SAMANTHA KING, EMILY O'BRIEN, MEREDITH POPERNACK,

CSD 623 | NOV 2018

EMILY VAYO, AND ASHLEY WATSON

Tigrinya

PHONETIC INFLUENCE OF L1
ON SAE SPEECH
INVENTORY PRODUCTION

Tigrinya and SAE share a majority of their phonemes. Major differences include: Although a majority of
-A trill ("r") Tigrinya native speakers are
-More palatal and alveolar sounds than SAE
monolingual, those who
-Uvular and pharyngeal sounds (/ħ/ and /ʕ/ preserved from the ancient Ge’ez language)
-More sounds are produced in the back of the vocal tract compared to SAE immigrate to the U.S. may
-Symmetric seven vowel inventory common in Ethiopic Semitic languages (i, ə, u, e, ä, o, a) have the following
-Ejective consonants: enhanced glottal constrictions, ex. /p'/, /t'/, /ts'/, /ʧ'/, /k'/, and /kw'/
characteristics in their
(Some Basics, 2003)
everyday speech
Gemination: (Thompson, 2017):
-Doubling the length of a consonant 1. Vowels - shortening of
-Morphological marker typically
accompanied by other markers
vowels, raising of vowels,
-Used on all consonants except lowering of vowels.
pharyngeal and glottal 2. Consonants - r-trill for
-Written as two letters
/r/, lack of /th/ both voiced
Few minimal pairs by gemination exist and voiceless.
ex. /kʼɐrrɐbɐ/, ('he brought forth') 3. Syllable Structure - vowel
/kʼɐrɐbɐ/, ('he came closer')
insertion (e.g. schwa)
between syllable structures.
Helpful Links:
PHONOTACTIC Recordings from the Speech
Accent Archive
CONSTRAINTS http://accent.gmu.edu/brow
se_language.php?
-Consonant clusters do not occur at the beginning of words.
function=find&language=ti
-Epenthesis is used to create syllables.
-Some vowels must be paired with a nuclear karat, some consonants grigna
break off into a new syllable with epenthesis. Phonetic Inventory from
-Only CV and CVC.
the Speech Accent Archive
-CVV words do not exist because long vowels don't exist (Buckley, 1997)
http://accent.gmu.edu/brow
se_native.php?
function=detail&languageid
=68
 CSD 623 | NOV 2018

Tigrinya Around the World

It is estimated that the world population of Tigrinya speakers is around 7 million. A
2008 census shows that approximately 4.5 million people speak Tigrinya in Ethiopia but
that there has been no research on dialects and is consequently difficult to estimate any
numbers on that due to so many regional differences. Tigrinya is known to be spoken
in 11 countries and is the fourth most spoken language in Ethiopia. Tigrinya is the most
widely spoken language in Eritrea (~2.4 million speakers), designated as the “official
working language.” Though Eritrea gained its independence from Ethiopia in 1993 there
is a lot of crime and many seek refuge outside the country.

Tigrinya in the United States

Tigrinya is spoken by large immigrant communities around the world, in countries
including Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Germany, Italy, Sweden, the United Kingdom,
Canada and the United States. There are approximately 20,000 speakers of Tigrinya in the
United States. There is no published information about Tigrinya population in
Harrisonburg, but Harrisonburg Public Schools and Blue Ridge AHEC states that they
have interpreters available.

Implications
 It is essential to know that most of the Tigrinya speakers living in African countries are
not usually bilingual. That means that while living in the United States, it is likely that they
will be very new English speakers and will very likely require a translator and copies of all
forms in their native language. This is especially true for the parents/older family
members, as their children will most likely be learning English if enrolled in public schools

(Project, J. (n.d.), University College London, (n.d.))


Influence of L1 on
SAE Grammar
Origin: Tigrinya stems from an
Ethio-Eritrean Semitic
Language, which branches into
North Ethiopian and Eritrean
Languages - where Ge'ez and
Tigrinya originate from.
Differences in Word Order:
Tigrinya follows a S-O-V word
order, where modifiers precede
the noun they modify. Tigrinya
also uses prefixes and suffixes to
attach to roots and indicate
grammatical information. These
roots are made up of
triconsonantal roots, which are
represented by a core stem and
added to derive inflectional and
derivational forms. "Broken
Plurals" are a common result of
this root pattern.
Nouns and Pronouns:
Inanimate nouns are not marked
for gender, while modifiers are
either masculine or feminine.
Verbs: Verb roots consist of 3-5
consonants that can change
depending on vowels/suffixes
that can be added
(Kifle, 2011)
INFLUENCE OF L1
CULTURE ON SAE
LANGUAGE USE
Tigrinya Culture
-Strong Family Values
-High Respect for Elders
-Importance of Religion (most are -Avoid making any strong religious
Ethiopian Orthodox)
-Community-Based Ideals, High
Value of Tradition, and Strong
Sense of Identity
-Not a common U.S.
Language/No Standard
Dialect
For Your
Reference:
CSD 623 | NOV 2018
ዝገበረልካስ ወይ ገበረሉ
ወይ ንገረሉ።
For those who have favored
you, either return the favor or
tell others about it
Clinical Implications
-Necessary to include the parent of a
child client in all clinical decisions
-Need to show respect for parents of a
child client and ensure that
information is translated and an
interpreter is present during meetings
statements (best practice for clients of
any culture)
-Be respectful of any cultural
restrictions or wishes from the family.
Be aware of their strong value of self-
identity and be careful when
explaining things to avoid seeming
critical
-Finding a translator may be difficult
 CSD 623 | NOV 2018

Annotated Bibliography

Additional Resources