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 6^A 7 (1) (3) (4) (5) (6)

1 ሀ ሁ ሂ ሃ ሄ ህ ሆ

he hu hi ha hie h, hĭ ho

2 ለ ሉ ሊ ላ ሌ ል ሎ ሏ

le lu li la lie l, lĭ lo lwa

3 ሐ ሑ ሒ ሓ ሔ ሕ ሖ

ḥe ḥu ḥi ḥa ḥie ḥ, ḥĭ ḥo

4 መ ሙ ሚ ማ ሜ ም ሞ ሟ

me mu mi ma mie m, mĭ mo mwa

5^B ሠ ሡ ሢ ሣ ሤ ሥ ሦ

se su si sa sie s, sĭ so

6 ረ ሩ ሪ ራ ሬ ር ሮ ሯ

re ru ri ra rie r, rĭ ro rwa

7 ሰ ሱ ሲ ሳ ሴ ስ ሶ ሷ

se su si sa sie s, sĭ so swa

8 ሸ ሹ ሺ ሻ ሼ ሽ ሾ ሿ

she shu shi sha shie sh, shĭ sho shwa

9 ቀ ቁ ቂ ቃ ቄ ቅ ቆ ቈ ቊ ቋ ቌ ቍ

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 ቐ ቑ ቒ ቓ ቔ ቕ ቖ ቘ ቚ ቛ ቜ ቝ

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 በ ቡ ቢ ባ ቤ ብ ቦ ቧ

be bu bi ba bie b, bĭ bo bwa

12 ተ ቱ ቲ ታ ቴ ት ቶ ቷ

te tu ti ta tie t, tĭ to twa

13 ቸ ቹ ቺ ቻ ቼ ች ቾ ቿ

che chu chi cha chie ch, chĭ cho chwa

14 ኀ ኁ ኂ ኃ ኄ ኅ ኆ ኈ ኊ ኋ ኌ ኍ

ḥe ḥu ḥi ḥa ḥie ḥ, ḥĭ ḥo ḥwe ḥwi ḥwa ḥwie ḥwĭ

15 ነ ኑ ኒ ና ኔ ን ኖ ኗ

ne nu ni na nie n, nĭ no nwa

16 ኘ ኙ ኚ ኛ ኜ ኝ ኞ ኟ

nye nyu nyi nya nyie ny, nyĭ nyo nywa

17^C አ ኡ ኢ ኣ ኤ እ ኦ

e, ’e u, ’u i, ’i a, ’a ie, ’ie ĭ, ’ĭ o, ’o

18 ከ ኩ ኪ ካ ኬ ክ ኮ ኰ ኲ ኳ ኴ ኵ

ke ku ki ka kie k, kĭ ko kwe kwi kwa kwie kwĭ

19 ኸ ኹ ኺ ኻ ኼ ኽ ኾ ዀ ዂ ዃ ዄ ዅ

khe khu khi kha khie kh, khĭ kho khwe khwi khwa khwie khwĭ

20 ወ ዉ ዊ ዋ ዌ ው ዎ

we wu wi wa wie w, wĭ wo

21 ዐ ዑ ዒ ዓ ዔ ዕ ዖ

‘e ‘u ‘i ‘a ‘ie ‘, ‘ĭ ‘o

22 ዘ ዙ ዚ ዛ ዜ ዝ ዞ ዟ

ze zu zi za zie z, zĭ zo zwa

23 ዠ ዡ ዢ ዣ ዤ ዥ ዦ ዧ

zhe zhu zhi zha zhie zh, zhĭ zho zhwa

24 የ ዩ ዪ ያ ዬ ይ ዮ

ye yu yi ya yie y, yĭ yo

25 ደ ዱ ዲ ዳ ዴ ድ ዶ ዷ

de du di da die d, dĭ do dwa

26 ጀ ጁ ጂ ጃ ጄ ጅ ጆ ጇ

je ju ji ja jie j, jĭ jo jwa

27 ገ ጉ ጊ ጋ ጌ ግ ጎ ጐ ጒ ጓ ጔ ጕ

ge gu gi ga gie g, gĭ go gwe gwi gwa gwie gwĭ

28 ጠ ጡ ጢ ጣ ጤ ጥ ጦ ጧ

t’e t’u t’i t’a t’ie t’, t’ĭ t’o t’wa

29 ጨ ጩ ጪ ጫ ጬ ጭ ጮ ጯ

ch’e ch’u ch’i ch’a ch’ie ch’, ch’ĭ ch’o ch’wa

30 ጰ ጱ ጲ ጳ ጴ ጵ ጶ

p’e p’u p’i p’a p’ie p’, p’ĭ p’o

31 ጸ ጹ ጺ ጻ ጼ ጽ ጾ ጿ

ts’e ts’u ts’i ts’a ts’ie ts’, ts’ĭ ts’o ts’wa

32 ፀ ፁ ፂ ፃ ፄ ፅ ፆ

ts’e ts’u ts’i ts’a ts’ie ts’, ts’ĭ ts’o

33 ፈ ፉ ፊ ፋ ፌ ፍ ፎ ፏ

fe fu fi fa fie f, fĭ fo fwa

34 ፐ ፑ ፒ ፓ ፔ ፕ ፖ

pe pu pi pa pie p, pĭ po

35 ቨ ቩ ቪ ቫ ቬ ቭ ቮ

ve vu vi va vie v, vĭ vo

^A The sixth-order characters should be romanized either with or without the letter ĭ, depending on pronunciation.
^B Forms of the consonant character ሠ are understood to be becoming obsolete in Tigrinya.
^C The vowel characters in row 17 should be romanized with the apostrophe unless appearing as a word-initial. Forms of the character አ are understood to be falling into disuse in Tigrinya.

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.