Tigrinya-Dictionary of the Tigrinya Ethnic from Eritrea & Ethiopia

Tigrinya-Dictionary

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Abdomen = Kebdi  ከብዲ

Aba djigo = God (esp. the rain god) ኣባ  ጅጎ

Adult = Abi   ዓቢ

Ago, A few days ago = Kedmi kurub qenyat ቅድሚ  ኩሩብ  ቅነ

Amitche = Eritrean born or brought up abroad (esp. in Ethiopia) ኣሚጬ

Amlak ymesgen = Thanks be to God  ኣምላኽ ይመስገን

And = n  ን

Angry = hariku (m); harika (f) ሓሪቃ   ሓሪቁ

Ant = sase  ጻጽ

Antelope = Telebiedu ተለቢዶ

April = Miyazya  ምያዝያ

Aron Our Kin = Aron zemedna  ኣሮን  ዘመድና

At last, So it’s come? = Mewedaetius ... metsia ambear? መወዳእቱስ...... መጺኣ   እመበር

August = Nehase  ነሓሰ

Aunt = Amo (aunt from father side); Hatne (aunt from mother side)  ኣሞ   ሓትነ

Bad dog = himak kelbi  ሕማቅ  ቀልቢ

Bahti Meskerem Square = Meda bahti Meskerm  መዳ  ባሕቲ  መስከረም

Bat = menka’e  መንከ ኤ

Bear = dbi  ድቢ

Beer = Bira  ቢራ

Beer (home-brewed) = Suwa  ስዋ

Beles = cactus fruit  በለስ

Better, May you feel B. soon = Mihret yewrdelka  ምኺረት  የውሪደልካ

Bird = Chiru (birds = cheraru)  ጭሩ

Birthday, Happy = Zibug lidet ! ጽቡቅ  ልደት

Black = tselim  ጸሊም

Bless you = Tebarek!  ተባረሕ

Blue = Semayawi  ሰምዋው

Body = Akalat   ኣኻላት

Bon Voyage = Tsibuk guezo  ጽቡቅ  ግሾ

Boot (a make of light B. preferred for Sawa) = kongo  ኮንጎ

Boy = Wedi  ወዲ

Braggart = Hadadi/t  ሓዳዲ/ት

Bread = Bani  ባኒ

Bread, Home-made = himbasha (cf. Too bad they are far

away, we would have visited them with some himbashas =

Adi arhikom koynom ember ... himbasha hizna

mbetsahnayom nierna)  ሕምባሻ

Breakfast = Kursi  ቁሪሲ

Breakfast, How was your? = Kursi kemey nieru?  ቁሪሲ ከመይ ነሩ?

Brother = Hawi ሓው

Butterfly = Sibmiali’E  ዝበምኣለ

Camel = Gemel  ገመል

Capital city = Riese ketema  ርእሲ  ከተማ

Cat = Dmu   ድሙ

Caterpillar = Abachegora  ኣባጨጎራ

Chameleon = nefahito  ነፋሕቶ

Cheek = migurti  ሚጉርቲ

Chest = af lbi  ኣፍ ልቢ

Chicken = derho  ደርሆ

Chickenpox = Fromay ፍሮማይ

Child = kol’a ቆልዓ

Christmas, Happy = Rhus beal lidet  ርሑስ በዓል ልደት

Christmas, Merry C. to you and the whole family = Rhus

beal lidet niakan nbimulu bietesen  ርሑስ በዓል ልደት ነኣኻን ንብሙሉእ ቢጸን

Church = Betekrystan  በትኽሪስቲያን

City = Ketema  ከተማ

Cockroach = dudu’e  ድዱዕ

Coffee = Boon  ቡን

Cold = Kuri  ቁሪ

Cold, It’s freezing cold = Kuri ember koynu  ቁሪ እምበኣር ኾይኑ

Colour(s) = Hibri, hibrtat   ሕብሪ ፣ ሕብርታት

Come on in! = Etewu  እቶዉ

Condition = Kunetat ኹነታቲ

Continent = Ahgur ኣጉር

Cool = Kuri  ቁሪ

Country = Hager  ሃገር

Country, I prefer my country = Adey yihsheni  ዓደይ ይሕሸኒ

Cow = lam  ላም

Crocodile = harges ሓርገስ

Crow (bird) = kura’e ቁራ

Crazy, Oh, I think he’s going crazy = Wey gud, abidu

ember  ወይ ጉድ ዓብዱ

Day = Mealti, Ketri; Days = Mealtat  መዓልቲ ፣ መዓልታት

Day, Have a nice day = Bruk mealti ብሩኽ መዓልቲ

Day, How was your? = Kemey wielki? (wielka if

addressing a male) ከመይ ውዕልኪ/ውዕልካ

Days of the week = Mealtat nay semun መዓልታት ናይ ሰሙን

December = Tahsas ታሕሳስ

Delicious (of food) = t’ium t’ium  ጥዑም

Devil, - seytan ሸይጣን

Dog = Kelbi ቀልቢ

Donkey = adgi ኣድጊ

Doomed, I am = Weyti gudey ዌቲ ጉድይ

Drinks (alcoholic) = Alkolawi meste ኣሃልኮላዊ  መስተ

Drinks (soft) = Islus meste  ሉስሉስ መስተ

Drunk, he got = Sekiru; she got d. = Sekira  ሰኺሩ ፣ ሰኺራ

Drunkard = Sekram  ሰኽራም

Eagle = nisri  ንስሪ

Ear = Ezni እዝኒ

Eat, to eat = Miblae (enjera belia = she ate enjera) ምብላዕ

Egg = Quakuho ኢንቆዖኾ

Elephant = harmaz ሓሪማዝ

Evening = Mishet  ምሸት

Evening, Good = Bruk mishet  ቢሩኽ  ምሸት

Evening, Good and good night = Bruk mishet, Bruk leyti  ቢሩኽ ምሸት፣ቢሩኽ ለይቲ

Exactly = Likie ልቅዕ

Excuse me = Keshegereki/a  ከሸጊረኪ/ካ

Eye = Ayni  ዓይኒ

Father = Abo  ኣቦ

Feast = Nigdet  ንግደት

February = Lekatit  የካቲት

Field = Mieda  መዳ

Field, our = mieda na  መዳና

Finger(s) = Asabiti  ኣጻብዕቲ

First= kedamay You came first = enqua Hagoseka!

Kedamay wesika  ከዳማይ፣ ዕንቋዕ ሓጎሰካ፣ ከዳማይ ወጽካ

Fish = Asa ዓሳ

Fish soup = tsebhi asa ጸብሕ ዓሳ

Flea = Kumal  ቁማል

Flower = embaba ዕምባባ

Flu Seal  ሰዓል

Flu, I’ve got = Seal hamime  ሰዓል ሓሚመ

Fly = hamema  ሃመማ

Food = Megbi  መግቢ

Foot = Egri (Feet = YeEgar)  ኢግሪ

Forehead = Ginbar  ግንባር

Fox = wekarya  ወቀሪያ

Friday = Arbi  ዓርቢ

Frog = Enkru’Ob  እንቁዑሩዖብ

Full (= I am done eating) = Tsegibe, Temesgen Amlak  ጸጊበ፣ ተመስገን ኣምላኽ

Giraffe = Zeraf  ዘራፍ

Girl = Gual ጓል

Give me = habeni (m), habni (f)  ሃበኒ፣ሃብኒ

Go, to go = mikad ምኻድ

Go away! = kidi ske rehak/i  ኪድ ስከ ረሓቂ

Goat = Tel  ጠል

God = Amlak / Aba jigo ኣምላኽ፣ኣባ ጅጎ

God, Thanks be to God = Amlak ymesgen  ኣምላኽ  መስገን

Good, I hope it was = Tsibuk nieru kkewn tesfa ygebr  ጽቡቅ  ነሩ ክኾይን ተስፋ ይገብር

Good dog = Grim kelbi  ግሪም ከልቢ

Good news = Bisrat  ብስራት

Goose = May derho  ማይ ደርሆ

Grandfather = Abahago  ኣባሓጎ

Grandmother = ዓባየይ

Grass = Saeri  ሰዓሪ

Grasshopper = anbeta ዓንበጣ

Green = ketelya  ቀተልያ

Grey = hamedawi  ሓመዳዊ

Grown-up, adult = Abi  ዓቢ

Hair = Cheguri  ጮግሪ

Half = fereka  ፍርቅ

Hamawti (wedding custom where day after wedding

bride’s family take food to bridegroom’s relatives and the

women spend the day eating and dancing!) = Hamwati  ሓማይቲ

Hand(s) = Ed, Ye’Edaw ኢድ፣ የእዳው

Happiness = Hagos  ሓጎስ

Happy = Hgus ሕጉስ

Happy / Blessed = Rhus  ረሑስ

Harmony = snit ስኒት

He = Nisu  ንሱ

Head = Riiessi  ርእሲ

Headscarf = nezela  ነጸላ

Heart = Lbi (chest = Af lbi) ልብ

Heaven = Genet  ገነት

Hello = Selam, Selamat ሰላም፣ሰላማት

Hippopotamus = Gumarie ጉማሪ

Holiday = Beal  በዓል

Holiday, How was your? = Beal kemey nieru?  በዓል ከመይ ኒሩ

Holidays, Happy holidays = Rhus beal  ረሑስ በዓል

Home = Geza ገዛ

Hood [i.e. neighbourhood] = Gezawti  ገዛውቲ

Hope, tesfa = ተስፋ

Hope, I hope it was good = Tsibuk nieru kkewn tesfa ygebr  ጽቡቅ ኒሩ ክኾይን ተስፋ ይገብር

Horse = Feres  ፈረስ

How are you? = Kemey aleki/a? ከመይ ኣለኺ/ኻ

How do you do? = Kemey aleki/a? ከመይ ኣለኺ/ኻ

How have you been = Kemey keniki/a? ከመይ ቀኒኺ/ኻ

Human being = Seb ሰብ

Hungry, I am H. = Temye  ጠምየ

Hyena = zib’e ዝብእ

I - Ane  ኣነ

IMbwaa ! = an exclamation with many meanings  እምባእ

January = Tiree  ትር

July = Hamle ሓመለ

June = Sene ሰነ

Kid = Kol’a ቆልዓ

Kitchen = kishne  ክሽነ

Knee = Birki  ብርኪ

Knife = Kara ካራ

Lady = ወይዘሪት

Leg(s) = Egri, YeEgar  እግሪ፣የእጋር

Lion = Anbesa ኣንበሳ

Lioness = Waero ዋኣሮ

Lizard = Tebek ጠበቅ

Lord, the = Goyta ጎይታ

Lunch, Have a nice = Bruk misah  ብሩኽ  ምሳሕ

Lunch, How was your? = Misah kemey nieru?  ምሳሕ  ከመይ ኒሩ?

Lunch, What was your? = Misah entay nieru? ምሳሕ  እንታይ  ነሩ

Lunch, Who made the? = Misah men serihwo? ምሳሕ መን ሰሪሑዮ

Man = Seb’ay ሰብኣይ

March = Megabit መጋቢት

Matter, What’s the matter? = Entay koynki/a? እንታይ  ኮይንኪ/ካ

May = Gunbet ግንቦት

Meal = meadi  መኣዲ

Meat = Siga ስጋ

Meat Sauce = Tsebhi siga  ጸብሕ  ስጋ

Meet you, Nice to = Tsibuk Liela  ጽቡቅ ለላ

Mention, Don’t mention it; Never mind = Genzebki/a  ገንዘብኪ/ካ

Milk = Tseba ጸባ

Miss = Weizerit  ዌዘሪት

Misss = Weizero ዌዘሮ

Mister = Ato ኣቶ

Monday = Soni ሰኑይ

Monkey = Hibey  ህበይ

Month(s)= Werhi, awarh  ወርሕ፣ኣያርሕ

Months of the year = Awarh nay Amet ኣያርሕ ናይ  ዓመት

Morning, Good = Kemey hadirki/a?  ከመይ ሓድርኪ/ካ

Mosque = Mesgid መዚግድ

Mosquito = Tantu ጣንጡ

Mother = Ade  ኣደ

Mr. = Ato  ኣቶ

Mrs. = Weizero ዌዘሮ

Mule = bekli  በቅሊ

Name = shem  ሽም

Neck = kisad  ክሳድ

Neighbour = Gorebet  ጎሮበት

Neighbourhood = Gezawti  ገዛውቲ

New Year, Happy = Rhus hadsh Amet  ረሑስ ሓዲሽ  ዓመት

Next week = Zimesie semun  ዝመጽእ ሶሙን

Night, Good = Bruk leyti  ብሩኽ  ለይቲ

Night, Good = Dehan heder/i/u ደሓን  ሕደር/ሪ/ሩ

No = Ayfal, aykonen  ኣይፋል፣ኣይኮነን

Nose = Afncha  ኣፍንጫ

November = Hidar  ሕዳር

Now = Heji  ሕጅ

Numbers = Kusrtat ቁጽሪታት

Ocean = wikianos  ውቅዓኖሰ

O.K., Are you folk O.K.? = Dehan dikum? ደሓን ድኹም

O.K., Fine = Tsebuk ጸቡቅ

O.K., Fine, I am = Dehan aleku  ደሓን ኣለኹ

O.K., We are O.K. = Dehan ena  ደሓን እና

October = Tkitmti  ትቅምቲ

Oil = Zeyti  ዘይቲ

Onion = Shigurti ሽጉርቲ

Orange = Aranshi  ኣራንሺ

Other than that = Bzitereffe  ብዝተረፈ

Ox = Biray  ብዕራይ

Paper = Wereket ዌረቀት

Peace = Selam  ሰላም

Pepper = Gue  ጉዕ

Henock Our Kin = Henock zemedna  ሀኖክ  ዘመድና

Pig = Hasema  ሃሸማ

Pink = lila  ሊላ

Pirate = Shifta  ሽፍታ

Please = Bejaki/a  በጃኺ

Poem = Gitmi  ግትሚ

Song, I think it’s a cool = Tiemti derfi ya.  ትዕምቲ ደርፊ ኢያ

Potato = dinish  ድንሽ

Praise be the Lord = Egziabhier ymesgen  እግዛብሀር  ይመስገን

Quarter 1/4 = Rib’e  ርብዒ

Python = gebel  ገበል

Rabbit = mantile  ማንተለ

Rat = anchwa  ኣንጨዋ

Red = keyh  ቀይሕ

Rhinoceros = Harsh  ሓርሽ

Salad = Selata  ሰላታ

Salt - chew  ጮው

Saturday = Kedam  ቀዳም

Sea(s) = bahri, bahrtat  በሓሪ፣ባሕሪታት

September = Meskerem  መስከረም

Shawl = netsela  ነጸላ

She = Nisa ንሳ

Sheep = begi’e  በግዕ

Sister = Hafti ሓፍቲ

Sky, skies = semai, semaiat  ሰማይ፣ሰማእታት

Snake = temen  ተመን

Soil, Sacred (holy soil assoc. with a saint, e.g. tsebel abune

aregawi) = Tsebel  ጸበል

Song, Good song = Tsibikti derfi eya  ጽብቅቲ ደርፊ ኢያ

Songthrush = Komraza ቆምራጻ

Sorry (formal) = Yikreta የቅረታ

Sorry (informal) = Aythazeley  ኣትሓዘለይ

Soup, Meat = Tsebhi siga ጸብሕ ስጋ

Spider = sariet  ዛሪእት

Sugar = Shukor ሽኮር

Sun, The = Tsehay ጸሓይ

Sunday = Senbet ሰንበት

Suwa ( a home-brewed beer) = Suwa  ስዋ

Tea = shahi  ሻሂ

Teacher = Memhir መምህር

Teeth = Senee ስኒ

Thank you (formal) = Kebret Yehabeley  ከብረት ይሃበለይ

Thank you = Yekenyelei  የቀንየለይ

They = Nisom  ንሶም

Thirsty, I am T. = May tsemie  ማይ ጸሚኤ

This = Ezi (m); Ezia (fem.) እዚ፣እዝኣ

Throat = Gororo ጎሮሮ

Thursday = Hhamus  ሓሙስ

Tick, a = Kurdid ቁርዲድ

Tiger = nebri ነብሪ

Time = gezee ግዘ

Time/Clock = seat  ሰዓት

Today = Lomi, Lomealti  ሎሚ፣ሎመዓልቲ

Tomato = komidere ኮምደረ

Tomorrow = Tsibah ጽባሕ

Tomorrow, Day after = Dehri tsebah  ድሕሪ ጽባሕ

Tongue = Melhas  መልሓስ

Tooth = Asnan  ኣስናን

Tortoise = Aba gobye  ኣባ ጎብየ

Town = Hawsi ketema  ዓዲ

Trousers = sire  ስረ

Tsebel (holy soil assoc. with a saint, e.g. tsebel abune aregawi) = Tsebel  ጸበል

Tuesday = Selus ሰሉስ

Uncle = Hawebo (paternal); Ako (maternal)  ሓቮቦይ፣ኣኮይ

Village = Geter  ገተር

Vinegar = Acheto  ኣሸቶ

Wancha = a (suwa) drinking cup  ዋንጫ

Water = Mai  ማይ

We = Nihna  ንሕና

Weather =  ኹነታት ሰማይ

Wednesday = Rebuh  ሮቡዕ

Week = Semun; Weeks = Semunat  ሰሙን፣ሶሙናት

Welcome = ዕንኳዕ ብደሓን መጻኹም

Weyley = interjection expressing surprise, indignation

Whale = Asa nebari  ዓሳ ነባሪ

Where = Ebey ኣበይ

Where are you going? = Nabey tikeyd aleki/a?  ናበይ ቲከዲ ኣለኺ/ኻ

Where are you? = Abey aleki? ኣቨይ አለኻ

Where have you been? = Abey tsenikhi?  ኣቨይ ጸንሕካ

White = tsaeda ጸዓዳ

Wind, ንፋስ

Wish, I W. you = Minyot ምኒዮት

Wishes, Good = Senay minyot!  ሰናይ ምኒዮት

Witch = tenqualit  ቶንካልት

Wolf = Tekula ተኹላ

Woman = Sebeyti  ሰበይቲ

Win, You = MiEwat.   ምእዋት

Won you= Teawitki/ka  ተዓውትኪ/ካ

Work = Sirah ስራሕ

Work, How is? = Sirah kemey alo?  ስራሕ ከመይ ኣሎ

World = Alem ዓለም

Year = amet; Years = ametat ዓመት፣ዓመታት

Yellow = bicha ብጫ

Yes = ewe, u-we እቨ

Yesterday = Timali ትማሊ

Yesterday, The day before = Bkdmi timali  በክድሚ ትማሊ

Zebra = Adgi bereka  አድጊ በረኻ

Zone = Zoba ዞባ

Zuria (hooded dress as worn by women ) = Zuria ዙሪያ