Tigrinya Translation Services
Professional English to Tigrinya and Tigrinya to English translation, localization and interpreting by native linguists.
Tigrinya translation converts content between Tigrinya and languages such as English and Arabic. Tigrinya is an Ethio-Semitic language spoken by about 9.9 million people in Eritrea and northern Ethiopia, and it is written in the Geʽez script. Sawatech translates documents, websites, apps and multimedia into and out of Tigrinya under an ISO 17100-certified process: every translation is done by a native linguist and checked by a second one.
What’s slowing you down right now?
- Script handling: Tigrinya is written in the Ethiopic script, so font coverage and fallback behaviour are worth testing early rather than discovering at proof stage.
- Requirement uncertainty: the authority or organisation receiving your documents may set its own expectations for the Tigrinya version.
- Interface assumptions: the Ethiopic script has no upper and lower case, so styling rules built around capitalisation do nothing for Ethiopic text — though Latin words in the same string are still affected.
- Terminology decisions: project terms should be checked against established Tigrinya resources and agreed with qualified reviewers, rather than settled differently in each file.
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Tigrinya at a Glance
Tigrinya (also spelled Tigrigna) is the language of about 9.9 million people in Eritrea and northern Ethiopia. These are the facts that shape every Tigrinya translation project.
| Native speakers | About 9.9 million (2022–23) |
|---|---|
| Where it’s spoken | Eritrea and the Tigray Region of Ethiopia, with large communities in Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Germany, Sweden, Italy, the UK, Canada and the US |
| Status | A main working language of Eritrea; recognized at federal level in Ethiopia in 2020 |
| Language family | Afro-Asiatic › Semitic › Ethio-Semitic (related to Amharic and Tigre) |
| Script | Geʽez (Ethiopic) abugida, known as fidel: each character is a consonant plus a vowel, with seven vowel forms per consonant |
| Codes | ISO 639-1 ti · ISO 639-3 tir · locales ti-ER and ti-ET · Unicode Ethiopic block U+1200–U+137F |
| Also spelled | Tigrigna, Tigrinia |
| Reference variety | No official standard; the Asmara variety is the most used in print, news and film |
Sources: Wikipedia – Tigrinya language; Google – 24 new languages (2022).
What You Get with Sawatech
- Native Eritrean and Ethiopian Tigrinya linguists, vetted for your subject matter.
- ISO 17100 (translation), ISO 18587 (machine translation post-editing) and ISO 9001 (quality management) certified processes.
- A glossary, style guide and translation memory you keep, so terminology stays consistent across teams and release cycles.
- Files returned in their original format, with Ethiopic fonts embedded and rendering checked after translation.
- Clear scoping: audience, variety, formats and review requirements agreed at the start rather than discovered late.
- One partner for translation, localization, DTP, multimedia and interpreting — plus Amharic, Oromo, Somali and Arabic for Horn of Africa projects.
- Africa and MENA language specialists since 2013, working in 120+ languages.
Our Tigrinya Translation Services
From a single certificate to a multilingual product launch, Sawatech covers the full Tigrinya workflow — English to Tigrinya, Tigrinya to English, localization, multimedia and interpreting — with one team and one glossary.
Eritrean or Ethiopian Tigrinya? Choosing the Right Variety
Eritrean and Ethiopian (Tigray) Tigrinya are the same language, but they differ enough in vocabulary and spelling conventions that you should choose one for your audience. Eritrean usage includes more loanwords from Italian and Arabic; usage in Tigray borrows more from Amharic. Spelling of some Geʽez characters also varies.
- Eritrean Tigrinya (ti-ER): best for audiences in Eritrea and most of the Eritrean diaspora in Europe, Israel and North America.
- Ethiopian Tigrinya (ti-ET): best for audiences in Tigray and Ethiopian institutions.
- Mixed or unknown audience: we use neutral terms both groups accept and record each choice in your glossary.
Tell us who will read the text and we will recommend a variety before we quote. Need another Horn of Africa language too? See our Amharic, Oromo, Somali and Arabic translation services.
Is Google Translate Good Enough for Tigrinya?
Google Translate has supported Tigrinya since May 2022. It is useful for getting the gist of a message, but not reliable for anything someone will act on. Tigrinya has far less training data than major languages, so machine output often mixes the two varieties and mistranslates idioms and legal or medical terms. It also handles gemination poorly: doubled consonants change a word’s meaning, but the script doesn’t always mark them.
| Use | Machine translation | Professional Tigrinya translator |
|---|---|---|
| Understanding a casual message | Usually fine | Not needed |
| Public information, health or safety notices | Risky | Recommended |
| Legal, immigration or medical documents | Not acceptable | Required |
| Websites, apps and marketing | Wrong tone, often the wrong variety | Recommended |
| Large volumes on a budget | Draft only | MT + full post-editing (ISO 18587) |
For large volumes, our ISO 18587-certified machine translation post-editing combines machine speed with a native linguist’s full review.
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● Use cases
How Organizations Use Our Tigrinya Translation Services
From humanitarian programs to product teams, pick your sector to see what we translate and the Tigrinya detail we get right — including legal, financial and healthcare translation.
Programs & field work
Humanitarian & NGOs
Reach Eritrean and Tigrayan communities in the language they trust — in the field, in camps and in the diaspora.
What we translate
Needs assessments
Registration & consent forms
Awareness campaigns
Feedback surveys
Field reports
The Tigrinya detail we get right
Plain-language Tigrinya tested for reading level, in the variety your community actually speaks: Eritrean or Ethiopian.
Residents & services
Government & public services
Clear, consistent information for Tigrinya-speaking residents, from first contact to final decision.
What we translate
Immigration & asylum information
Resettlement guides
School & social-services letters
Certified civil records
Interpreting for appointments
The Tigrinya detail we get right
Names and dates are transliterated the same way in every document, including conversions from the Ethiopian calendar.
Patients & clinical
Healthcare & medical
Health information patients can act on safely, reviewed before it reaches them.
What we translate
Patient leaflets
Consent forms
Discharge instructions
Clinical trial material
Public-health campaigns
The Tigrinya detail we get right
Medical terms are checked against established Tigrinya usage and reviewed by a second linguist before release.
Contracts & proceedings
Legal
Legal Tigrinya prepared for the court, authority or counterparty that will rely on it.
What we translate
Contracts & terms
Court papers
Witness statements
Policies
Certified translations
The Tigrinya detail we get right
We confirm who will receive the document first, because that decides how the Tigrinya version is prepared and reviewed.
Reports & members
Financial
Financial content where every figure and date reads exactly as intended.
What we translate
Reports & statements
Member communications
Disclosures
Remittance & banking UI
The Tigrinya detail we get right
Number and date formats follow an agreed style guide; standard Western digits are the usual choice in contemporary Tigrinya publishing.
UI & onboarding
Product & software
Interfaces that feel native in Tigrinya, checked on screen before release.
What we translate
UI strings
Error messages
Onboarding flows
App store listings
The Tigrinya detail we get right
Geʽez has no upper or lower case, so uppercase styling does nothing to Ethiopic text. We flag those UI patterns before you ship.
Campaigns & content
Marketing
Campaigns adapted for Tigrinya audiences, not just translated word for word.
What we translate
Landing pages
Email & social posts
Campaign copy
Video subtitles
The Tigrinya detail we get right
Emphasis comes from weight, size and spacing rather than capital letters, and tone is adapted to the audience.
Help centres & chat
Customer support
Self-service content that matches your product word for word.
What we translate
Help-centre articles
Macros & canned replies
FAQs
Chat scripts
The Tigrinya detail we get right
Support terms are aligned with your interface, so an article and the screen it describes use the same words.
Our Tigrinya Translation Process
- Scope: you share the files, audience and deadline; we confirm the variety, formats and reviewer requirements and send a fixed quote.
- Translate: a native Tigrinya linguist with subject experience translates using your glossary and translation memory.
- Revise: a second linguist reviews the full translation against the source, as ISO 17100 requires.
- Format and check: we lay out the files, embed Ethiopic fonts and check rendering in the final layout before delivery.
A professional translator typically handles 2,000–2,500 words a day, plus time for revision and formatting. Larger projects are split across a team that shares one glossary, so terminology stays consistent. Request a free Tigrinya translation quote.
Quality, Confidentiality and ISO-Certified Processes
Quality is built into a defined process rather than left to best effort: agreed terminology before drafting, a review step between drafting and delivery, and a record of what was decided and by whom. Raise your requirements at quoting stage and they are built into the workflow rather than added later.
- Terminology is agreed up front in a glossary, so wording is settled once rather than re-argued on every file.
- A defined review step sits between drafting and delivery, with reviewer scope agreed per project.
- The intended audience is confirmed before work starts, so wording and conventions are chosen deliberately rather than left to the individual linguist.
- Translation memory keeps repeated and updated content consistent across releases and reduces drift over time.
- Rendering is verified after translation, not assumed: font coverage and fallback, line height and line breaks are checked in the final layout and in exported documents.
- Confidentiality arrangements, including non-disclosure terms and how files are transferred, can be agreed before any material changes hands.
Tigrinya Translation FAQs
Clear answers on varieties, script, cost, turnaround and formats.
Is Tigrinya the same as Amharic?
No. Tigrinya and Amharic are separate Ethio-Semitic languages. Both use the Geʽez script, so they look alike on the page, but their vocabulary, grammar and sounds differ. An Amharic translation is not a Tigrinya deliverable. If you need both, each is translated and reviewed by its own native linguists.
Is Tigrinya the same as Tigre?
No. Tigre is a separate language, spoken mainly in western and northern Eritrea and eastern Sudan. The names are similar and both use the Geʽez script, but they are distinct languages that need different translators. Confirm which one your audience speaks before you order.
Should we use Eritrean or Ethiopian Tigrinya?
Use Eritrean Tigrinya (ti-ER) for readers in Eritrea and most of the diaspora in Europe, Israel and North America. Use Ethiopian Tigrinya (ti-ET) for readers in the Tigray Region. The two differ in some vocabulary, loanwords and spelling. For a mixed audience we use terms both groups accept.
Do you translate both English to Tigrinya and Tigrinya to English?
Yes. We translate in both directions, and between Tigrinya and Arabic, Amharic and other languages. Each direction is handled by a linguist who is native in the target language, and a second linguist revises the work.
Do you provide certified Tigrinya translations?
Yes. Certified Tigrinya translations of civil records, IDs, diplomas, court papers and immigration documents are delivered with a signed statement of accuracy. Names and dates are rendered consistently across every document in the set.
Is Google Translate accurate for Tigrinya?
Only for the gist. Google added Tigrinya in 2022, but the language has little training data. Machine output often mixes the Eritrean and Ethiopian varieties, misreads gemination and gets legal and medical terms wrong. Anything official, public-facing or medical needs a professional translator.
How much does Tigrinya translation cost?
Tigrinya translation is priced per word, or per page for short certificates. The rate depends on the subject, the volume, the file format and the deadline. Send your files and we will reply with a fixed quote.
How long does a Tigrinya translation take?
One professional translator typically handles 2,000 to 2,500 words a day, plus time for revision and formatting. Short documents can often be delivered within one to two business days. Large projects are split across a team that shares one glossary.
Will Tigrinya display correctly in our documents and on our website?
Yes, if the fonts support the Ethiopic Unicode block (U+1200 to U+137F). We test font coverage, fallback fonts, line height and line breaks in the final layout, and embed or subset the Ethiopic fonts in PDFs and design files.
Do you provide Tigrinya interpreters, transcription and subtitling?
Yes. We provide simultaneous, consecutive, over-the-phone and video remote Tigrinya interpreting, plus Tigrinya transcription, subtitling and voice-over. For interpreting, share the agenda and glossary in advance so the interpreter arrives knowing your terminology.
How is confidentiality handled?
Through NDAs and agreed secure file-transfer methods, both set before any files are shared. Access is limited to the linguists assigned to your project, under our ISO 9001 quality management system.
What should we send to get a Tigrinya translation quote?
Send the files, or a sample, along with the target audience and its location, the variety if you know it, the file formats, the deadline and any existing glossary. We will confirm the scope and send a fixed quote.