Amharic Basic Course/Volume 2/Introduction to the Amharic Writing System
Introduction to the Amharic Writing System
Amharic is written with the Geez syllabary, augmented by a few symbols for syllables which occur in Amharic, but not in Geez (characters for /š/, /o/, /ñ/, /ž/, /v/, etc.)
Two of the characters represent vowel sounds; otherwise all characters represent a syllable—a consonant plus a specific vowel.
The order is left to right.
Each character has seven forms (traditionally called 'orders'). to accord with the number of vowels. The Amharic names of the seven orders are:
| I | /gı'ız/ | consonant | + /ə/ |
| II | /ka'ıb/ | " | + /u/ |
| III | /salıs/ | " | + /i/ |
| IV | /rabı/ | " | + /a/ |
| V | /hamıs/ | " | + /e/ |
| VI | /sadıs/ | " | + /ı/ |
| VII | /sabı/ | " | + /o/ |
In addition, there are a few characters which represent consonant plus /w/ plus vowel: /gwə/, /hwa/, /kwı/, etc., and a character for the consonant /v/ plus vowel which may occur in some loanwords.
Amharic Syllabary
| I /gı'ız/ |
II /ka'ıb/ |
III /salıs/ |
IV /rabı/ |
V /hamıs/ |
VI /sadıs/ |
VII /sabı/ | |
| 1. | ሀ ha | ሁ hu | ሂ hi | ሃ ha | ሄ he | ህ hı | ሆ ho |
| 2. | ለ lə | ሉ lu | ሊ li | ላ la | ሌ le | ል ı | ሎ lo |
| 3. | ሐ ha | ሑ hu | ሒ hi | ሓ ha | ሔ he | ሕ hı | ሖ ho |
| 4. | መ mə | ሙ mu | ሞ mi | ማ ma | ሜ me | ም mı | ሞ mo |
| 5. | ሠ sə | ሡ su | ሢ si | ሣ sa | ሤ se | ሥ sı | ሦ so |
| 6. | ረ rə | ሩ ru | ሪ ri | ራ ra | ሬ re | ር rı | ሮ ro |
| 7. | ሰ sə | ሱ su | ሲ si | ሳ sa | ሴ se | ስ sı | ሶ so |
| 8. | ሸ šə | ሹ šu | ሺ ši | ሻ ša | ሼ še | ሽ šı | ሾ šo |
| 9. | ቀ Kə | ቁ Ku | ቂ Ki | ቃ Ka | ቄ Ke | ቅ Kı | ቆ Ko |
| 10. | በ bə | ቡ bu | ቢ bi | ባ ba | ቤ be | ብ bı | ቦ bo |
| 11. | ተ tə | ቱ tu | ቲ ti | ታ ta | ቴ te | ት tı | ቶ to |
| 12. | ቸ cə | ቹ cu | ቺ ci | ቻ ca | ቼ ce | ች cı | ቾ co |
| 13. | ኀ ha | ኁ hu | ኂ hi | ኃ ha | ኄ he | ኅ hı | ኆ ho |
| 14. | ነ nə | ኑ nu | ኒ ni | ና na | ኔ ne | ን nı | ኖ no |
| 15. | ኘ ñə | ኙ ñu | ኚ ñi | ኛ ña | ኜ ñe | ኝ ñı | ኞ ño |
| 16. | አ a | ኡ u | ኢ i | ኣ a | ኤ e | እ ı | ኦ o |
| 17. | ከ kə | ኩ ku | ኪ ki | ካ ka | ኬ ke | ክ kı | ኮ ko |
| 18. | ሸ hə | ሹ hu | ሺ hi | ሻ ha | ሼ he | ሽ hı | ሾ ho |
| 19. | ወ wə | ዉ wu | ዊ wi | ዋ wa | ዌ we | ው wı | ዎ wo |
| 20. | ዐ a | ዑ u | ዒ i | ዓ a | ዔ e | ዕ ı | ዖ o |
| 21. | ዘ zə | ዙ zu | ዚ zi | ዛ za | ዜ ze | ዝ zı | ዞ zo |
| 22. | ዠ žə | ዡ žu | ዢ ži | ዣ ža | ዤ že | ዥ žı | ዦ žo |
| 23. | የ yə | ዩ yu | ዪ yi | ያ ya | ዬ ye | ይ yı | ዮ yo |
| 24. | ደ də | ዱ du | ዲ di | ዳ da | ዴ de | ድ dı | ዶ do |
| 25. | ጀ jə | ጁ ju | ጂ ji | ጃ ja | ጄ je | ጅ jı | ጆ jo |
| 26. | ገ gə | ጉ gu | ጊ gi | ጋ ga | ጌ ge | ግ gı | ጎ go |
| 27. | ጠ Tə | ጡ Tu | ጢ Ti | ጣ Ta | ጤ Te | ጥ Tı | ጦ To |
| 28. | ጨ Cə | ጩ Cu | ጪ Ci | ጫ Ca | ጬ Ce | ጭ Cı | ጮ Co |
| 29. | ጰ Pə | ጱ Pu | ጲ Pi | ጳ Pa | ጴ Pe | ጵ Pı | ጶ Po |
| 30. | ጸ Sə | ጹ Su | ጺ Si | ጻ Sa | ጼ Se | ጽ Sı | ጾ So |
| 31. | ፀ Sə | ፁ Su | ፂ Si | ፃ Sa | ፄ Se | ፅ Sı | ፆ So |
| 32. | ፈ fə | ፉ fu | ፊ fi | ፋ fa | ፌ fe | ፍ fı | ፎ fo |
| 33. | ፐ pə | ፑ pu | ፒ pi | ፓ pa | ፔ pe | ፕ pı | ፖ po |
| ቈ Kwə | ቊ Kwi | ቋ Kwa | ቌ Kwe | ቍ Kwı |
| ኈ hwə | ኊ hwi | ኋ hwa | ኌ hwe | ኍ hwı |
| ኰ kwə | ኲ kwi | ኳ kwa | ኴ kwe | ኵ kwı |
| ጐ gwə | ጒ gwi | ጓ gwa | ጔ gwe | ጕ gwı |
| ቨ və | ቩ vu | ቪ vi | ቫ va | ቬ ve | ቭ vı | ቮ vo |
In a few instances, there are two or three characters for the same Amharic syllable. These characters are contrasted with each other in Geez, but are more or less interchangeable in Amharic.
To put it another way, there are alternative spellings for certain Amharic words.
| 1) | 1, 3 and 13, i.e. ሀ, ሐ and ኀ are /ha/; ሁ, ሑ and ኁ are /hu/; ሂ, ሒ and ሂ are /hi/, etc. |
| 2) | 5 and 7, i.e. ሠ and ሰ are /sə/; ሡ and ሱ are /su/, etc. |
| 3) | 16 and 20, i.e. አ and ዐ are /a/; ኡ and ዑ are /u/, etc. |
| 4) | 30 and 31, i.e. ጸ and ፀ are /Sə/, ጹ and ፁ are /Su/, etc. |
Note that the vowel of /gı'ız/ and that of /rabı/ in ሀ, ሐ, ኀ, አ and ዐ is the same, i.e.
| ሀ or ሃ = /ha/ |
| ሐ or ሓ = /ha/ |
| ኀ or ኃ = /ha/ |
| አ or ኣ = /a/ |
| ዐ or ዓ = /a/ |
Note also that in modern Amharic the character 18 ሽ is written in the first order /gı'ız/ only. Syllables /hu/, /hi/, /ha/, /he/, /hı/ and /ho/ are represented by 1, 3 or 13.
All symbols listed under the sixth order (/sadıs/) may represent either a consonant followed by the vowel /ı/, or consonant only, e.g. ህ may be /hı/ or /h/; ብ may be /bı/ or /b/; ን may be /nı/ or /n/, etc.
The doubling of consonants is not indicated in the writing system. The word አለ may be read /alə/ 'he said' or /allə/ 'there is'; አባይ /abay/ 'a liar' or /abbay/ 'Nile'; ገና /gəna/ 'yet' or /gənna/ 'Christmas', etc. The meaning is determined by the context.
A closer examination of the Amharic Syllabary shows that the majority of characters are predictable modifications of their basic form, i.e. from the first order /gı'ız/. Thus the second order /ka'ıb/ is characterized by a hooked dash /¬/ usually attached to the center of the right side of the character, e.g.
| I /gı'ız/ |
II /ka'ıb/ | |
| ሀ /ha/ | ሁ /hu/ | |
| መ /mə/ | ሙ /mu/ | |
| በ /bə/ | ቡ /bu/ | |
| etc. |
In /salıs/ (order III) a similar dash is attached to the bottom part of the right side of the character or to its extension, e.g.
| I /gı'ız/ |
III /salıs/ | |
| ሀ /ha/ | ሂ /hi/ | |
| መ /mə/ | ሚ /mi/ | |
| በ /bə/ | ቢ /bi/ | |
| አ /a/ | ኢ /i/ | |
| etc. |
Characters of the fourth order /rabı/ have three basic patterns:
a) The ones which are two- or three-legged in the basic form have the right leg extended, e.g.
| I /gı'ız/ |
IV /rabı/ | ||||
| ለ /lə/ | ላ /la/ | ||||
| በ /bə/ | ባ /ba/ | ዘ /zə/ | ዛ /za/ | ||
| ሐ /ha/ | ሓ /za/ | ||||
| etc. |
b) One legged characters in the basic form acquire a kind of hook attached to the leg, e.g.
| I /gı'ız/ |
IV /rabı/ | |
| ተ /tə/ | ታ /ta/ | |
| ገ /gə/ | ጋ /ga/ | |
| ፐ /pə/ | ፓ /pa/ | |
| ነ /nə/ | ና /na/ | |
| etc. |
c) A leg is attached to originally legless characters, e.g.
| I /gı'ız/ |
IV /rabı/ | |
| ሀ /ha/ | ሃ /ha/ | |
| ሠ /sə/ | ሣ /sa/ | |
| መ /mə/ | ማ /ma/ | |
| ፀ /Sə/ | ፃ /Sa/ | |
| etc. |
The fifth order (/hamıs/) is characterized by a small semi circle attached to the right leg of the character or to its extension, e.g.
| I /gı'ız/ |
V /hamıs/ | |
| በ /bə/ | ቤ /be/ | |
| ተ /tə/ | ቴ /te/ | |
| ነ /nə/ | ኔ /ne/ | |
| ጠ /Tə/ | ጤ /Te/ | |
| መ /mə/ | ሜ /me/ | |
| etc. |
| I /gı'ız/ |
VI /sadıs/ | |
| ሀ /ha/ | ህ /hı/ | |
| አ /a/ | እ /ı/ | |
| ከ /kə/ | ክ /kı/ | |
| ጠ /Tə/ | ጥ /Tı/ | |
| ፐ /pə/ | ፕ /pı/ |
or by a hooked dash at the left side of the character, e.g.
| I /gı'ız/ |
VI /sadıs/ | |
| በ /bə/ | ብ /bı/ | |
| ሐ /ha/ | ሕ /hı/ | |
| ዘ /zə/ | ዝ /zı/ |
some characters of this order have the dash attached to the right side, e.g.
| I /gı'ız/ |
VI /sadıs/ | |
| ደ /də/ | ድ /dı/ | |
| ጸ /Sə/ | ጽ /Sı/ | |
| ወ /wə/ | ው /wı/ |
Characters 20 and 31 have a vertical line attached to the top:
| I /gı'ız/ |
VI /sadıs/ | |
| ዐ /a/ | ዕ /ı/ | |
| ፀ /Sə/ | ፅ /Sı/ |
A few characters change their shape in the sixth order in various unpredictable ways, e.g.
| I /gı'ız/ |
VI /sadıs/ | |
| ለ /lə/ | ል /lı/ | |
| መ /mə/ | ም /mı/ | |
| ሠ /sə/ | ሥ /sı/ | |
| ረ /rə/ | ር /rı/ | |
| ሰ /sə/ | ስ /sı/ | |
| የ /yə/ | ይ /yı/ | |
| ገ /gə/ | ግ /gı/ | |
| ፈ /fə/ | ፍ /fı/ |
The seventh order /sabı/ may have either a longer left leg, e.g.
| I /gı'ız/ |
VII /sabı/ | |
| ሐ /ha/ | ሖ /ho/ | |
| ሰ /sə/ | ሶ /so/ | |
| በ /bə/ | ቦ /bo/ | |
| ደ /də/ | ዶ /do/ | |
| etc. |
or a small semi circle (or circle) attached to the upper or the middle part of the character, e.g.
| I /gı'ız/ |
VII /sabı/ | ||||
| ሀ /ha/ | ሆ /ho/ | ||||
| ለ /lə/ | ሎ /lo/ | ||||
| ረ /rə/ | ሮ /ro/ | ||||
| ቀ /Kə/ | ቆ /Ko/ | ተ /tə/ | ቶ /to/ | ||
| ነ /nə/ | ኖ /no/ | ||||
| ገ /gə/ | ጐ /go/ | ||||
| etc. |
or a leg inclined toward the left, e.g.
| I /gı'ız/ |
VII /sabı/ | |
| ዐ /a/ | ዖ /o/ | |
| ሠ /sə/ | ሦ /so/ | |
| ወ /wə/ | ዎ /wo/ | |
| ፀ /Sə/ | ፆ /So/ |
Finally, the seventh order of the character የ /yə/ is ዮ /yo/ and that of the character መ /mə/ is ሞ /mo/.