East Africa · Horn of Africa
Tigrinya
ትግርኛA working language of Eritrea and the main language of Ethiopia's Tigray region, descended from ancient Ge'ez and written in the same 2,000-year-old syllabary.
- Family
- Afro-Asiatic (Semitic)
- Script
- Ge'ez (fidäl) syllabary
- Speakers
- ~9 million speakers
- Spoken in
- Eritrea, Ethiopia
The course
Five units, one word at a time
0/5 mastered
Unit 1
Greetings
Warm Tigrinya openings.
- Selam — Hello / peace
- Kemey aleka? — How are you? (to a man)
- Kemey aleki? — How are you? (to a woman)
- Tsibuq — Good / fine
- Yekenyeley — Thank you
- Dehan kun — Goodbye (stay well)
Unit 2
People and family
Family words in a strongly kin-centred culture.
- Sebay — Man
- Sebeyti — Woman
- Adey — My mother
- Abey — My father
- Arki — Friend
- Qolia — Child
Unit 3
Numbers one to ten
The Semitic count, shared with Amharic and Ge'ez.
- Hade — One
- Kilite — Two
- Seleste — Three
- Arbaete — Four
- Hamushte — Five
- Aserte — Ten
Unit 4
Food and the market
Injera, coffee and prices.
- Mai — Water
- Buna — Coffee
- Injera — Flatbread staple
- Kndey eyu? — How much is it?
- Eqa bet — Market / shop
- Deliye — I want
Unit 5
Getting around
Highland travel basics.
- Abey? — Where?
- Aytesitewinin — I don't understand
- Bejaka — Please
- Ewe — Yes
- Aykonen — No
- Nkid — Let's go
How to sound right
- Each fidäl character is a whole syllable — consonant plus vowel in one shape.
- There are 'ejective' consonants (ጠ, ቀ, ጨ) said with a small popping burst of air.
- Selam means peace and works as hello, goodbye and a wish of goodwill.
The audio button in lessons uses your device's speech engine, which rarely has a native African voice. Treat it as a rough guide and trust the written pronunciation hints and the coach instead.
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