መርሓባ
merhaba
The English word "welcome" is translated into Tigrinya as መርሓባ (merhaba).
The word መርሓባ is a direct loanword used as a greeting upon someone's arrival. However, to express a warm welcome that implies joy at someone's arrival, Tigrinya speakers more commonly use phrases starting with እንቋዕ…
Meaning: greeting given upon someone's arrival (intj)
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase እንቋዕ ብደሓን መጻእካ literally translates to "how happy [it is] that you arrived safely".
Which one should you use?
መርሓባ is a direct loanword for "welcome". In contrast, the phrases beginning with እንቋዕ… are the more traditional and culturally common way to express a warm welcome in Tigrinya.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
The traditional welcoming phrases change based on who you are addressing: እንቋዕ ብደሓን መጻእካ is used when welcoming a single male, እንቋዕ ብደሓን መጻእኪ is used when welcoming a single female and እንቋዕ ብደሓን መጻእኩም is used when welcoming a group of people.
How do you pronounce it?
merhaba
Did you know?
- In traditional Ethiopian and Eritrean hospitality, the verbal welcome is often accompanied by the serving of coffee in a ceremony that can last several hours.
- The phrase እንቋዕ ብደሓን መጻእኩም uses a plural form that can be used to show honor to a single person of high status, not just a group.
- The word መርሓባ is actually a guest in the Tigrinya language, having been borrowed from Arabic rather than being an indigenous Ge'ez-based term.
Examples in context
- መርሓባ!merhaba!Welcome!
Example conversation
Samuel welcomes Reesa to his home.
- ርእሳ Re'esaሰላም ሳሚኤል!Selam Samuel!Hello Samuel!
- ሳሚኤል Samuelመርሓባ ርእሳ፡ ናብ ቤታይ!Merhaba Reesa, nab betay!Welcome Reesa, to my house!
- ርእሳ Re'esaየቐንየለይ፡ ብጥዑም ተሓጒሰ።Yeqenyeley, bituum tehaguse.Thank you, I am very happy.
- ሳሚኤል Samuelናብ ውሽጢ ንኣንክባብ።Nab wishiti nankbab.Let us go inside.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries መርሓባ, CC BY-SA 4.0.
