Amharic language

From OLPC
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Not to be confused with the Aramaic language.
Wikipedia
Amharic (አማርኛ āmariññā) is a Semitic language spoken in North Central Ethiopia by the Amhara. It is the second most spoken Semitic language in the world, after Arabic, and the "official working" language of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and thus has official status and use nationwide. Amharic is also the official or working language of several of the states within the federal system, including Amhara Region, the multi-ethnic Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region. It has been the working language of government, the military, and of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church throughout modern times. Outside Ethiopia, Amharic is the language of some 2.7 million emigrants (notably in Egypt, Israel and Sweden), and is spoken in Eritrea by educated Eritreans of the preindependence generation and younger deportees from Ethiopia.

It is written, with some adaptations, with the Ge'ez alphabet (used for the language of the same name) called fidel in Ethiopian Semitic languages (ፊደል fĭdel 'alphabet,' 'letter,' or 'character').


Setup of Experimental Amharic Support

See Ethiopian Setup Development tracked here: http://www.codewiz.org/wiki/EthiopianLocale

Alphabets

Countries / Regions

  • Eritrea
  • Egypt (immigration)
  • Ethiopia (official language)
  • Israel (immigration)
  • Sweden (immigration)