REPORT ON THE CURRENT STATUS OF
UNITED NATIONS ROMANIZATION SYSTEMS FOR GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES
Compiled by the UNGEGN Working Group on Romanization Systems
Version 4.0, February 2013

Tigrinya

No romanization system for Tigrinya has been approved at the United Nations conferences on the standardization of geographical names. No information has been received on whether there exist any national systems of romanization in Eritrea.

Tigrinya, like Amharic, uses the Ethiopic syllabic script whereby each syllable denotes a combination of a consonant and a vowel. It has 35 basic characters, each character having several different forms, usually called orders, according to the vowel with which the basic symbol is combined.

System of romanization

The BGN/PCGN 2007 System gives the following romanization:

Combinations with W:
1 2 3 4 5 6A 7 (1) (3) (4) (5) (6)
1
he hu hi ha hie h, hĭ ho
2
le lu li la lie l, lĭ lo lwa
3
ḥe ḥu ḥi ḥa ḥie ḥ, ḥĭ ḥo
4
me mu mi ma mie m, mĭ mo mwa
5B
se su si sa sie s, sĭ so
6
re ru ri ra rie r, rĭ ro rwa
7
se su si sa sie s, sĭ so swa
8
she shu shi sha shie sh, shĭ sho shwa
9
k’e k’u k’i k’a k’ie k’, k’ĭ k’o k’we k’wi k’wa k’wie k’wĭ
10
kh’e kh’u kh’i kh’a kh’ie kh’, kh’ĭ kh’o kh’we kh’wi kh’wa kh’wie kh’wĭ
11
be bu bi ba bie b, bĭ bo bwa
12
te tu ti ta tie t, tĭ to twa
13
che chu chi cha chie ch, chĭ cho chwa
14
ḥe ḥu ḥi ḥa ḥie ḥ, ḥĭ ḥo ḥwe ḥwi ḥwa ḥwie ḥwĭ
15
ne nu ni na nie n, nĭ no nwa
16
nye nyu nyi nya nyie ny, nyĭ nyo nywa
17C
e, ’e u, ’u i, ’i a, ’a ie, ’ie ĭ, ’ĭ o, ’o
18
ke ku ki ka kie k, kĭ ko kwe kwi kwa kwie kwĭ
19
khe khu khi kha khie kh, khĭ kho khwe khwi khwa khwie khwĭ
20
we wu wi wa wie w, wĭ wo
21
‘e ‘u ‘i ‘a ‘ie ‘, ‘ĭ ‘o
22
ze zu zi za zie z, zĭ zo zwa
23
zhe zhu zhi zha zhie zh, zhĭ zho zhwa
24
ye yu yi ya yie y, yĭ yo
25
de du di da die d, dĭ do dwa
26
je ju ji ja jie j, jĭ jo jwa
27
ge gu gi ga gie g, gĭ go gwe gwi gwa gwie gwĭ
28
t’e t’u t’i t’a t’ie t’, t’ĭ t’o t’wa
29
ch’e ch’u ch’i ch’a ch’ie ch’, ch’ĭ ch’o ch’wa
30
p’e p’u p’i p’a p’ie p’, p’ĭ p’o
31
ts’e ts’u ts’i ts’a ts’ie ts’, ts’ĭ ts’o ts’wa
32
ts’e ts’u ts’i ts’a ts’ie ts’, ts’ĭ ts’o
33
fe fu fi fa fie f, fĭ fo fwa
34
pe pu pi pa pie p, pĭ po
35
ve vu vi va vie v, vĭ vo

Note

Where consonant character sequences give rise to the romanizations k-h, n-y, z-h and s-h, a hyphen may be added between them to differentiate those romanizations from the digraphs kh, ny, zh and sh.