Table Of Content',,
Tigrinya Reader and Grammar
Mulugeta Girmay Melles
200t
Dunwoody Press
Table of Contents
¡cknowledgments'
Preface lil
lntroduction.
Abbreviations vil
BibliographY. vilt
Grammar
1. The Sounds of TigrinYa.'....
2. Nouns.....'...... 6
3. Numerals..'
4. Adjectives..............
Tigrinya Reader and Grammar à Pronouns................
Copyright @ 2001 by McNeil Technologies, Inc. 6, Distributives ..........
All rights reserved. 7. Prepositions ...........
No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any 8. Adverbs........ 37
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by Verbs............. 40
any information storâge and retrieval system, without the prior written
permission of McNeil Technologies, Inc. 10. Word Order.......... 84
1 1. Interrogatives....,.........'. ,.84
All inquiries should be directed to: 12. Conjunctions.,...... ..86
D65uón4w oLoodisyd aPlere sCst., Suite 800 13. The Relative Clause.............. .88
Springfield, VA 22150, USA 14, Conditional .......,.. ..90
o1
15, Summary Tables..........'..
ISBN:1-881265-34-X
Selections
Library of Congress Catalog Ca¡d Number: 98-088ó12 T¿rtß?l L4.9à q.n ¿¿?4 h,e&
Printed and bound in the United States of Ame¡ica 1. frc?3 c¿. Àq.fl q'Þ{. +e'Lb'
2.
trl+t
ôdÞ.qt heC
G un sf,4.þ rÀhà ^n¿.f
o?r 45., o?.À.t. {,ø ÀhÍ'c o"iÀÇt c,I +"1 ¿^9- ñ&,q........,............,,
3 / u,r2- 6 to@zTl-ìñÏr'ttc h?@-'s+f+lÈ o4&t \Llt ø¿oblc. th¿t 9h?.fl *'lì¿ &ß.t '0Ç8fl' hô"
I ,F/'l.,.t. r--" 78.. 7 ¿"1'l ù.,..,............ 28
,{oæl 9. 30
10. h.fl À? 7rr4¿^trg- ?t.hqnc 33
l. ? ooq@^97 9.(lt 7T ïCC'll t.ão2(,.,......... 36
^9+
12. ¿^ hnÀ @..h. h. tP,SC 38
'.C1f.
41
14.Is ôAÀtE¡t "tuß,¿-lf'uct ¿n0f' 43
15. +k¿ .\au.9t hg,eà ß'@.òî hÀ"............ 146
16.UTqt @f I .hcìt +1 ¿^f. oonÀ 21 iøp'Þ hTtfl( '149
17, ïq.fì ?.qh+ h@¿.s ..........152
18. h?nfq ?c ?.Eht [email protected] hft" ..........155
19. ¿pß.fì ?.ótr ç'll h?ßlìt 0àt'l ¿bC+¿ tAø?'ç ,......... 1 58
..........160
21 . t9'uct 'll{?* hß ?f'f'óqÀ ÏÀ'¡ll 9@ß.-a¡'R{öt 't'Ï,ø,c 63
22. h^Ttt \9-++? Àsç+? ?9'ht¡À q,qt e&ë 65
23. +h4l ¡bCl¿. t?f¡llø"? 6i
69
25. ðe {.clt h¿DÀ,ìÀ6 T+¿Ï¡fl- øo?hfrf t tt'¿\tlfl' 71
26..hß.òt Ïtrrtf ft. trßÀt ç.fl i^-?ßc h98f' 73
27,'tl/'l.9-2 øDtLç 33 firll '1"9+9"........... 76
29. ÀK¿t hqß't ec ?fl'ÞrìÀ õe6) 9-òA^ h¿1",.........,,..,......... 178 26. Newly Relocated Fighters Have Gone to Ali-Geder... .......296
29.f ì tp¡lE .fl'tlthôRC &?û7t '\J^ hgà+ hf'T".q\ t¿¡l-rlt......,.,.,......... 181 27.Thtrty-three People Died in a Vehicle Accident'...r¡,.'¡...............'.,,..,.., ,......296
28.Land Is Being Distributed to Ease Foro's Housing Shortage...... .......296
184
188 29, It Was Learned That Many Mothers Are Harmed by Problems
Associated with Childbirth...,... .297
192
33 'flqóq Tf,.Eq' æ7olù)1 hò¿Àt? fì¿À+qft? 'HHte ûøZçC t{rlaÞ. 195 30, Id Al-Feter Almubarek Was Celebrated Enthusiastically.. .298
34. 198 31, Tne Feast of the Epiphany and the Second Day of the Epiphany
Were Observed Joyfully........ .298
J5. 201
36. 205 32. Tbe Stockholm Cup Has Reached the Finals.....,.. .299
aa 33. A Seminar Which Discussed the Interaction of the Govemment,
208
38. 211 Employers, and Employees Has Ended... ...300
216 34. The Ministry of Agriculture Evaluated Its Activities... ...300
35. The Cultural Troupe "Our One Aspiration" Accomplished Its Mission Successfully...,.,.. ...301
219
222 36. Members of the Peace Corps [Volunteers] Lear¡ed Basic Tigrinya '.. ...302
42. +&o7î. ?ö4 'nHöfi *?*r.t hcte tL\e.E'e 225 37. One Bandit Was Killed, One Was Captured ...JU¿
228 38. Eritrean Children Touched the Heart of a Sports Hero..............,', ...303
44, h.q'ì? rFoBì? hgh"f? dD1t¿19h. 235 39, Letters to the Editor.. ...304
45. ò¿l-'tì t¡o411ll ø"ltZ.l f'öQ¿ì ¡,.9........,....... ...... 240 40. Lucy Has Found Her Contemporary....,.',.'. ...305
46.4?: YlRt hclå tlTì-òtt"fÌ.r\ aìÇ.¿ 245 41, Ethiopia Has Taken Diplomatic Measures Against Sudan......,. ,....' ...306
42. The First Conference Concerning Eritrean Languages Will Be Conducted... ,..307
250
43. March 8, International Women's Day, Was Celebrated Lively.............. ........'. ...307
255
49. f À T¿tLß?t -tìhrnìø?, n9À çfrÌl ¿ov 44. War and Famine Are Not Her Attributes ...310
50. uÏ'n? T¿rLß.?t?.,.... 274 45. Efficient Transportation Is the Basis of Development.....,.,...........,'... ...311
Translations 46, Sawa: A Place Where Eritrean Builders Are Trained..... ...312
1, President Isayas Went to France..,..... ....287 47, Statement of the People's Front for Democracy and Justice
2. The Rora Habab-Nakfa Road Has Been Repaired 287 on the Occasion of September First.......,............. ...313
3. Weekly Weather Report ............ 287 48, Eritrean Martyrs' Day Was Commemorated With Great Ceremony....... ....314
4, NOTICE... 287 49, The President's Speech on the Occasion of Independence Day........ ....319
5. TDA Sent Medical Books to Tigray.,........... 287 50. The People and the President., ....320
6. Eritrean Foreign Affairs Minister Is Conducting a Tour in Egypt,...........,.. 288 C lossary...,,..........,..,.. ....325
7, Additional Buses Arrived in Asmara...,.............. 288
8, For Laughs
9. Eight Hundred Women Participated in the Food for Work lProgram],.,......,... ..........,... .,. ......,288
10. Let's Cooperate in Bringing Them Before the Law........... ,. .289
11. A Discussion Has Begun on the Release of the Yemeni Prisoners of War ....289
12. Entrea Has Become an OAU Member,... ..,.289
13. Eritrean and Ethiopian Justice Ministers Signed an Initial Agreement.,.... 290
14. Fifteen Employees Received Scholarships,...... 290
15. The Number of AIDS Patients Is Increasing,...
16, The Tigray People's Liberation Front Celebrated Its 21st Anniversary
17. Rain Caused Damage..........,
18. Locusts Are Still Causing Damage .292
19, The Program of Marching to the Important Places in Eritrea Has Begun..... .292
20. Sixteen Children Went to Germany forMedical Treatment....... .253
21 . A Seminar Was Held Which Will Help in Developing Education in the Native Language .293
22. A Budget for Monitorìng the Condition of Mothers and Children Was Ratified., ......,,...........294
23, Eritrean Institutions Were Awarded ......,..,...
24. A Delegation of the Communist Party of China Arrived in Eritrea. 295
25. Youths Who Were Found Transporting Marijuana Have Been Caught,.,,................ .....,.....,,....295
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank those colleagues and friends who contributed their time and
expertise in so many ways to the completion of this reader. Those include the
late Mr. John D. Murphy, who edited the first draft of the translations and
provided useful comments and guidance; Mr. Thomas Creamer, who read the first
àraft and provided useful comments and guidance; Mr. Edward Whitley, who read
the first draft and provided useful comments; Ms. Erin Gyomber, for her editorial
contributions; Mr. Steven Harrell, who helped with definitions and translations;
Mr. Aung Kyaw Oo, Mr. Stephen Poulos, and Mr. Paul Hackett, who provided
computer support; Mrs. Marti Hawkins, who proofread and supplied useful
comrnents. I would also like to acknowledge Dr. David Zorc, who arranged and
edited the grammar section. Dr. Zotc also provided valuable çomments and
suggestions about the text as a whole. Last, but not least, I would like to thank
Mr. Jack Jones for his remarkable help. Aside from correcting my translations,
Mr. Jones has made suggestions that improved the quality of the reader. Finally,
I would like to thank Mr. Jim Mathias and Mr. James McNeil, my former and
current employers respectively, for giving me this opportunity. The last ten
years I have spent working for them have been a delightful experience'
Mulugeta GirmaY Melles
Hyattsville, Maryland
November,200l
Preface
Tigrinya, as the name implies, is the language of the people of Tigray in
northern Ethiopia. It is classified as a north Ethiopic Semitic language along
with its parent langua ge Geez, a language of ancient Ethiopia which is now used
only for liturgical purposes in Ethiopia.
Tigrinya is one of the most widely spoken Ethiopian languages. It is also the
language ofEritrea, an ex-Ethiopian province in the north, currently an independent
country. Written Tigrinya has developed since the period of Italian colonization,
but growth has been retarded because of the political dominance of Amharic over
other Ethiopian languages.
As a result of the political changes that took place in 1991 in Ethiopia,
however, literary works in Tigrinya have substantially increased in Eritrea and
Tigray. At present, Tigrinya is the administrative language of Tigray, and the
official language of Eritrea. It is also used as the medium of instruction in
primary schools in both regions. The use of Tigrinya on radio broadcasts and on
television programs has also increased since 1991.
The spoken and written Tigrinya of Tigray and Eritrea are not identical. One can
notice variations even among the districts of Tigray, although these are closely
related dialectical forms. The same is true among the three Tigrinya-speaking
highland provinces of Eritrea. Nevertheless, the majority of the Tigrinya speakers,
regardless oftheir origin and their dialects, can understand each other.
ilt
V
Introduction
The purpose of this reader is to teach Tigrinya granìmar and to provide practice
in reading and translating a variety of Tigrinya newspaper articles. This material
can serve as an excellent refresher coufse for those who have already studied the
language, but could also be used by beginners who have the help of an instructor.
It is designed for self-study as well as for classroom use. The book is divided
into four parts: Tigrinya grarnmar sketch, 50 Tigrinya selections, 50 English
translations, and Tigrinya-English glossary.
The Tigrinya Grammar Sketch is designed for ease of use. Different kinds of
grarnmatical features are gathered into separate sections including the Tigrinya
alphabet, adjectives, pronouns, verbs, tenses, etc. An effort has been made to
provide usage examples for most grarnmatical features. Many of these examples
have been taken from the reader and, in such cases, cross-references have been
included. Various grammatical forms are also illustrated in a series of tables. An
accompanying cassette recording of the alphabet is available for beginners who
need to practice the pronunciation of the letters.
The 50 Tigrinya selections, with the exception of Selection 5 and Selection 50,
were taken from issues of .h'{ lt }b C + A (Hadas Eritrea), an Eritrean newspaper
published in 1995 and 1996. Selection 5 is taken from the newsletter of the
Tigray Development Association (TDA). Selection 50 is an excerpt from a video
of a question and answef session made in 1995. Differences between spoken and
written styles of Tigrinya may be seen by comparing selection 50 with the
preceding selections - all of which are from printed sources.
The articles are reproduced as they appeared in the newspapers, although
typographical errors have been corrected and documented in the notes. The
selections are arranged according to text length, structural complexity, and
vocabulary. The selections start out short and simple and become progressively
longer and more complex. Most selections are within the range of Level 2 on the
United States Government's Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) scale. The
later readings (selections 44,45, 46,47,49, and 50) include editorial, oratorical,
and documentary texts that rise to Level 3 and beyond on the ILR scale.
Every selection has its own vocabulary list and the entries are glossed in order of
appearance, not alphabetical order. In the first half of the selections, a word or
phrase is glossed as it appears in the text. Then, additional information or root
verbs have been added, indented below the original entry. In the second half of
the selections, however, only the root verbs have been glossed since the student
is already familiar with the system. Once a word is introduced, it is not re-glossed.
The first time a word is introduced in the vocabulary of a given selection, its
V
meaning in that selection, as well as all of its meanings in the subsequent
selections, has been glossed. Commas have been used to separate similar meanings,
Abbreviations
while numbers have been used to separate markedly different meanings within
the same entry. When the main entry is singular, a plural form is given and
when the main entry is plural, a singular form is given. Numbers are not glossed adj. adjectiíe
since they are familiar to English-speaking students. However, students who are adv. adverb
interested in practicing their pronunciation may review the grammar section on conj. conjunction
numerals. The selections are also recorded on a cassette. demonst. demonstrative
fem. feminine
The English translations are free, but literal t¡anslations have been added when gem. geminated
necessary. Texts enclosed in parentheses indicate supplementary information, imper. imperative
while texts enclosed in brackets indicate the translator's additions. Texts enclosed imperf. imperfect
in < > should not be read in the translation; they have been added only to show j uss. jussive
that the words or phrases appear in the Tigrinya text. I ir. literally
masc. masculine
The role of journalism in Eritrea is to support government policy and to praise n. noun
the president and his unilateral ruling party (PFDJ, formerly known as EPLF). non-gem. non-geminate
This is why the president's name or his party's name is central to most articles. num. numeral
Because this is the true nature of most countries which have no freedom of press, ord. no. ordinal number
its reflection in this reader will be unavoidable. Nevertheless, an effort has been perf. perfect
made to choose a wide variety of articles so that the student can get a broader pers. person
understanding of the language, as well as the political, economic, and social pers. n. personal name
lives of the Eritrean people. pl. plural
pol. polite
The Tigrinya-English Glossary includes a composite glossary of all words used poss. possessive
in the reader, as well as additional information and root verbs that were added in pron. pronoun
the vocabulary ofall selections. Unlike the vocabulary listed underevery selection, S Selection
the entries in the Glossary are arranged by the initial letter of the headword s. imperf. simple imperfect
according to the order of the Tigrinya alphabet with the exception of the letter ñ s. perf. simple,perfect
which is listed following the letter lì. sg. singular
spel'd out spelled out
sub. subordinate
var. variation
vi. intransitive verb
vn. verbal noun
vt. transitive verb
VI vil
.l.-
Bibliography
tt¡
Gebre, Adi. rl?lro" llCq (Tigrinya Grammartik). Sundbyberg, Sweden:
Admas Föreningen, 1989.
¿r.q ò ¡bC td.. , Official newspaper of Eritrea. Washington, DC: ECCC, issues
1995-1996.
Kane, Thomas Leiper. Amharic-English Dictionary. Wiesbaden: Otto
Harrassowitz, 1990.
Tigrinya- English Dictionary. Springfield, VA: Dunwoody Press, 2000. Grammar
Leslau, Wolf. Concise Amharic Dictionary: Amharic-English and English-
Amharic. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1976.
Arnhqric Textbook,Wiesbaden: Otto Hanassowitz, 1961 .
Documents tigrignø (éthiopien septentrional), Grammaire et textes.
Paris: Librairie C. Klincksieck, 1941.
Mason, John. Tigrinya Grammør.lst edition. Lawrenceville, NJ: Red Sea
Press, 1996.
Sahle, Amanuel. lt ? lto' t? C T 'fì fì ¿ ¿* . Lawrenceville, NJ: Red Sea Press,
1998.
Tekle, Tekeste et al. æÎt?0 t^t +1cE'n+? cT, Addis Ababa, Ethiopian
Academy of Languages, 1989 (Ethiopian Calendar).
The People and the President, 180 min., ECCC Productions, 1995, videocassette.
kP a- '? À n c À 9' I t +"1 ¿^ I (Tigray Development Accosiation Newsletter) '
vol. 2. No. 3., 1992.
Tigrínya-English Dictionary. Grambling, LA: Eritrean People's Liberation Front,
1986.
vilr
V
1. THE SOUNDS OF TIGRINYA
The sounds of Tigrinya letters afe very difficult fof non-native speakers who will
need practice to attain mastery of the letters. If you have access to the
accompanying cassette recording, try to imitate the speaker. If not, you rnight
ask a native Tigrinya speaker to help you'
1.1. VOWELS
In addition to the five contmon vowels, Tigrinya has two more vowels. The
traditional order of these vowels is:
à as in English again or but
u as in English moon or tune
i as in English feet or t€a
r as in English father or car
ë as in English paint or May
â pronounced approximately as in English roses or planted
o as in English boat or quota
1.2. CONSONANTS
Some consonant sounds in Tigfinya have equivalents in English, while others
have no English equivalents. Listed below are the basic symbols:
U h h as in high or who
rì I I as in light or look
.{r h voiceless pharyngeal fricative with no English equivalent, it
sounds like Arabic [ha]
oo m m as ln moon or some
tt s as in sun or miss
¿ r apical flap or trill, made by touching the tip of the tongue
against the hard palate as in Spanish "rr," Scots or Irish
dialects
u
fi s same as s (see above)
?f s corresponds to sh as in shoe or ash
+ q glottalized velar stop with no English equivalent
T ù voiceless post velar or pharyngeal stop with no English
equivalent
n b b as in boy or sob
+ t as in too or bet
f
c as in church or much
1 b same as À h (see above)
1 n n as in no or sun
T n as in cognac or onion
---
h glottal stop, somewhat as in English o'oh (said when cnoonns-goenmanintsa,t ioenxc eisp vt elaryry nimgpeoarlsta n(Ut ,b eÀca,u she , itO a)f,f eccatns tbhee mgeemanininagte do fi na wToigrdri.n yAa1'l
discovering a mistake)
hr kE vko aicse liens ks evye loarr pfriiccaktive as in the German pronunciation of Bsoeucnaduss ef rtohemre ais nnaot igveer nsipneaatikoenr . mCaormkepra irne Tthiger info$lalol wthineg le ahrannesrl ihtearsa tteod sptuadirys t hoef
words:
Bach
@ w w as in wound or win
Non-geminate Geminated
o ( voiced pharyngeal fiicative; sounds as the Arabic ayin
H z z as in zoo or buzz øp Àñ mäläsä to give back mälläsä to answer
Ìc í. as in pleasure or garage .h n¿ habärä to unite, to join habbärä to inform
f v y as in yes or say 1tr¿ eäbärâ to do, to work eäbbärä to pay taxes
ß. d d as in dirt or sad Ho¿ zäwärdt to wander about zawwala to drive (a car)
,{ Þd j as in joke or fudge ook4 mädärä speech (n.) mäddärä to speak (v.)
1 g g as in go or big
fn t glottalized dental stop with no English equivalent, made by 1.3. THE TIGRINYA ALPHABET
holding the breath briefly so that the "t" has an explosive
sound The Tigrinya alphabet has 35 basic symbolsl each symbol has seven different
6Er c glottalized palatal stop with no English equivalent, made by forms Ènown as orders. These orders represent syllable combinations consisting
holding the breath briefly so that the "ts" has an explosive of a consonant and a following vowel. This is why the Tigrinya writing system
sound is often called a syllabary. A complete table of the alphabet is given below, ard
R p glottalized bilabial stop with no English equivalent, made by each basic symból has a number to enable the student to identify the different
holding the breath briefly so that the "p" has an explosive sounds when using the cassette.
sound
TABLE: THE TIGRINYA ALPHABET
R ç glottalized dental fricative with no English equivalent
0 ! same cts A s (see above)
¿. f f as in far or cough No. o1rdsetr o2rdnedr o3rdrder o4rdtehr o5rdrher o6rdther o7rdther
T p p as in power or sip
n b vE nags liinsh v ilnikee o ur nwiveearvseit;y .it occurs in words borrowed fiom I uhaä tl-u hu z,I hi Yaha zh-ee Ueha lf oho
2 /\ lä tt lu À- li Àla Àlë Àla t¡" lo
I.z.L. ROUNDING 3 Àhä tr hu ¿.- hi òha ¿" hê Àh" ¡t' ho
Tliphse.r eT ahree csoonmsoen caonntss oqn,a nqt,s k w, hki,c gh , aaren dp rþo nhoauvnec esdp ewciiathl s aym sbligolhst eroxupnredsinsgin go fs uthche 45 aUo' mSäd AtDt!-- mSUU '"2T . msii oIS?maa o"Bt msêe 9l""s mae ¿lPF smoo
rounding. According to Leslau, this rounding will be expressed by the phonetic 6 ¿rä 4-ru ¿rn àra à rle Crc Éro
symbol of a slightly raised -, thus q", k*, etc. (see the Alphabet below). 1 fi sä ft- su ô- si ôsa fu së It se ôso
8 ?f s¿ ?Ë su ñ- si rì sa ?t 5ê nsa ñ5o
NOTE: fqä *qu tqi Èqa *qõ Þq" €qo
9
?qa ëöu tqr 7úa gqe Þq" õõo
Please note that the vowels involved with the rounded symbols are: å, i, a, ë, 10
and e (see the Alphabet below). 1l nbä tþ bu rL bi Qba ßbë 'lì be 0bo
t2 + rÌi ,Þ tu tti d^fa +rë tte tto
T.2.2. CONSONANT DOUBLING OR GEMINATION l3 fcâ +cu 't cl /"ca Tce 't ce 6ðo
Gemination is the lengthening or doubling of any sound. In Tigrinya, this l4 thä 1r bu r- hi )ba 'b be the fho
involves the medial consonant of a verb. The distinction between gemination and
2 3
_.4
