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Tigrinya in the Kitchen

Kayleigh Reyes

with Ms. Ruth Tesfalidet,

Ms. Feven Tesfalidet, and Mr. Daniel Goitom as language consultants

December 12, 2014

Linguistics Field Methods

Abstract

This paper provides an overview of food and kitchen terms in Tigrinya elicited through recipes

and simple phrases. A background on Eritrea provides a basis for understanding the role of food

culture in one’s language and identity. I include two staple recipes to provide adventurous

cooks with a taste of Tigrinya and a glossary of food and kitchen related terms.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Ms. Ruth Tesfalidet, Ms. Feven Tesfalidet, and Mr. Daniel Goitom for

offering their time and their language for this study and for their patience with my inability to

properly replicate ejectives. I would also like to thank my classmates whose personal and class

elicitation sessions added to my data.

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1. The Tigrinya Language

Tigrinya is an Afro-Asiatic language under the Semitic language branch spoken in the

Horn of Africa. It has a complex consonant inventory containing ejectives, glottals, and

pharyngeals as seen in (1)1. Most of the stops and fricatives have a contrast between voiced,

voiceless, and voiceless ejective. Figure (2) shows a chart of the seven Tigrinya vowels.

(1)

(2)

Front Central Back

Close i ɨ u

Open e ^ o

Mid a

The Tigrinya language is typically a Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) word order with the

ability to be SOV, SV, and OV as shown in the examples below.

(3)2 ‘ane ‘asa jifetu

1st.SG fish like

S O V

“I like fish”

1 Tigrinya language. (2014, November 12). Retrieved December 12, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tigrinya_language 2 (FriSep26of2014Kayleighat11)

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(4)3 ’anɐ nɐfirɐ

1st.SG fly.Past.1stSG

S V

“I flew”

(5)4 neta durho koraritz-ia

the chicken breakdown-imp

|_____ O ________| V

“you breakdown the chicken”

Nouns in Tigrinya are marked for both gender and number and must agree with any

modifiers they follow including adjectives and determiners. Adjectives precede nouns in simple

noun phrases (6a) as well as in phrases that include conjunctions. When the adjective refers to

both nouns in the conjoined noun phrases the adjective is placed in front of the first noun only

(6b). Placing the same adjective in front of the noun in the second noun phrase is considered

redundant and was rejected by our Native Speaker Consultant, Ruth *(6c). If each noun in the

conjoined noun phrases is modified by a different adjective then each adjective is placed

directly before the noun it modifies (6d).

(6)5 (a) zebesele durho

cooked chicken

Adj N

“cooked chicken”

(b) zebesele durh-on ahimilt-un

cooked chicken-and vegetables-and

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Adj N-Conj N-Conj

“cooked chicken and cooked vegetables”

*(c) zebesele durh-on zebesele ahimilt-un

cooked chicken-and cooked vegetables-and

Adj N-Conj Adj N-Conj

“cooked chicken and cooked vegetables”

(d) zebesele durh-on t’ure ahimilt-un

cooked chicken-and raw vegetables-and

Adj N-Conj Adj N-Conj

“cooked chicken and raw vegetables”

Prepositions also precede the noun phrase they are interacting with, shown in example

(7a) and (7b). When a prepositional phrase is included in a larger sentence frame it follows the

noun it is referreing to as in (7c).

(7)6 (a) kap-ti mai

from-the water

Prep-DEM N

“from the water”

(b) ab-ti sebhe

in-the dish

Prep-DEM N

“into the stew”

(c) ingwa’aho ab mai tebsul-io

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egg in water boil-imp

N Prep N V

“boil the eggs”

2. Eritrean Culture

One cannot talk about a language without also talking about the country in which it is

spoken. A person’s national identity and linguistic identity are undeniably tied to one another.

While Tigrinya is spoken in multiple countries, the Tigrinya discussed herein is based on a

variety spoken by three Native Language Consultants originally from Eritrea, a small country to

the northeast. Eritrea has a rich and varied history with the Turks and Italians providing perhaps

the most long lasting influences. The Turks who had control of Eritrea long before European

colonization brought with them a distinct style of dress, architecture, and Islam7. They also

introduced chili peppers that are a staple in traditional Eritrean cooking.

Though it was the Italians, who controlled Eritrea until the end of World War II, who left

the largest mark on the food culture in Eritrea. Italian foods such are common to see in

Tigrinyan homes; in fact, lasagna is usually prepared as a side dish at holidays for guests who do

not want to eat a lot of spice8. When my main Native Language Consultant Ruth spoke of the

traditional foods she cooks in her home here in the United States in order to share her culture

with her children, I was surprised to hear Italian classics being listed right alongside more exotic

sounding Eritrean dishes. In most cases, the Italian dishes were borrowed into the Tigrinya

language phonologically as in. Some ingredients introduced by the Italians were phonologically

adapted to Tigrinya rules such as the word for ‘tomato’ which in Italian is pomodoro and was

borrowed into Tigrinya as komidere. While Tigrinya already had a word for ‘tomato’, zebhi

abun, it became replaced in common speech by komidere and is now only remembered by

older generations living in the remote countryside9.

7 Warren, O. (2000). Taste of Eritrea: Recipes from one of East Africa's most interesting little countries. New York: Hippocrene. 8 (FriNov21of2014Kayleighat11) 9 (FriSep19of2014Kayleighat11Part2)

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For Ruth, the transition to American life brought many changes. Schedules became

more complicated and time became an issue. Most of what she prepares for her family now is

quick American dishes but she still tries to bring her Eritrean homeland and Tigrinya roots to

her family. Her children love when she makes traditional meals, but to save a little time she has

started adapting her usual ingredients to more Americanized dishes that have a similar flavor

but take half the time10. What’s more, her house is never without the staples like ingera,

berbere, and sebhe. Eating out has been another adjustment for Ruth. While growing up in

Eritrea, going out to eat was a special occasion; only a new job or graduation from school was

cause enough for a family trip to a restaurant.

3. Eating

Upon walking into a Tigrinyan dinner party, one immediately feels like an honored

guest. Drinks are brought out on trays and bowls of food that could feed twice the number of

party guests are spread across the table. Traditionally the food is served communally with

family members and guests sharing from the same plate by tearing small pieces of ingera and

scooping them into their mouths11. Your host will invite you to eat and drink as much as you

want until you are full and then offer you another serving. Hosts will offer their guests as much

food as they are able even if that means eating less themselves.12 This is because guests are

consider part of the family; in essence they become like the hosts’ children. Parents will eat less

in order to make sure their children have as much food as they would need or like13. Eating is a

family activity and families make every effort to eat dinner with their children even if they get

home late. In Eritrea children either go to school from seven to twelve or from one to five with

older kids typically going in the afternoon. Whether they are a morning shift or an afternoon

shift, the children will eat lunch at home with their mother and other siblings. Because Eritreans

10 (FriNov21of2014Kayleighat11) 11 Warren 12 (FriNov21of2014Kayleighat11) 13 (FriNov21of2014Kayleighat11)

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get a one to two hour siesta from work around noon, which means even working parents are

often able to share lunch with their children.

4. Learning to Cook

During an informal chat on the way to join the field methods class for an elicitation

session, Ruth explained to me how learning to cook works in a Tigriyan household14. Recipes in

Tigrinya are shared through a combination of telling and showing. Girls learn to cook by

shadowing their mothers and older siblings in the kitchen. As soon as a child is old enough to be

aware of themselves, around the age of five or six, they start helping cook the family meals.

First they are assigned with simple tasks like preparing the vegetables or doing the mixing. As

they get older, they take on more responsibilities such as chopping things or handling the raw

meat. Once girls reach the age of about eleven or twelve cooking meals becomes their

responsibility. As Ruth says “children in Eritrean don’t go to the kitchen and ask what’s for

dinner, they go in the kitchen to see what is there and start cooking”.

While children learn to cook young, learning to shop is another story. Mothers typically

go to the market by themselves to shop for the family meals. Even when they have young kids,

they will leave them with their older siblings or neighbors at the house while they are shopping.

It is not until the girls are older, around the age of fifteen, that they begin to go with their

mothers to the market. At this point, the girls are considered to be at an age where they need

to learn skills to support their own families. They go with their mothers then to learn how to

pick the best products from amongst the vendors and to learn how to bargain for reasonable

prices without going to low.

As is common with many other cultures, cooking is a female dominated skill within the

home though professional chefs are traditionally men15. Males are not banned from the kitchen

and if they choose to help they are rarely rejected by their mothers. Though it is more typical

14 (Ruth Tesfalidet, personal conversation, November 21 2014) 15 (Ruth Tesfalidet, personal conversation, November 21 2014)

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for the sons to be playing outside or helping their father with chores outside of the house16.

While Ruth was able to tell me a variety of recipes she learned while growing up, my other

language consultant Daniel said there is only one recipe he has ever mastered: a quick and

simple grilled meat he struggled to learn after becoming homesick while in the United States.

5. Recipes

5.1. Structure of a Recipe

As previously noted, learning to cook in a Tigrinyan home is done through direct

exposure in the kitchen; this means recipes are passed on to others informally by word of

mouth. Recipes are told in the imperative as a set of sentences that sound like direct orders to

tell you what to do step by step. The imperative in Tigrinya is formed through the addition of a

morpheme to the root that is marked by the listener’s gender and number. Because I am a

female, the verbs in the recipe included either the female singular morpheme -i or -io.

The recipe format is a series of short utterances that don’t include a large amount of

detail. The reason for this is most likely because recipes are meant to be shown so the

utterances would be connected to the actual actions they describe. While she was sharing the

recipe with me, Ruth was very animated and often mimed the actions she was describing. Also,

in many instances she would elaborate about a particular ingredient or go on a tangent in the

middle of a sentence. This further supports my theory as it reflects a familial teaching

atmosphere.

Recipes in Tigrinya never begin with measurements or even a list of ingredients.

Because you learn from watching someone cook there would be no reason to give a list ahead

of time as you would see the ingredients for yourself while they were being used. From a young

age, girls are in the kitchen getting hands on experience so by the time they begin to cook for

their own family, the ingredients they need are second nature. Dishes are flavored as you go

16 (FriNov14of2014Kayleighat11)

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and cooks taste their food every step of the way until the last handful of spices to make the

flavor perfect.

5.2. Recipe Variations

When orally sharing a recipe, the speaker uses informal and conversational speech that

lacks many key grammatical features that are typically required in Tigrinya. Take for example

noun pluralization; in Tigrinya nouns are pluralized through the addition of a morpheme that

agrees in gender with the singular form of the noun. The singular form of ‘egg’, ingwa’aho, is

pluralized through the affixation of the feminine plural marker -tat to create ‘eggs’

ingwa’ahotat. The word ‘egg’ is a common noun and does not undergo any special rules during

pluralization, as such its plural surfaces as ingwa’ahotat in the expected instances. It is

interesting then to see when it, and other nouns, appears during the sharing of a recipe this

rule is ignored. Furthermore, not only is the plural morpheme dropped, but the noun is also no

longer required to agree with the preceding determiner.

During informal or conversational speech, when it is understood that the noun you are

referring to is pluralized you do not have to explicitly use the plural form. Also, if the noun you

are referring to is understood or has been previously stated you can omit it from your response

entirely. Both of these processes can be seen in the following example (8a) taken from a recipe

for chicken stew given by Ruth17. Here, it is the singular ingwa’aho that is used in the first

utterance despite the fact that Ruth was referring to multiple eggs being used, as evidenced by

the use of the plural determiner eten, while in the second utterance both the noun and

determiner were omitted altogether. The example that follows *(8b) was created by the

student linguist following traditional Tigrinya grammar rules and suggested to Ruth who said,

while it made sense and was acceptable, it sounded too formal for normal conversation.

(8) (a) eten ingwa’aho kap-ti mai be-manka tot’s-io

the egg from-the water with-spoon take out-imp

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DET N Prep-DET N PREP-N V

“take the eggs out the water with a spoon”

kuzahel tegetf-io

to let cool leave out-imp

V V

“leave the eggs out to cool”

*(b) eten ingwa’aho-tat kap-ti mai be-maka tot’s-io

the egg-plural from-the water with-spoon take out-imp

DET N Prep-DET N PREP-N V

“take the eggs out of the water with a spoon

eten ingwa’ahotat kuzahel tegetf-io

the eggs to let cool leave out-imp

DET N V V

“leave the eggs out to cool”

5.3. Berbere

Berbere is a traditional red pepper spice mixture fundamental to Tigrinya cooking. As a

staple ingredient, a traditional Tigrinya house is never without it in either its powdered form,

referred to as berbere, or in its paste form called dailʕh18. The paste dailʕh is made from

combining the powder with olive oil and can last for several months19. Every home cook has a

different recipe for berbere but the base ingredients always include the ground chili peppers. In

Eritrea guajillo peppers are harvested and dried in the sun then sold in bulk by the pound in

food markets. Home cooks buy the dried peppers, take them home to clean them, then bring

them back to the market to be ground into a powder20. Here I include a formal recipe for the

18 (FriNov14of2014Kayleighat11) 19 Warren 20 (FriNov14of2014Kayleighat11)

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making of berbere, taken from a cookbook21 loaned to be my language consultant Ruth, which

can be used for the following recipe for zigni durho.

Red Pepper Spice

2 cups ground red pepper

5 tablespoons garlic powder

2 tablespoons onion powder

2 tablespoons ground ginger

2 tablespoons ground cloves

2 tablespoons salt

1 tablespoon ground cumin

2 teaspoons ground fenugreek

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground cardamom

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Yield: 3 cups

Combine all ingredients. Mix thoroughly. Store in an airtight container.

5.4. Zigni Durho

Zigni durho is a spicy chicken stew that takes hours of preparation and is served on

holidays and festive occasions. Made with onion, berbere, tomato, hard boiled eggs, and

chicken the end result is a thick, dark red, spicy stew with meat that falls off the bone. Zigni

Durho is often served with ingera, a special bread made with teff that is very soft and a little

sour22. Traditionally the cook will bring out a large platter for the center of the table with pieces

of ingera across the bottom and ladles of the stew spread across them. (9) is a bowl of zigni

durho and (10) is a basket of ingera served by Ruth to the members of the field methods class

at the party she hosted to celebrate the end of the school semester.

21 Warren 22 (FriNov14of2014Kayleighat11)

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(9)

(10)

As is the case with recipes in Tigrinya, when Ruth told me how to make zigni durho she

did not include any measurements or amounts of ingredients. Since seasonings are added as

you go, the cook knows by taste when more spice is needed. For this recipe the only set

requirements are that you use at least twelve eggs and a whole chicken broken down into its 12

parts23. The twelve parts of the chicken are:

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1 neck kisaad

4 wings memfurfur

2 thigh selef

2 drumsticks eigri

2 breasts melhats

1 backside hʕoh

What follows is the recipe for zigni durho as told to me by my Native Language

Consultant Ruth. The full recipe took three elicitation sessions and some words were missed in

the translation. Words in the gloss marked with a “?” denote words that did not receive a direct

translation. The italicized text is the phonetic transcription of every utterance made by Ruth

and beneath that is a word for word gloss followed by a general gloss for the full statement. A

morpheme gloss is not included for the sake of simplicity. There are notes made throughout to

clarify details of the recipe or culinary terms in the form of footnotes. I end with a summary of

the recipe in English that, from personal experience, creates a delicious stew.

Zigni Durho24

stew chicken

‘Chicken Stew’

sugorti adq’iqa mimetrio

onion small pieces chop

‘chop the onion into small pieces’

sugorti ab-zete t’awilo

onion in-oil25 fry26

‘fry the onion in oil’

24 (FriOct31of2014Kayleighat11) 25 Recipes in Tigrinya are cooked with in zete ‘olive oil’ or tesmi ‘butter’ 26 Here ‘fry’ most likely means something similar to ‘saute’

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berbere tettujio

red pepper add

‘add the red pepper paste’

neti berbere aserte duriʕk t’awilo suru

the red pepper ten minutes fry then27

komidere zete ahane tettujio

tomato oil chopped? add

‘fry the red pepper paste for about ten minutes and then add the chopped tomato to the oil’

eta ahosio

it stir

‘stir it’

aserte duriʕk bisbesale eta durho tettujio

ten minutes simmer? the chicken add

‘let it simmer for ten minutes while you prepare the chicken’

neta durho koraritzio

the chicken breakdown

‘break the chicken down’

abtu sebhe tettujio

into stew add

‘add into the stew base’

ingwa’aho ab-mai tebsulio

27 suru and kaʕa are discourse markers that mean something similar to

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eggs in-water boil

‘boil the eggs’

deheri aserti duʕik eti ingwa’aho kapti mai

after? ten minutes the eggs from water

be-manka tot’sio

with-spoon remove

‘after ten minutes take the eggs from the water with a spoon’

kuzahel tegetfio

to let it cool leave it out

‘leave the eggs out to cool’

disterʕi mohas aitresaʕi

forget? stir? pot?28

‘don’t forget to stir the pot’29

eten ingwa’aho miszahale karafio

the eggs shell? remove?

‘peel the eggs’

teheriou netin ingwa’aho

poke the eggs

‘poke the eggs’30

hegi eta ingwa’aho abti sebhe je titujio

28 This gloss for ‘pot’ is different from the original word elicited earlier in the recipe and I have not yet had a chance to clarify the difference 29 Ruth said this was a common saying so there is a chance it does not have the same literal translation 30 This is to make sure they are cooked through as well as to create a slit that lets the stew seep into the egg.

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now the eggs into stew can add

‘now you can add the eggs into the stew’

zedliʕki k’emimat hegi je titujio

prefer seasoning now can add

‘you can now add the seasoning you prefer’

neta asahi aserte duʕik abselio

the next? ten minutes simmer

‘let simmer another ten minutes’

serau disterhi towidio

fire take off? put away?

‘take off the fire and put it away’

Chicken Stew

Start by finely chopping an onion. Add it to a saucepan with oil and saute then add the red

pepper paste and fry for about ten minutes before adding tomato paste. Stir everything

together and let simmer for another ten minutes while you prepare the chicken. Take your

whole chicken and break it down into the full twelve pieces and add to the stew base. Boil the

eggs, at least twelve, in a pot of water for about ten minutes. Take the eggs out of the pot and

set to the side to cool. Don’t forget to stir the pot with the stew base as you go. Peel the shells

of the boiled eggs and poke them to make sure they are done then add them into the stew.

Taste the stew and add any seasonings you like now including more red pepper if you like it

spicier. Simmer the stew another ten minutes then turn off the heat and enjoy!

6. Appendix

6.1. Glossary

Transcription Gloss Part of Speech Notes

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tufah apple noun also [mele]. Ruth described this as

a dialect difference.

sinkite bake noun 1sg

banana banana noun

siga beef noun

k'ijesur beets noun

mɨfɨlaħ boil (intransitive) verb

ʔafɨliħ boil (transitive) verb

bani bread noun every day bread - harder rolls

ingera bread noun speacial bread - slightly sour

hɪmbaʃa bread noun

zeharerre burnt adj

kaulo cabbage noun

xaramela/ʃukorawi candy noun ʃukorawi (what her grandfather

used to call it—because its sweet)

kaulofiori cauliflower noun

durho chicken noun

goʁ'bərebəre chile pepper noun

hamli adri collard greens noun

kisere cook verb

mɨgbi mɨsraħ cook (to make

food)

verb

kɨʃani cook/chef noun

zebesele cooked adjective taste to find out

zite serhe cooked adjective when you know it has been

through the cooking process

ʔefun corn noun

kubaija cup noun

jimetur cut verb

adq'iqa jimetur dice verb literally "small pieces cut"

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mɪstaj drink verb

fasika/ʔafasiga Easter noun

mɨbla' eat verb

ingw'aho egg noun

muʔulap feed verb

kulep feed noun

ʔablaʔ feed (s.o.) (sth.) verb

ˀʕasa fish noun

asa fish noun

mɨgbi food noun

fruta fruit noun

sugortiz'ada garlic noun

fagoli green beans noun

t'əmiet hungry adjective

t'ɛmje hungry adjective

dʒelate ice cream noun From Gelato-Italian

ts’umoʔ juice noun

k'alayi kitchen objects noun

bursin lentils noun

mɨgbi meal noun

siga meat noun

t͡ʃ'aba milk noun

sugorti onion noun

waika or conj

aranʃi orange noun

pear noun no response

haʃɨma pig noun

bijatɨtat plates noun Italian loanword

dinis potato noun

jedalu prepare verb

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duba pumpkin noun

zaibesele raw adj when tasted to check

zete serhe raw adj when you know it hasn't been

cooked

ruz rice noun

mɛrɨr spice/hot (taste) adjective

merrir spicy adjective

zetebalasewai spoiled adj in reference to food

zigni stew noun the well seasoned version that

takes a long time to cook

sebhe stew noun the quick version

ʃuʔkur sugar noun

k'antʃa sugar cane noun

sukorrawi sweet adj

komidere tomato noun

zebhi abun tomato noun used in the countryside

tak'in turkey noun

ahamilti vegetable noun

k'otslemets'li vegetable noun used in the countryside

dɨrro vigil preceding a

feast

noun

zukini zucchini noun

6.2. References

Tigrinya language. (2014, November 12). Retrieved December 12, 2014, from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tigrinya_language

Warren, O. (2000). Taste of Eritrea: Recipes from one of East Africa's most interesting little

countries. New York: Hippocrene.

6.3. Sound Files

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(ThurSept17of2014Willat11)

(FriSep19of2014Kayleighat11Part2)

(FriSep26of2014Kayleighat11)

(FriOct10of2104Kayleighat11)

(FriOct24of2014Kayleighat11)

(MonOct27of2014inclass)

(FriOct31of2014Kayleighat11)

(FriNov14of2014Kayleighat11)

(FriNov21of2014Kayleighat11)