Languages

Tigrinya

Citation Formats

General Reference

Language Atlas. "Tigrinya." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://language.interactiveatlas.org/languages/tigrinya.

APA Style

Language Atlas. (n.d.). Tigrinya. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://language.interactiveatlas.org/languages/tigrinya

BibTeX

@misc{languageatlas-tigrinya,
  author = {Language Atlas},
  title = {Tigrinya},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://language.interactiveatlas.org/languages/tigrinya},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

A living Ethiopian Semitic language written in the Ge'ez script, official language of Eritrea alongside Arabic and a major working language of Ethiopia's Tigray region. Related to Amharic within the same South Semitic branch, but not mutually intelligible with it.

Facts

ISO 639-3 Code

tir 1

Status

Living 2

De facto national working language, official in Eritrea (1995 constitution) and a working language in Ethiopia's Tigray region.

Region

Eritrea and the Tigray region of Ethiopia 2

Cross-Tradition Connections

Associated With

Amharic

This source names Amharic directly: "Related to Amharic within the same South Semitic branch, but not mutually intelligible with it."

Source Glottolog

Ge'ez

This source names Ge'ez directly: "Semitic language written in the Ge'ez script, official language of Eritrea alongside Arabic and a major working language of Ethiopia's Tigray region."

Source Glottolog