Mother tongue site
This site is prepared in 35 different languages, of which Tigrinya is one. In our site you will find information about Tigrinya mother tongue education in Sweden.

We hope that the information it brings will provide an opportunity for discussion, and be appreciated by everyone interested in our mother tongue. Our ambition is to bring about useful pedagogical resources and create a good opportunity for discussion.

Your comments and suggestions for eventual changes will be highly appreciated.

 Information about Tigrinya Mother tongue

Tigrinya belongs to the Northern sub-group of the Afro-Semitic languages. Out of the 77 Semitic languages, 20 are known as ´South Semitic`, 14 of which are based in Eritrea and Ethiopia. The remaining 6 are South Arabian, and spoken in Yemen and Oman.

Not only on geographical basis, but linguistically as well, with certain features in phonology, morphology and syntax, the Afro-Semitic languages are classified into North (which includes Géez, Tigrinya and Tigre) and South (consisting of Amharic, Harari, Gurage and some other smaller languages).

Apart from more than six million inhabitants in Eritrea and Ethiopia, Tigrinya is spoken by some hundreds of thousands emigrants living outside; including some of the Betä Israel living in Israel. Tigrinya is by far the most spoken language in Eritrea, whereas in Ethiopia it is the third most spoken after Oromo and Amharic.