ሰ
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ላ
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ም
Alphabets
The Amharic alphabet ፊደል
Meet every letter of Amharic, hear how it sounds, and learn how letters join to make words.
About Amharic
Amharic is written in the Ge'ez script (ፊደል) from left to right. Every letter is a syllable. Each consonant has a family of seven forms, called orders: the shape stays the same and a small stroke, ring or bend shows the vowel – በ bä, ቡ bu, ቢ bi, ባ ba, ቤ be, ብ bə (or b alone), ቦ bo. Words are traditionally divided by the sign ፡, and a sentence ends with ።.
- 33
- consonants
- 7
- vowel orders
- 231
- basic syllables
- L → R
- writing direction
Vowels አናባቢዎች
The seven vowels, written on the glottal letter አ. Each card shows the same vowel on በ. Tap a letter to hear it.
Consonants ተነባቢዎች
The 33 consonants in the traditional order, in their first form. Tap a letter to hear it.
ሀ to ሸ ሀ ለ ሐ መ ሠ ረ ሰ ሸ
ቀ to ኸ ቀ በ ቨ ተ ቸ ኀ ነ ኘ አ ከ ኸ
ወ to ጀ ወ ዐ ዘ ዠ የ ደ ጀ
ገ to ፐ ገ ጠ ጨ ጰ ጸ ፀ ፈ ፐ
Some letters sound the same in modern Amharic: ሀ ሐ ኀ are all "h", ሰ ሠ are "s", አ ዐ are "a", and ጸ ፀ are "ts'". Most consonants also have an eighth, labialised form with "wa": ቧ bwa, ሏ lwa.
How letters join to make words
You do not join letters in Amharic – each syllable is one letter. On the keyboard you build it from two keys: the consonant, then the vowel.
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1
Consonant + a
The consonant key gives the sixth form; a turns it into the fourth.
ብ +ኣ =ባ -
2
Consonant + u
u gives the second form.
ል +ኡ =ሉ -
3
Consonant + o
o gives the seventh form.
ስ +ኦ =ሶ
How does the vowel change the letter?
ä · u · i
በ ቡ ቢ
A stroke on the right or a foot.
a · e
ባ ቤ
A leg or a ring at the bottom.
ə · o
ብ ቦ
A bend, or a ring at the top.
Build real words
ቡ
+
ና
ቤ
+
ት
ው
+
ሃ
ፀ
+
ሐ
+
ይ
ኢ
+
ት
+
ዮ
+
ጵ
+
ያ
Good to know
Two keys per syllable
For ቡና press b u n a.
Word divider
Old texts separate words with ፡; today a space is normal. A sentence ends with ።.
One script, many languages
The same fidel writes Tigrinya, Ge'ez and other languages of Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Ready to type in Amharic?
Use the on-screen keyboard to write these letters, or translate your first sentence.