Tigre language

Tigre (, ), also known as Tigrayit (), 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, but is quite distinct from Tigre despite the similarity in name.

Dialects

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

Numerals

The cardinal and ordinal numbers in Tigre are as follows:

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

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 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. . The original phonemic distinction according to quality survives in Tigrinya. The vowel , 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 , 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 is questionable; it may be possible to treat it as an epenthetic vowel that is introduced to break up consonant clusters.

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Consonant length

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, , and . 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

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 ʼadəg- 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 – 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; ሰዓታትsäʽatat – 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 ʼarʼəs – 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 ʼana – 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:

• ...Ê¿alko ዐልኮ- I was; negative: iÊ¿alko ኢዐልኮ- I wasn't;
• ...Ê¿alka ዐልካ- you (sing. masc.) were; neg. iÊ¿alka ኢዐልካ;
• ...Ê¿alki ዐልኪ- you (sing. fem.) were; neg. iÊ¿alka ኢዐልኪ;
• ...Ê¿ala ዐላ- he was; neg. iÊ¿ala ኢዐላ;
• ...Ê¿alet ዐለት- she was; neg. iÊ¿allet ኢዐለት;
• ...Ê¿alna ዐልና- we were; neg. iÊ¿alna ኢዐልና;
• ...Ê¿alkum ዐልኩም- you (pl. masc.) were; neg. iÊ¿alkum ኢዐልኩም;
• ...Ê¿alken ዐልክን- you (pl. fem.) were; neg. iÊ¿alkum ኢዐልክን;
• ...Ê¿alou ዐለው- they (masc.) were; neg. iÊ¿alou ኢዐለው;
• ...Ê¿alaia ዐለያ- they (fem.) were; neg. iÊ¿aleia 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 Ê¿alet ilu ሐተ ቤት ዐልት እሉ – He had a house
• ḥätte bet Ê¿alet ilka ሐተ ቤት ዐልት እልካ- You (sing. masc.) you had a house,

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

• ...Ê¿alet əlki ዐለት እልኪ – you (sing. fem.) had a house,
• ...Ê¿alet əllu ዐለት እሉ- he had, etc.
• ...Ê¿alet əlla ዐለት እላ- she had...
• ...Ê¿alet əlna ዐለት እልና- we had...
• ...Ê¿alet əlkum ዐለት እልኩም- you pl. masc.) had ...
• ...Ê¿alet əlkən ዐለት እልክን- you (pl. fem.) had ...
• ...Ê¿alet əlom ዐለት እሎም- they (masc.) had ...
• ...Ê¿alet əllen ዐለት እለን- they (fem.) had ...

Writing system

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. The Bible has been translated into the Tigre language.

Ge'ez script

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.

Arabic script

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.

Sample text

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

Basic sentences:

Other samples:

See also

• Beni-Amer people
• Tigre people

References

External links

• 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

• 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.&nbsp;1–26.
• Leslau, Wolf. (1945), "Grammatical Sketches in Tigré (North Ethiopic): Dialect of Mensa", in: Journal of the American Oriental Society 65/3, pp.&nbsp;164–203.
• Leslau, Wolf. (1948), "Supplementary observations on Tigré grammar", in: Journal of the American Oriental Society 68/3, pp.&nbsp;127–139.
• Littmann, E. (1897), "Die Pronomina in Tigré", in: Zeitschrift für Assyriologie 12, pp.&nbsp;188–230, 291–316.
• Littmann, Enno. (1898), "Das Verbum der Tigre-Sprache", in: Zeitschrift für Assyrologie 13, pp.&nbsp;133–178; 14, pp.&nbsp;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.&nbsp;561–577.
• Palmer, F.R. (1961). "Relative clauses in Tigre", in: Word 17/1, pp.&nbsp;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.&nbsp;235–250.
• Raz, Shlomo. (1980). "The morphology of the Tigre verb (MansaÊ¿ dialect)", in: Journal of Semitic Studies 25/1, pp.&nbsp;66–84; 25/2, pp.&nbsp;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.&nbsp;1–15.
• Voigt, Rainer (2008), "Zum Tigre", in: Aethiopica (International Journal of Ethiopian and Eritrean Studies), volume 11, Wiesbaden: Harrasowitz Verlag 2008, pp.&nbsp;173–193.
• Voigt, Rainer and Saleh Mahmud Idris. Zu einer neuen Grammatik des Tigre. Aethiopica 19 (2016, pub. 2017), 245–263.