Binyam Sisay Mendisu & Janne Bondi Johannessen (eds.

) Multilingual Ethiopia: Linguistic Chal-

lenges and Capacity Building Efforts, Oslo Studies in Language 8(1), 2016. 137–172. (ISSN 1890-
9639)
http://www.journals.uio.no/osla

the ethiopic script:

linguistic features and socio-cultural
connotations
ronny meyer

abstract
During the last two millennia, a large corpus of texts were produced in the
Ethiopic script. This ancient African writing system is peculiar to the
Ethio-Eritrean region at the Horn of Africa, particularly to the Ethiosemit-
ic language Gǝʿǝz. The present paper is concerned with the origin, linguis-
tic modification and spread of the Ethiopic script, as well as its socio-
cultural connotation vis-à-vis other scripts in the region. For this purpose,
previous studies related to these topics have been assessed and summa-
rised in a comprehensive description.

[1] introduction
From 1991 onwards, a substantial number of Ethiopian and Eritrean languages
have been reduced to writing in either a Roman-based orthography, or in the
Ethiopic script, which was first used to write the Ethiosemitic language Gǝʿǝz.
The Ethiopic script originates from the South Arabian abjad (or consonant
script; cf. [3.1]). Probably inspired by Indic scripts, it was modified to an al-
phasyllabary (i.e. a script whose graphemes represent CV sequences or plain
consonants; cf. [3.1] for details), while additional syllabographs, and graphemes
for numerals were created as a result of the Greek influence. In subsequent
modifications, particularly when the Ethiosemitic language Amharic was writ-
ten in this script, diacritics for labialised, palatalised, and spirantised conso-
nants were invented. When the Ethiopic script was adapted for writing lan-
guages other than Gǝʿǝz and Amharic in the 19th and 20th centuries, new syllab-
ographs were created by modifying existing graphemes, and various conven-
tions were developed to indicate vowel length and gemination.
Although Gǝʿǝz ceased to be spoken as a native language after the 8th centu-
ry AD, it was retained in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church as the language of lit-
urgy. Moreover, a diglossic situation prevailed at the Christian Ethiopian royal
court for several centuries in which Gǝʿǝz functioned as the sole literary lan-
guage, but with Amharic as the spoken lingua franca. Because of major politi-
[138] MEYER

cal, socio-cultural, and economic changes in the second half of the 19th century,
Amharic became the dominant Ethiopian language in print media, resulting in
the use of Gǝʿǝz being confined to the religious domain. Amharic, by contrast,
was promoted as the official national language in Ethiopia to the disadvantage
of all other Ethiopian languages. This situation only changed in 1991 when the
current government granted all ethnolinguistic groups the constitutional right
to use their native languages in official domains within their respective admin-
istrative units.
Due to its socio-historical evolution, the Ethiopic script is often associated
with Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity and the ruling Amhara elite. Therefore,
its use was not only disfavoured by Muslim Ethiopians, but also by formerly
disadvantaged ethnolinguistic groups, who currently prefer to write their na-
tive languages in a Roman script to signal their linguistic and socio-cultural
autonomy.
Beside comparative works, like Jensen (1925), Daniels (1997), Salomon
(2000), Coulmas (2003), Comrie (2005), Rogers (2005), various detailed studies
are concerned with the linguistic features of the Ethiopic script, in particular
Ullendorff (1951a), Hammerschmidt (1994), Getatchew (1996), Ayele (1997),
Hornus (2006), Meheretu (2006), Treis (2008), Azeb (2010) and Frantsouzoff
(2010). Some of these studies also mention socio-cultural aspects associated
with the script, like Azeb (2010), but most information on this topic is scattered
in non-linguistic publications. The main conclusions drawn from the review of
these studies will be presented as follows: following an outline of the origin of
the Ethiopic script in [2], its basic linguistic features are presented in [3]. Major
script modifications preceding the 19th century are described in [4], while [5] is
concerned with more recent modifications, due to the adaption of the Ethiopic
script for writing Ethiopian languages other than Gǝʿǝz and Amharic. Selective
historical aspects regarding the spread of the Ethiopic script are discussed in
[6], followed by an overview of other local scripts and comments on their socio-
cultural connotations in [7]. Finally, [8] summarises the main phases in the de-
velopment and spread of the Ethiopic script.

[2] orig in of the ethiopic script

The emergence of the Ethio-Eritrean cultural region is often seen as being re-
lated to Aksum – the capital of a powerful Christian kingdom on the Horn of
Africa between the 1st and 8th centuries AD. Aksum was an important regional
centre that was also part of an extensive international trade network between
the Mediterranean area, Southern Arabia, and the Indian west coast (cf. Serni-
cola & Phillipson 2011:190–192; Phillips 2014).

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The earliest written attestations in the Ethio-Eritrean region are Sabaic in-
scriptions from the 7th or 8th centuries BC in the South Arabian consonant script
(cf. Avanzini 2007a:152; Müller 2007:156; Mcdonald 2010).1 As most of them con-
tain linguistic features not found in Arabian Sabaic, it is assumed that the
Ethio-Eritrean inscriptions represent a form of Pseudo-Sabaic that was com-
posed by speakers of early Ethiosemitic (or a predecessor of Gǝʿǝz) for whom
Sabaic was a learnt – not a native – language (e.g. Drewes 1958:115; Müller
2007:156; Weninger 2011a:1115).2 Weninger (2011a:1115), thus concludes that
Ethiosemitic was already being spoken when South Arabian migrants arrived in
the Ethio-Eritrean region, i.e. their language, Sabaic, is not the immediate pre-
decessor of Ethiosemitic as purported by received opinion (cf., e.g. Hetzron
1972:122–125; Marrassini 2011).
The Ethiopic script, whose earliest remnants in Gǝʿǝz date back to a period
between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD (Avanzini 2007a:153; 2007b:160), is clearly
related to the South Arabian script (cf., e.g. Unseth 2008:358–359).3 Ullendorff
(1951a:207; 1951b) considers monumental inscriptions from the 3 rd and 4th cen-
turies AD to be the earliest attestations of Gǝʿǝz and consequently of the Ethio-
pic script, while Drewes & Schneider (1976) propose an earlier date based on
Proto-Gǝʿǝz graffiti. Be that as it may, the Ethiopic script was substantially
modified from an abjad to an alphasyllabary (for the terms, cf. Daniels 1997:16–
17; Salomon 2000:88) during the reign of King ʿEzana (AD 330–365/70). In AD 340,
ʿEzana converted to Christianity, which subsequently became the state religion
in the Aksumite kingdom (Hahn 2005:479). The newly established Ethiopian
Orthodox Church started to teach reading and writing in Gǝʿǝz (Haile 1976:339–
343); religious texts were translated from Greek into Gǝʿǝz (cf. Weninger
2011b:1124). As Greek had been a lingua franca along the Red Sea coast for sev-
eral centuries, it was also known in the Ethio-Eritrean region (cf. Voigt
2012:28–29). This is evidenced by several Greek inscriptions dating from 300 BC
to AC 600 (Fiaccadori 2007:158; Avanzini 2007a:152–153), and Aksumite coins
from the 4th century AD, which were minted in Greek (Phillipson 2004:81). In-
tense language contact with Greek yielded the incorporation of Greek letters as
[1] Beside Sabaic, the South Arabian script was used for writing Minaic, Qatabānic and Ḥaḍramitic – all
four are Ancient South Semitic varieties natively spoken in southwest Arabia (Stein 2011:1042; Müller
1994).
[2] For a historical overview, cf. Phillipson (2009:265; 2011:260–262). Linguistic peculiarities of Pseudo-
Sabaic are described in Müller (2007:157) and Drewes (1980).
[3] The origin of the Ethiopic script is still the subject of controversy (cf. Frantsouzoff 2010:580–581). Azeb
(2010:179) mentions three main hypotheses: (i) an original Ethiopian invention, (ii) a gradual transfor-
mation of the South Arabian script, or (iii) an independent parallel development of South Arabian and
Ethiopic scripts from a common South Semitic script. Only scholars following the Afrocentric dogma
(e.g. Ayele 1997) argue for (i), while (ii) or (iii) are commonly found in the literature (e.g. Irvine 1978;
Hammerschmidt 1994:317; Daniels 1997:19; Salomon 2000:94; Weninger 2011b:1125).

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numeral graphemes into the Ethiopic script (cf. [3.2]), and probably triggered
the change in the direction of writing and the invention of additional syllab-
ographs (cf. [3.1]).4
In the typology of writing systems, the modified Ethiopic script and Indic
scripts of the Brāhmī type belong to the same group, i.e. they are alphasyllabic
(Daniels 1997:24; Salomon 2000:93–94; Coulmas 2003:152–155; Comrie
2005:1192; Rogers 2005:208; Avanzini 2007b:160; Frantsouzoff 2010:580–583;
Voigt 2012:30). Although the similarity between the Ethiopic and Indic scripts
has already been observed in the 19th century, direct Indic influence appeared
unlikely. Consequently, it was assumed that the vowel diacritics in the Ethiopic
alphasyllabary are an indigenous Ethio-Eritrean innovation (cf. especially Sa-
lomon 2000:94; but also Dillmann 1857:19, 20 fn. 1; Jensen 1925:140; Ham-
merschmidt 1994:317; Ullendorff 1951a:81–82). Other possible influence, such
as e.g. Christian missionaries (from the Middle East) (Littmann 1953:352) or In-
dia (Daniels 1997:24), did not gain much acceptance.5
Historical and archaeological research shows that India and the Ethio-
Eritrean region exchanged goods and had several cultural contacts during the
times of the Aksumite kingdom and before it (Pankhurst 2007:142–143; but also
Phillips 1997:448–451; 2014:254–255, 261). Nevertheless, Salomon (2000:93–94)
argues that Indic alphasyllabaries differ to a certain extent from the two al-
phasyllabaries in Northeast Africa, being Ethiopic and the Meroitic (cf. Voogt
2010 for its features), such that these scripts should be considered independent
parallel innovations – as long no proof is found of direct Indic influence on
writing. However, inscriptions in an early Brāhmī script were found together
with graffiti in the Ethiopic abjad in a cave at Soqotra dating back to a period
between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD (Frantsouzoff 2010:583). Consequently,
Frantsouzoff (2010:583) assumes that Indic scripts, particularly the Kharoṣṭhī
script, influenced the Ethiopic alphasyllabary.6

[4] A once proposed Greek origin for the Ethiopic vowel diacritics is implausible (Dillmann 1857:20 fn. 1).
[5] Cf. Weninger (2011b:1126) for various hypotheses on the origin of the vowel diacritics.
[6] Regarding the relationship between the Kharoṣṭhī and Brāhmī scripts, cf. Rogers (2005:chap. 11). For
the direction of influence from Brāhmī (or Kharoṣṭhī) to Ethiopic, cf. Rogers (2005:208); Daniels
(1997:24).

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[3] basic f eatures of the ethiopic script

[3.1] From abjad to alphasyllabary

The Ethiopic script is closely related to the South Arabian script, which was in
use from the early 1st millennium BC until the 6th century AD (Stein 2011:1042;
Müller 1994). The South Arabian script is an abjad consisting of 29 consonant
graphemes (Stein 2011:1047–1049) which were written from right to left or in
boustrophedon (i.e. with alternating directions for each line) – the latter domi-
nating in early Sabaic (Nebes 2007:153). The graphemes ⟨w⟩, ⟨j⟩, and rarely ⟨h⟩
also function as matres lectionis marking word-final long vowels (Stein
2011:1049). Words are separated by a vertical bar ( | ).
table 1 shows the graphemes of the Ethiopic abjad with their South Arabian
equivalents (cf. Daniels 1997:34; Naveh 2005:49–50; Stein 2011:1045; Weninger
2011b:1126). Most Ethiopic graphemes are transliterated into IPA symbols (cf.
Weninger 2010 for the reconstruction of their phonemic value), except ś and ḍ
which probably represent IPA ɫ or ɫ’, respectively.
The twenty-four graphemes in the Ethiopic abjad are adapted from the
South Arabian script (cf. Ullendorff 1951a:208 for details). In the Ethiopic script,
⟨w⟩ and ⟨j⟩ only rarely function as matres lectionis (Frantsouzoff 2010:583;
Hammerschmidt 1994:317; Ullendorff 1951a:209). Except for a few early Pseudo-
Sabaic inscriptions (Frantsouzoff 2010:582), the writing direction in Gǝʿǝz is
consistently left-to-right (cf. Avanzini 2007b:160; Weninger 2011b:1125), proba-
bly due to Greek influence (Voigt 2012:33; Hammerschmidt 1994:317; Littmann
1953:352).
The subscript numbers attached to E (for Ethiopic) and SA (for South Arabi-
an) in table 1 indicate the order of the graphemes in the respective scripts.
Although the South Arabian sequence was known in the Ethio-Eritrean region,
the Ethiopic graphemes occur in a different order, even if consonant sequences
in shorter clusters (e.g. the initial four graphemes h–l–ħ–m in table 1) are iden-
tical to the South Arabian script (Frantsouzoff 2010:582).7 Ullendorff
(1951a:210–211) discusses various reasons for this variation, but concludes that
the order of graphemes in the Ethiopic script is “predominantly accidental” (cf.
also Getatchew 1996:570).8

[7] The grapheme order in Northwest Semitic scripts is completely different from the South Arabian and
Ethiopic scripts (Daniels 1997:33).
[8] The assumption that graphemes with a similar shape are clustered in the Ethiopic script (e.g. Frantsou-
zoff 2010:582) only accounts for some instances of variation. Honeyman (1952:137–140) and Naveh
(2005:51), by contrast, assume that the grapheme order in the Ethiopic script may follow an ancient
South Arabian tradition.

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Ethiopic South Arabian

Graphemes Equivalents
E1 ሀ ⟨h⟩ 𐩠 ⟨h⟩ SA1
E2 ለ ⟨l⟩ 𐩡 ⟨l⟩ SA2
E3 ሐ ⟨ħ⟩ 𐩢 ⟨ħ⟩ SA3
E4 መ ⟨m⟩ 𐩣 ⟨m⟩ SA4
E5 ሠ ⟨ś⟩ 𐩦 ⟨ʃ⟩ SA7
E6 ረ ⟨r⟩ 𐩧 ⟨r⟩ SA8
E7 ሰ ⟨s⟩ 𐩪 ⟨s⟩ SA11
E8 ቀ ⟨k’⟩ 𐩤 ⟨k’⟩ SA5
E9 በ ⟨b⟩ 𐩨 ⟨b⟩ SA9
E10 ተ ⟨t⟩ 𐩩 ⟨t⟩ SA10
E11 ኀ ⟨x⟩ 𐩭 ⟨x⟩ SA14
E12 ነ ⟨n⟩ 𐩬 ⟨n⟩ SA13
E13 አ ⟨ʔ⟩ 𐩱 ⟨ʔ⟩ SA18
E14 ከ ⟨k⟩ 𐩫 ⟨k⟩ SA12
E15 ወ ⟨w⟩ 𐩥 ⟨w⟩ SA6
E16 ዐ ⟨ʕ⟩ 𐩲 ⟨ʕ⟩ SA19
E17 ዘ ⟨z⟩ 𐩹 ⟨ð⟩ SA26
E18 የ ⟨j⟩ 𐩺 ⟨j⟩ SA27
E19 ደ ⟨d⟩ 𐩵 ⟨d⟩ SA22
E20 ገ ⟨g⟩ 𐩴 ⟨g⟩ SA21
E21 ጠ ⟨t’⟩ 𐩷 ⟨t’⟩ SA24
E22 ጸ ⟨s’⟩ 𐩮 ⟨s’⟩ SA15
E23 ፀ ⟨ḍ⟩ 𐩳 ⟨ḍ⟩ SA20
E24 ፈ ⟨f⟩ 𐩰 ⟨f⟩ SA17
– 𐩯 ⟨ś⟩ SA16
– 𐩶 ⟨ġ⟩ SA23
– 𐩸 ⟨z⟩ SA25
– 𐩻 ⟨θ⟩ SA28
– 𐩼 ⟨ẓ⟩ SA29

table 1: Ethiopic and South Arabian abjad scripts.

Soon after its first attestations as abjad, the Ethiopic script was modified to an
alphasyllabary in the 4th century ad (Weninger 2011b:1126; Frantsouzoff
2010:583; Avanzini 2007a:153). The consonant graphemes in table 1 became
basic syllabographs (i.e. fixed consonant–vowel sequences) with the inherent

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vowel ä, which seems to be the most frequent vowel in Gǝʿǝz.9 In addition to ä,

the vowels u, i, a, e, ǝ, o are phonemic in Gǝʿǝz (and Amharic). The mid-central
vowel ǝ also functions as epenthetic vowel to dissolve consonant clusters
(Gragg 1997:177). According to Weninger (2011b:1128–1129) and Gragg
(1997:178), the preferred syllable structure in Gǝʿǝz is CV(C). Words usually
begin with a consonant, but almost never end in the vowel ǝ. Except C+r se-
quences, as in krǝstos ‘Christ’, word-initial consonant clusters are dissolved by
the epenthetic vowel. Word-medial and -final consonant sequences only in-
volve either two distinct consonants, or else a geminated one.
The new Ethiopic graphemes in table 2 represent CV sequences or vowelless
C. Gemination is not marked. Graphemes for vowels, i.e. syllables of the type V,
are lacking because the vowel diacritics do not function as independent graph-
emes (Salomon 2000:93).10 According to Salomon (2000:93), the merger of C+ǝ
sequences and vowelless consonants into a single grapheme avoids the compli-
cations of indicating consonant clusters and vowel deletion found in Indic
scripts, as native speakers intuitively know when ǝ is pronounced or sup-
pressed. This principle seems also to apply for gemination.

[9] Gragg (1997:177) describes ä as “low central front [vowel], higher and more forward than /a/ …; ap-
proximates IPA [æ]” (cf. also Ullendorff 1955:161–165 for a similar view). In Amharic, the vowel ä is
more centralised, i.e. [ɐ] (Devens 1983), or [ɜ] (Derib 2011). Except χ (i.e. spirantised k, cf. [4.3]), the
vowel ä is pronounced as [a] in the environment of the so-called gutturals h, ħ, x, ʔ, ʕ (cf. Podolsky
1991:16).
[10] In a few cases, word-initial consonant clusters in Gǝʿǝz are dissolved by the prothetic vowel ǝ, which is
represented in writing by እ⟨ʔ(ǝ)⟩, as in እግዚእ⟨ʔ(ǝ) g(ǝ) zi ʔ(ǝ)⟩ pronounced as [ǝg.ziʔ] ‘lord’ for underly-
ing /gziʔ/ (cf. Gragg 1997:178). The grapheme series based on the syllabograph አ⟨ʔä⟩~[ʔa] is also used
to represent word-initial vowels in loanwords from Greek or Latin (cf. Weninger 2005:469–471, 481).

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Vowel Order
1 gǝʕǝz
st
2 kaʕǝb
nd
3 śalǝs 4th rabǝʕ 5th xamǝs
rd
6th sadǝs 7th sabǝʕ
C_ Cä C+u C+i C+a C+e C(+ǝ) C+o
h ሀ [ha] ሁ ሂ ሃ ሄ ህ ሆ
l ለ ሉ ሊ ላ ሌ ል ሎ
ħ ሐ [ħa] ሑ ሒ ሓ ሔ ሕ ሖ
m መ ሙ ሚ ማ ሜ ም ሞ
ś ሠ ሡ ሢ ሣ ሤ ሥ ሦ
r ረ ሩ ሪ ራ ሬ ር ሮ
s ሰ ሱ ሲ ሳ ሴ ስ ሶ
k’ ቀ ቁ ቂ ቃ ቄ ቅ ቆ
b በ ቡ ቢ ባ ቤ ብ ቦ
t ተ ቱ ቲ ታ ቴ ት ቶ
x ኀ [xa] ኁ ኂ ኃ ኄ ኅ ኆ
n ነ ኑ ኒ ና ኔ ን ኖ
ʔ አ [ʔa] ኡ ኢ ኣ ኤ እ ኦ
k ከ ኩ ኪ ካ ኬ ክ ኮ
w ወ ዉ ዊ ዋ ዌ ው ዎ
ʕ ዐ [ʕa] ዑ ዒ ዓ ዔ ዕ ዖ
z ዘ ዙ ዚ ዛ ዜ ዝ ዞ
j የ ዩ ዪ ያ ዬ ይ ዮ
d ደ ዱ ዲ ዳ ዴ ድ ዶ
g ገ ጉ ጊ ጋ ጌ ግ ጎ
t’ ጠ ጡ ጢ ጣ ጤ ጥ ጦ
p’ ጰ ጱ ጲ ጳ ጴ ጵ ጶ
s’ ጸ ጹ ጺ ጻ ጼ ጽ ጾ
ḍ ፀ ፁ ፂ ፃ ፄ ፅ ፆ
f ፈ ፉ ፊ ፋ ፌ ፍ ፎ
p ፐ ፑ ፒ ፓ ፔ ፕ ፖ

table 2: Ethiopic alphasyllabary.

In the Ethiopic alphasyllabary, for instance, the grapheme በ⟨b⟩ – representing

[b] in the Ethiopic abjad – was reinterpreted as basic syllabograph ⟨bä⟩. Se-
quences of b followed by other vowels are indicated by diacritic circles, or hori-
zontal and vertical strokes attached to the basic syllabograph (cf. Ham-
merschmidt 1994:318–319; Getatchew 1996:571–572). Thus, bu is written by add-
ing a horizontal stroke to the mid-right side ቡ⟨bu⟩, bi by a horizontal stroke at
the bottom-right side ቢ⟨bi⟩, ba by a vertical stroke at the right side ባ⟨ba⟩, be by

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THE ETHIOPIC SCRIPT [145]

a circle at the right bottom ቤ⟨be⟩, and bo by a vertical stroke at the left side
ቦ⟨bo⟩. Sequences with the vowel ǝ or lacking a vowel are marked by the same
diacritic modification, e.g. for b(ǝ) a horizontal stroke is added at the mid-left
side ብ⟨b(ǝ)⟩. As shown in table 2, the vowel diacritics are consistent in certain
blocks of graphemes, but there is no uniform diacritic-vowel relationship fit-
ting all graphemes (cf. Hornus 2006:13–15).
The sequence of vowels in the Ethiopic script is fixed. It starts with the basic
syllabograph Cä, which is called gǝʕǝz – like the name of the language. This is
followed by the graphemes marked for the vowels u, i, a, e, ǝ, o – which are
called by the respective Gǝʿǝz ordinal numbers, i.e. C+u is kaʕǝb ‘second’, C+i
śalǝs ‘third’, etc. (Frantsouzoff 2010:583; Hammerschmidt 1994:318–319).11 The
reason for this specific vowel sequence remains unclear (Ullendorff 1951a:210;
1955:159 fn. 9).
The Ethiopic alphasyllabary in table 2 contains two additional syllab-
ographs, ፐ⟨pä⟩ and ጰ⟨p’ä⟩, which are lacking in the abjad script in table 1 (Ul-
lendorff 1951a:208; Frantsouzoff 2010:582). Littmann (1953:354), among others,
argues that the two syllabographs originated from the Greek letter phi, i.e. Π/π,
as they almost exclusively occur in Greek loanwords. This is commonly accept-
ed for ፐ⟨pä⟩, but ጰ⟨p’ä⟩ is also found in a few other Gǝʿǝz words (Ullendorff
1951a:208–209). Getatchew (1996:570), therefore, considers ጰ⟨p’ä⟩ a modifica-
tion of the syllabograph ጸ⟨s’ä⟩.
The graphemes of the Ethiopic abjad and alphasyllabary have no special
names, but are called according to the syllable they represent, i.e. ha for ሀ⟨hä⟩,
lä for ለ⟨lä⟩, mä for መ⟨mä⟩, etc. (Hammerschmidt 1994:319; see also Frantsouzoff
2010:582; Ullendorff 1951a:213). Only the names of a few homophonous syllab-
ographs in which the consonants lost their original phonemic contrast (cf.
[4.4]) may contain additional modifiers, e.g. halleta ha for ሀ⟨hä⟩ vs. ħamäro ha for
ሐ⟨ħä⟩ – both pronounced ha (cf. Hammerschmidt 1994:319). Frantsouzoff
(2010:582) and Littmann (1953:351), by contrast, state that the syllabographs
are called by the Hebrew or Greek letter names in Psalm 119 of the Bible, i.e. hoj
for ሀ⟨hä⟩, law for ለ⟨lä⟩, maj for መ⟨mä⟩, etc. Ullendorff (1951a:211–214), Ham-
merschmidt (1994:319), Daniels (1997:33–34), and others, convincingly argue
however that these names are later inventions, probably under the influence of
Europeans.
The fixed sequence of the graphemes into an abecedary is called fidälä
(gäbäta) ħawarǝja ‘the Apostolic alphabet’ in Gǝʿǝz (Chernetsov 2003:55), or fidäl
gäbäta in Amharic (Azeb 2010:186). The syllabographs in table 2 and the conso-
nants in table 1 are arranged in the same sequence, which is called hahu in
[11] Cf. also Täklä Marjam (1930) for a description of the Ethiopic script in Gǝʿǝz.

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Ethiosemitic – reflecting the names of the first two syllabographs, i.e. ሀ⟨hä⟩
ሁ⟨hu⟩. There is another sequence (cf. Azeb 2010:187), in which the syllab-
ographs are ordered according to Northwest Semitic scripts. It starts with the
string አ⟨ʔä⟩ ቡ⟨bu⟩ ጊ⟨gi⟩ ዳ⟨da⟩, from which its name abugida is derived
(Frantsouzoff 2010:582; Getatchew 1996:570).
The Ethiopic script is the only alphasyllabary among the various scripts for
Semitic languages (Daniels 1997:24; Coulmas 2003:154; Voigt 2012:30; Frantsou-
zoff 2010:580). Other Semitic languages most commonly have abjad scripts, in
which vowels are optionally marked by diacritics on the consonant grapheme,
or by matres lectionis (Daniels 1997:27–30).12 The historic dispute about wheth-
er the modified Ethiopic script is a syllabary or an abjad (cf. Azeb 2010:183) is
resolved by classifying it as a separate type, i.e. an alphasyllabary (Coulmas
2003:154–155) or an abugida (Daniels 1997:17, 23–24).13 According to Swank
(2008), abugida is a writing system in which basic (i.e. unmarked) graphemes
represent a consonant with an inherent vowel (usually a short a), while other
vowels (or the lack of a vowel) are marked through diacritics attached to the
basic grapheme. In an alphasyllabary, by contrast, the basic grapheme is a con-
sonant to which diacritics for every vowel are attached (Swank 2008:75). As the
distinction between them is not always straightforward or relevant, she groups
them together under the label alphasyllabary (Swank 2008:86), which is fol-
lowed here.

[3.2] Graphemes for numbers

According to Chrisomalis (2012:239), the Greeks were the first to invent an al-
phabetic numerical system under which each letter of the alphabet is assigned
a numerical value. These Greek alphabetic numerical letters were incorporated
as number graphemes into the Ethiopic script (Hammerschmidt 1994:319; Dan-
iels 1997:40; Weninger 2011b:1126) – probably already in the 4th century when it
still was an abjad (Ullendorff 1951a:217). Only in the 7th century, however, the
Ethiopic numerals acquired their current shape in which the Greek letters are
enclosed by an upper and lower stroke – apparently to avoid confusion with
other graphemes (cf. Hornus 2006:11). table 3, which is adapted from Daniels
(1997:40), shows the Ethiopic numerals and their Greek letter equivalents.
Chrisomalis (2012:232) classifies the Ethiopic numerals as basically ciphered-
additive and also partly multiplicative. Higher numbers are encoded through a

[12] Other script types also occur but are less common, e.g. Akkadian and Eblaite are written in a logosyl-
labic cuneiform or Maltese in a Roman script.
[13] According to Daniels (1996:4), previous names for this script type include neosyllabary, pseudo-
alphabet, or semisyllabary.

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linear combination of the numerals for digits, decimals and one hundred (from
the highest numeral to the lowest) whose individual number values are added
up, hence ciphered-additive. For instance, the number ‘123’ is represented by
፻፳፫⟨100 20 3⟩, i.e. the sum of 100 plus 20 plus 3. With numbers between 200 and
999, the actual value of ‘hundred’ is marked by a digit preceding ፻⟨100⟩. Accord-
ingly, the number ‘523’ is encoded by ፭፻፳፫⟨5 100 20 3⟩, in which 5 is multiplied
with 100, and then 20 plus 3 is added. This mixed pattern is also found with
numbers above 1,999, by using decimals or a combination of digits and decimals
as multipliers for ‘hundred’. The year ‘2006’, for instance, can be written ፳፻፮⟨20
100 6⟩, i.e. 20 multiplied by 100 to which 6 is added.

Ethiopic Greek Value Ethiopic Greek Value

numeral letter numeral letter
Digits Decimals
፩ Α ‘1’ ፲ Ι ‘10’
፪ Β ‘2’ ፳ Κ ‘20’
፫ Γ ‘3’ ፴ Λ ‘30’
፬ Δ ‘4’ ፵ Μ ‘40’
፭ Ε ‘5’ ፶ Ν ‘50’
፮ Ϛ ‘6’ ፷ Ξ ‘60’
፯ Ζ ‘7’ ፸ Ο ‘70’
፰ Η ‘8’ ፹ Π ‘80’
፱ Θ ‘9’ ፺ Ϙ ‘90’
Other Numerals
፻ Ρ ‘100’ ፼ ΡΡ ‘10,000’

table 3: Numerals in the Ethiopic script.

The Ethiopic numerals only encode integers; there are no symbols for fractions
or zero. Today these numerals are rarely used, e.g. in printed calendars and
agendas. Elsewhere, they are commonly replaced by the European numeric no-
tation based on Hindu-Arabic numerals (cf. Getatchew 1996:574; Daniels
1997:40).

[3.3] Punctuation marks

The South Arabian vertical bar ( | ) as a word divider is found in early Ethiopic
inscriptions. Later, it was replaced by the colon ( : ). The lack of these symbols
at the end of a line indicates that the word continues at the next line. By con-
trast to the South Arabian abjad, the Ethiopic script has various additional
punctuation marks (Weninger 2011b:1126). These include the full stop ( ። ) to

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mark the end of sentences, a paragraph separator ( ፨ ), and several signs for
enumerations, such as a comma ( ፣ ), a colon ( ፥ ), a semi-colon ( ፤ ) and a pref-
ace colon ( ፦ ) (Hornus 2006:10, Figure 7).14 Except for the word divider ( : ), the
punctuation marks are not consistently applied (Hammerschmidt 1994:319; Ul-
lendorff 1951a:216).
Nowadays, the word divider is often replaced by an empty space (Getatchew
1996:575; Hornus 2006:11). Other punctuation marks common in European writ-
ing systems have been incorporated, in particular the question mark ( ? ), the
exclamation mark ( ! ), and the quotation marks ( « » ) or ( “ ” ) (Hornus 2006:11;
see also Asteraye et al. 1999:9).
Signs for gemination, which conveys lexical and grammatical meaning in
Ethiosemitic, are not native features of the Ethiopic script, but inventions of
European scholars (Frantsouzoff 2010:584; Ullendorff 1951a:215). Gragg
(1997:171), for instance, observes that two dots on top of a geminated conso-
nant, e.g. በ⟨፟ bbä⟩, has been occurring since the 17th century in grammars and
dictionaries of Gǝʿǝz written by European scholars. Hammerschmidt (1994:321)
⟨ ⟩
found a superscript version of the grapheme ጥ t’(ǝ) on top of a geminated conso-
nant in a few manuscripts, but considers it a temporary help for pupils learning
Gǝʿǝz (cf. also Ullendorff 1951a:215).15

[4] modif ications bef ore the 19 t h century

The change of the Ethiopic abjad into an alphasyllabary in the 4 th century was
followed by the invention of syllabographs for labialised velars (which were
later extended to non-velar consonants), for alveopalatal consonants and for
spirantised consonants (Frantsouzoff 2010:583). These modifications cannot be
exactly dated, but could be caused by applying the Ethiopic script to writing
Amharic (cf. Weninger 2011b:1126).

[4.1] Labialised consonants

The labialised velars kʷ, gʷ, k’ʷ, xʷ are peculiar to Ethiosemitic. They are not
found in other Semitic languages (Ullendorff 1951c:71), nor is their origin in
Ethiosemitic known (cf. Podolsky 1991:14). The graphemes for labialised velars
are derived from the syllabographs of the corresponding plain velars, i.e. k, g, k’,
x in table 2, but systematically lack the graphemes for back vowels, i.e. Cʷ+u
and Cʷ+o (Hammerschmidt 1994:319):
[14] Hornus (2006:10–11) mentions three vertical dots ( ፧ ) as another enumeration mark in Gǝʿǝz. Accord-
ing to Ullendorff (1951a:216), this sign was introduced as question mark in the modified Tigrinya or-
thography from 1944, but was probably never used.
[15] Similar superscripts also occur in an indigenous musical annotation system which was developed by
the monk Yared in the 6th century (for further details, cf. Daniel 2006:14–15).

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Vowel Order
st nd
C_ 1 Cä 2 C+u 3 C+i 4th C+a 5th C+e
rd
6th C(+ǝ) 7th C+o
k’ʷ ቈ ቊ ቋ ቌ ቍ
xʷ ኈ ኊ ኋ ኌ ኍ
kʷ ኰ ኲ ኳ ኴ ኵ
gʷ ጐ ጒ ጓ ጔ ጕ

table 4: Labialised velars.

Labialisation is not marked uniformly. For the basic syllabographs, it is indicat-

ed by a circle attached to the mid-right side, e.g. plain ቀ⟨k’ä⟩ becomes labialised
ቈ⟨k’ʷä⟩, but by an extension of the diacritics for the syllabographs with the
vowels a and e, thus ቃ⟨k’a⟩ changes to ቋ⟨k’ʷa⟩ and ቄ⟨k’e⟩ to ቌ⟨k’ʷe⟩. The syllab-
ographs for the labialised velars with the vowels i and ǝ are both derived from
the basic syllabograph of the plain velars by adding two different types of
curved strokes at their upper-right side, e.g. plain ቀ⟨k’ä⟩ is the base for labial-
ised ቊ⟨k’ʷi⟩ and ቍ⟨k’ʷ(ǝ)⟩.
The syllabographs for the labialised velars (as well as for p and p’, cf. [3.1])
are lacking in the Ethiopic abjad, but occur in vocalised inscriptions from the
4th century AD (Ullendorff 1951c:74; Weninger 2011b:1126). Frantsouzoff
(2010:583) therefore concludes that the vowel diacritics and the syllabographs
for labialised velars were invented at the same time, whereas Ullendorff
(1951a:209) assumes that “insufficient epigraphic evidence” is responsible for
the lack of intermediary stages.
At a much later but still unspecified time, syllabographs for labialised non-
velar consonants (except h, ħ, ś, ʔ, ʕ, w, j, p’, ḍ, p) were introduced (Ham-
merschmidt 1994:319; Frantsouzoff 2010:583). They only appear in a single syl-
labograph, being Cʷ+a, which is derived from its respective plain counterpart
with the 5th order vowel, as shown in table 5:16

[16] The labialised velars marked by a in table 5 have four additional syllabographs for the vowels ä, i, e, ǝ
(cf. table 4).

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Basic Alphasyllabary Extended Alphasyllabary

Plain Labialised Plain Labialised
C_ 1st Cä 4th C+a Cʷ+a C_ 1st Cä 4th C+a Cʷ+a
h ሀ ሃ
l ለ ላ ሏ
ħ ሐ ሓ (ሗ)
m መ ማ ሟ
ś ሠ ሣ (ሧ)
r ረ ራ ሯ
s ሰ ሳ ሷ Palatalised ʃ ሸ ሻ ሿ
χ’
a a
k’ ቀ ቃ ቋ Spirantised ቐ ቓ ቛ
b በ ባ ቧ Spirantised v ቨ ቫ ቯ
t ተ ታ ቷ Palatalised ʧ ቸ ቻ ቿ
a
x ኀ ኃ ኋ
n ነ ና ኗ Palatalised ɲ ኘ ኛ ኟ
ʔ አ ኣ
χ
a a
k ከ ካ ኳ Spirantised ኸ ኻ ዃ
w ወ ዋ
ʕ ዐ ዓ
z ዘ ዛ ዟ Palatalised ʒ ዠ ዣ ዧ
j የ ያ
d ደ ዳ ዷ Palatalised ʤ ጀ ጃ ጇ
a
g ገ ጋ ጓ
t’ ጠ ጣ ጧ Palatalised ʧ’ ጨ ጫ ጯ
p’ ጰ ጳ (ጷ)
s’ ጸ ጻ ጿ
ḍ ፀ ፃ
f ፈ ፋ ፏ
p ፐ ፓ

table 5: Summary of labialised consonants.

More recently, even ħ, ś, p’, and secondarily palatalised and spirantised conso-
nants acquired syllabographs representing Cʷ+a, which are included in the offi-
cial abecedary of the Ethiopic script (cf. Azeb 2010:187).

[4.2] Alveopalatal consonants

The Ethiopic alphasyllabary was used exclusively for writing Gǝʿǝz for several
centuries. When it was adapted for the first time for another Ethiosemitic lan-

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guage, specifically Amharic, in the 14th century, six additional syllabograph se-
ries for the alveopalatal consonants ʃ, ʒ, ʧ, ʤ, ʧ ’, ɲ were created by modifying
their alveolar counterparts (Frantsouzoff 2010:583; Hornus 2006:15).

Vowel Order
st nd
C_ 1 Cä 2 C+u 3 C+i 4th C+a 5th C+e
rd
6th C(+ǝ) 7th C+o
ʃ ሸ ሹ ሹ ሻ ሼ ሽ ሾ
ʧ ቸ ቹ ቺ ቻ ቼ ች ቾ
ɲ ኘ ኙ ኚ ኛ ኜ ኝ ኞ
ʒ ዠ ዡ ዢ ዣ ዤ ዥ ዦ
ʤ ጀ ጁ ጂ ጃ ጄ ጅ ጆ
ʧ’ ጨ ጩ ጪ ጫ ጬ ጭ ጮ

table 6: Palatalised alveolars.

Ullendorff (1951a:214) remarks that Amharic may not necessarily have caused
the invention of these syllabographs, as alveopalatal consonants are also found
in Tigrinya and Tigre. However, as these languages only began to be written
down relatively recently (cf. [6]), it is reasonable to consider Amharic as the
trigger for this invention.
In contrast to labialisation, palatalisation is almost regularly marked by a
horizontal stroke on top of the syllabograph for the corresponding alveolar
consonant, e.g. the palatalised ሸ⟨ʃä⟩ is derived from ሰ⟨sä⟩, ሹ⟨ʃu⟩ from ሱ⟨su⟩, etc.
The syllabograph starting with the consonant ʒ is characterised by two sepa-
rate horizontal strokes attached to the two upper ends of its alveolar counter-
part, i.e. plain ዘ⟨zä⟩ becomes palatalised ዠ⟨ʒä⟩. Only the syllabographs based
on ʧ ’ attach circles to the three lower extensions of the plain counterparts,
thus palatalised ጨ⟨ʧ ’ ä⟩ derives from plain ጠ⟨t’ä⟩. Regarding this irregularity,
Hornus (2006:15, 37) and Ullendorff (1951a:214) are of the opinion that the syl-
labographs for ʧ ’ were initially derived by attaching small strokes to the upper
corners of their plain counterparts, i.e. a grapheme ⟨ʧ ’ ä⟩ similar to ~ጠ~ instead
of ጨ, as found in Ludolf’s Historia Aethiopica from 1681 (cf. Ludolphus 1982:6r).
However, Praetorius (1879:17) noticed that ~ጠ~ is restricted to Ludolf’s publica-
tions, so it could also result from the hypercorrect use of the horizontal strokes
found with ዠ⟨ʒä⟩.

[4.3] Additional syllabographs

Writing in Amharic probably triggered further innovations in the Ethiopic al-
phasyllabary. In Gǝʿǝz, the basic syllabographs starting with the gutturals h, ħ,
x, ʕ, ʔ are irregularly pronounced with the vowel a instead of regular ä (cf. Foot-
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[152] MEYER

note 9). Consequently, there was no written representation for the syllables hä
and ʔä in Amharic. Therefore, the syllable hä (or related χä~xä), which is fairly
frequent in Amharic, began to be represented by the syllabograph ኸ⟨χä⟩ –
which is derived by adding a horizontal stroke on top of ከ⟨kä⟩. The spirantisa-
tion of *k to h (via χ and x) through a diachronic sound change is reflected in a
number of cognates from Gǝʿǝz and Amharic (cf. Podolsky 1991:29–32). Since
early Amharic writers were certainly aware of this sound change, they could
have indicated it by modifying the syllabograph for Gǝʿǝz ከ⟨kä⟩. This might ex-
plain the occurrence of ኸ⟨χä⟩ as a basic syllabograph, which can be modified
for all other vowels and for labialisation.
The creation of the marginal syllabograph ኧ⟨ʔä⟩ by attaching a horizontal
stroke to አ⟨ʔä⟩ (which is irregularly pronounced ʔa) is probably related to this.
By contrast to ኸ⟨χä⟩, the syllabograph ኧ⟨ʔä⟩ is never modified by vowel diacrit-
ics. Moreover, the syllable ʔä is exceptional in Amharic because it only occurs
in the interjection ኧረ ⟨ʔä rä⟩ ‘gosh’ (expressing surprise). This syllable seems to
be completely absent in Tigre and Tigrinya. Probably due to its rarity, ኧ⟨ʔä⟩ is
not included in the official abecedary (cf. Azeb 2010:187).
In Tigrinya, the velar plosive k and ejective k’ have the spirantised uvular
consonants χ and χ’ as phonologically conditioned allophones (Kogan 1997:425).
Similarly to Amharic, the spirantised allophones are marked by a horizontal
stroke on the syllabographs of the plain consonants, i.e. ኸ⟨χä⟩ from ከ⟨kä⟩, and
ቐ⟨χ’ä⟩ from ቀ⟨k’ä⟩. These modified syllabographs can be combined with vowel
diacritics and mark labialisation.
The horizontal stroke on the syllabograph ቨ⟨vä⟩ connects it to በ⟨bä⟩, but v
(i.e. spirantised b) is not a native phoneme in Ethiosemitic, as it exclusively
occurs in loanwords. Asteraye et al. (1999:8) ascribe both the invention of ቨ⟨vä⟩,
as well as the syllabograph series for the palatal approximant ʎ, i.e. ⟨ʎä⟩
derived from ለ⟨lä⟩ and the palatal co-articulated nasal mʲ, i.e. ⟨mʲä⟩
derived from መ⟨mä⟩, to Catholic missionaries from the 17th century who
created them for transcribing Portuguese. The syllabograph series for ⟨ʎä⟩
and ⟨mʲä⟩ are unknown today. Only ⟨mʲa⟩ or its variant ፙ⟨mʲi⟩, which
both represent mʲa, continued to occur in texts until the 19th century (cf.
Praetorius 1879:19).

[4.4] Alternating graphemes

The corpus of literary works in Gǝʿǝz is divided into two periods. In the Ak-
sumite period from the 4th to the 7th centuries, Gǝʿǝz was spoken as a native
language, but it only functioned as a learnt language used for literary purposes
in the post-Aksumite period from the 13th to 19th centuries (cf. Kropp 1986:315–

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THE ETHIOPIC SCRIPT [153]

316; Weninger 2005:465). According to Avanzini (2007b:161), all of the syllab-

ographs in table 2 represent distinct Gǝʿǝz phonemes in use until the 6th centu-
ry AD.17 Since then, some of them continue to be used interchangeably, namely
አ⟨ʔä⟩ and ዐ⟨ʕä⟩ for the glottal stop ʔ, ሀ⟨hä⟩, ሐ⟨ħä⟩ and ኀ⟨xä⟩ for the fricative h,
ሠ⟨śä⟩ and ሰ⟨sä⟩ for the sibilant s, and ፀ⟨ḍä⟩ and ጸ⟨s’ä⟩ for the ejective fricative
s’. Thus, after Gǝʿǝz ceased being spoken, these alternations represent etymolo-
gising writing (cf. Hammerschmidt 1994:320; Hornus 2006:15), since the writers
of later Gǝʿǝz texts spoke another mother tongue in which some of these con-
sonants are not distinguished (Weninger 2011b:1128; Gragg 1997:170–173). All
attempts to eliminate these spelling variants in the modern Ethiosemitic lan-
guages written in the Ethiopic alphasyllabary have so far failed (cf., e.g. Cowley
1967; Amsalu 2006:21–24 for Amharic; Voigt 2011:1176 for Tigrinya; Wagner
2004:356–357 for Harari; Hussein 2010:85–87 for Silt’e).
Furthermore, Praetorius (1879:18) observes that the syllabograph ⟨mʲa⟩,
became a spelling variant of the syllabograph ሟ⟨mʷa⟩ for labialised mʷa. The
rare use of the syllabographs for mʲ certainly facilitated the new interpretation
of ⟨mʲa⟩ as ⟨mʷa⟩. Similarly, the syllabograph ፏ⟨fʷa⟩ has an optional variant
ፚ⟨fʷa⟩ with a horizontal stroke on its top – beside a third variant ⟨fʷa⟩ derived
from the syllabograph of the 6th order vowel (cf. also Cowley 1967).

[5] overview of modif ications af ter the 19 t h century

Protestant and Catholic missionary activity in Ethiopia and Eritrea intensified
in the 19th century, accompanied by the linguistic description of various ver-
nacular languages, including the development of orthographies (cf., e.g. Voogt
2014:135–136). The new orthographies were often an adapted Ethiopic alphasyl-
labary, in which new graphemes were frequently created by modifying existing
syllabographs.18 For writing Oromo (Cushitic), for instance, the basic syllab-
ograph for the implosive ɗ was derived from ደ⟨dä⟩, either by striking out its
upper part, i.e. ⟨ɗä⟩, or by a short vertical stroke on top of it, i.e. ዸ⟨ɗä⟩ (Gragg
1976:168). Another example is the velar nasal ŋ in Bilin whose basic syllab-
ograph ጘ⟨ŋä⟩ is a modification of ገ⟨gä⟩ (Smidt 2003:586; Asteraye et al. 1999:5).
In the 1980s, four new syllabograph series were invented for the pre-
glottalised consonants ˀl, ˀm, ˀr and ˀn in Sidaama by striking out the corre-
sponding plain syllabographs, i.e. ለ⟨lä⟩ changed to ለ⟨ˀlä⟩, ነ⟨nä⟩ to ነ⟨ˀnä⟩, etc.
(Asteraye et al. 1999:8). For writing Sebat Bet Gurage, additional syllabograph

[17] According to other scholars, certain syllabographs had already merged in late Aksumite inscriptions
(cf., e.g. Bulakh 2014:178).
[18] This principle was also applied for adapting the Ethiopic script to write various Ethiopian languages
after 1991 (cf. especially Meheretu 2006:Chap. 4).

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[154] MEYER

series were introduced for the palatalised velars kʲ, gʲ, k’ʲ, χʲ and the rounded
labials mʷ, bʷ, fʷ, pʷ.

Vowel Order
C_ 1st Cä 2nd C+u 3rd C+i 4th C+a 5th C+e 6th C(+ǝ) 7th C+o
kʲ ⷈ ⷉ ⷊ ⷋ ⷌ ⷍ ⷎ
gʲ ⷘ ⷙ ⷚ ⷛ ⷜ ⷝ ⷞ
k’ʲ ⷀ ⷁ ⷂ ⷃ ⷄ ⷅ ⷆ
χʲ ⷐ ⷑ ⷒ ⷓ ⷔ ⷕ ⷖ

table 7: Additional syllabographs for palatalised velars in Gurage.

The palatalised velars are uniformly marked by a diacritic hook ˅ on top of the
syllabograph for the corresponding plain velar.19
Rounded labials are indicated by the labialisation diacritics of velars (cf.
Asteraye et al. 1999:4–5). Note that the labialised grapheme for the 5th order
already existed in the extended Ethiopic alphasyllabary for Amharic (cf. table
5).

Vowel Order
C_ 1st Cä 2nd C+u 3rd C+i 4th C+a 5th C+e 6th C(+ǝ) 7th C+o
mʷ ᎀ ᎁ ሟ ᎂ ᎃ
bʷ ᎄ ᎅ ቧ ᎆ ᎇ
fʷ ᎈ ᎉ ፏ ᎊ ᎋ
pʷ ᎌ ᎍ ፗ ᎎ ᎏ

table 8: Additional syllabographs for rounded labials in Gurage.

Additional modifications occur for writing new consonants in languages like

Benchnon (Omotic) or Me‘en (Nilo-Saharan) (cf. Asteraye et al. 1999:5).
Vowel length and gemination are less frequently indicated in the Ethiopic
alphasyllabary, even if they are phonemic. The first convention for indicating
vowel length is found in Oromo, in which the five short vowels /a, e, i, u, o/
contrast with their long counterparts. The original qualitative contrast be-
tween the 1st and 4th order vowels ä vs. a, and the 3rd and 6th order vowels i vs. ǝ
in the Ethiopic alphasyllabary was given a length interpretation to distinguish
between short a vs. long aa, and long ii vs. short i in writing Oromo (Gragg
1997:168), as, e.g. in short በ⟨ba⟩ vs. long ባ⟨baa⟩. Length distinctions for the re-

[19] In Sahle Selassie (1964), the hook was replaced by a horizontal stroke.

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THE ETHIOPIC SCRIPT [155]

maining vowels /u, e, o/ are not indicated. This convention was later also ap-
plied for writing Silt’e (Hussein 2010:49).
One version of the Harari script invented another way to distinguish be-
tween the five short and long vowels /a, e, i, u, o/ (Wagner 2004:357–359). The
distinction between short a versus long aa is represented by the graphemes for
the 1st and the 4th order, as in Oromo. For the remaining vowels, the regular syl-
labograph indicates a short duration, while long vowels are marked by the ad-
ditional glides ው⟨w⟩ and ይ⟨j⟩ as matres lectionis. Syllabographs with front
vowels, i.e. C+i and C+e, indicate length by ይ⟨j⟩, but the syllabographs with back
vowels, i.e. C+u and C+o, use ው⟨w⟩, e.g. short ቢ⟨bi⟩ vs. long ቢይ⟨bi j⟩~[bii] or
short ቦ⟨bo⟩ vs. long ቦው⟨bo w⟩~[boo]. Furthermore, the syllabograph for the 6th
order represents a vowelless consonant. If it immediately precedes another syl-
labograph, gemination is indicated, e.g. ብበ⟨b ba⟩ represents [bba].
In the Ethiopic script adapted for the Cushitic language K’abeena (cf. Moges
2005), the original syllabograph series based on አ⟨ʔä⟩ following another syllab-
ograph was reemployed as marker for long vowels, while gemination is marked
as in Harari. In Bilin (Cushitic), the basic syllabograph ሀ⟨hä⟩, originally pro-
nounced as ha (cf. Footnote 9), became the conventionalised representation of
the syllable hä (Fallon 2006:93). Furthermore, the syllabograph ኹ – given as
⟨xʷ⟩ in Fallon (2006:95) – encodes a labialised velar in Bilin, but spirantised χ in
other languages.

[6] spread of the ethiopic script

Languages other than Gǝʿǝz were rarely written in the Ethiopic script before
the 19th century (Hornus 2006:15). A remarkable exception is Amharic, in which
several literary specimens are extant – the oldest are probably panegyrics
praising Ethiopian kings from the 14th century (cf. Meyer 2011a:1179 for an
overview). Between the 16th and 17th centuries, Catholic missionaries proselyt-
ised in Amharic for which they prepared catechisms (Meyer 2011b:1214). More-
over, they taught children reading and writing in Amharic and Tigrinya, as well
as in Portuguese (cf. Cohen & Martínez 2007:280; Pankhurst 1976a:310). When
the missionaries were expelled in the first half of the 17th century, Gǝʿǝz again
became the main literary language for almost another two hundred years, dur-
ing which time the Ethiopian Orthodox Church transmitted the skills to read
and write in the Ethiopic script (Hornus 2006:19).
The Ethio-Eritrean region was already known in Europe in the Middle Ages
due to the presence of Ethiopian Orthodox priests in Jerusalem and Rome. At
that time, European scholars referred to Ethiopia by the term India and used
Chaldaic as the name for the Ethiopic script (Hornus 2006:27; Kelly 2015). At the

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beginning of the 16th century, the German Johannes Potken created the first
Ethiopic letters for printing, in which the Psalters in Gǝʿǝz were published in
1513 (cf. Fiaccadori & Juel-Jensen 2007:136; Hornus 2006). In the second half of
the 17th century, another German, Hiob Ludolf, established a lasting scientific
cooperation with the Ethiopian monk Abba Gregorius (i.e. Giyorgis), whom he
met in Rome. Subsequently, Ludolf published grammars and dictionaries for
Gǝʿǝz and Amharic, and a historical cultural treatise on Ethiopia (Ludolphus
1982; cf. also Hammerschmidt 1965:258–259; Beltz 1985). These works, however,
remained unrecognised in the Ethio-Eritrean region.20
European interest in Ethiopia and Eritrea increased at the beginning of the
19th century, when Protestant and Catholic missionaries started proselytising
by using local vernacular languages. Among the first languages to be reduced to
writing in the Ethiopic script were Tigre and Tigrinya (both Semitic), but also
Bilin and Oromo (both Cushitic) (cf. Hammerschmidt 1994:320).
The first linguistic description of Tigre dates back to 1868 (Morin 2011:1150–
1151; Voigt 2009:155). In 1871, Swedish missionaries adapted the Ethiopic script
for writing Tigre, in which the Gospel according to Mark was published in 1889,
and the New Testament in 1902 (Frantsouzoff 2010:584). The first novel in Tigre
appeared in 2007. Muslim Tigre refused to use the Ethiopic script; instead, they
use an adapted Arabic script (Morin 2011:1150). According to Cohen & Martínez
(2007:280), Tigrinya was first written at the beginning of the 17th century.
Ghirmai (1999:68), in contrast, only considers the Gospels published in 1866 as
the beginning of Tigrinya literacy, even though linguistic and missionary work
in Tigrinya started earlier (cf. Praetorius 1879:9–14).
In 1857, the Catholic missionary Giuseppe Sapeto published a multilingual
vocabulary in which Bilin is written in the Ethiopic script. The publication of
the Gospel of Mark followed in 1882 (Fallon 2006:93). In 1996, however, the
Ethiopic script was replaced by a Roman script for writing Bilin (Fallon
2006:97).
Printing in Oromo started in 1839, when the French geographer Edmé-
Francois Jomard published a collection of prayers, love songs and war chants,
which he obtained from a freed slave in Paris (Pankhurst 1976b:172–174). At
almost the same time, Karl Tutschek took care for the education of another
freed Oromo slave in Germany, with whom he published the first Oromo dic-
tionary in 1844 followed by a grammar in 1845 (cf. Gragg 1976:167). In Eritrea
and Ethiopia, missionaries were working on Oromo from the 1830s, resulting in
the publication of grammatical sketches, vocabularies, and text collections
from 1840 onwards (Gragg 1976:167–168). The early Oromo publications were
[20] For an overview of early research on Ethiosemitic in Europe, cf. Meyer (2011a:1179).

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THE ETHIOPIC SCRIPT [157]

written in a modified Roman script, which, however, was replaced in the 1870s
by the Ethiopic script through Onesimus Nesib – a freed Oromo slave educated
in the Swedish missionary school at Munkullo (cf. Gragg 1976:168; Frantsouzoff
2010:584; Smidt 2010:70).
The 19th century also brought about major changes in language matters at
the Ethiopian royal court, by promoting Amharic as the only official language.
Emperor Tewodros II (r. 1855–1868) ordered his royal chronicle to be written in
Amharic, disregarding the old tradition of Gǝʿǝz being the exclusive literary
language. His successor, Yohannis IV (r. 1872–1889), reinstated Gǝʿǝz as the
written language, but under Menelik II (r. 1889–1913) Amharic eventually re-
placed Gǝʿǝz and became the main literary language. Menelik II appointed Am-
haric-speaking officials as administrators in newly annexed areas in the south,
in which it subsequently became the de facto lingua franca (cf. Meyer
2011b:1214). In addition, Amharic was spread and promoted through schools
since the introduction of modern education at the beginning of the 20th century
(Pankhurst 1976a:315). In early missionary schools and during the Italian occu-
pation, various Ethiopian and foreign languages were used in modern schools.
In 1944, however, Haile Sellassie I (r. 1930–1974) ordered by decree that Amhar-
ic be the only means of instruction in primary education and that English be
the principal foreign language in secondary education (cf. Meyer 2011b:1214–
1215). Subsequently, Amharic was declared the sole national language of Ethio-
pia in 1955. Although the DERG, i.e. the socialist government of Ethiopia from
1974–1991, also provided other Ethiopian languages with a de jure official sta-
tus, de facto Amharic retained its dominant position. As less than 10% of the
population was literate at the beginning of the 1970s, the DERG gave priority to
the eradication of illiteracy (McNab 1990:70). Literacy campaigns were organ-
ised between 1979 and the mid-1980s, in which several Ethiopian vernacular
languages were used for adult literacy education (McNab 1990:74). Initially, on-
ly the major languages Amharic, Oromo, Tigrinya, Wolaitta and Somali were
utilised, but later languages with fewer speakers were added, namely Gedeo,
Kambaata, Hadiyyisa, Kunama, Tigre, Afar, Saho, Kafa, Sidaama and Silt’e. New
orthographies based on the Ethiopic script were prepared for Afar, Saho, Kafa,
Sidaama and Silt’e (McNab 1990:73; Wedekind 1994:822–823). The DERG delib-
erately decided to use only the Ethiopic script for writing Ethiopian languages,
which was institutionally organised and supervised through the National Lan-
guage Academy. Previously, the Ethiopic script had been spread by native
speakers or missionaries who individually adapted it for writing Ethiopian lan-
guages (Asteraye et al. 1999:3).
The Ethiopic script spread further after 1991, when the current Ethiopian

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government granted all ethnolinguistic groups the right to utilise their native
languages in their own administrative regions. Initially, languages belonging to
different language families – for instance the Cushitic K’abeena, Awngi and
Xhamtanga, the Omotic Bench and Koorete, and the Nilo-Saharan Anywa and
Me’en – were written in a modified version of the Ethiopic script (cf. Asteraye
et al. 1999:2; Azeb 2010:193).
A side effect of the missionary activities in the 19th century was the intro-
duction of printed materials in the Ethiopic script to Ethiopia and Eritrea; the
first printed book in the Ethiopian script probably arrived there in 1810 (Hor-
nus 2006:39).21 This is remarkable, as missionaries generally preferred Roman-
based orthographies for the codification of African languages (cf. Bendor-
Samuel 1996).
In the second half of the 19th century, printing presses were already estab-
lished in various Ethiopian and Eritrean towns (cf. Pankhurst 2010). However,
the production of literacy materials in languages with new or modified syllab-
ographs in the Ethiopic script was not without its challenges. As specific char-
acters were often not available on typing or printing machines, they had to be
marked by hand (McNab 1990:78). The increasing availability of electronic
communication technology in public and private spheres from the late 1990s
onwards helped to solve this problem by establishing Ethiocode (ES 781:2002) in
2002 as a standardised Unicode format for the Ethiopic script, with further ex-
tensions under Unicode 3.0 (Daniel 2006; Asteraye et al. 1999). Thus, the Ethio-
pic script and its modifications were eventually institutionalised on an interna-
tional level.

[7] scripts in eth iopia and their s ocial c onnotations

Writing in the Ethio-Eritrean region began in the foreign languages of Sabaic or
its local variety Pseudo-Sabaic, and Greek. When Aksum evolved as a powerful
empire in the Horn of Africa at the beginning of the 1st millennium AD, inscrip-
tions in the vernacular language Gǝʿǝz, probably the dominating native lan-
guage at the royal court, began to appear in the Ethiopic abjad script (cf. [2]).
The invention of a writing system for Gǝʿǝz and its subsequent use in inscrip-
tions was certainly intended to demonstrate the sovereignty of the Aksumite
emperors.
The transformation of the Ethiopic abjad to an alphasyllabary in the 4 th cen-
tury coincided with the promotion of Christianity as state religion and the
foundation of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, which was followed by the trans-
lation of the scriptures and religious treatises into Gǝʿǝz (cf. [2]). From the 4th to
[21] Cf. Hornus (2006:27–64) and Gupta (1994:174–179) for the history of printing in the Ethiopic script.

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THE ETHIOPIC SCRIPT [159]

the 19th centuries, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church was the sole institution for
teaching reading and writing Gǝʿǝz in the Ethiopic script (cf. Pankhurst 1976a).
Although Gǝʿǝz ceased being spoken as a native language between the 8 th and
10th centuries, it was maintained as a liturgical language in the Ethiopian Or-
thodox Church (Richter 1997:543). Moreover, a diglossic situation prevailed in
the Christian Ethiopian kingdom in which Gǝʿǝz functioned as the written lan-
guage, while Amharic was the spoken lingua franca at the court, in regional
administration, and in the military (cf. Cooper 1976:289; but also Meyer
2011b:1213–1214). Consequently, Gǝʿǝz and the Ethiopic script, in which it was
written, became closely associated with Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity and
the Ethiopian royal court.
Beside Gǝʿǝz, Arabic has been in use for a long time in Muslim states and
communities in the Ethio-Eritrean region, in which it functions as a religious
language and as a medium for writing. Continuing to the present, Arabic is
taught in Quran schools all over Ethiopia and Eritrea (Wetter 2006:51). Alt-
hough as early as 615 followers of the Prophet Mohammed found refuge in Ak-
sum, the spread of Islam in the Ethio-Eritrean region is ascribed to Arabian
merchants and travellers (Wetter 2006:52; Abbink 1998:111, 113). The founda-
tion of the Sultanate of Shewa as the first Muslim state in 896 was soon fol-
lowed by others, including the city state of Harar, which developed into an im-
portant centre of medieval Muslim scholarship (Wetter 2006:52). In the 18 th
century, centres of Islamic learning were established in eastern Wello, which
attracted Muslims from other areas (Wetter 2006:53). Islamic teaching was of-
ten conducted in vernacular languages, since many Muslims had only a limited
command of Arabic. According to Drewes (1976:186), Sheikh Ṭalḥa from Wello
was the first to utilise Amharic for his religious teachings in the 18th century.
Modified Arabic scripts, known as Ajäm, were created for writing Harari, Am-
haric, Argobba, Oromo, Silt’e and probably other languages (cf. Wetter 2006:53–
54; Mumin 2009:33–40). Except Harari (cf. Banti 2005:74–79; Wagner 1983:9–16),
the Ajäm literature in these languages is still not fully studied (cf. Pankhurst
1994:257–259).
Apart from a few attempts by Catholic missionaries to teach Portuguese in
the 17th century (Cohen & Martínez 2007:280), the Roman script was only intro-
duced into the Ethio-Eritrean region at the end of the 19th century, when it was
used for the codification of vernacular languages, as well as in foreign educa-
tion. Thus, Italian first served as the medium of instruction in a missionary
school in Asmara in 1897, but then became the dominant foreign language dur-
ing the Italian occupation (Pankhurst 1976a:313–314). When Menelik II opened
the first government school in Addis Ababa in 1908, French became the medi-

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um of instruction, while Italian, English, and Amharic were only subjects

(Pankhurst 1976a:315). Since the 1950s, English has been the dominant foreign
language, being taught as a subject in primary education, but then functioning
as the medium of instruction in secondary and tertiary education. It is only
since 1991 that the Roman script has been widely used for writing vernacular
languages.22
Most autochthonous scripts in Africa came into existence after the 1950s, a
development which is probably related to the strengthening of independence
movements (Voogt 2014:137–138). Ahmed (2005) mentions that Harari was
written in an “ornamental secret” script until the 1970s. In addition, Sheikh
Bakri Saṗalō invented an alphasyllabary for Oromo during the 1950s, which
differs from the Ethiopic script in the form of the syllabographs and contains
diacritics for vowel length and gemination (cf. Hayward & Mohammed 1981).
Sheikh Bakri Saṗalō was probably influenced by indigenous scripts for Somali
from the 1920s and 1930s, like the Osmania or Gadabuursi scripts (cf. Tosco
2010; 2015). As Harari and Oromo were already written languages at that time,
the invention of the autochthonous scripts could well be personally motivat-
ed.23
The use of several scripts for writing a single language is not infrequent.
Since 1991, Oromo has been officially written in Qubee, a modified Roman script
that replaced the previous writing system based on the Ethiopic script. Moreo-
ver, some Muslims still write Oromo in an Ajäm script. A similar case is Harari
(cf. Wagner 2004). It was written in Ajäm until the 1980s, which was replaced by
a modified Ethiopic script in 1986. In addition, Harari was written in the above-
mentioned secret script, and also in a modified Roman script for a short period
after 1991. In the 1990s, K’abeena was was reduced to writing in a modified
Ethiopic script (cf. §[4.4]), which was then replaced by a Roman script in 2014.
There are plenty of other similar examples.
The use of a particular script for writing a language often has social implica-
tions (cf. Coulmas 2000; Moges 2010:120). Thus, Muslims strongly preferred to
write in Arabic or in Ajäm scripts, as they connected the Ethiopic script
straightforwardly with Christianity (Wetter 2006:53). Furthermore, the Ethiopic
script is commonly associated with Amhara’s domination (cf., e.g. Tilahun
2000). Consequently, some ethnolinguistic groups abandoned the Ethiopic
script in favour of a Roman script after the fall of the DERG in 1991 (cf. Azeb
2010:192). This process started with the replacement of the Ethiopic script for

[22] Cf., e.g. Moges & Turton’s (2005) suggestion for a Mursi script.
[23] With regard to Sheikh Bakri, for instance, Mohammed (2003:157) states, “his ultimate objective was to
glorify Afaan Oromo with its own writing system …”

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THE ETHIOPIC SCRIPT [161]

Oromo by Qubee in 1991 (Mekuria 1997:349). Subsequently, the Ethiopic script

of other Cushitic and Omotic languages was replaced by a Roman-based orthog-
raphy, including Sidaama (cf. Yri 2004), Afar, Gedeo, Hadiyyisa, Kambaata (cf.
Treis 2008:54–56) and Wolaitta (cf. Hirut 2005; 2014).
It is generally argued that the Roman-based orthography provides a better
representation of the phonology, as it can easily mark vowel length and gemi-
nation.24 This is certainly true to some extent, but is not the only reason. Re-
placing the Ethiopic script with a Roman-based orthography seems to be a
symbol of linguistic independence and cultural emancipation vis-à-vis the sup-
pression of ethnolinguistic differences under the umbrella of national unity
during the reign of Haile Sellassie I and the DERG. More recent script changes,
however, are rather a sign of loyalty or disloyalty to the immediate neighbours
with whom a group wants to be formally associated - or not. For instance, the
official announcement of a modified Ethiopic script for writing Gurage in 2014
was followed by the decision of the K’abeena to replace their former Ethiopic
script with a Roman-based orthography. As the K’abeena are a minority group
within the Gurage Zone, this decision clearly emphasises their linguistic and
cultural differences to the surrounding Gurage, but connects it to other speak-
ers of Cushitic languages in the region.

[8] summary
The Ethiopic script has a long history, in the course of which it was modified in
several ways. The Ethiopic abjad script was adapted from the South Arabian
script, but soon changed into an alphasyllabary – probably inspired by Indic
scripts – which also included additional graphemes and numerals due to Greek
influence. When the Ethiopic script was utilised to write languages other than
Gǝʿǝz, its syllabographs were modified to represent new sounds.
Initially, Gǝʿǝz – the language of the royal court and later of the Ethiopian
Orthodox Church – was the only language written in the Ethiopic script. Even
after Gǝʿǝz ceased being spoken, it was retained as the language of the liturgy
in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and as main literary language at the royal
court until the 19th century. At that time, the political interests of Ethiopian
emperors favoured Amharic as the written language at the court. This was soon
followed by the introduction of modern education, mass media, and printing
presses in which Amharic was the dominant language. Although a number of
vernacular languages were reduced to writing in the Ethiopic script in the 19th

[24] Cf., for instance, the arguments for using Qubee in Tilahun (1993). Voogt (2014) – in his survey of Afri-
can scripts developed in the 19th century and later – observes that alphasyllabic scripts are most fre-
quently utilised before World War II, whereas since the 1950s the alphabetic writing has dominated.

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[162] MEYER

century and later, serious attempts to use them for mother tongue education
have only occurred since 1991.
This development evidences that the Ethiopic script can easily be adapted to
the needs of specific languages. However, in addition to writing, the script also
has a social implication. As the Ethiopic script was mainly used for writing
Gǝʿǝz, the liturgical language in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, both of them
were tightly connected with Christianity. Therefore, the Ethiopic script was
disliked by Muslims who preferred Arabic or Ajäm scripts. Catholic missionar-
ies in the 17th century, by contrast, avoided Gǝʿǝz, but used the Ethiopic script
for writing Amharic, the spoken lingua franca at the royal court. Only after the
19th century did Ethiopian rulers actively promote Amharic and the Ethiopic
script as a unifying bond for the Ethiopian nation, by suppressing the use of
other vernacular languages in official domains and by prohibiting the use of
other scripts for writing vernacular languages. As a result, many ethnolinguis-
tic groups in Ethiopia prefer to write their language in a socio-cultural neutral
Roman-based orthography in order to signal their linguistic and cultural au-
tonomy within the current Ethiopian state.

acknowledgme nts
This paper results from ongoing research on the standardisation and promo-
tion of Gurage varieties for mother tongue education. I am grateful for the sup-
port provided by the Norhed project Linguistic Capacity Building: Tools for the In-
clusive Development in Ethiopia, which is jointly conducted by Addis Ababa Uni-
versity, Hawassa University, the University of Oslo, and the Norwegian Univer-
sity of Science and Technology. I would also like to express my deep gratitude
to the two anonymous reviewers and the editors for their critical comments
and suggestions.

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contacts
Ronny Meyer
Addis Ababa University, Department of Linguistics
[email protected]
OSLa volume 8(1), 2016