39-583: The Eritrean Defence Forces ( EDF ) ( Tigrinya : ሓይልታት ምክልኻል ኤርትራ ) are the combined military forces of Eritrea composed of three branches: Eritrean Army , Eritrean Air Force and Eritrean Navy . The Army is by far the largest, followed by the Air Force and Navy. The Commander-in-Chief of the EDF is the President of Eritrea . Their military role stems from Eritrea's strategic geographical location, located on
78-535: A Tigrayan , that is a native of Tigray , who also speaks the Tigrinya language, is referred to in Tigrinya as təgraway (male), təgrawäyti (female), tägaru (plural). Bəher roughly means "nation" in the ethnic sense of the word in Tigrinya, Tigre , Amharic and Ge'ez. The Jeberti in Eritrea also speak Tigrinya. Tigrinya is the most widely spoken language in Eritrea (see Demographics of Eritrea ), and
117-618: A standard. Even though the most spread and used in, for example books, movies and news is the Asmara dialect. For the representation of Tigrinya sounds, this article uses a modification of a system that is common (though not universal) among linguists who work on Ethiopian Semitic languages , but differs somewhat from the conventions of the International Phonetic Alphabet . Tigrinya has a fairly typical set of phonemes for an Ethiopian Semitic language. That is, there
156-512: A word, the cluster is broken up with the introduction of an epenthetic vowel -ə- , and when two consonants (or one geminated consonant) would otherwise end a word, the vowel -i appears after them, or (when this happens because of the presence of a suffix) -ə- is introduced before the suffix. For example, Stress is neither contrastive nor particularly salient in Tigrinya. It seems to depend on gemination, but it has apparently not been systematically investigated. Grammatically, Tigrinya
195-405: Is ä, the first column in the table. However, since the pharyngeal and glottal consonants of Tigrinya (and other Ethiopian Semitic languages) cannot be followed by this vowel, the symbols in the first column for those consonants are pronounced with the vowel a, exactly as in the fourth column. These redundant symbols are falling into disuse in Tigrinya and are shown with a dark gray background in
234-488: Is a set of ejective consonants and the usual seven-vowel system. Unlike many of the modern Ethiopian Semitic languages, Tigrinya has preserved the two pharyngeal consonants which were apparently part of the ancient Geʽez language and which, along with [ xʼ ] , voiceless velar ejective fricative or voiceless uvular ejective fricative , make it easy to distinguish spoken Tigrinya from related languages such as Amharic, though not from Tigre, which has also maintained
273-518: Is a typical Ethiopian Semitic (ES) language in most ways: Tigrinya grammar is unique within the Ethiopian Semitic language family in several ways: Tigrinya is written in the Geʽez script , originally developed for Geʽez. The Ethiopic script is an abugida : each symbol represents a consonant+vowel syllable, and the symbols are organized in groups of similar symbols on the basis of both
312-522: Is an Ethio-Semitic language commonly spoken in Eritrea and in northern Ethiopia 's Tigray Region by the Tigrinya and Tigrayan peoples respectively. It is also spoken by the global diaspora of these regions. Although it differs markedly from the Geʽez (Classical Ethiopic) language, for instance in having phrasal verbs, and in using a word order that places the main verb last instead of first in
351-525: Is especially clear from verb roots in which one consonant is realized as one or the other allophone depending on what precedes it. For example, for the verb meaning ' cry ' , which has the triconsonantal root √b-k-y, there are forms such as ምብካይ /məbkaj/ ( ' to cry ' ) and በኸየ /bɐxɐjɐ/ ( ' he cried ' ), and for the verb meaning ' steal ' , which has the triconsonantal root √s-r-kʼ, there are forms such as ይሰርቁ /jəsɐrkʼu/ ( ' they steal ' ) and ይሰርቕ /jəsɐrrəxʼ/ ( ' he steals ' ). What
390-453: Is especially interesting about these pairs of phones is that they are distinguished in Tigrinya orthography. Because allophones are completely predictable, it is quite unusual for them to be represented with distinct symbols in the written form of a language. A Tigrinya syllable may consist of a consonant-vowel or a consonant-vowel-consonant sequence. When three consonants (or one geminated consonant and one simple consonant) come together within
429-464: Is indicated in brackets. Gemination , the doubling of a consonantal sound, is meaningful in Tigrinya, i.e. it affects the meaning of words. While gemination plays an important role in the morphology of the Tigrinya verb, it is normally accompanied by other marks. But there is a small number of pairs of words which are only differentiable from each other by gemination, e.g. /kʼɐrrɐbɐ/ , ( ' he brought forth ' ); /kʼɐrɐbɐ/ , ( ' he came closer ' ). All
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#1732771796900468-429: Is now considered old-fashioned. These less-used series are shown with a dark gray background in the chart. The orthography does not mark gemination, so the pair of words qärräbä 'he approached', qäräbä 'he was near' are both written ቀረበ . Since such minimal pairs are very rare, this presents no problem to readers of the language. Ogbe Abraha Ogbe Abraha (born 1948) is an Eritrean politician. He joined
507-707: The Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF) in 1972 and, since independence, has held the following positions: member of the Central Council of the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), member of the National Council, Secretary and then Minister of Trade and Industry, Minister of Labour and Social Welfare (beginning in February 1997 ), Chief of Logistics, Administration and Health in
546-764: The Red Sea with a foothold on the Bab-el-Mandeb strait. Military history in Eritrea stretches back for thousands of years; from ancient times to present day, the society of the Eritreans have dealt with both war and peace. During the kingdom of Medri Bahri , the military fought numerous battles against the invading forces of the Abyssinians to the south and the Ottoman Turks at the Red Sea. During
585-684: The Sawa military base; Ala Bazit in a desert next to the Ala mountains ; and Mai Dima near Berakit Mountain for Kunama detainees. In the Tigray War , the EDF was attributed the main responsibility for the extrajudicial killing of hundreds of civilians in the Aksum massacre , that mainly took place on 28–29 November 2020 in Aksum , according to investigations by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch . As of 26 February 2021, just after
624-462: The pharyngeal consonants . The charts below show the phonemes of Tigrinya. The sounds are shown using the same system for representing the sounds as in the rest of the article. When the IPA symbol is different, the orthography is indicated in brackets. The sounds are shown using the same system for representing the sounds as in the rest of the article. When the IPA symbol is different, the orthography
663-425: The uvular place of articulation (although it is represented in this article as [xʼ] ). All of these possible realizations – velar ejective fricative , uvular ejective fricative , velar ejective affricate and uvular ejective affricate – are cross-linguistically very rare sounds. Since these two sounds are completely conditioned by their environments, they can be considered allophones of /k/ and /kʼ/ . This
702-635: The 13th century. In Eritrea, during British administration , the Ministry of Information put out a weekly newspaper in Tigrinya that cost 5 cents and sold 5,000 copies weekly. At the time, it was reported to be the first of its kind. Tigrinya (along with Arabic) was one of Eritrea's official languages during its short-lived federation with Ethiopia . In 1958, it was replaced by the Southern Ethiopic language Amharic prior to its annexation. Upon Eritrea's independence in 1991, Tigrinya retained
741-661: The 16th century the port of Massawa was used by the Ottomans to protect sea lanes from disruption, while more recently it was used by the Italians during their colonial occupation. The kingdom of Medri Bahri was dissolved and the Colony of Eritrea was founded by the Italians in 1890, shortly after the opening of the Suez Canal . When Italian troops occupied Ethiopia in 1936, Eritrean native soldiers (known as Askaris ) supported
780-449: The EDF carried out widespread torture of Eritreans. Military-run prisons included the underground Track B (or Tract B ) in the west of Asmara, holding 2000 detainees; Adi Abeto near Asmara; Wi'a , 32 km south of Massawa , for holding military prisoners (escaped conscripts and draft evaders) and members of unauthorised religions; Mitire , in north-eastern Eritrea for religious prisoners; Haddis Ma'askar , mostly underground, near
819-560: The Eritrea Defense Force has been helping the reestablishment of the Somali National Army . That year it clandestinely accepted 5,000 recruits for military training. During the Tigray War that began in 2020, Amhara militants involved in the conflict received expert military training from the EDF. Attribution Tigrinya language Tigrinya ( ትግርኛ , Təgrəñña ), sometimes spelled Tigrigna ,
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#1732771796900858-641: The Ministry of Defence, Chief of Staff of the Eritrean Defence Forces . Abraha was dismissed from his post and stripped of his military rank by the President in February 2000. He was arrested in September 2001 due to his membership of the G-15 group of ministers calling for political reforms. He has been held incommunicado since that time. He was reported to be suffering from asthma. In 2010,
897-484: The Sawa Training Centre to complete the final year of their secondary education, which is integrated with their military service. If a student does not attend this period of training, he or she will not be allowed to attend university - many routes to employment also require proof of military training. However, they may be able to attend a vocational training centre, or to find work in the private sector. At
936-556: The balance is spent working on national reconstruction projects. This program allegedly aims to compensate for Eritrea's lack of capital and to reduce dependence on foreign aid, while welding together an ethnically diverse society, half Christian and half Muslim, representing nine ethnic groups. This is outlined in both the Constitution of Eritrea and Proclamation 82 issued by the National Assembly on 1995-10-23. However,
975-457: The consonant and the vowel. In the table below the columns are assigned to the seven vowels of Tigrinya; they appear in the traditional order. The rows are assigned to the consonants, again in the traditional order. For each consonant in an abugida, there is an unmarked symbol representing that consonant followed by a canonical or inherent vowel . For the Ethiopic abugida, this canonical vowel
1014-432: The consonants, with the exception of the pharyngeal and glottal , can be geminated. The velar consonants /k/ and /kʼ/ are pronounced differently when they appear immediately after a vowel and are not geminated . In these circumstances, /k/ is pronounced as a velar fricative . /kʼ/ is pronounced as a fricative, or sometimes as an affricate . This fricative or affricate is more often pronounced further back, in
1053-540: The country. According to the Government of Eritrea, "The sole objective of the National Service program is thus to cultivate capable, hardworking, and alert individuals." Eritrean conscripts are used in non-military capacities as well. Soldiers are often used as supplemental manpower in the country's agricultural fields picking crops, though much of the harvested food is used to feed the military rather than
1092-535: The crisis in northern Ethiopia or have obstructed a ceasefire or peace process to resolve such crisis". The EDF was led from 1991 by Ogbe Abraha , until 2000, when he was dismissed for his participation in the G-15 group of ministers who called for political change in Eritrea. A prison guard stated that Ogbe died in prison in 2002 from asthma . As of 2014, the Chief of Staff is Filipos Woldeyohannes . The Eritrean Defence Forces are considerably small when compared to
1131-450: The end of the 1½-year national service, a conscript can elect to stay on and become a career military officer. Conscripts who elect otherwise may, in theory, return to their civilian life but will continue to be reservists. In practice, graduates of military service are often chosen for further national service according to their vocation - for example, teachers may be compulsorily seconded for several years to schools in an unfamiliar region of
1170-468: The final years of the struggle for independence, the EPLF ranks grew to 110,000 volunteers (some 3% of the total population). During the first two decades of independence, the EDF formally had the power to detain and arrest civilians, and used this power to help police detain and arrest civilians, which systematically happened for arbitrary reasons. Together with police, EPLF members and government officials,
1209-709: The fourth most spoken language in Ethiopia after Amharic , Oromo , and Somali . It is also spoken by large immigrant communities around the world, in countries including Sudan , Saudi Arabia , Israel, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States. In Australia, Tigrinya is one of the languages broadcast on public radio via the multicultural Special Broadcasting Service . Tigrinya dialects differ phonetically, lexically, and grammatically. No dialect appears to be accepted as
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1248-432: The general population. In 2012 the government created People's Militia (known natively as the "Hizbawi Serawit"), to provide additional military training to civilians and assist in development work. Many elderly citizens have been forced to join. Its organizational structure is set up by profession and/or geographic. It serves as a form of national service. In 2013, it was led by Brigadier General Teklai Manjus. Since 2019,
1287-499: The invading force. However, this was reversed by British and Ethiopian troops in 1941. The Eritrean infantry battalions and cavalry squadrons of the " Regio Corpo Truppe Coloniali " (Royal Colonial Corps) saw extensive service in the various Italian colonial territories between 1888 and 1942. During the war for Eritrea's independence rebel movements (the ELF and the EPLF ) used volunteers. In
1326-475: The largest in Africa such as those of Egypt , Algeria , and Morocco . The size of Eritrea's population is small, particularly when compared to its neighbors. During peacetime the military of Eritrea numbers approximately 245,000 with a reserve force of approximately 850,000. Every able bodied man and woman is required to serve ostensibly for 18 months. In this time they receive six months of military training and
1365-553: The period of enlistment may be extended during times of national crisis and the typical period of national service is considerably longer than the minimum. Since the 1990s, conscription has been effectively open-ended; this draft policy has been likened to "slavery" and has earned international condemnation. Military training is given at the Sawa Defence Training Centre and Kiloma Military Training Centre . Students, both male and female, are required to attend
1404-832: The publication of the Amnesty International report, Al Jazeera English had not received responses from Eritrean officials, but commented that the Eritrean Minister of Information had stated in January 2021 that "the rabid defamation campaign against Eritrea [was] on the rise again". On 12 November 2021, the U.S. Department of the Treasury 's Office of Foreign Assets Control added the EDF to its to its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list for being "a government entity that has engaged in, or whose members have engaged in, activities that have contributed to
1443-595: The sentence, there is a strong influence of Geʽez on Tigrinya literature, especially with terms relating to Christian life, Biblical names, and so on. Ge'ez, because of its status in Eritrean and Ethiopian culture, and possibly also its simple structure, acted as a literary medium until relatively recent times. The earliest written example of Tigrinya is a text of local laws found in the district of Logosarda, Debub Region in Southern Eritrea, which dates from
1482-468: The status of working language in the country. Eritrea was the only state in the world to officially recognize Tigrinya until 2020, when Ethiopia made changes to recognize Tigrinya on a national level. There is no general name for the people who speak Tigrinya. In Eritrea, Tigrinya speakers are officially known as the Bəher-Təgrəñña ( ' nation of Tigrinya speakers ' ) or Tigrinya people . In Ethiopia,
1521-552: The table. When it is necessary to represent a consonant with no following vowel, the consonant + ə form is used (the symbol in the sixth column). For example, the word ʼǝntay 'what?' is written እንታይ , literally ʼǝ-nǝ-ta-yǝ. Since some of the distinctions that were apparently made in Ge'ez have been lost in Tigrinya, there are two rows of symbols each for the consonants ‹ḥ›, ‹s›, and ‹sʼ›. In Eritrea, for ‹s› and ‹sʼ›, at least, one of these has fallen into disuse in Tigrinya and
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