Country/region: Eritrea/Ethiopia. The Ethiopic character set has no uppercase and lowercase letters. Case is not a relevant issue.
No lower-case, upper-case or extended Latin characters.
Total number of characters: 344.
Characters in caseless scripts: ሀ,ሁ,ሂ,ሃ,ሄ,ህ,ሆ,ለ,ሉ,ሊ,ላ,ሌ,ል,ሎ,ሏ,ሐ,ሑ,ሒ,ሓ,ሔ,ሕ,ሖ,ሗ,መ,ሙ,ሚ,ማ,ሜ,ምሞ,ሟሠ,ሡ,ሢ,ሣ,ሤ,ሥ,ሦ,ሧ,ረ,ሩ,ሪ,ራ,ሬ,ር,ሮ,ሯ,ሰ,ሱ,ሲ,ሳ,ሴ,ስ,ሶ,ሷ,ሸ,ሹ,ሺ,ሻ,ሼ,ሽ,ሾ,ሿ,ቀ,ቁ,ቂ,ቃ,ቄ,ቅ,ቆ,ቈ,ቊ,ቋ,ቌ,ቍ,ቐ,ቑ,ቒ,ቓ,ቔ,ቕ,ቖ,ቘ,ቚ,ቛ,ቜ,ቝ,በ,ቡ,ቢ,ባ,ቤ,ብ,ቦ,ቧ,ቨ,ቩ,ቪ,ቫ,ቬ,ቭ,ቮ,ቯ,ተ,ቱ,ቲ,ታ,ቴ,ት,ቶ,ቷ,ቸ,ቹ,ቺ,ቻ,ቼ,ች,ቾ,ቿ,ኀ,ኁ,ኂ,ኃ,ኄ,ኅ,ኆ,ኈ,ኊ,ኋ,ኌ,ኍ,ነ,ኑ,ኒ,ና,ኔ,ን,ኖ,ኗ,ኘ,ኙ,ኚ,ኛ,ኜ,ኝ,ኞ,ኟ,አ,ኡ,ኢ,ኣ,ኤ,እ,ኦ,ኧ,ከ,ኩ,ኪ,ካ,ኬ,ክ,ኮ,ኰ,ኲ,ኳ,ኴ,ኵ,ኸ,ኹ,ኺ,ኻ,ኼ,ኽ,ኾ,ዀ,ዂ,ዃ,ዄ,ዅ,ወ,ዉ,ዊ,ዋ,ዌ,ው,ዎ,ዐ,ዑ,ዒ,ዓ,ዔ,ዕ,ዖ,ዘ,ዙ,ዚ,ዛ,ዜ,ዝ,ዞ,ዟ,ዠ,ዡ,ዢ,ዣ,ዤ,ዥ,ዦ,ዧ,የ,ዩ,ዪ,ያ,ዬ,ይ,ዮ,ደ,ዱ,ዲ,ዳ,ዴ,ድ,ዶ,ዷ,ዸ,ዺ,ዻ,ዼ,ዽ,ዾ,ዿ,ጀ,ጁ,ጂ,ጃ,ጄ,ጅ,ጆ,ጇ,ገ,ጉ,ጊ,ጋ,ጌ,ግ,ጎ,ጐ,ጒ,ጓ,ጔ,ጕ,ጘ,ጙ,ጚ,ጛ,ጜ,ጝ,ጞ,ጠ,ጡ,ጢ,ጣ,ጤ,ጥ,ጦ,ጧ,ጨ,ጩ,ጪ,ጫ,ጬ,ጭ,ጮ,ጯ,ጰ,ጱ,ጲ,ጳ,ጴ,ጵ,ጶ,ጷ,ጸ,ጹ,ጺ,ጻ,ጼ,ጽ,ጾ,ጿ,ፀ,ፁ,ፂ,ፃ,ፄ,ፅ,ፆ,ፈ,ፉ,ፊ,ፋ,ፌ,ፍ,ፎ,ፏ,ፐ,ፑ,ፒ,ፓ,ፔ,ፕ,ፖ,ፗ,ፘ,ፙ,ፚ,፡,።,፣,፤,፥,፦,፧,፨,፩,፪,፫,፬,፭,፮,፯,፰,፱,፲,፳,፴,፵,፶,፷,፸,፹,፺,፻,፼
Unicode code points: the letters run ሀ (U+1200) through ፚ (U+135a); the punctuation and numerals run ፡ (U+1361) through ፼ (U+137c). Each character's code point is its Unicode Ethiopic value.
Alphabetical order is not necessarily indicative of sorting order.
This is the character set for Tigrinya. It does not include the full Ethiopic set.
Calendar: Gregorian for Eritrean Tigrinya speakers, Ethiopian/A.D. for Ethiopian Tigrinya speakers.
First day of the week: ሰምበት (Sunday).
First week of the year: the week containing 1/1. This can be a single day if 1/1 falls on the last day of the week.
Separator: /
Default short date format: d/M/yyyy, yyyy-MM-dd. Example: 18/8/2011, 2011-08-18
Default long date format: dddd '፣' MMMM d 'መዓልቲ' yyyy. Example: Thursday ፣ August 18 መዓልቲ 2011
No additional short or long date formats.
Leading zero in day field for short date format: yes.
Leading zero in month field for short date format: yes.
Digits for year in short day format: 4.
Leading zero in day field for long date format: no.
Digits for year in long day format: 4.
Date format for correspondence: dd/mm/yyyy. Example: 17/03/2011
EEEE denotes the day of the week.
G denotes the year context (Gregorian እ.አ.አ, Geez ዓ/ም).
YYYY denotes the use of Ethiopic numerals, for example ፲፱፻፺፯.
Date-time pattern: {1} {0}, where {0} = time and {1} = date.
Current practice uses Arabic numerals for dates. The Ethiopic character set has its own distinct numerals, seen in dates too. Ethiopic numerals have no 0 (zero) and are therefore not exactly a decimal system.
d is for day. d = digits without leading zero, dd = digits with leading zero, ddd = abbreviated day name, dddd = full day name.
M is for month. M = digits without leading zero, MM = digits with leading zero, MMM = abbreviated name, MMMM = full name.
y is for year. yy = two digits, yyyy = four digits.
Standard time format: h:mm:ss tt. Example: 2:30:16 AM
Time separator: :. Example: 03:24:12
Hours leading zero: yes. Example: 03:24:12
AM designator: ንጉሆ
PM designator: ድሕሪ ቐትሪ
Eritreans use the same time-telling method as Europeans, so much of this section does not apply in Eritrea.
Ethiopians count the hours of the day from daybreak, not midnight. The first hour of the day starts at six a.m., and one in the morning is at seven a.m. The day divides into 12 hours of daytime and 12 hours of nighttime. A 24 hour format is used only in the military, in the internationally accepted manner.
For that reason a.m. and p.m. make little sense in the Ethiopian context. People speak of daytime hours and nighttime hours.
Day division names, by period begin time: 04:00ወጋሕታ; 06:00ንጎሖ; 12:00ፍርቂ መዓልቲ; 13:00ድሕሪ ቀትሪ; 16:00ኣጋምሸት; 18:00ምሸት; 24:00ፍርቂ ለይቲ
Not applicable for Eritrean Tigrinya speakers, but the Ethiopian calendar has a thirteenth month between August and September. It is five or six days long depending on the leap year, because all other months are 30 days long. It is called ጳጉሜን (long form) or ጳጉሜ (short form).
The Ethiopic alphabet has gained characters over the past few decades for sounds absent from the original languages. The current Unicode set has characters not used in Tigrinya, so the Unicode sort order varies from the order in existing Tigrinya dictionaries.
The Ethiopic character set is syllabic, with one root character (letter) and six phonetic variants. The initial root letter is often used as the basis for sorting, with the variants subsumed under the root in sequence.
If the Unicode sequence is the basis for sorting, non-alphabetic characters and numerals come after the alphabetic characters.
No uppercase and lowercase characters exist, so case is not relevant in sorting.
Non-Ethiopic characters such as Arabic numerals and hyphens are often used when writing Tigrinya. These are likely to affect sort orders in lists that contain them.
There is no accepted standard sorting order.
Character sorting order follows the Unicode order: ሀ (U+1200) through ፚ (U+135a), then ፡ (U+1361) through ፼ (U+137c).
The localized product should respond to the particular situation in the target country or region.
Check for sensitive or potentially offensive issues in maps, flags, country/region, city and language names, art and graphics, and cultural content such as encyclopedia content and text with historical or political references.
Check maps and other graphic representations of countries and regions for accuracy and existing political restrictions.
Country, city and language names change regularly. Check them even if previously approved.
Check the appropriateness of cultural content, clip art and visual representations of religious symbols, body and hand gestures against the target culture.
Use the most up-to-date Tigrigna list of country and city names for every release.
-n...-n 'and': ከብድን ልብን käbdən ləbbən 'stomach and heart'
Inflections are very much used. Tigrinya has a verbal system relating to several inflections and derivations.
The verb may be inflected for person, number, gender, aspect, mood, tense, benefactive, causative: ፈለጡ fälät'-u 'they knew', ተፈልጡ tä-fält'-u 'they were known', ኣፈልጡ ’a-fält'-u 'they caused to know (they introduced)', ተፋለጡ tä-falät'-u 'they knew each other', ኣፋለጡ ’a-f-falät'-u 'they caused to know each other'; also transitive, passive, relative, instrumental, dative, locative, infinitive, frequentative, reciprocal, imperfective: ይስበሩ yǝ-sbär-u 'let them break'.
A verb can appear in various forms by aspectual criteria and morphological category: gerundive, imperative or jussive, and infinitive.
Verbs are based on consonantal roots, most of three consonants: {sbr} 'break', ሰበረ säbärä 'he broke', ይሰብር yǝsäbbǝr 'he breaks', ምስባር mǝsbar 'to break'.
Tense distinguishes the perfective form, conjugated with suffixes, denoting the past, from the imperfective form, conjugated with prefixes and sometimes suffixes, denoting the present or future: ሰበሩ säbär-u 'they broke', ይሰብሩ yǝ-säbr-u 'they break'.
Nouns have plural as well as singular forms, though the plural is not obligatory when the context makes the number clear. Noun plurals may form through internal changes (broken plural) as well as suffixes.
Do not use two points standing one above the other ፡ as a word separator. Use a single space instead.
፣ is the comma. ፤ functions as a semicolon. ፧ is the question mark. ፥ is the colon. ። is the full stop ending sentences. All are phrase and sentence boundaries.
።U+1362 Ethiopic Full Stop
፣U+1363 Ethiopic Comma
፤U+1364 Ethiopic Semicolon
፥U+1365 Ethiopic Colon
፧U+1367 Ethiopic Question Mark
In lists and tables, if bulleted items are complete sentences, each ends with a period (full stop).
If bulleted items continue an introductory clause, use no period (full stop).
For items in a list (chapters, sections, products, system requirements) that are neither sentences nor continuations of sentences, use no period.
If your translation is longer than the US text, or you split it into several independent sentences, use common sense and insert a period (full stop) if it improves the Tigrinya style.
Never put a period after just one word.
The same convention applies to instruction lists, captions and callouts.
Comma: English uses a comma for thousands. Tigrinya uses a comma too.
1,526 -> 1,526
$ 1,526.75 -> $ 1,526.75
Colon: same use as English. Its major use is as a mark before a list of nouns, ideas, phrases and the like.
To enable this file type, do the following: -> ነዚ ፋይል ንምብርባር፣ ነዚ ዝስዕብ ግበሩ፤
Period: US English uses a period as the decimal separator. Tigrinya uses a period too. Do not use a space for this purpose; a space separates the numeral from the abbreviation.
In paper sizes, keep the decimal separator and the abbreviation in for inches, since the sizes are US norms.
5.25 cm -> 5.25 ሳ.ሜ.
5 x 7.2 inches -> 5 x 7.2 ኢንች
Letter Landscape 11 x 8.5 in -> Letter ቅርጺ ወርዲ 11 x 8.5 ኢንች
Quotation marks: used when referring to direct speech. Follow the basic Tigrinya rules. « … » are quite often used and preferred.
Use a non-breaking space (CTRL+SHIFT+SPACEBAR) in any abbreviation.
If non-breaking spaces cannot be used, as in Help files, write these abbreviations without a space, so one letter does not move to the beginning of the next line.
Verbs are based on consonantal roots, most of three consonants: {sbr} 'break', ሰበረ säbärä 'he broke', ይሰብር yǝsäbbǝr 'he breaks', ምስባር mǝsbar 'to break'.
Tense distinguishes the perfective form, conjugated with suffixes, denoting the past, from the imperfective form, conjugated with prefixes and sometimes suffixes, denoting the present or future: ሰበሩ säbär-u 'they broke', ይሰብሩ yǝ-säbr-u 'they break'.
There is a separate gerundive form, conjugated with suffixes, used to link verbs within a sentence: ገዲፍካ ተዛረብ gädifka täzaräb 'stop (that) and speak (m.sg.)'.
Verbs have a separate jussive/imperative form, similar to the imperfective: ይስበሩ yǝ-sbär-u 'let them break'.
Derivational morphology (internal changes to verb stems or prefixes) makes verbs passive, reflexive, causative, frequentative, reciprocal, or reciprocal causative: ፈለጡ fälät'-u 'they knew', ተፈልጡ tä-fält'-u 'they were known', ኣፈልጡ ’a-fält'-u 'they caused to know (they introduced)', ተፋለጡ tä-falät'-u 'they knew each other', ኣፋለጡ ’a-f-falät'-u 'they caused to know each other'.
Verbs may take direct object and prepositional pronoun suffixes: ፈለጠኒ fälät'ä-nni 'he knew me', ፈለጠለይ fälät'ä-lläy 'he knew for me'.
Negation uses the prefix ay- and, in independent clauses, the suffix -n: ኣይፈለጠን ayfälät'ä-n 'he didn't know'.
The copula and the verb of existence in the present are irregular: ኣሎ ’allo 'there is, he exists', እዩ ǝyyu 'he is', የለን or የልቦን yällän or yälbon 'there isn't, he doesn't exist', ኣይኰነን aykʷänän 'he isn't', ነበረ näbärä 'he existed, he was, there was', ይኸውን yǝ-xäwwǝn 'he will be', ይነብር yǝ-näbbǝr 'he will exist, there will be'.
The verb of existence with object suffixes for the possessor expresses possession ('have') and obligation ('must'): ኣሎኒ ’allo-nni 'I have, I must', literally 'there is (to) me'.
Relative clauses use a prefix attached to the verb: ዝፈለጠ zǝ-fälät'ä 'who knew'.
Cleft sentences, with relative clauses normally following the copula, are very common: መን እዩ ዝፈለጠ män ǝyyu zǝ-fälät'ä 'who knew?', literally 'who is he who knew?'.
There is an accusative marker on definite direct objects, the prefix nǝ-: ሓጐስ ንኣልማዝ ረኺቡዋ ḥagʷäs nǝ’almaz räxibuwwa 'Hagos met Almaz'.
For continuous operations use the infinitive preceded by the preposition ኣብ.
Recognize the audience's sensitivity to male and female stereotypes. Use language that is as neutral as possible instead of stressing gender differences or stereotypical distinctions. The neutral approach also applies to scenarios, comparisons, examples, illustrations and metaphors.
Balance roles and functions between men and women: active versus passive, leading versus secondary, technical versus non-technical professions. Base scenarios, pictures, metaphors and comparisons on areas and attributes common to both genders.
Instead of naming the two genders separately, use a general term that includes both: person, users, persons, ሰብ, ተጠቐምቲ, ሰባት
Avoid sentences referring to a single person whose gender is unknown. Rewrite to make the subject plural. Where a single-person reference is unavoidable, do not use he or she, S/he, እሱ ወይ እሳ, ናቱ/ናታ.
The language should sound natural, as if part of a spoken conversation.
Generally avoid slashes to combine both genders, with the exceptions below.
Neutral noun, for concept descriptions and explanations: ሰብ, መራሒ, መራሒ ጋንታ, ኤክስፐርት, ሰራሕተኛ, ተጠቓማይ
Both genders combined with a slash, ንሱ/ሳ, እሳ/ሱ: only in exceptional cases such as License Terms, sometimes in tables (headers, column or row titles).
In procedural text, the order of interface terms in the translation is usually top to bottom: menu, command, dialog box, dialog box controls. This reflects the sequence of the action. Maintain it unless technical reasons prevent it.
This convention is less important in normal body text, which is more personal in tone and less formal, so be more creative.
On the View menu, click Filter -> ኣብ መርኣዪ እንታየሎ ኣጻሪ ንዝብል ጠውቑ
On the Tools menu, click Internet Options, and click the Security tab -> ኣብ ናይ መሳሪሒ እንታየሎ፣ ነቲ ናይ በይነመረብ መማረጽቲ ዝብል ብመጀመርታ ጠዊቕኹም ድሕሪኡ ነቲ ናይ ደህንነት ትሪ ጠውቑ
Use the informal tone, addressing a familiar person or a person of equal status. No disrespect is inferred.
Do not use the formal tone (the verb conjugated in the plural). It is contrary to the spirit of ICT and burdens the communication.
Avoid the passive voice.
Do not use በጃኹም/ ብክብረትኹም for the English word please. The Tigrinya word signifies pleading rather strongly and conveys exasperation. Politeness is carried through a tone variation instead.
Acronyms are words made of the initial letters of major parts of a compound term: WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get), OLE (Object Linking and Embedding), RAM (Random Access Memory).
ራም, ሲዲ ሮም, ፒሲ
Many acronyms are standardized and remain untranslated. Add the English full spelling only if the acronym needs explaining. If the acronym is common, adding the spelled-out form only confuses users, so use the acronym alone.
Localized acronyms do not apply to Tigrinya.
Some acronyms are already adapted to Tigrigna as used in English, without localization: HIV/ AIDS, USA, USAID, ራም, ሲዲ ሮም, ፒሲ
Do not localize or spell out in full in English: ANSI (American National Standards Institute), ISO (International Standards Organization), ISDN, DOS, DSL, ሲዲ, ዲቪዲ
Frequent errors in Tigrinya software translation: mistranslation of words, direct application of the English word when a Tigrinya word could express it, and inconsistency.
Standardized translations appear in all sections of this guide. The most relevant topics: the importance of standardization, standard phrases in error messages, standard phrases in documentation.
All menus, menu items, commands, buttons and check boxes must be translated consistently in the localized product.
Main menus appear at the top of the user interface and typically include File, Edit, View, Insert, Format, Tools, Table, Window, Help.
Main menus are typically a noun or a verb (infinitive or imperative). Distinguish between the verbal and nominal forms of a word.
View -> ኣርዕይ (v. imp.), መርዓዪ (n.)
Edit -> አርትዕ (v. imp.), አርትዖት (n.)
Insert -> የእትው (v. imp.), መእተዊ (n.)
Format -> ቅርጺ (n.), ቅረጽ (v. imp.)
Tools -> መሳርሒ (n.)
Table -> ሰንጠረጅ (n.)
Window -> መስኮት (n.)
Help -> ሃገዝ (n.)
Commands and menu items are typically verbs in the imperative mood, second person, singular, masculine.
Save As… -> …ኢልኻ አቐምጥ conjugated verb
Print… -> ሃትም conjugated verb
Select All -> ንኩሉ ምረጽ conjugated verb
Static text: the basic structure of a request is command-type, so the verb is in the imperative.
Print more than one copy -> ካብ ሃደ ንላዕሊ ህታም ሃትም
Select all -> ንኩሉ ምረጽ
Dialog boxes: use consistent terminology and language style in all dialog boxes. Keep translations consistent with other localized applications. Applications not localized now may be localized later and will reuse these solutions. This matters most for identical dialog boxes found in several applications.
Dialog titles must be consistent with the menu items or commands that call them. Menus are typically verbs in the imperative mood, so dialog titles are verbs in the imperative mood.
Menu item Split cells -> ህዋስ ክፈል; dialog title Split cells -> ህዋስ ክፈል
Group box titles are typically a noun or a conjugated verb.
Include with document -> ምስ እቲ ሰነድ ሃውሶ
Printing Options -> ናይ ህትመት መማረጽቲ
Check boxes are typically a noun or a conjugated verb.
Enable reminder -> መዘካከሪ ኣበራብር
Don't show me this dialog again. -> ነዚ መራኸቢ ዳግማይ ኣይተሪአኒ
Always ask me first -> ኩል ጊዜ ኣቐዲምኻ ሕተተኒ
Buttons are typically a noun or a conjugated verb.
Add -> ወስክ
Cancel -> ሰርዝ
Continue -> -> ቀጽል->
Dialog box tabs are typically a noun or a conjugated verb.
Print -> ሃትም
Changes -> ለውጥታት
Format -> ቅርፃ
List boxes and tables: use parallel language for UI elements parallel in function. Make all items similar in form and use the same part of speech.
Where there is an English verb, all translations must end with a verb in the imperative. Tigrinya is always more at ease with its verbs than other word classes. The subject of the introductory phrase is also that of the main verb.
Instruction text in dialog boxes: when a user is expected to take action on a page or in a section, use the imperative verb.
Change settings for the files Outlook uses to store e-mail messages and documents. -> ነቲ ፅንብር ናይ ፋይላት ቀይር Outlook መልዕክቲ ኢ-ሜይልን ሰነዳትን ይጥቐመሉ፡፡
A status bar message is an informational message about the active document, a selected command, or any active or selected interface item. It shows in the status bar at the bottom of the window. Status bar messages refer to actions being performed or already complete.
In English, status bar messages take different forms depending on the information. In Tigrinya, menu and command status bar messages follow the format below.
Error messages inform the user of an error that must be corrected for the program to keep running. They can prompt an action or report an error that needs a reboot.
Use consistent terminology and language style. Do not just translate as it appears in the US product.
Use a standard phrase for error messages that have the same meaning and purpose in the US-English version.
Standardize standard phrases. The US sometimes uses different forms for the same thing.
Cannot …, Could not … -> … ኣይካኣልን፡፡, … ኣይተካእለን፡፡. Example: ነቲ ፋይል ምርካብ ኣይካኣልን፡፡, ነቲ ፋይል ምርካብ ኣይተካእለን፡፡
Failed to …, Failure of … -> … (ምግባር) ኣይተኣወተን, ናይ… ጌጋ. Example: ምስ በየነመረብ ምርኻብ ኣይተኣወተን፡፡, ናይ ርክብ ጌጋ
Not enough memory, Insufficient memory, There is not enough memory, There is not enough memory available -> እኹል መቐመጢ መዘከርታ የለን, እኹል ዘይኮነ መቐመጢ መዘከርታ, እኩል ዝኮነ መቐመጢ መዘከርታ የለን
... is not available, ... is unavailable -> … ዝርከብ ኣይኮነን, … ኣይርከብን. Example: እቲ ፕሮግራም ዝርከብ ኣይኮነን, እቲ ፕሮግራም ኣይርከብን
For placeholders, find out what will replace the placeholder so the sentence is grammatical. Most source strings carry instructions on the replacement text.
%d, %ld, %u, and %lu: Number (such as 3 or 512)
%c: Letter (such as “f” or “s”)
%s: String (such as “Click here to continue.”)
“Checking Web %1!d! of %2!d!” -> “Checking Web <number> of <number>”
English puts placeholders where they naturally occur. Numeral placeholders typically precede the noun. If the numeral follows the noun in Tigrinya, move the placeholder after the noun.
Underlined or highlighted letters in menu options, commands or dialog boxes are access keys, also known as hot keys. They run commands and perform tasks more quickly.
Slim characters, such as I, l, t, r, f: not allowed as hot keys.
Characters with downstrokes, such as g, j, y, p and q: not allowed.
Extended characters: not allowed.
An additional letter in brackets after the item name: not allowed.
A number in brackets after the item name: not allowed.
A punctuation sign in brackets after the item name: not allowed.
Duplicate hot keys when no other character is available: not allowed.
No hot key assigned when no more characters are available, minor options only: not allowed.
English chapter titles usually begin with How to … or phrases such as Working with … or Using …. Use the same style in Tigrinya.
How to use Outlook -> Outlook ብከመይ ክንጥቐም ንክዕል
How to create a picture -> ከምይ ጌርካ ስዕሊ ትፈጥር
Troubleshooting Help headings often follow the pattern I have done so and so, but this or that does not happen. Keep the same grammatical structure in Tigrinya.
Copyright protection is granted to any original work of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression from which it can be perceived, reproduced, or communicated.
Keep copyright text translation consistent within the product and across Tigrinya versions.
No changes in copyright text are allowed until the English text is different. A different Tigrinya translation is a minor style error unless the meaning is the same. A changed meaning is an accuracy error.