REPORT ON THE CURRENT STATUS OF
UNITED NATIONS ROMANIZATION SYSTEMS FOR GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES
Compiled by the UNGEGN Working Group on Romanization Systems
Version 2.2, January 2003

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

A BGN/PCGN 1994 Agreement employs the BGN/PCGN 1967 System for Amharic also in the romanization of Tigrinya. Note, however, that there is one additional basic character in Tigrinya (row 10 below), and some combinations with W are romanized differently (see note E). (The syllabary for Tigrinya is adapted from Tigrinya Grammar, edited by John Mason, published by The Red Sea Press, Inc., Lawrenceville, New Jersey, 1996.)

Combinations with WC:
1D 2 3 4 5 6A 7 (1)E (3) (4) (5) (6)
1 ሀ ሁ ሂ ሃ ሄ ህ ሆ
hā hu hī ha hē h, hi ho
2 ለ ሉ ሊ ላ ሌ ል ሎ ሏ
le lu lī la lē l, li lo lwa
3B ሐ ሑ ሒ ሓ ሔ ሕ ሖ
hā hu hī ha hē h, hi ho
4 መ ሙ ሚ ማ ሜ ም ሞ ሟ
me mu mī ma mē m, mi mo mwa
5B ሠ ሡ ሢ ሣ ሤ ሥ ሦ
se su sī sa sē s, si so
6 ረ ሩ ሪ ራ ሬ ር ሮ ሯ
re ru rī ra rē r, ri ro rwa
7 ሰ ሱ ሲ ሳ ሴ ስ ሶ ሷ
se su sī sa sē s, si so swa
8 ሸ ሹ ሺ ሻ ሼ ሽ ሾ ሿ
she shu shī sha shē sh, shi sho shwa
9 ቀ ቁ ቂ ቃ ቄ ቅ ቆ ቈ ቊ ቋ ቌ ቍ
k’e k’u k’ī k’a k’ē k’, k’i k’o k’weE k’wī k’wa k’wē k’wi
10B ቐ ቑ ቒ ቓ ቔ ቕ ቖ ቘ ቚ ቛ ቜ ቝ
k’e k’u k’ī k’a k’ē k’, k’i k’o k’weE k’wī k’wa k’wē k’wi
11 በ ቡ ቢ ባ ቤ ብ ቦ ቧ
be bu bī ba bē b, bi bo bwa
12 ተ ቱ ቲ ታ ቴ ት ቶ ቷ
te tu tī ta tē t, ti to twa
13 ቸ ቹ ቺ ቻ ቼ ች ቾ ቿ
che chu chī cha chē ch, chi cho chwa
14B ኀ ኁ ኂ ኃ ኄ ኅ ኆ ኈ ኊ ኋ ኌ ኍ
hā hu hī ha hē h, hi ho hweE hwī hwa hwē hwi
15 ነ ኑ ኒ ና ኔ ን ኖ ኗ
ne nu nī na nē n, ni no nwa
16 ኘ ኙ ኚ ኛ ኜ ኝ ኞ ኟ
nye nyu nyī nya nyē ny, nyi nyo nywa
17C አ ኡ ኢ ኣ ኤ እ ኦ ኧ
ā, ’ā u, ’u ī, ’ī a, ’a ē, ’ē i, ’i, (-) o, ’o ’wa
18 ከ ኩ ኪ ካ ኬ ክ ኮ ኰ ኲ ኳ ኴ ኵ
ke ku kī ka kē k, ki ko kweE kwī kwa kwē kwi
19B ኸ ኹ ኺ ኻ ኼ ኽ ኾ ዀ ዂ ዃ ዄ ዅ
he hu hī ha hē h, hi ho hweE hwī hwa hwē hwi
20 ወ ዉ ዊ ዋ ዌ ው ዎ
we wu wī wa wē w, wi wo
21 ዐ ዑ ዒ ዓ ዔ ዕ ዖ
‘ā ‘u ‘ī ‘a ‘ē ‘, ‘i ‘o
22 ዘ ዙ ዚ ዛ ዜ ዝ ዞ ዟ
ze zu zī za zē z, zi zo zwa
23 ዠ ዡ ዢ ዣ ዤ ዥ ዦ
zhe zhu zhī zha zhē zh, zhi zho
24 የ ዩ ዪ ያ ዬ ይ ዮ
ye yu yī ya yē y, yi yo
25 ደ ዱ ዲ ዳ ዴ ድ ዶ ዷ
de du dī da dē d, di do dwa
26 ጀ ጁ ጂ ጃ ጄ ጅ ጆ
je ju jī ja jē j, ji jo
27 ገ ጉ ጊ ጋ ጌ ግ ጎ ጐ ጒ ጓ ጔ ጕ
ge gu gī ga gē g, gi go gweE gwī gwa gwē gwi
28 ጠ ጡ ጢ ጣ ጤ ጥ ጦ ጧ
t’e t’u t’ī t’a t’ē t’, t’i t’o t’wa
29 ጨ ጩ ጪ ጫ ጬ ጭ ጮ ጯ
ch’e ch’u ch’ī ch’a ch’ē ch’, ch’i ch’o ch’wa
30 ጰ ጱ ጲ ጳ ጴ ጵ ጶ
p’e p’u p’ī p’a p’ē p’, p’i p’o
31 ጸ ጹ ጺ ጻ ጼ ጽ ጾ ጿ
ts’e ts’u ts’ī ts’a ts’ē ts’, ts’i ts’o ts’wa
32B ፀ ፁ ፂ ፃ ፄ ፅ ፆ
ts’e ts’u ts’ī ts’a ts’ē ts’, ts’i ts’o
33 ፈ ፉ ፊ ፋ ፌ ፍ ፎ ፏ
fe fu fī fa fē f, fi fo fwa
34 ፐ ፑ ፒ ፓ ፔ ፕ ፖ
pe pu pī pa pē p, pi po
35 ቨ ቩ ቪ ቫ ቬ ቭ ቮ
ve vu vī va vē v, vi vo