History
Tigrinya is written in the Fidel, one of the oldest scripts still in daily use, and the region it comes from has traded with the world for thousands of years.
The Fidelፊደል
The script grew out of writing used in the ancient kingdom of Aksum, where Ge'ez inscriptions date back well over fifteen hundred years. Each letter stands for a consonant with its vowel, which is why a child learns families of seven letters rather than a separate alphabet of vowels.
Ge'ez and Tigrinyaግዕዝ
Ge'ez is the old language of the region. It is no longer spoken day to day but is still used in church. Tigrinya, Tigre and Amharic are its relatives, and all are written in the Fidel.
A crossroads of trade
The ancient port of Adulis on the Red Sea linked Aksum with Egypt, Arabia, India and the Mediterranean. Coins, languages and ideas passed through it for centuries.
Words to know
- ደብዳበdebdabeletterSynthetic voice
- መጽሓፍmetshafbookSynthetic voice
- እጽሕፍetshfwriteSynthetic voice
- ኣንበበanbebereadSynthetic voice
- ንጉስnguskingSynthetic voice
- ባሕሪbahriseaSynthetic voice
- ቛንቛquanqualanguageSynthetic voice
- መምህርmemhrteacherSynthetic voice