Ge'ez alphabet

This article is about the alphabet. For the language, see Ge'ez language.

Note: This article contains special characters. Can't See the font?

Wikipedia

Ge'ez (ግዕዝ Gəʿəz) is an abugida script which was originally developed to write Ge'ez, a Semitic language. In languages which use it, e.g. Amharic and Tigrinya, the script is called Fidäl (ፊደል), which means script or alphabet.

The Ge'ez script has been adapted to write other languages, usually Semitic ones. The most widespread use is for Amharic in Ethiopia and Tigrinya in Eritrea and Ethiopia. It is also used for Sebatbeit, Me'en, and most other languages of Ethiopia. In Eritrea it is used for Tigre, and it is traditionally used for Blin, a Cushitic language. Some other languages in the Horn of Africa, such as Oromo, used to be written using Ge'ez but have migrated to Latin-based orthographies.

• For the representation of sounds, this article uses a system that is common (though not universal) among linguists who work on Ethiopian Semitic languages. This differs somewhat from the conventions of the International Phonetic Alphabet. See the articles on the individual languages for information on the pronuncation.
• In order to view the Ge'ez characters, you will need a Unicode Ge'ez font, such as GF Zemen Unicode.

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Languages

• Ethiopian Semitic languages
  • Ge'ez
  • Amharic
  • Tigrinya
  • Tigre
  • Harari
  • Argoba
  • Gafat
  • Ghuraghe
  • and others...
• Other (non-Ethiopian Semitic) languages
  • Blin
  • Me'en,
  • Oromo (formerly, since 1991, Oromo uses a modified Latin alphabet called Qubee)

Fonts

• See Fonts#Ethiopic
• See Ethiopian Millenium Gift Project

Keyboards

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