Amharic Basic Course/Volume 1/Introduction
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INTRODUCTION
The Amharic Language
Amharic is the official language of the Ethiopian Empire used in government, in business, in all instruction in government schools and in most newspapers. It is, however, not the only language spoken in Ethiopia. As can be seen from the map on page xv the area where Amharic is spoken as a native tongue is about one sixth of the whole territory of Ethiopia.
Amharic belongs to the Southern Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic (formerly called Hamito-Semitic) family of languages. The number of native speakers of Amharic together with the speakers of the other Semitic languages spoken in Ethiopia (such as Tigriniya, Tigre, Harari, Gurage and others) is less than one half the total population of the Empire. The greatest part of Ethiopia is inhabited by speakers of Cushitic languages (another branch of the Afro-Asiatic family) such as Galla, Agaw, Somali and many others. Since no census has ever been taken in Ethiopia the number of Ethiopians can only be estimated. According to the official data of the Ethiopian government the number of inhabitants of Ethiopia is between 20 and 22 million. It is also difficult to give a reliable estimate of the number of Amharic speakers; it is probably between 5 and 7 million. There is little doubt, however, that due to the constantly growing development of communications systems and the spreading of education Amharic is gaining ground throughout the whole country. It is now the language of greatest prestige and anyone who has had any education is able to speak it, even if it is not his mother tongue. Still others learn it informally as a second language.
This Course:
The following parts may be found in a unit:
| Basic Sentences Classroom Expressions Structure Sentences Useful Words Grammatical Notes | |
| Drills: | Substitution Correlation Transformation Model-Transform drills |
| Questions and Answers Narrative | |
Basic Sentences and Questions and Answers are found in each unit. The Narratives begin with the unit 5. The occurrence of other parts may vary.
The Course is divided into two volumes. Volume I - contains units 1 through 50 in transcription. Volume II - units 51-60 in transcription, Introduction to the Amharic Writing System, The Reader (Units 1-60 in Amharic script) and a Glossary (in transcription).
| The Reader includes: | Basic Sentences Questions and Answers Narratives |
Use of This Course
1. 'Basic Sentences', 'Structure Sentences', 'Useful Words'.
The instructor reads the Amharic item by item, repeating each item (a build-up or a sentence) twice for each student. Each member of the class repeats the item immediately after the instructor trying to imitate his (or her) pronunciation.
If in the instructor's opinion the item is mispronounced by the student, the instructor repeats it at normal speed with the student repeating after him (or her) as many times as necessary. After the class hours each student goes over the Basic Sentences by listening to the tape and repeating, doing this until he knows the dialogue by heart.
After the Basic Sentences have been thoroughly memorized the students take part and act out the dialogues. The instructor may take one of the parts the first time or two. This drill is to be continued until any student can take part and go through the dialogue like an actor.
2. Substitution, Correlation and Transformation Drills are to be used in accordance with the instructions given at the beginning of each drill.
3. Model Transform Drills should be drilled in the same way as other Transformation Drills.
4. Questions and Answers.
The questions and answers are to be drilled as specified below, but they should not be considered complete. Any question which is within the limits of the students' grammar and vocabulary can be asked.
Some questions require informational answers some others simply 'yes' or 'no' answers.Questions requiring informational answers are to be drilled as follows:
The instructor asks each student a question. The student repeats the question and gives an answer. Any answer given by the student is considered correct if it is good Amharic. The answer is corrected by the instructor, if necessary. The student repeats the corrected answer. The instructor then gives the student the answer which is written in the book and the student repeats it as a further drill.
Questions requiring 'yes' or 'no' answers should be drilled in the same way, i.e. the student repeats the question after the instructor and gives him either an affirmative or a negative answer (or both if so requested by the instructor).
5. Narrative
The instructor goes through the sentences (if any) illustrating new vocabulary items, in the same way as he did for Basic Sentences. After the students have thus familiarized themselves with the new words the instructor reads through the whole Narrative at a natural speed. The students listen for comprehension, books closed. The students summarise in English as much as they understood of the Narrative. The instructor reads each sentence again for each student, each of whom repeats after him. Each student translates the sentence he repeated. This drill is continued until the students are thoroughly familiar with the material. The instructor then asks questions listed at the end of each Narrative and the students answer them as completely as possible using words contained in the Narrative. In addition to the questions listed in the book the instructor may ask any question pertinent to the Narrative within the limits of the students' grammar and vocabulary. The students memorize the Narrative by listening to the tape and relate the story to the instructor the next day.
Students must keep in mind that there is no one correct way of speaking Amharic. Due to the poor system of communications in Ethiopia Amharic has developed various local dialects. There is an especially marked difference in pronunciation, in vocabulary, and even in grammar between the northern Gojjami and the southern Showa dialects. The purpose of this Course is to teach the language as it is spoken in the capital of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa.
Addis Ababa Amharic contains elements of a variety of dialects. The student should have this in mind and should always follow the manner of speech of his instructor even if his (or her) speech varies somewhat from what is indicated in this book.