Amharic

Ethio-Semitic language

Not to be confused with Aramaic , Amorite language , or Arabic .

Amharic አማርኛ Amarəñña , አማርኛ ቋንቋ Amharic script, fidäl , from Geʽez script Pronunciation [amarɨɲːa] ⓘ Native to Ethiopia Ethnicity Amhara , spoken by other peoples in Ethiopia Speakers L1 : 35 million (2020) [1] L2 : 25 million (2019) [2] Total: 60 million (2019–2020) [3] Language family

Afro-Asiatic

• Semitic

• West Semitic

• South Semitic

• Ethiopic

• South

• Transversal

• Amharic–Argobba

• Amharic

Dialects

• Gondar

• Gojjam

• Wollo

• Shewa

• Judeo-Amharic

Writing system Geʽez script (Amharic abugida) Geʽez Braille Signed forms Signed Amharic [4] Official status Official language in Ethiopia [5] Regulated by Imperial Academy (former) Language codes ISO 639-1 am ISO 639-2 amh ISO 639-3 amh Glottolog amha1245 Linguasphere 12-ACB-a This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA .

Amharic [a] is an Ethio-Semitic language , a rather fascinating subgrouping within the broader Semitic languages family, which itself is a branch of the Afroasiatic languages . It’s primarily spoken as a first language by the Amhara people , but its reach extends far beyond ethnic lines. It functions as a crucial lingua franca for populations across the urban centers of Ethiopia , a testament to its historical and cultural significance.

This language holds the esteemed position of being the official working language of the Ethiopian federal government. Furthermore, it enjoys official or working language status in several of Ethiopia’s federal regions . The numbers are quite striking: as of 2020, Amharic boasted over 33.7 million mother-tongue speakers, with a substantial 31 million of those identifying ethnically as Amhara. Adding to this, in 2019, there were more than 25.1 million second language speakers. This brings the total number of speakers to a commanding figure of over 58.8 million as of 2019–2020. Amharic isn’t just a language in Ethiopia; it is the largest, the most widely spoken, and boasts the most native speakers within the country. Globally, it stands as the second most widely spoken Semitic language, trailing only Arabic .

The written form of Amharic is as distinctive as its spoken variant. It employs a left-to-right script that evolved from the ancient Geʽez script . This unique writing system is an abugida (አቡጊዳ), where each grapheme, known as fidäl (ፊደል), represents a consonant-vowel sequence. The term “fidäl” itself translates to ‘script, alphabet, letter, character’, a rather direct and fitting description.

It’s worth noting that there isn’t a single, universally agreed-upon Romanization system for Amharic into the Latin script . The examples you’ll find in linguistic discussions often use a system favored by specialists in Ethiopian Semitic languages, which is the one I’ll adhere to here.

Dialects

The nuances of Amharic dialectal differences are not extensively documented in published works. However, all dialects are considered mutually intelligible , meaning speakers can understand each other despite some minor variations.

Jewish Amharic

A particularly interesting dialect is Jewish Amharic, also known as Judeo-Amharic (Hebrew: אמהרית מעוברת). This is the variety spoken by the Beta Israel , many of whom now reside in Israel. This dialect has undergone a fascinating transformation, substituting many Christian-centric phrases with those rooted in Jewish tradition. For instance, the congratulatory phrase for a mother after childbirth, which might otherwise reference Mary’s pardon, instead speaks of God’s peaceful relief. Another example is the renaming of a type of grasshopper from “Mary’s horses” to “Moses’s horses.” This dialect also bears the imprint of Modern Hebrew due to the significant Beta Israel community in Israel. However, Jewish Amharic is currently in a state of decline as the Beta Israel gradually shift towards using Hebrew.

History

Amharic has held its status as the official working language of Ethiopia, the language of its courts, commerce, everyday communication, and military for an impressive duration, dating back to the late 12th century. The Amhara nobility, in their support of the Zagwe prince Lalibela during his struggle for power against his brothers, saw Amharic elevated to Lisane Negus (tongue of the king). This period also saw Amhara nobles occupying the highest positions within the kingdom. The designation of ’language of the king’ (in Geʽez : ልሳነ ነጋሢ, Lǝssanä nägaśi; in Amharic : የነጋሢ ቋንቋ, Yä-nägaśi qʷanqʷa) and its use within the royal court is also attributed to the Amhara Emperor Yekuno Amlak . Amharic stands as one of the official languages of Ethiopia , sharing this status with other significant regional languages such as Oromo , Somali , Afar , and Tigrinya .

As an Afro-Asiatic language belonging to the Southwest Semitic group, Amharic shares a close relationship with Geʽez , the liturgical language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. The Amharic script is, in fact, a slightly modified version of the alphabet used for writing Geʽez. This script is remarkably complex, featuring 34 basic characters, each with seven variations to denote different vowel sounds within a syllable. Additionally, there are 49 “wa” letters that create compound sounds incorporating “w.” In total, the alphabet comprises approximately 280 distinct letters. Until 2020, Amharic was the sole official language of Ethiopia, a status that has since broadened. The 2007 census indicated that Amharic was spoken by 21.6 million native speakers in Ethiopia. More recent estimates from 2018 place the number of first-language speakers at nearly 32 million, with an additional 25 million second-language speakers within Ethiopia. Beyond its borders, Amharic is spoken by approximately 3 million emigrants worldwide. The Ethiopian Jewish communities, both in Ethiopia and Israel , predominantly speak Amharic. Furthermore, the Rastafari movement regards Amharic as a holy language , and it is widely used among its adherents globally.

Linguistic Development Theory

The evolution of languages in the Afro-Asiatic family is a complex tapestry. It’s theorized that early populations speaking proto-Semitic , proto-Cushitic , and proto-Omotic languages diverged around the fourth or fifth millennium BC. Subsequently, proto-Cushitic and proto-Omotic groups are believed to have settled in the Ethiopian highlands, while proto-Semitic speakers migrated across the Sinai Peninsula into Asia . A later movement of people from South Arabia is thought to have reintroduced Semitic languages to Ethiopia. Archaeological evidence suggests the presence of Semitic speakers in the region dates back to before 500 BC, while linguistic analysis points to an even earlier presence, around 2000 BC. Scholars like Donald N. Levine posit that by the end of that millennium, the core inhabitants of Greater Ethiopia were likely dark-skinned agropastoralists speaking Afro-Asiatic languages from the Semitic, Cushitic, and Omotic branches.

However, other scholars, including Messay Kebede and Daniel E. Alemu, offer a nuanced perspective. They argue that migration across the Red Sea was likely a process of reciprocal exchange, if it occurred at all, and caution against characterizing Ethio-Semitic-speaking ethnic groups as mere invaders.

Amharic is classified as a South Ethio-Semitic language, alongside others like Gurage , Argobba , and Harari . While Tigrinya shares a significant lexical similarity of 68% with Geʽez, Amharic’s similarity to the ancient language is slightly lower at 62%. Historical social stratification played a role, with the Cushitic Agaw adopting the South Ethio-Semitic language and, over time, absorbing the Semitic population. Consequently, Amharic developed a more pronounced Cushitic substratum compared to its more northerly linguistic relatives. This Cushitic influence, alongside a Semitic superstratum , is also observed in the Modern South Arabian language family. The northernmost South Ethio-Semitic speakers, or the proto-Amhara, maintained continuous contact with their North Ethio-Semitic neighbors, a fact supported by linguistic analysis and oral traditions. The southward shift of the Kingdom of Aksum ’s center of gravity in the 7th century, along with the subsequent integration and Christianization of the proto-Amhara, contributed to a rich lexicon of Geʽez origin in Amharic. It is believed that Amharic diverged from its closest relative, Argobba , sometime after the 9th century AD, possibly due to religious differences, as the Argobba people adopted Islam.

In 1983, Lionel Bender proposed a hypothesis that Amharic might have originated as a pidgin as early as the 4th century AD, serving as a communication tool for Aksumite soldiers speaking diverse languages. However, this theory has not gained widespread acceptance. The preservation of VSO word order and gutturals in Old Amharic, characteristic of Semitic languages, coupled with Cushitic influences shared with other Ethio-Semitic languages (particularly those in the Southern branch), and the impact of various geographically dispersed Cushitic languages over time, strongly support a natural evolution of Amharic from a Proto-Ethio-Semitic language, albeit one significantly influenced by Cushitic elements.

Based on loanwords from Amharic into neighboring languages and the distinct phonetic inventory (including distinctions between /ʔ/, /a/, /x/, /h/, and /ħ/) observed in its earliest written forms, pre-17th century Amharic possessed the full range of phonemes typical of Semitic languages. Furthermore, prior to the Gondarine period , Amharic did not adhere to a rigidly SOV word order as it does today; a VSO order, similar to that of Geʽez and Classical Arabic , was prevalent. During the late medieval period , a transition occurred, moving from the earlier, more Semitic-featured version of the language towards the more innovative modern Amharic, accompanied by various sound shifts.

Phonology

Consonants [55]

The Amharic ejective consonants are the descendants of the Proto-Semitic “emphatic consonants.” In the Ethiopianist tradition, these are often transcribed with a dot underneath the letter.

The vowel system of Amharic, as represented on a vowel chart . [55] Vowels in parentheses are considered allophones of /ɨ / and /ə /.

Vowels [55]

The notation for central vowels in the Ethiopianist tradition is presented within angled brackets.

Allophones

The voiced bilabial plosive /b/ is phonetically realized as a voiced labial approximant [β̞] when it occurs medially between sonorants and is not geminated . The fricative ejective /sʼ / is often perceived as an affricate sound [t͡sʼ ], though it is phonemically a fricative ejective. The rhotic consonant is realized as a trill when geminated and as a tap when not. The closed central unrounded vowel ⟨ə⟩ /ɨ/ and the mid-central vowel ⟨ä⟩ /ə/ tend to be fronted to [ɪ ] and [ɛ ], respectively, when they follow palatal consonants . Conversely, they are retracted and rounded to [ʊ ] and [ɔ ], respectively, after labialized velar consonants . [55]

Examples:

Writing System

• See also: Geʽez script and Amharic Braille

The Ethiopic (or Geʽez) writing system, as seen on the side of this Ethiopian Airlines Fokker 50 , reads “Ethiopia’s”: የኢትዮጵያ ye-ʾityop̣p̣ya.

The Amharic script is an abugida , and the graphemes are known as fidäl . [53] It’s a modification of the Geʽez script . [16] Each character represents a consonant-vowel sequence, with the consonant forming the base shape, modified to indicate the vowel. Certain consonant phonemes are represented by multiple character series, such as /ʔ /, /s /, /tsʼ /, and /h / (the latter having four distinct forms). This multiplicity stems from historical phonological changes that merged sounds that were once distinct. The standard reference form for each series is the consonant paired with the ä vowel, found in the first column of the fidäl chart. The Amharic script is fully supported by Unicode and is included in fonts available on major operating systems.

A modern application of Amharic script can be seen on this Coca-Cola bottle label, which reads ኮካ-ኮላ ( koka-kola ).

Alphasyllabary

Chart of Amharic fidäl s [56]

Gemination

Gemination , the doubling of consonants, is a contrastive feature in Amharic, much like in other Ethiopian Semitic languages . This means that the length of a consonant can differentiate the meaning of words. For instance, “alä” means ‘he said,’ while “allä” means ’there is.’ Similarly, “yǝmätall” translates to ‘he hits,’ whereas “yǝmmättall” means ‘he will be hit.’ Although gemination isn’t explicitly marked in Amharic orthography, native readers typically have no trouble discerning it. This aspect of the writing system is akin to how vowels in Arabic and Hebrew , or tones in many Bantu languages , are often not indicated in writing. Ethiopian novelist Haddis Alemayehu , a proponent of orthography reform for Amharic, once suggested marking gemination by placing a dot above the affected character in his novel Love to the Grave , but this practice remains uncommon.

Punctuation

Amharic utilizes a distinct set of punctuation marks:

• ፠ Section mark
• ፡ Word separator
• ። Full stop (period)
• ፣ Comma
• ፤ Semicolon
• ፥ Colon
• ፦ Preface colon (used to introduce speech following a descriptive prefix)
• ፧ Question mark
• ፨ Paragraph separator

Grammar

Simple Amharic Sentences

Constructing basic Amharic sentences involves combining a subject with a predicate . Here are a few examples:

• ኢትዮጵያ (ʾItyop̣p̣ya) - Ethiopia አፍሪካ (ʾAfrika) - Africa ውስጥ (wǝsṭ) - in ናት (nat) - is ኢትዮጵያ አፍሪካ ውስጥ ናት (ʾItyop̣p̣ya ʾAfrika wǝsṭ nat) Literal breakdown: {Ethiopia} {Africa} {in} {is} Meaning: ‘Ethiopia is in Africa.’

• ልጁ (Lǝǧ-u) - the boy (with the definite article -u) ተኝቷል (täññǝtʷall) - asleep is ልጁ ተኝቷል (Lǝǧ-u täññǝtʷall) Literal breakdown: {the boy} {asleep is} Meaning: ‘The boy is asleep.’

• አየሩ (Ayyäru) - the weather ደስ (däss) - pleasant ይላል (yǝlall) - feels አየሩ ደስ ይላል (Ayyäru däss yǝlall) Literal breakdown: {the weather} pleasant feels Meaning: ‘The weather feels pleasant.’

• እሱ (ʾƏssu) - he ወደ (wädä) - to ከተማ (kätäma) - city መጣ (mäṭṭa) - came እሱ ወደ ከተማ መጣ (ʾƏssu wädä kätäma mäṭṭa) Literal breakdown: he to city {came} Meaning: ‘He came to the city.’

Pronouns

Amharic grammar meticulously distinguishes between person , number , and often gender . This is evident in its personal pronouns , such as “I” (እኔ ǝne) and “she” (እሷ ǝsswa). Similar distinctions appear in other grammatical areas, a common feature in Semitic languages.

Subject–Verb Agreement

Every Amharic verb demonstrates agreement with its subject . The person, number, and (in the second and third-person singular) gender of the subject are marked by suffixes or prefixes attached to the verb. These agreement markers vary considerably depending on the verb’s tense /aspect /mood , and are thus typically discussed within the context of verb conjugation rather than as standalone pronouns.

Object Pronoun Suffixes

Amharic verbs frequently incorporate additional morphology that indicates the person, number, and (for second and third-person singular) gender of the verb’s object .

• አልማዝን (almazǝn) - Almaz (accusative case) አየኋት (ayyähʷ-at) - I saw her አልማዝን አየኋት (almazǝn ayyähʷ-at) Literal breakdown: Almaz-ACC {I saw her} Meaning: ‘I saw Almaz.’

While these morphemes, like “-at” in the example, can be described as signaling object agreement, they are more commonly understood as object pronoun suffixes because, unlike subject agreement markers, they don’t fluctuate significantly with the verb’s tense/aspect/mood. For other arguments of the verb beyond the subject or object, there are two distinct sets of related suffixes: one conveying a benefactive sense (’to’, ‘for’) and the other an adversative or locative meaning (‘against’, ’to the detriment of’, ‘on’, ‘at’).

• ለአልማዝ (läʾalmaz) - for Almaz በሩን (bärrun) - the door (definite, accusative) ከፈትኩላት (käffätku-llat) - I opened for her ለአልማዝ በሩን ከፈትኩላት (läʾalmaz bärrun käffätku-llat) Literal breakdown: for-Almaz door-DEF-ACC {I opened for her} Meaning: ‘I opened the door for Almaz.’

• በአልማዝ (bäʾalmaz) - on Almaz (to her detriment) በሩን (bärrun) - the door (definite, accusative) ዘጋሁባት (zäggahu-bbat) - I closed on her በአልማዝ በሩን ዘጋሁባት (bäʾalmaz bärrun zäggahu-bbat) Literal breakdown: on-Almaz door-DEF-ACC {I closed on her} Meaning: ‘I closed the door on Almaz (to her detriment).’

Morphemes such as “-llat” and “-bbat” in these examples are termed prepositional object pronoun suffixes, distinguishing them from direct object pronoun suffixes like “-at” (‘her’).

Possessive Suffixes

Amharic also employs a set of morphemes suffixed to nouns to indicate possession . For example, “bet” means ‘house’, “bète” signifies ‘my house’, and “betwa” denotes ‘her house’.

Across these four grammatical aspects (independent pronouns, subject-verb agreement, object pronoun suffixes, and possessive suffixes), Amharic distinguishes eight combinations of person, number, and gender. For the first person, there’s a simple singular/plural distinction (I/we). For the second and third persons, there’s a singular/plural distinction, and within the singular, a further masculine/feminine division (you m. sg., you f. sg., you pl., he, she, they).

Amharic is a pro-drop language , meaning that in neutral sentences where no element is emphasized, independent pronouns are typically omitted. For instance, “ʾityop̣p̣yawi näw” means ‘he’s Ethiopian’, and “gabbäzkwat” means ‘I invited her’. The independent words for ‘he’, ‘I’, and ‘her’ are not present. However, when emphasis is intended, independent pronouns are used: “ʾəssu ʾityop̣p̣yawi näw” (’ he is Ethiopian’), “ʾəne gabbäzkwat” (’ I invited her’), “ʾəsswan gabbäzkwat” (‘I invited her’).

The table below illustrates variations in pronoun forms, with the choice often depending on the preceding sound (vowel or consonant). For example, the first-person singular possessive suffix can be “-e” as in “hagär-e” (‘my country’) or “-ye” as in “gäla-ye” (‘my body’).

Amharic Personal Pronouns

For polite address, Amharic employs the terms እርስዎ (ǝrswo) for ‘you (sg. polite)’ and እሳቸው (ǝssaččäw) for ’s/he (polite)’. These singular forms grammatically correspond to the third-person plural, a common feature in T–V distinction systems. However, for possessive pronouns, the polite second person uses the specific suffix “-wo” for ‘your (sg. pol.)’.

Possessive pronouns are formed by adding the independent pronouns to the preposition “yä-” (‘of’): “yäne” (‘mine’), “yantä” (‘yours m. sg.’), “yanči” (‘yours f. sg.’), “yässwa” (‘hers’), and so on.

Reflexive Pronouns

Reflexive pronouns (‘myself’, ‘yourself’, etc.) are formed by appending possessive suffixes to the noun “ራስ” (ras), meaning ‘head’: “rase” (‘myself’), “raswa” (‘herself’), etc.

Demonstrative Pronouns

Similar to English, Amharic distinguishes between near (’this, these’) and far (’that, those’) demonstrative expressions. Beyond number, Amharic also differentiates between masculine and feminine genders in the singular.

Amharic Demonstrative Pronouns

Formal demonstratives also exist: እኚህ (ǝññih) for ’this, these (formal)’ and እኒያ (ǝnniya) for ’that, those (formal)’.

When following a preposition, the singular pronouns take a “zz-” prefix: “sǝläzzih” (‘because of this; therefore’), “ǝndäzziya” (’like that’). The plural demonstratives, mirroring the second and third person plural personal pronouns, are formed by prefixing “ǝnnä-” to the masculine singular forms.

Nouns

Amharic nouns can be primary or derived. “ǝgǝr” (‘foot, leg’) is primary, while “ǝgr-äñña” (‘pedestrian’) is derived.

Gender

Amharic nouns are either masculine or feminine. Gender marking can be achieved in several ways. The suffix “-t” historically indicated femininity but is no longer productive, appearing in specific patterns and isolated nouns. Nouns and adjectives ending in “-awi” often take “-t” for the feminine form (e.g., “ityop̣p̣ya-(a)wi” ‘Ethiopian (m.)’ vs. “ityop̣p̣ya-wi-t” ‘Ethiopian (f.)’). This suffix also appears in nouns and adjectives following the “qǝt(t)ul” pattern (e.g., “nǝgus” ‘king’ vs. “nǝgǝs-t” ‘queen’).

Some nouns and adjectives use the feminine marker “-it”: “lǝǧ” (‘child, boy’) vs. “lǝǧ-it” (‘girl’); “bäg” (‘sheep, ram’) vs. “bäg-it” (’ewe’). This marker can appear on nouns without a corresponding masculine form, like “šärär-it” (‘spider’). Interestingly, some nouns with the “-it” suffix are treated as masculine, such as “säraw-it” (‘army’).

Beyond biological gender, the feminine gender can express smallness (e.g., “bet-it-u” ’the little house’) or convey tenderness.

Specifiers

Specific words are used to denote the gender of people and animals. For people, “wänd” signifies masculine and “set” feminine (e.g., “wänd lǝǧ” ‘boy’, “set lǝǧ” ‘girl’). For animals, “täbat”, “awra”, or “wänd” can indicate masculine, while “anəst” or “set” indicate feminine (e.g., “täbat ṭǝǧǧa” ‘calf (m.)’, “set doro” ‘hen’).

Plural

The plural suffix “-očč” is commonly used. Morphological changes can occur based on the final sound of the noun. For consonant-ending nouns, “-očč” is added directly (e.g., “bet” ‘house’ becomes “bet-očč” ‘houses’). Nouns ending in a back vowel (-a, -o, -u) take “-ʷočč” (e.g., “wǝšša” ‘dog’ becomes “wǝšša-ʷočč” ‘dogs’). Nouns ending in a front vowel may use “-ʷočč” or “-y očč”. Some vowel-ending nouns drop the final vowel before adding “-očč” (e.g., “wǝšš-očč” ‘dogs’).

In addition to the standard plural suffix, nouns and adjectives can be pluralized through reduplication of a root consonant. For example, “wäyzäro” (’lady’) can form the regular plural “wäyzär-očč” or the reduplicated plural “wäyzazər” (’ladies’).

Certain kinship terms have dual plural forms with slightly different meanings. For instance, “wändǝmm” (‘brother’) can be pluralized as “wändǝmm-očč” (‘brothers’) or “wändǝmmam-ač” (‘brothers of each other’). Similarly, “ǝhǝt” (‘sister’) becomes “ǝhǝt-očč” (‘sisters’) or “ǝtǝmm-am-ač” (‘sisters of each other’).

In compound words , the plural marker attaches to the second noun (e.g., “betä krǝstiyan” ‘church’ becomes “betä krǝstiyan-očč” ‘churches’).

Archaic Forms

Amsalu Aklilu noted that Amharic retains many old plural forms from Classical Ethiopic (Geʽez). These include external plurals (adding “-an” or “-at”) and internal plurals formed by vowel changes, sometimes combined. Examples of external plurals include “mämhǝr” (’teacher’) becoming “mämhǝr-an”, and “kahǝn” (‘priest’) becoming “kahǝn-at”. Internal plurals like “dǝngǝl” (‘virgin’) becoming “dänagǝl” and “hagär” (’land’) becoming “ahǝgur” are also present. Combined systems, like “nǝgus” (‘king’) forming “nägas-t”, further illustrate this complexity.

Definiteness

Definiteness in Amharic is marked by a suffix, the definite article: “-u” or “-w” for masculine singular nouns, and “-wa”, “-itwa”, or “-ätwa” for feminine singular nouns.

This article distinguishes gender in singular forms, but not in plurals, where “-u” is used for all definite plurals (e.g., “bet-očč-u” ’the houses’).

Accusative

Amharic employs an accusative marker, “- (ə)n”, indicating differential object marking . This marker is generally used when the object is definite, possessed, or a proper noun.

• ልጁ (lǝǧ-u) - The boy (definite) ውሻውን (wǝšša-w-ǝn) - the dog (definite, accusative) አባረረ (abbarrär-ä) - drove away ልጁ ውሻውን አባረረ (lǝǧ-u wǝšša-w-ǝn abbarrär-ä) Meaning: ‘The boy drove the dog away.’

• ውሻዋ (wǝšša-wa) - The dog (feminine, definite) በግ (bäg) - sheep (indefinite) ነከሰች (näkkäs-äčč) - bit ውሻዋ በግ ነከሰች (wǝšša-wa bäg näkkäs-äčč) Meaning: ‘The dog (F) bit a sheep.’

The accusative suffix typically follows the first word of the noun phrase:

• ይህን (Yǝh-ǝn) - this (accusative) ሰዓት (sä’at) - watch ገዛ (gäzz-a) - bought ይህን ሰዓት ገዛ (Yǝh-ǝn sä’at gäzz-a) Meaning: ‘He bought this watch.’

Nominalization

Amharic offers various methods for deriving nouns from other word classes or nouns. One technique involves vowel patterns within the typical three-radical structure of Semitic languages , such as “CəCäC” (e.g., “ṭǝbäb” ‘wisdom’) or “CəCC-ät” (e.g., “‘ǝwq-ät” ‘knowledge’). Several nominalizing suffixes also exist, including “-ǝnna” (indicating relation), “-e” (denoting origin from a place name), “-äñña” and “-täñña” (expressing profession or relationship), and “-ǝnnät” and “-nnät” (signifying ‘-ness’).

Copula

The copula (’to be’) is expressed by the particle “n”.

Affirmative Copula Conjugation

The negative copula uses “አይደለም” (aydällämm), conjugated as follows:

Negative Copula Conjugation

The past copula is indicated by “አልነበረ” (näbbärä), with its negative form being “አለነበረም” (alnäbbärämm). The future copula uses the imperfect of “ሆነ” (honä), specifically “የሆናል” (yəhonall). The subordinate copula is formed using “ሆነ” (honä) for present and future, and “አልነበረ” (näbbärä) for the past.

Possession

Amharic lacks a direct verb for ’to have’. Possession is expressed using verbs of existence combined with object suffix pronouns. For the present, “አለ” (allä - ’there is’) is used; for the past, “ነበረ” (näbbärä - ’there was’); and for the future, the imperfect of “ኖረ” (norä), “ይኖራል” (yənorall). Thus, “አራት፡መጽሐፍ፡አለኝ” (aratt mäṣhaf alläññ) literally translates to ‘four books is-to-me’, meaning ‘I have four books’. Since the possessed item is the subject, the verb agrees with it, not the possessor.

Verbs

Verb Stems

The core meaning of Amharic verbs resides in their consonants, known as ‘radicals ’, with vowels modifying the meaning. These stems are categorized as triradical, biradical, quadriradical, and pluriradical (with more than four radicals).

Triradicals:

• Type A: “ሰበረ” (säbbärä) - characterized by the absence of gemination on the second radical in non-perfect forms.
• Type B: “ፈለገ” (fällägä) - features gemination of the second radical in all verb forms.
• Type C: “ማረከ” (marräkä) - distinguished by the vowel ‘a’ following the first radical.

Biradicals:

• Type “ሰማ” (sämma): “ሰማ” (sämma - ’to hear’).
• Type “ጠጣ” (ṭäṭṭa): “ጠጣ” (ṭäṭṭa - ’to drink’).
• Type “ቃጣ” (qaṭṭa): “ቃጣ” (qaṭṭa - ’to attempt’).
• Type “ቀረ” (qärrä): “ቀረ” (qärrä - ’to remain behind’).
• Type “ለየ” (läyyä): “ለየ” (läyyä - ’to distinguish, separate’).
• Type “ላጨ” (lač̣č̣ä): “ላጨ” (lač̣č̣ä - ’to shave’).

Quadriradicals:

• Type 1: “መሰከረ” (mäsäkkärä - ’to testify’), where the third radical is geminated in the perfect.
• Type 2: “ቀላቀለ” (qälaqqälä - ’to mix’), characterized by the vowel ‘a’ after the second radical.

Derived Stems: Derived stems are formed either by reduplicating the second radical in triradicals and the third radical in quadriradicals, or by adding prefixes.

Conjugation

Amharic verbs, like those in other Semitic languages , use prefixes and suffixes to denote the subject, distinguishing three persons, two numbers, and (in the second and third persons singular) two genders.

Perfect

The perfect tense, typically used for past actions, is formed with suffixes.

Perfect Conjugation (Example verb: “ሰበረ” säbbärä - “to break”)

The negative perfect is formed by prefixing “አል-” (al-) and suffixing “-ም” (-(ə)mm) to the affirmative perfect. The “-ም” suffix can be omitted in subordinate clauses introduced by a conjunction or relative marker.

Simple Imperfect

The simple imperfect tense is used for present and future actions in main negative clauses, and for both affirmative and negative in subordinate clauses, including relative clauses. It is formed using prefixes and suffixes.

Simple Imperfect Conjugation (Example stems: Type A “säb(ə)r”, Type B “fälləg”, Type C “marrək”)

The negative imperfect is formed by prefixing “አ-” (a-) and suffixing “-ም” (-(ə)mm).

Compound Imperfect

The compound imperfect tense expresses present or future actions in main clauses and is formed by combining the simple imperfect with the verb “አለ” (allä).

Compound Imperfect Conjugation (Example stem: “säb(ə)r”)

Jussive

The jussive mood uses the same prefixes and suffixes as the imperfect, except for the first-person singular, which uses the prefix “ል-” (lə-). The second person is only used in the negative jussive, formed with the prefix “አ-” (a-).

Jussive Conjugation (Example stems: Type A “sbär”, Type B “fälləg”, Type C “mar(ə)k”)

Imperative

The imperative mood is used for commands and has forms only for the second person singular and plural. Negative imperatives are expressed using the negative jussive.

Imperative Conjugation (Example stems: Type A “säbär”, Type B “fälləg”, Type C “mar(ə)k”)

Participles

Participles are derived from basic and derived verb stems. For triradicals, the participle forms are “säbari” (Type A), “fällagi” (Type B), and “maraki” (Type C).

Verbal Nouns

The verbal noun of a regular triradical is formed by prefixing “መ-” (mä-) to the stem form: “mäsbär” (Type A), “mäfällägä” (Type B), and “mämarräkä” (Type C).

Gerund

Alongside the infinitive and the present participle, the gerund is one of three non-finite verb forms. The infinitive functions as a nominalized verb, the present participle denotes incomplete action, and the gerund expresses completed action (e.g., “Ali məsa bälto wädä gäbäya hedä” - ‘Ali, having eaten lunch, went to the market’). The gerund has various uses depending on its morpho-syntactic features.

Verbal Use: The gerund acts as the head of a subordinate clause. Multiple gerunds can appear in a single sentence. It is used to form tense forms like:

• Present Perfect: “nägro -all/näbbär” (‘He has said’).
• Past Perfect: “nägro näbbär” (‘He had said’).
• Possible Perfect: “nägro yǝhonall” (‘He (probably) has said’).

Adverbial Use: The gerund can function adverbially: “alfo alfo yǝsǝqall” (‘Sometimes he laughs’).

Adjectives

Adjectives qualify nouns and can be formed in various ways in Amharic: based on nominal patterns, derived from nouns or verbs, or from other parts of speech. Adjectives can be nominalized by adding the nominal article. Amharic has few primary adjectives, such as “dägg” (‘kind, generous’), “dǝda” (‘mute, dumb, silent’), and “bič̣a” (‘yellow’).

Nominal Patterns:

• CäCCaC: käbbad (‘heavy’), läggas (‘generous’)
• CäC(C)iC: räqiq (‘fine, subtle’), addis (’new’)
• CäC(C)aCa: säbara (‘broken’), ṭämama (‘bent, wrinkled’)
• CəC(C)əC: bǝlǝh (‘intelligent, smart’), dǝbbǝq (‘hidden’)
• CəC(C)uC: kǝbur (‘worthy, dignified’), ṭǝqur (‘black’), qəddus (‘holy’)

Denominalizing Suffixes:

• -äñña: hayl-äñña (‘powerful’, from hayl ‘power’)
• -täñña: aläm-täñña (‘secular’, from aläm ‘world’)
• -awi: lǝbb-awi (‘intelligent’, from lǝbb ‘heart’)

Prefix “yä-”: This prefix can form adjectives, often indicating origin or association:

• yä-kätäma (‘urban’, lit. ‘from the city’)
• yä-krǝstǝnna (‘Christian’, lit. ‘of Christianity’)
• yä-wǝšät (‘wrong’, lit. ‘of falsehood’)

Adjective-Noun Complex: In Amharic, the adjective precedes the noun, and the verb follows. For example, “kǝfu geta” means ‘a bad master’. If the complex is definite, the definite article attaches to the adjective: “tǝlləq-u bet” (’the big house’). In possessive constructions, the adjective takes the definite article, and the noun takes the possessive suffix: “tǝlləq-u bet-e” (‘my big house’). When multiple adjectives are joined by “-nna” (‘and’), both take the definite article: “qonǧo-wa-nna astäway-wa lǝǧ mäṭṭačč” (’the pretty and intelligent girl came’). For indefinite plural adjective-noun complexes, the noun is plural, and the adjective may be singular or plural.

Literature

• See also: Amharas § Culture , and List of Amharic writers

The oldest surviving examples of written Amharic date back to the 14th century, during the reigns of Emperors Amda Seyon I and his successors, who commissioned “soldier songs” glorifying their military achievements. Amharic literature is diverse, encompassing government documents, educational texts, religious works, novels, poetry, proverb collections, dictionaries, and technical manuals.

The Bible was first translated into Amharic by Abu Rumi in the early 19th century, with subsequent translations following. The most celebrated Amharic novel is Fiqir Iske Meqabir by Haddis Alemayehu (1909–2003), translated into English as Love unto Crypt. Other notable authors include Baalu Girma , Tsegaye Gabre-Medhin , and Kebede Michael .

Rastafari Movement

The term Rastafari originates from Ras Täfäri, the pre-coronation title of Haile Selassie . “Ras” means ‘Head’ (an Ethiopian title equivalent to duke), and “Täfäri” was his given name.

Many Rastafarians consider Amharic a sacred language and actively learn it. Following Haile Selassie’s 1966 visit to Jamaica, Amharic study groups were formed to foster Pan-African identity. Reggae artists like Ras Michael and The Abyssinians have incorporated Amharic into their music, introducing the language to a wider audience. The song “Satta Massagana ” by The Abyssinians, often misunderstood as ‘give thanks’, actually means ‘he thanked’ or ‘he praised’. The correct Amharic word for ‘give thanks’ is “misgana”. The word “satta” has entered the Rastafarian dialect of English, Iyaric , meaning ’to sit down and partake’.

Software

Amharic is supported by major Linux distributions and is included in Unicode within the Ethiopic block . Microsoft included Amharic font support in Windows Vista and released the operating system in Amharic in February 2010. Google has integrated Amharic into its Language Tools , enabling online typing without a dedicated keyboard. The Amharic Wikipedia, using the Ethiopic script, has been active since 2004. Research continues into developing tools for information retrieval in Amharic, with notable progress in recent years.

See also

• Help:IPA/Amharic

Notes

• ^ /ɑːmˈhɑːrɪk/ ahm-HAR-ik; native name : አማርኛ, romanized : Amarəñña, IPA: [amarɨɲːa] ⓘ

References

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• “Amharic”. Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
• “Amharic”. Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster.
• “Amharic”. dictionary.com. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
• Meyer, Ronny (2011). “The Role of Amharic as a National Language and an African lingua franca”. In Stefan Weninger (ed.). The Semitic Languages. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 1212–1220.
• Gebremichael, M. (2011). Federalism and conflict management in Ethiopia: case study of Benishangul-Gumuz Regional State (PhD). United Kingdom: University of Bradford. hdl :10454/5388.
• Ethnologue: Amharic (28th ed., 2025)
• Shaik Johny Basha; Duggineni Veeraiah; Boddu Venkat Charan; Wiltrud Sahithi Yeddu; Devalla Ganesh Babu (2023). “Detection and Comparative Analysis of Handwritten Words of Amharic Language to English using CNN-Based Frameworks”. 2023 International Conference on Inventive Computation Technologies (ICICT). pp. 422–427. doi :10.1109/ICICT57646.2023.10134103. ISBN 979-8-3503-9849-6. S2CID 259028086.
• Ethnologue: Amharic (25th ed., 2022)
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• Alemu, Daniel E. (2007). “Re-imagining the Horn”. African Renaissance. 4 (1): 56–64 – via Ingenta.
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• Hetzron, Robert (1972). Ethiopian Semitic: Studies in Classification. Manchester University Press. p. 36. ISBN 9780719011238.
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• Appleyard, David. “Amharic: History and dialectology of Amharic”. Encyclopedia Aethopica. Vol. 1. p. 235.
• Butts, Aaron Michael (2015). Semitic languages in contact. Leiden, Boston: Brill. pp. 18–21. ISBN 9789004300156. OCLC 1083204409.
• “Amhara | Definition, History, & Culture”. Britannica. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
• Hetzron, Robert (1972). Ethiopian Semitic: Studies in Classification. Manchester University Press. p. 88. ISBN 9780719011238.
• Demeke, Girma (2014). The Origin of Amharic. The Red Sea Press. pp. 45–52. ISBN 978-1-56902-379-2. OCLC 824502290.
• Prunier, Gérard; Ficquet, Éloi, eds. (2015). Understanding Contemporary Ethiopia: Monarchy, Revolution and the Legacy of Meles Zenawi. London: C. Hurst & Co. p. 19. ISBN 9781849042611.
• Hetzron, Robert (1972). Ethiopian Semitic: Studies in Classification. Manchester University Press. p. 124. ISBN 9780719011238.
• Demeke, Girma (2014). The Origin of Amharic. The Red Sea Press. pp. 15, 133–138. ISBN 978-1-56902-379-2. OCLC 824502290.
• Butts, Aaron Michael (2015). Semitic languages in contact. Leiden, Boston: Brill. p. 22. ISBN 9789004300156. OCLC 1083204409.
• Tamrat, Taddesse (1972). Church and state in Ethiopia, 1270-1527. Clarendon Press. pp. 34–38. ISBN 978-1-59907-039-1. OCLC 783536291.
• Demeke, Girma (2014). The Origin of Amharic. The Red Sea Press. pp. 33, 131–137. ISBN 978-1-56902-379-2. OCLC 824502290.
• Demeke, Girma (2014). The Origin of Amharic. The Red Sea Press. pp. 8–54. ISBN 978-1-56902-379-2. OCLC 824502290.
• Hetzron, Robert (1972). Ethiopian Semitic: Studies in Classification. Manchester University Press. pp. 22, 67, 88. ISBN 9780719011238.
• a b c Hudson, Grover (2009). “Amharic”. In Comrie, Bernard (ed.). The World’s Major Languages. Oxon and New York: Routledge. pp. 594–617. ISBN 978-0-203-30152-4.
• The Origin of Amharic - Girma A. Demeke, Red Sea Press, 2014
• a b c d Hayward, Katrina; Hayward, Richard J. (1999). “Amharic”. Handbook of the IPA. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 44–51.
• Haile, Getatchew (1996). “Ethiopic Writing”. In Daniels, Peter T.; Bright, William (eds.). The World’s Writing Systems. Oxford University Press, Inc. p. 573. ISBN 978-0-19-507993-7.
• habesha (28 September 2010). “Simple Amharic Sentences”. Bigaddis. Archived from the original on 3 April 2012. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
• a b c d e f g h i j k l m Leslau, Wolf (1995). Reference Grammar of Amharic. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. ISBN 978-3-447-03372-5 – via Internet Archive .
• Teweldebirhan, Seble (21 April 2013). “Remembering Baalu Girma”. Ezega. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
• Ayele, Tesfaye (1 September 2023). “Haddis Alemayehu’s Vision of the Old World: Literary Realism and the Tragedy of History in the Amharic Novel Fikir iske Mekabir”. Cambridge University . 10 (3): 353–376. doi :10.1017/pli.2023.26.
• Kevin O’Brien Chang; Wayne Chen (1998). Reggae Routes: The Story of Jamaican Music. Temple University Press. pp. 242–. ISBN 978-1-56639-629-5. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
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• “Amharic Keyboard for Windows Vista”. YouTube. 1 February 2009. Archived from the original on 30 October 2021. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
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• “Google”.
• Atelach Alemu Argaw, Lars Asker, Rickard Cöster, and Jussi Karlgren. 2004. “Dictionary-based Amharic–English information retrieval.” Cross-Language Evaluation Forum (CLEF 2004). Bath.
• AA Argaw, L Asker, R Cöster, J Karlgren, M Sahlgren. 2005. “Dictionary-based Amharic-French information retrieval.” Cross-Language Evaluation Forum (CLEF 2005). Vienna.
• Yeshambel, Tilahun, Josiane Mothe, and Yaregal Assabie. “Amharic document representation for adhoc retrieval.” In KDIR 2020. 2020.
• Yeshambel, Tilahun, Josiane Mothe, and Yaregal Assabie. “Amharic adhoc information retrieval system based on morphological features.” Applied Sciences 12, no. 3 (2022): 1294.

Grammar

• Ludolf, Hiob (1698). Grammatica Linguæ Amharicæ. Frankfort.
• Abraham, Roy Clive (1968). The Principles of Amharic. Occasional Publication / Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan. [ rewritten version of ‘A modern grammar of spoken Amharic’, 1941 ]
• Afevork, Ghevre Jesus (1905). Grammatica della lingua amarica: metodo pratico per l’insegnamento. R. Accademia dei Lincei.
• Afevork Ghevre Jesus (1911). Il verbo amarico. Roma.
• Amsalu Aklilu & Demissie Manahlot (1990). T’iru ye’Amarinnya Dirset ‘Indet Yale New! (An Amharic grammar, in Amharic)
• Anbessa Teferra and Grover Hudson (2007). Essentials of Amharic. Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag.
• Appleyard, David (1994). Colloquial Amharic. Routledge ISBN 0-415-10003-8
• Carl Hubert, Armbruster (1908). Initia amharica: an Introduction to Spoken Amharic. The University Press.
• Baye Yimam (2007). Amharic Grammar. Second Edition. Addis Ababa University. Ethiopia.
• Bender, M. Lionel . (1974) “Phoneme frequencies in Amharic”. Journal of Ethiopian Studies 12.1:19–24
• Bender, M. Lionel and Hailu Fulass (1978). Amharic verb morphology. (Committee on Ethiopian Studies, monograph 7.) East Lansing: African Studies Center, Michigan State University.
• Bennet, M. E. (1978). Stratificational Approaches to Amharic Phonology. PhD thesis, Ann Arbor: Michigan State University.
• Cohen, Marcel (1936). Traité de langue amharique. Paris: Institut d’Ethnographie.
• Cohen, Marcel (1939). Nouvelles études d’éthiopien merdional. Paris: Champion.
• Dawkins, C. H. (¹1960, ²1969). The Fundamentals of Amharic. Addis Ababa.
• Kapeliuk, Olga (1988). Nominalization in Amharic. Stuttgart: F. Steiner Verlag Wiesbaden. ISBN 3-515-04512-0
• Kapeliuk, Olga (1994). Syntax of the noun in Amharic. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. ISBN 3-447-03406-8.
• Łykowska, Laura (1998). Gramatyka jezyka amharskiego. Wydawnictwo Akademickie Dialog. ISBN 83-86483-60-1
• Leslau, Wolf (1995). Reference Grammar of Amharic. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden. ISBN 3-447-03372-X
• Praetorius, Franz (1879). Die amharische Sprache. Halle: Verlag der Buchhandlung des Waisenhauses.

Dictionaries

• Abbadie, Antoine d’ (1881). Dictionnaire de la langue amariñña. Actes de la Société philologique, t. 10. Paris.
• Amsalu Aklilu (1973). English-Amharic dictionary. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-572264-7
• Baeteman, J.-É. (1929). Dictionnaire amarigna-français. Diré-Daoua
• Gankin, É. B. (1969). Amxarsko-russkij slovar’. Pod redaktsiej Kassa Gäbrä Heywät. Moskva: Izdatel’stvo ‘Sovetskaja Éntsiklopedija’.
• Guidi, I. (1901). Vocabolario amarico-italiano. Roma.
• Isenberg, Karl Wilhelm (1841). Dictionary of the Amharic language: Amharic and English: Englisch and Amharic. Church Missionary Society. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
• Guidi, I. (1940). Supplemento al Vocabolario amarico-italiano. (compilato con il concorso di Francesco Gallina ed Enrico Cerulli ) Roma.
• Kane, Thomas L. (1990). Amharic–English Dictionary. (2 vols.) Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz. ISBN 3-447-02871-8
• Leslau, Wolf (1976). Concise Amharic Dictionary. (Reissue edition: 1996) Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-20501-4
• Täsämma Habtä Mikael Gəṣṣəw (1953 Ethiopian calendar ). Käsate Bərhan Täsämma. Yä-Amarəñña mäzgäbä qalat. Addis Ababa: Artistic.

External links

• Amharic language edition of Wikipedia , the free encyclopedia
• Wikivoyage has a phrasebook for Amharic.
• For a list of words relating to Amharic, see the Amharic category of words in Wiktionary , the free dictionary.
• Wikimedia Commons has media related to Amharic language.
• Wikibooks has a book on the topic of: Amharic
• Amharic Keyboard online (and offline too).
• Fonts for Geʽez script: Noto Sans Ethiopic, Noto Serif Ethiopic, Abyssinica SIL.
• Selected Annotated Bibliography on Amharic by Grover Hudson at the Michigan State University website.
• US State Dept. FSI Amharic course

Portal:Ethiopia • Portal:Language • Portal:Society

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Languages of Ethiopia Official languages: Afar , Amharic, Oromo , Somali , Tigrinya . Regional languages include Ethiosemitic, Cushitic, Omotic, and Nilo-Saharan languages. Foreign languages: English , Arabic . Sign languages: Ethiopian sign languages .

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Semitic languages Branches: East, West, Central, South. East: Akkadian , Eblaite . Central: Arabic , Aramaic , Hebrew . South: Southeast (Baṭḥari , Mehri , etc.), Southwest (Abyssinian - North: Geʽez , Tigre , Tigrinya ; South: Transversal (Amharic –Argobba , Harari –East Gurage ), Outer (Gafat , Soddo , etc.), West Gurage). Sayhadic (Faifi , Sabaic , etc.). Historical: Proto-Semitic .