The Horn of Africa has been sitting on my travel wish list for what feels like decades. I thought I was going to Somalia this year, but put it on hold for another time. When I do get to go I hope to include stops in Ethiopia and Eritrea. Most people probably know more about Somalia and Ethiopia than they do Eritrea and most of what they know more than likely has something to do with poverty. Seems as though Eritrea and Ethiopia are at odds again and I'm hopeful they'll resolve their differences soon. Until that time we can either rely on the reports from folks like Polo's Bastards or the images at Lonely Planet to hold us over. There is a beach shot at Lonely Planet that is beyond breath-taking.

Today's word is a Tigrinya word used in Eritrea:

täzaräb - (m) speak

Tigrinya is spoken in Eritrea and Ethiopia. Eritrea has no official language, but three working langs which include Tigrinya, Arabic and English. Italian is sometimes used commercially. There are approximately 6.75 million Tigrinya speakers. Wiki has a great run-down of the language peppered with words here and there. Home.planet.nl has a good vocabulary list and examples of the alphabet. Their site is worth visiting to get you started on the right path. They include links to purchase software and CD's to continue learning offline.

Filed under: Learning, Africa, Eritrea