 Upon Eritrea's independence in 1991, Tigrinya retained the status of working language in the country, the only state in the world to date to recognize Tigrinya on a national level.There is no general name for the people who speak Tigrinya ትግርኛ.In Ethiopia, a native of Tigray is referred to in Tigrinya as "tigrāwāy" (male), "tigrāweytī" (female), "tigrāwōt" or, more commonly, "tegaru" (plural).