This is a Swadesh list of words in Tigrinya, compared with definitions in English.
The Swadesh word list, developed by the linguist Morris Swadesh, is used as a tool to study the evolution of languages. It contains a set of basic words which can be found in every language. Various versions have been created, in particular:
This word list should not be considered as an elementary lexicon to communicate with speakers of a given language; for such a purpose, the numerous existing Wikivoyage lexicons are more useful. Its only objective is to give a rough idea of the language, by showing its lexical and, when possible, phonetics basis.
| No. | English | Tigrinya təgrəñña |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | I | ኣነ (ʾanä) |
| 2 | you (singular) | ንስኻ (nəsxa) (m.), ንስኺ (nəsxi) (f.), ኣታ (ʾata) (m. voc.), ኣቲ (ʾati) (f. voc.) |
| 3 | he, she, it | ንሱ (nəsu) |
| 4 | we | ንሕና (nəḥna) |
| 5 | you (plural) | |
| 6 | they | |
| 7 | this | |
| 8 | that | |
| 9 | here | |
| 10 | there | |
| 11 | who | መን (män) |
| 12 | what | እንታይ (ʾəntay) |
| 13 | where | ኣበይ (ʾabäy) |
| 14 | when | |
| 15 | how | ከመይ (kämäy) |
| 16 | not | |
| 17 | all | ኩሉ (kulu) |
| 18 | many | |
| 19 | some | |
| 20 | few | |
| 21 | other | |
| 22 | one | ሓደ (ḥadä) (m.), ሓንቲ (ḥanti) (f.) |
| 23 | two | ክልተ (kəltä) |
| 24 | three | ሰለስተ (sälästä) |
| 25 | four | ኣርባዕተ (ʾarbaʿtä) |
| 26 | five | ሓሙሽተ (ḥamuštä) |
| 27 | big | |
| 28 | long | |
| 29 | wide | |
| 30 | thick | |
| 31 | heavy | |
| 32 | small | |
| 33 | short | |
| 34 | narrow | |
| 35 | thin | |
| 36 | woman | |
| 37 | man (adult male) | |
| 38 | man (human being) | |
| 39 | child | |
| 40 | wife | |
| 41 | husband | |
| 42 | mother | ኣደ (ʾadä), እኖ (ʾəno) |
| 43 | father | ኣቦ (ʾabo) |
| 44 | animal | |
| 45 | fish | ዓሳ (ʿasa) |
| 46 | bird | |
| 47 | dog | ከልቢ (kälbi) |
| 48 | louse | |
| 49 | snake | |
| 50 | worm | |
| 51 | tree | |
| 52 | forest | |
| 53 | stick | |
| 54 | fruit | |
| 55 | seed | |
| 56 | leaf | |
| 57 | root | |
| 58 | bark (of a tree) | |
| 59 | flower | ፍዮሪ (fəyori) |
| 60 | grass | |
| 61 | rope | |
| 62 | skin | |
| 63 | meat | |
| 64 | blood | |
| 65 | bone | |
| 66 | fat (noun) | |
| 67 | egg | |
| 68 | horn | |
| 69 | tail | |
| 70 | feather | |
| 71 | hair | |
| 72 | head | ርእሲ (rəʾsi) |
| 73 | ear | እዝኒ (ʾəzni) |
| 74 | eye | ዓይኒ (ʿayni) |
| 75 | nose | ኣፍንጫ (ʾafnəč̣a) |
| 76 | mouth | ኣፍ (ʾaf) |
| 77 | tooth | ስኒ (səni) |
| 78 | tongue (organ) | |
| 79 | fingernail | |
| 80 | foot | እግሪ (ʾəgri) |
| 81 | leg | |
| 82 | knee | |
| 83 | hand | ኢድ (ʾid) |
| 84 | wing | |
| 85 | belly | |
| 86 | guts | |
| 87 | neck | |
| 88 | back | |
| 89 | breast | |
| 90 | heart | ልቢ (ləbi) |
| 91 | liver | |
| 92 | to drink | |
| 93 | to eat | |
| 94 | to bite | |
| 95 | to suck | |
| 96 | to spit | |
| 97 | to vomit | |
| 98 | to blow | |
| 99 | to breathe | |
| 100 | to laugh | |
| 101 | to see | |
| 102 | to hear | |
| 103 | to know | |
| 104 | to think | |
| 105 | to smell | |
| 106 | to fear | |
| 107 | to sleep | |
| 108 | to live | |
| 109 | to die | |
| 110 | to kill | |
| 111 | to fight | |
| 112 | to hunt | |
| 113 | to hit | |
| 114 | to cut | |
| 115 | to split | |
| 116 | to stab | |
| 117 | to scratch | |
| 118 | to dig | |
| 119 | to swim | |
| 120 | to fly | |
| 121 | to walk | |
| 122 | to come | |
| 123 | to lie (as in a bed) | |
| 124 | to sit | |
| 125 | to stand | |
| 126 | to turn (intransitive) | |
| 127 | to fall | |
| 128 | to give | |
| 129 | to hold | |
| 130 | to squeeze | |
| 131 | to rub | |
| 132 | to wash | |
| 133 | to wipe | |
| 134 | to pull | |
| 135 | to push | |
| 136 | to throw | |
| 137 | to tie | |
| 138 | to sew | |
| 139 | to count | |
| 140 | to say | |
| 141 | to sing | |
| 142 | to play | |
| 143 | to float | |
| 144 | to flow | |
| 145 | to freeze | |
| 146 | to swell | |
| 147 | sun | |
| 148 | moon | |
| 149 | star | |
| 150 | water | |
| 151 | rain | |
| 152 | river | |
| 153 | lake | |
| 154 | sea | |
| 155 | salt | |
| 156 | stone | |
| 157 | sand | |
| 158 | dust | |
| 159 | earth | |
| 160 | cloud | |
| 161 | fog | |
| 162 | sky | |
| 163 | wind | |
| 164 | snow | |
| 165 | ice | |
| 166 | smoke | |
| 167 | fire | |
| 168 | ash | |
| 169 | to burn | |
| 170 | road | |
| 171 | mountain | |
| 172 | red | |
| 173 | green | |
| 174 | yellow | |
| 175 | white | |
| 176 | black | |
| 177 | night | |
| 178 | day | |
| 179 | year | |
| 180 | warm | |
| 181 | cold | |
| 182 | full | |
| 183 | new | |
| 184 | old | |
| 185 | good | |
| 186 | bad | |
| 187 | rotten | |
| 188 | dirty | |
| 189 | straight | |
| 190 | round | |
| 191 | sharp (as a knife) | |
| 192 | dull (as a knife) | |
| 193 | smooth | |
| 194 | wet | |
| 195 | dry | |
| 196 | correct | |
| 197 | near | |
| 198 | far | |
| 199 | right | |
| 200 | left | |
| 201 | at | |
| 202 | in | |
| 203 | with | |
| 204 | and | |
| 205 | if | |
| 206 | because | |
| 207 | name |