African Languages and Societies Commons^™

The Witty And Hilarious Stories Of Shum Fre-Hans - ተረካብ ዘረባ ሽም ፍረሓንስ, Abraham Negash

Symposium on Eritrean Literature

Before the beginning of written literature, the stories told by people known for their wisdom and intellect in their villages were passed from generation to generation by word of mouth.

However, as time went by and the tellers of Eritrean folklore passed away and the rest of society became nonchalant, the meaning and pleasurable messages started to fade away from the memory of society. If those stories had been written down, they would have enriched and contributed immensely to the development of Eritrean language, culture, and literature.

Considering that a lot has been said and narrated in different regions on …

The Origin And Development Of Tigrinya Language Publications (1886 - 1991) Volume One, Abraham Negash

Staff publications, research, and presentations

Tigrinya is a Semitic language spoken in Eritrea and in the Tigray Region of Northern Ethiopia. Tigrinya is one of the nine languages in Eritrea. It was one of Eritrea's official languages (along with Arabic) during the short-lived federation with Ethiopia (1952-1962). When Ethiopia officially annexed Eritrea in 1962, Amharic also formally replaced Tigrinya and Arabic; and was established as an official language by the imperial government of Ethiopia. In 1993, when Eritrea officially declared its independence through referendum. Tigrinya regained its status as a working language.

Tigrinya has its own alphabet of 32 letters adopted from Ge'ez, a language …