descends directly from Ge'ez, the liturgical language of the Tewahedo Orthodox Church.
Tigrinya is written with the Ge'ez abugida, inherited from the old South Arabian alphabet and used for over two thousand years. This script is not an alphabet in the strict sense: each character represents a consonant combined with a vowel, and there are seven forms for each consonant depending on the following vowel. That makes more than two hundred characters to master, but the logic becomes intuitive and learning thirty base characters already opens up reading signs and menus.
The language distinguishes masculine and feminine gender on pronouns, verbs and even some greeting forms: you say Kemey aleka to a man and Kemey aleki to a woman. Tigrinya is very close to Tigre spoken in northern Eritrea and more distant from Amharic, despite a common root. The culture that carries it is deeply Orthodox Christian, punctuated by fasting, liturgical festivals and the famous coffee ceremony.
This kit gathers the bare essentials to get by in Asmara, Massawa or Mekele: greeting correctly by gender, asking for directions, eating injera, handling an emergency and politely saying goodbye. A few memorised Ge'ez characters and a handful of adapted phrases instantly bring smiles and trust from your hosts.
Here is how these phrases play out in real life. Each scene sets the stage and gathers the useful expressions.
You land at Asmara airport at dawn. The officer greets you with Selam. You answer using the greeting adapted to the gender of your interlocutor, a first sign of cultural respect.
You hop in a taxi in Asmara and point to the house or bet (formal home) where you are staying. You also mention the country of origin and the village your driver is heading to if he is talkative, as a conversation landmark.
You sit down at a cafe in Asmara to experience the bun ceremony. You order water, milk to soften the coffee, a plate of injera and freshly roasted coffee beans prepared in front of you in keeping with tradition.
You are taking leave of a host and want to thank them with Yekenyeley, followed by a Bejaka to a man or Bejaki to a woman to ask one last favour before politely leaving.
On the morning of departure, you apologise for an unexpected hitch with Yiqereta, ask your host's full name, give your own and explain where you come from before thanking warmly.
What you need to know before travelling to a tigrigna-speaking country.
Tigrinya belongs to the South Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic languages, like Amharic, Hebrew and Arabic. It is written with the Ge'ez abugida, inherited from the old South Arabian alphabet and used for over two thousand years.
Ge'ez is an abugida: each character represents a consonant plus a vowel, and there are seven forms for each consonant depending on the following vowel. Counting thirty base characters quickly opens up reading.
Greetings in Tigrinya vary depending on the gender of your interlocutor. Kemey aleka to a man, Kemey aleki to a woman. This distinction immediately marks your cultural awareness.
The coffee ceremony (bun) is sacred in Eritrea as in Ethiopia. Coffee is roasted on site, ground and brewed in three successive servings: abol, tona, baraka. Flatly refusing can feel cold.
The typical meal revolves around injera, a large spongy pancake made of teff on which sauces are arranged. You eat with the right hand, sharing from a common dish placed at the centre of the table.
Eritrea has a long Tewahedo Orthodox tradition, punctuated by frequent fasting periods and luminous festivals such as Timkat and Meskel. Respect for prayer times and places is expected even from visitors.
Eritrea is a country with a complex past, marked by thirty years of independence war and ongoing tensions with Ethiopia. Avoid political topics and stick to culture, the music of Helen Meles and food.
Arabic and English are also common in Eritrea, and Amharic is widely understood in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. A few words of Tigrinya will be felt as a genuine sign of respect.
Preview. The full glossary (30 words) and all the phrases are in the PDF.
ኣይተረድኣንን
I don't understand
ሓግዘኒ
help!
ኣነ
I
ንስኻ
you (m. sg.)
ንስኺ
you (f. sg.)
ንሱ
he
ንሳ
she
ንሕና
we
ኣቦ
father
ኣደ
mother
A hundred words, thirty key phrases, as a printable PDF. Instant download, also sent by e-mail.
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Every translation is cross-checked against at least two concordant sources among the references below.
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