Tigre Phonological Inventory and Verbal Roots

@cite{raz-1980} @cite{raz-1983} @cite{lowenstamm-prunet-1988} @cite{faust-2014} @cite{faust-2015} @cite{faust-2017b} @cite{faust-lampitelli-2026}

Theory-neutral IPA inventory and the Tigre verbal roots used in the @cite{faust-lampitelli-2026} guttural-synersis analysis.

Per the paper §2.1: "The vocalic systems of Tigre and Tigrinya are quite similar. In both languages, one finds six full vowel qualities [a, ʌ, i, u, e, o] and a weak vowel [ɨ]." The guttural inventories also coincide: ʔ, h, ʕ, ħ in both, with χ/ʁ unattested in either (paper n. 14).

This file therefore re-exports the Tigrinya Vowel and Guttural types per @cite{lowenstamm-prunet-1988}'s observation that the two languages share their vowel and guttural systems. The differences between Tigre and Tigrinya lie in:

• templatic morphology (Tigre's PRF [samʕa] vs Tigrinya's [sʌβʌrʌ]; Tigre dialects exhibit different verb stems per @cite{raz-1980}, @cite{raz-1983}),
• vowel harmony processes (Tigre rounding/lowering harmonies per @cite{lowenstamm-prunet-1988}, @cite{faust-2017b}, mostly irrelevant for the present synersis discussion).

Cross-reference: PHOIBLE 2.0

@cite{moran-mccloy-2019} has two Tigre inventories (both glottocode tigr1270): ID 130 (donor spa) with 87 phonemes including length and gemination contrasts, and ID 576 (donor upsid) with 33 phonemes (no length). Both confirm the four-guttural inventory {ʔ, h, ʕ, ħ} exactly as the paper claims, with [χ, ʁ] absent (paper n. 14, confirmed). The 7-vowel inventory is also present in both PHOIBLE inventories, but transcribed differently: PHOIBLE follows @cite{raz-1980}'s long-vowel notation (iː, uː, e̞ː, o̞ː, a̟ː, ə, ɜ) where the paper follows @cite{buckley-1997-vowel-length}'s no-length analysis (i, u, e, o, a, ɨ, ʌ). The seven-element partition is identical: 5 peripheral + 1 weak (ə ↔ ɨ) + 1 marked-low (ɜ ↔ ʌ); the dispute is over whether the peripheral five are phonologically long. Paper p. 6 explicitly notes "for Tigre the facts are less clear" and sides with the no-length analysis.

The verbal roots below are the Tigre exemplars from @cite{faust-lampitelli-2026} eq. (5)-(6) and eq. (12), used for the parallel-language demonstration of guttural synersis. Naming convention follows Fragments/Tigrinya/Phonology.lean: ASCII identifiers; IPA forms in docstrings.

@[reducible, inline]

abbrev Fragments.Tigre.Phonology.Vowel : Type

Re-export the Tigrinya vowel type for Tigre. The two languages share the same seven-vowel inventory per paper §2.1 + @cite{lowenstamm-prunet-1988}.

Equations

• Fragments.Tigre.Phonology.Vowel = Fragments.Tigrinya.Phonology.Vowel

@[reducible, inline]

abbrev Fragments.Tigre.Phonology.Guttural : Type

Re-export the Tigrinya guttural type for Tigre. Both languages have the same four attested gutturals (paper §2.1, n. 14).

Equations

• Fragments.Tigre.Phonology.Guttural = Fragments.Tigrinya.Phonology.Guttural

def Fragments.Tigre.Phonology.weigh : Core.Morphology.Root String

√mzn — 'weigh'. Tigre. Paper 2-JUSS [ti-mazzɨn] / IMP [mazzɨn] (eq. 5a) — non-guttural triradical, control case for the [ɨ] epenthesis in initial-cluster position.

Equations

• Fragments.Tigre.Phonology.weigh = { segments := ["m", "z", "n"] }

def Fragments.Tigre.Phonology.leave : Core.Morphology.Root String

√fgr — 'leave'. Tigre. Paper PRF-3MSG [fagr-a] / 2-JUSS [ti-fgʌr] (eq. 6a, 5b). Non-guttural triradical baseline.

Equations

• Fragments.Tigre.Phonology.leave = { segments := ["f", "g", "r"] }

def Fragments.Tigre.Phonology.wash : Core.Morphology.Root String

√ħtʕb — 'wash'. Tigre. Paper PRF-3MSG [ħatʔb-a] / 2-JUSS [ti-hitʔʕab] (eq. 6b) — the bold [i] in 2-JUSS marks epenthetic [ɨ] inserted to license the medial pharyngeal codas.

Equations

• Fragments.Tigre.Phonology.wash = { segments := ["ħ", "t", "ʕ", "b"] }

def Fragments.Tigre.Phonology.flee : Core.Morphology.Root String

√hrb — 'flee'. Tigre. Paper PRF-3MSG [harb-a] / 2-JUSS [ti-hirʌb] (eq. 6c), where the bold [i] marks the epenthetic [ɨ] licensing the initial guttural.

Equations

• Fragments.Tigre.Phonology.flee = { segments := ["h", "r", "b"] }

def Fragments.Tigre.Phonology.getUp : Core.Morphology.Root String

√knʕ — 'get up'. Tigre. Paper 2-JUSS [ti-kʔnʌʕ] / IMP [kʔɨnʌʕ] (eq. 5c). Quadri-radical (k, ʔ, n, ʕ) — illustrates how an initial-cluster epenthetic [ɨ] interacts with a final guttural.

Equations

• Fragments.Tigre.Phonology.getUp = { segments := ["k", "ʔ", "n", "ʕ"] }

def Fragments.Tigre.Phonology.whip : Core.Morphology.Root String

√fgr — 'whip'. Tigre. Paper 2-IMP.M [(ti-)fʌggɨr] (eq. 12a) — the regular Tigre imperfective with medial geminate, baseline for eq. (12)'s /CʌGV/ → CGV in Tigre imperfectives discussion.

Equations

• Fragments.Tigre.Phonology.whip = { segments := ["f", "g", "r"] }

def Fragments.Tigre.Phonology.ask : Core.Morphology.Root String

√sʔl — 'ask'. Tigre. Paper 2-IMP.M [ti-sʔil] (eq. 12b). Same root as Tigrinya. The bold [i] marks epenthetic [ɨ].

Equations

• Fragments.Tigre.Phonology.ask = { segments := ["s", "ʔ", "l"] }

def Fragments.Tigre.Phonology.load : Core.Morphology.Root String

√tʔʕn — 'load'. Tigre. Paper 2-IMP.M [ti-tʔʕin] (eq. 12c). Quadri-radical (t, ʔ, ʕ, n) with medial pharyngeal /ʕ/.

Equations

• Fragments.Tigre.Phonology.load = { segments := ["t", "ʔ", "ʕ", "n"] }

def Fragments.Tigre.Phonology.uncoverTigre : Core.Morphology.Root String

√shk — 'uncover'. Tigre. Paper 2-IMP.M [ti-shik] (eq. 12d).

Equations

• Fragments.Tigre.Phonology.uncoverTigre = { segments := ["s", "h", "k"] }

def Fragments.Tigre.Phonology.pull : Core.Morphology.Root String

√sħb — 'pull'. Tigre version of Tigrinya √sħb. Paper Tigre form [ti-sħib] from /tisʌħib/ (eq. 26d).

Equations

• Fragments.Tigre.Phonology.pull = { segments := ["s", "ħ", "b"] }