Are Tigrinya and Amharic Mutually Intelligible?

The study has shown that both Tigrigna varieties have almost equal phonetic and lexical distances from Amharic. The study also indicated that Amharic speakers understand less than 50% of the two varieties.

What's the difference between Amharic and Tigrinya?

While the Tigrigna varieties are North Ethiosemitic languages, Amharic is one of the South Ethiosemitic languages. Nowadays, Amharic is spoken only in Ethiopia, but Tigrigna is spoken both in Ethiopia and in Eritrea.

Is Amharic older than Tigrinya?

Amharic is one of the Southern Semitic languages spoken in Ethiopia alongside Argoba, Tigrinya, Tigre, Geez, Guragenya, Siltee etc.. which are considered much older than the Northern Semitic languages such as Hebrew & Arabic, according to recent research findings.