What Languages Are Spoken In Eritrea? (Helpful Content!)

Eritrea, like many African countries, is enormously linguistically diverse. The main languages are Tigrinya, Tigre, Kunama, Bilen, Nara, Saho, Afar and Beja. Many other foreign languages also play a key role, including Italian, English, and Arabic. A number of other Afro-Asiatic and Nilo-Saharah languages are also spoken, as well as some other Indo-European.

Eritrea, then, is a nation of a great many different languages.

The vast majority of the population speaks a handful of these, but the population of the country is so ethnically diverse that it is a bubbling linguistic melting pot.

There’s a lot to learn about the role of language in Eritrea, so let’s not waste any more time.

In This Article

How many languages are spoken in Eritrea?

Eritrea has nine official languages, but a great many more than this are spoken in some capacity in the country.

Language Family	Language/Dialect	Speakers (2006 unless otherwise noted)	Notes
Afro-Asiatic	Tigrinya	2,540,000	Most widely spoken
	Tigre	1,050,000
	Dahlik	2,500 (2012)	Dahlak Archipelago
	Beja (Bedawiyet)	158,000	Spoken by Hedareb
	Saho	191,000
	Afar	< 100,000
	Blin or Bilen	91,000	Spoken in Anseba region and Keren town area
Nilo-Saharan	Kunama	187,000
Nilo-Saharan	Nara	81,400
Arabic Variants	Sudanese Arabic	100,000
	Hadhrami Arabic	100,000
	Hijazi Arabic	24,000	Spoken by the Rashaida
	Ta’izzi-Adeni Arabic	18,000
	Modern Standard Arabic	N/A	Educational language
Italian	Italian (Pidgin)	N/A	Spoken mainly in Asmara and Massawa
English	English	N/A	De facto working language

The official languages of Eritrea include Tigrinya, which is by far the most commonly spoken language in Eritrea.

Tigrinya is widely spoken in parts of Eritrea and Ethiopia and is an Ethio-Semitic language.

Another language common in Eritrea is Tigre, closely related to Tigrinya. It is spoken broadly in the Horn of Africa and is another Semitic language.

It is believed to be closely related to the Ge’ez language, a now-extinct language that is still used liturgically in Eritrean and Ethiopian orthodox churches.

There are around one million native Tigre speakers.

Kunama is another of the most common languages in Eritrea, which is only distantly related to most other living languages.

It is proposed as a member of the as yet not universally accepted Nilo-Saharan language group.

This language has multiple dialects and is spoken primarily in western Eritrea, as well as in northern Ethiopia.

It is spoken by the Kunama people of the Gash-Barka region.

Bilen is spoken in and around Keren, in Eritrea, and it is the only Cushitic, or Agaw, language spoken in Eritrea.

Nara, also called Barea, is spoken by the Nara people just north of Barentu, again in the Gash-Barka region in the west.

Though only distantly related, Nara and Kunama are often confused with one another.

There is a debate about whether this language is in danger of extinction, as some believe it is in immediate peril of disappearing while others believe there is no danger whatsoever.

The list goes on—the main languages, then, are Tigrinya, Tigre, Kunama, Bilen, Nara, Saho, Afar and Beja.

Many foreign langauges are also widely spoken, with Arabic playing a very important role in Eritrean life.

Other than this, Italian and English are widely understood and spoken in Eritrea.

What are the top three languages in Eritrea?

Tigrinya

The main language in Eritrea is Tigrinya.

It is the first language of the Tigrinya people, and there are an estimated 2.5-3 million Tigrinya speakers in Eritrea.

The Tigrinya people are native to Eritrea and make up the largest proportion of the population.

The global population of Tigrinya speakers is close to 10 million, across Eritrea, Ethiopia, and other parts of the global diaspora.

It uses the Ge’ez script.

Tigre

Tigre, or otherwise known as Tigrayit in Eritrea, is the second most commonly spoken language in Eritrea.

There are estimated to be well over 1 million Tigre speakers in Eritrea.

The language is also spoken widely in Sudan.

It is a recognized minority language, meaning that it is not the main language but is still an officially recognized language of the country.

There are many dialects of this language, including Mansa, Habab, Barka, Semhar, and Algeden.

Kunama

After that the most widely spoken language is Kunama, with around 240,000 native speakers total spread across Eritrea and Ethiopia.

As mentioned, it is something of a linguistic outlier, not being closely related to many living African languages.

Arabic, though, also plays an important role in Eritrea—let’s find out why.

Why do Eritreans speak Arabic?

Firstly, there are simply many native Arabic speakers in Eritrea, including Sudanese and Hijazi Arabic.

Around 90% of Eritrean Arabic speakers speak Sudanese Arabic.

However, Modern Standard Arabic is the language of education, used in both primary and secondary schools as the language of education.

Most Eritrean children, then, are brought up understanding Arabic as well as their native indigenous language.

Eritrean history and culture is deeply connected to the Arab world, all but bordering Yemen and Saudi Arabi.

Historic trade and political relations have meant Arabic has played an important role in the country and people’s history.

Is it difficult to learn Tigrinya?

Relatively speaking, Tigrinya is surprisingly straightforward to learn for an English speaker.

There are a great many loan words from Indo-European languages making vocabulary fairly simple, and there’s not much difference between the written and spoken forms.

Nonetheless, it is very different from English in a lot of ways and learning an entirely new language is never really “easy”.

It takes time and patience, and you would struggle to learn a language such as this which is lesser known in the West without being in the country and regularly using the language.

If you are committed, though, then Tigrinya is far from the most difficult language for an English speaker to learn.

It is often striking for people in the west to learn how diverse African nations are.

Many of them are comprised of dozens of indigenous ethnic groups, often all of whom have their own recognized languages.

Eritrea is a great example of this, with nine official languages and many other widely spoken though not official languages.

References

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/atlas/tigrinya/language.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Eritrea

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Founder - @PollyWebster

Polly Webster is the founder of Foreign Lingo and a seasoned traveler with a decade of exploration under her belt.

Over the past 10 years, she has journeyed to numerous countries around the globe, immersing herself in diverse cultures, traditions, and languages.

Drawing from her rich experiences, Polly now writes insightful articles about travel, languages, traditions, and cultures, sharing her unique perspectives and invaluable tips with her readers.

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