Blin is a Central Cushitic language with about 70,000 speakers in and around the city of Keren in the Anseba Region in northern Eritrea. Blin is also known as Bilin, Bilen, Bogo, Bogos, Bilayn, Balen, Beleni, Belen, Bilein, Bileno and North Agaw.
It is written with a version of the Ge'ez script developed by missionaries in the late 19th century. The first text in Blin was published in 1882. In 1985 the Eritrean People's Liberation Front decided to use the Latin alphabet for Blin and other minority languages in Eritrea. In 1993 the government set up a committee to standardize the Blin language and the Latin-based orthography.
Download alphabet charts for Blin (Excel)
Corrections and improvements provided by Michael Peter Füstumum
Information about Blin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilen_language
http://www.daberi.org/
http://awkir.com/blin_orthography.htm
http://www.lingref.com/cpp/acal/36/paper1411.pdf
Online lessons in Blin
http://www.people.vcu.edu/~gasmerom/Eritrean_languages/blin/
Afaan-Oromo, Afar, Awngi, Beja, Blin, Daasanach, Dirasha, Gawwada, Hadiyya, Iraqw, Maay Maay, Rendille, Saho, Sidama, Somali, Southern Oromo, Waata, Xamtanga, Yaaku
Aari, Amharic, Argobba, Awngi, Bench, Blin, Chaha, Dizin, Ge'ez, Gumuz, Hamer(-Banna), Harari, Inor, Sidama, Silt'e, Tigre, Tigrinya, Xamtanga
Languages written with the Latin alphabet
Page last modified: 01.11.24
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