tigrinya is related to the ethiopian semitic language ge'ez. however, tigrinya has a different word order than ge'ez, and there are some more differences in grammar. however, the two languages have similar phonology and morphology, which show they are related. ge'ez has influenced tigrinya literature, especially with words about christian life. until recent times, ge'ez was used for writing more often than tigrinya was. when the british ruled eritrea, there was a newspaper written in tigrinya.