Tigre language is one of the Semitic languages
spoken in Eritrea. It is the second most spoken language
(following Tigrigna) in the country. However, its speakers are
widely distributed over the country. They are found in both the
western and eastern lowlands, northern parts of Eritrea and
eastern regions of the Sudan. We also find them in the highlands
of Eritrea in places like Dirfo, the environs of Rebto (Irra,
Me’aldi and Wara), the environs of Hazemo, Alla (Bellesto), Ubel,
Seb’o and various other places.
Since it is widely distributed, Tigre borders
many other peoples and languages. Bordering with one another
does also necessitate influencing one another. In such a
situation, we could raise a question, “Has Tigre language was
influenced more than it has influenced others?” Although
answering this question needs to be supported by research, this
language has enriched itself by adapting some dancing styles and
musical beats into its original ones. This is in addition to
what the other languages could borrow from it.
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THE
RISE OF THE NEW-MOON
'The moon brings so much luck! - Be thou to us a
messenger of happiness and of luck! Let our fate be better
through thee: may our distressed ones be eased; our strangers
arrive (safely); our people at home be [safe], in the morning;
our pregnant ones bring forth; our women in childbed see [their
children] creep (until they walk); our little ones grow up; our
adults subsist; our pasturing flocks return at night; our flocks
at home be (safe] in the morning, through thee! 0 Lord, the
evil of Balla and Källa (3); the evil of the envious; the evil
of [the robber] who does not spare himself, and who does not
wish that we have property; the evil of him who is girded [to
war against us) and who is still sitting [but planning to do so]
- keep away from us! From bad things deliver us: from the
rumbling in the sky, from the creeping on the earth; from the
wrong of the strong, from the curse of the - weak - deliver us!
The evil of him who does not fear nor love, who does not spare
nor do well; the evil of what the eye sees and the heart fears
or, of what the heart fears and the ear hears - keep away from
us. By thy good fortune make us to praise thee! We shall
praise thee for our property and our people. With luck and good
fortune rise for us!" With all this and the like they ask for
blessing.
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The Study Of The Tigre
Language
By E.D. Thompson
The Tigre-speaking people live in the northern corner of Eritrea, in a triangle
with the Red Sea coast on one side, the Barka River on another, and the southern
side being more or less a line between Massawa and Agordat. This triangle
extends into the Sudan towards Suakin. The language has also spread amongst the
Bani Amir, a nomadic Beja tribe living in the same area between the Barka River
and the Gash River and over the border into Sudan. It is also the chief second
language of Nara tribe, who live north and east of Barentu. Tigre is also spoken
around Tessenei and Kesela and will doubtless have been carried into other
nearby areas by the Eritrean refugees.
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"tahagei
eteezami',
New Song From Aklilu
Aklilu sings the most beautiful
songs, that have so much power and soul in them and they
are always from such a different perspective and this
particular song is a prime example of that.
The man understands love better than any other
singer/song writer out there. With this song, it is the
honest-to-God truth about what its like when you REALLY
love someone.
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more
THE GREETING OF THE TIGRE PEOPLE
The greeting which a man says when he comes from a
long journey to another village or to some people
that are sitting, and what they answer him. Read
more
The tribes of Sahel, and othersAida
Kidane
This region was the stronghold of Eritrean struggle, good
hiding place with its huge mountains and valleys. It has
been a stronghold for many others much earlier, More...
TUNES OF THE HARP The harp has tunes according to which they play on it, and
every one of its tunes has a name. And when it is
played, they say: "This is the tune of such and such [a
tribe]," and they recognize it. Read
more
THE
NAMES OF SWORDS.
The [swords] that were renowned and had a name and were
inherited as heirlooms always by the first born sons, are the
following. They did not carry them, however; but
they kept them as precious heirlooms.
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more
Peoples and Cultures
Tigre, Tigray, Tigrinya -- Ethnicites, Languages and
Politics- Dr. Orville Boyd Jenkins
Sources of information on the peoples of the horn of Africa
are sometimes confusing because of conflicting terminology.
Names of peoples and languages differ due to different names
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more
WAR-CRIES (seQrat) Everybody has a war-cry which he shouts, be it in a battle or at
some other occasion or at any time. And the cry which they utter
is chosen according to the person's qualities or taken from the
one used by his family or from [the name of] the race of his
cattle. The following are all the cries which they shout.
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more
NAMES OF PERSONS IN THE TIGRE COUNTRY.
Every boy and every girl receives a name when the time of the
mother's childbed is over. They call the boy after the name of
his grandfather: only, if his grandfather is still alive, they
call him after his great-grandfather, or they name him after
(the name of) his father's brother, if he has died without
leaving any offspring; or else, after what has happened to them
at that time. And if a former child has died, they give [the new
child] an ugly name fearing he might also die.
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Tigre proverb
THE PROVERB THAT ADEG WAD FEDEL, A MAN FROM BELEN, MADE.
Adeg wad Fedel fell sick; and in his sickness he grew very thin. Being weak he
had no desire for food, but he used to swallow milk with difficulty. And one day
[he wished] to drink milk [and] asked for it. But his attendants said to him:
"To-day thy son drank it: there is no milk. He went to the Barka country; and
thinking that he had a long journey before him we gave it to him." Said Adeg:
"Is the journey on which I am starting not longer?" And this has become a
proverb until the present day: "'Is the journey on which I am starting not
longer', said Adeg wad Fedel." [This is what] they say.
More
Richard Sundstrom
the Swedish missionary has
collected about a thousand pages in
Tigre on the different tribes and clans in Eritrea.
Some writings are in Swedish and fewer in English. A
few are written in Tigrina. He has categorized them,
some in small books and mostly in sheets written in
pencil with different handwritings. They are for
example history and stories of - the Blin, the two
Mensa, Betjuk, Ad Temariam, Ad Tekles, Ad
Sheikh,Hedarib, Belew, and the Turkish times. There
are various poems and Fekera to Dej Hailu, Ras Welde
Mikel and other Kebessa notables.
Richard Sundstrom was born in 1869 in Sweden. He
lived in Geleb near Keren 1898- 1913 collecting the
writings being a missionary there.
He lived in Keren and was employed by the Italian
government as the town doctor until he died there in
June 1919 Aida Kidane
THE MAKING OF UNLEAVENED BREAD IN THE TIGRE COUNTRY.
Every man when he goes on a journey or when he wishes to go to a
place of ploughing where there is no village, or the people who
stay out with the pasturing cattle that are without milk, when
they set out together from their village, take flour of wheat or
of barley or of dura as their provisions;
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more
We
need your help to preserve and make known the legacy
of our past. Without your support, irreplaceable
documents, photographs, and spoken words of our
Tigre people will be lost and forgotten. Your
contribution will help: Expand our oral histories,
support preservation of historical records, enrich
our visual archives, create more on-line exhibits,
and make that information available on this free,
public access. All contributions are gratefully
accepted: historical documents, photos, folktales
etc...
Thanks, awkir.com
Send mail to
awkir@yahoo.com with
questions or comments about this web site.
Last modified: 11/03/09
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