Tigre people

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Not to be confused with Tigrinya people or Tigrayans.
For other uses, see Tigre (disambiguation).
Tigre
ትግረ
Regions with significant populations
 Eritrea1.8 million[1]
 Sudanc. 20,000 refugees[2]
Languages
Tigre
Religion
Islam (95%)
Christianity (5%)[3][4]
Related ethnic groups
Tigrinya, Tigrayans, Amhara, Gurage and other Ethio-Semitic People[5]

The Tigre people (Tigre: ትግረ tigre and ትግሬ tigrē) are an ethnic group indigenous to Eritrea. They mainly inhabit the lowlands and northern highlands of Eritrea.

History

The Tigre are a nomadic agro-pastoralist community living in the northern, western, and coastal highlands of

Beni-Amer, Beit Asgede, Ad Shaikh, Mensa, Beit Juk, and Marya peoples.[2]

The original speakers of the Tigre language were mainly Christian, reflecting cultural exchange with neighboring Ethiopia.[2] The first Tigre converts to Islam were those who lived on islands in the Red Sea and adopted Islam in the 7th century during the religion's earliest years. Mainland Tigre adopted Islam much later on including as late as the 19th century.[6] During World War II, many Tigre served in the Italian Colonial army, part of the period of Italian Eritrea.[2]

The Tigre are closely related to the Tigrinya people of Eritrea,[6] as well as the Beja (particularly the Hadendoa).[7] There are also a number of Eritreans of Tigre origin living across the Middle East, North America, the United Kingdom and Australia.[citation needed]

Religion

About 95% of Tigre practice Islam, the remainder practice Christianity, and both incorporate elements of the animist folk religion.[2][8] Religious divisions have not been of particular concern within the Tigre.[8] Most are Sunni Muslims, but there are a small number of Christians (who are members of the

Roman Catholic Church, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Eritrea) among them as well (often referred to as the Mensaï in Eritrea).[citation needed
]

Language

The

Ge'ez writing system (an abugida
) to publish documents in the Tigre language.

Tigre is the lingua franca of the multi-ethnic lowlands of western and northern Eritrea, including the northern coast. As such approximately 75% of the Western Lowlands Eritrean population speaks Tigre.

Since around 1889, the

Ge'ez script (Ethiopic script) has been used to write the Tigre language. Tigre speakers formerly used Arabic more widely as a lingua franca.[10] Due to most Tigre speakers being Muslim, the language is also written in the Arabic alphabet.[11]

The Tigre people, language and their area of inhabitation should not be confused with that of the

Biher-Tigrinya who live in the central Eritrean highlands, both of which speak varying dialects of Tigrinya
, a closely related Semitic language.

Dialects

There are several dialects of Tigre, some of them are; Mansa’ (Mensa), Habab, Barka, Semhar, Algeden, Senhit (Ad-Tekleis, Ad-Temariam, Bet-Juk, Marya Kayah, Maria Tselam) and Dahalik, which is spoken in Dahlak archipelago. Intelligibility between the dialects is above 91% (except Dahalik), where intelligibility between Dahalik and the other dialects is between 24% and 51%.[12]

Notable Tigre people

References

Notes

References

  1. ^ "Africa :: Eritrea — The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency". www.cia.gov. 18 July 2022.
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-1-135-19388-1
    .
  3. ISBN 978-1-56000-433-2
    .
  4. ^ "Eritrean Ethnic Groups". Study.com.
  5. ISBN 978-1581120004
    .
  6. ^
    ISBN 978-0-313-27918-8
    .
  7. ^ Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute. Royal Anthropological Institute. p. 609. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  8. ^
    ISBN 978-1-56000-433-2
    .
  9. ^ Allen, H (1888). Th Encyclopedia of Britannica. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
  10. ^ "Tigré". Ethnologue. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
  11. ISBN 0837198801
    .
  12. ^ Eritrean census figure cited by Ethnologue.

Further reading

  • Lusini, Gianfrancesco, ed. (2010). History and language of the Tigre-speaking peoples : proceedings of the International Workshop, Naples, February 7–8, 2008. Università degli studi di Napoli "L'Orientale," Dipartimento di studi e ricerche su Africa e paesi arab.
    ISBN 978-8895044682
    .
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