Geʽez ( ; , ) is an abugida used to write several Afro-Asiatic and Nilo-Saharan languages of Ethiopia and Eritrea. It originated as an abjad (consonantal alphabet) and was first used to write the Geʽez language, now the liturgical language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the Eritrean Catholic Church, the Ethiopian Catholic Church, and Haymanot Judaism of the Beta Israel Jewish community in Ethiopia. In the languages Amharic and Tigrinya, the script is often called (), meaning "script" or "letter". Under the Unicode Standard and ISO 15924, it is defined as Ge'ez text.
The Geʽez script has been adapted to write other languages, mostly Ethiopian and Eritrean Semitic, particularly Amharic in Ethiopia, and Tigrinya in both Eritrea and Ethiopia. It has also been used to write Sebat Bet and other Gurage languages and at least 20 other languages of Ethiopia. In Eritrea it has traditionally been used for Tigre and just recently for Bilen. The Geez script has also recently been used to write Anuak, and used in limited extent to write some other Nilo-Saharan Nilotic languages, including Majang languages. It was also used in the past to write some Omotic languages, including Wolaytta, Bench, Hamer, and Kafa. 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 pronunciation.
History and origins
The Geʽez script was derived from the Ancient South Arabian script, and despite its name its origins are debated, and may have originated in what is now Eritrea, Ethiopia, or Yemen. The earliest inscriptions of Semitic languages in Eritrea date to the 9th century BCE and are known as Epigraphic South Arabian (ESA), an abjad shared with contemporary kingdoms in the Southern part of the Arabian Peninsula.
After the 7th and 6th centuries BCE, variants of the South Arabian script arose, evolving in the direction of the later Geʻez abugida or alphasyllabary. This evolution can be seen most clearly in evidence from inscriptions (mainly graffiti on rocks and caves) in the Tigray Region in northern Ethiopia and in multiple parts of Eritrea mainly in the former province of Akele Guzai.Rodolfo Fattovich, "Akkälä Guzay" in Uhlig, Siegbert, ed. Encyclopaedia Aethiopica: A-C. Wiesbaden, Otto Harrassowitz, 2003, p. 169. The oldest known example of the Geez script is the Hawulti obelisk in Matara, Eritrea.
By the first centuries CE, what is called "Old Ethiopic" or the "Old Geʻez writing system" arose, an abjad written right-to-left (as opposed to boustrophedon like ESA) with letters basically identical to the first-order forms of the modern vocalized writing system (e.g. "k" in the form of "kä"). There were also minor differences, such as the letter "g" facing to the right instead of to the left as in vocalized Geʻez, and a shorter left leg of "l", as in ESA, instead of equally-long legs in vocalized Geʻez (somewhat resembling the Greek letter lambda). Vocalization of Geʻez occurred in the 4th century, and though the first completely vocalized texts known are inscriptions by Ezana, vocalized letters predate him by some years, as an individual vocalized letter exists in a coin of his predecessor, Wazeba of Axum. Linguist Roger Schneider has also pointed out, in an unpublished early 1990s paper, anomalies in the known inscriptions of Ezana of Axum that imply that he was consciously employing an archaic style during his reign, indicating that vocalization could have occurred much earlier.
As a result, some believe that the vocalization may have been adopted to preserve the pronunciation of Geʻez texts due to the already moribund or extinct status of Geʻez, and that, by that time, the common language of the people were already later the Eritrean and Ethiopian Afro-Asiatic languages. At least one of Wazeba's coins from the late 3rd or early 4th century contains a vocalized letter, some 30 or so years before Ezana. Kobishchanov, Peter T. Daniels, and others have suggested possible influence from the Brahmic scripts in vocalization, as they are also abugidas, and the Kingdom of Aksum was an important part of major trade routes involving India and the Greco-Roman world throughout classical antiquity.Yuri M. Kobishchanov. Axum (Joseph W. Michels, editor; Lorraine T. Kapitanoff, translator). University Park, Pennsylvania, Penn State University Press, 1979. .Peter T. Daniels, William Bright, "The World's Writing Systems", Oxford University Press. Oxford, 1996.
According to the beliefs of the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church and Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the original consonantal form of the Geʻez fidäl was divinely revealed to Enos "as an instrument for codifying the laws", and the present system of vocalisation is attributed to a team of Aksumite scholars led by Frumentius (Abba Selama), the same missionary said to have converted King Ezana to Christianity in the 4th century.Official website of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church It has been argued that the vowel marking pattern of the script reflects a South Asian system such as would have been known by Frumentius.Peter Unseth. Missiology and Orthography: The Unique Contribution of Christian Missionaries in Devising New Scripts. Missiology 36.3: 357–371. A separate tradition, recorded by Aleqa Taye, holds that the Geʻez consonantal writing system was first adapted by Zegdur, a legendary king of the Agʻazyan Sabaean dynasty held to have ruled in Abyssinia (Eritrea and Ethiopia) .Aleqa Taye, History of the Ethiopian People, 1914
Geʻez has 26 consonantal letters. Compared to the inventory of 29 consonants in the South Arabian writing system, the continuants ġ, ẓ, and South Arabian s3 (Geʻez Sawt ሠ being derived from South Arabian s2 ) are missing, as are ḏ and ṯ; these last two absences reflect the collapse of the interdental with the alveolar fricatives. On the other hand, emphatic ጰ, a Geʻez innovation, is a modification of ጸ, while Psa ፐ is based on Tawe ተ.
Thus, there are 24 correspondences of Geʻez and the South Arabian writing system: +TransliterationGeʽezSouth Arabianh [h]ሀ𐩠l [l]ለ𐩡ḥ [ħ]ሐ𐩢m [m]መ𐩣ś [ɬ]ሠ𐩦r [r]ረ𐩧s [s]ሰ𐩪q [kʼ]ቀ𐩤b [b]በ𐩨t [t]ተ𐩩h̬ [χ]ኀ𐩭n [n]ነ𐩬' [ʔ]አ𐩱k [k]ከ𐩫w [w]ወ𐩥ʿ [ʕ]ዐ𐩲z [z]ዘ𐩸y [j]የ𐩺d [d]ደ𐩵g [ɡ]ገ𐩴ṭ [tʼ]ጠ𐩷ṣ [t͡sʼ]ጸ𐩮ḍ [tɬʼ]ፀ𐩳f [f]ፈ𐩰 Many of the letter names are cognate with those of Phoenician, and may thus be assumed for the Proto-Sinaitic script.
Geʽez writing system Two writing systems were used to write the Geʽez language: an abjad and, later, an abugida.
Geʽez abjad The abjad, used until the advent of Christianity (ca. AD 350), had 26 consonantal letters, transliterated as:
It was properly written right-to-left. Vowels were not indicated.
Geʽez abugida
Modern Geʽez is written from left to right.
During the adoption or introduction of Christianity, the Geʽez abugida developed under the influence of Christian scripture by adding obligatory vocalic diacritics to the consonantal letters. The diacritics for the vowels, , were fused with the consonants in a recognizable but slightly irregular way, so that the system is laid out as a syllabary. The original form of the consonant was used when the vowel was (), the so-called inherent vowel. The resulting forms are shown below in their traditional order. For most consonants there is an eighth form for the diphthong or , and for a number of those a ninth form for .
To represent a consonant with no following phonemic vowel, for example at the end of a syllable or in a consonant cluster, the () form is used (the character in the sixth column).
ä [æ]u [u]i [i]a [aː]e [e]ə [ɨ]o [o]wa [waː]jä [jæ]h [h]ሀሁሂሃሄህሆ l [l]ለሉሊላሌልሎሏ ḥ [ħ]ሐሑሒሓሔሕሖሗ m [m]መሙሚማሜምሞሟፙś [ɬ]ሠሡሢሣሤሥሦሧ ä [æ]u [u]i [i]a [aː]e [e]ə [ɨ]o [o]wa [waː]jä [jæ]r [r]ረሩሪራሬርሮሯፘs [s]ሰሱሲሳሴስሶሷ q [kʼ]ቀቁቂቃቄቅቆቋ b [b]በቡቢባቤብቦቧ t [t]ተቱቲታቴትቶቷ ä [æ]u [u]i [i]a [aː]e [e]ə [ɨ]o [o]wa [waː]jä [jæ]h̬ [χ]ኀኁኂኃኄኅኆኋ n [n]ነኑኒናኔንኖኗ ' [ʔ]አኡኢኣኤእኦኧk [k]ከኩኪካኬክኮኳw [w]ወዉዊዋዌውዎ ä [æ]u [u]i [i]a [aː]e [e]ə [ɨ]o [o]wa [waː]jä [jæ]ʿ [ʕ]ዐዑዒዓዔዕዖ z [z]ዘዙዚዛዜዝዞዟy [j]የዩዪያዬይዮ d [d]ደዱዲዳዴድዶዷg [ɡ]ገጉጊጋጌግጎጓ ä [æ]u [u]i [i]a [aː]e [e]ə [ɨ]o [o]wa [waː]jä [jæ]ṭ [tʼ]ጠጡጢጣጤጥጦጧp̣ [pʼ]ጰጱጲጳጴጵጶጷṣ [t͡sʼ]ጸጹጺጻጼጽጾጿṣ́ [tɬʼ]ፀፁፂፃፄፅፆ f [f]ፈፉፊፋፌፍፎፏፚp [p]ፐፑፒፓፔፕፖፗ
Labiovelar variants The letters for the labialized velar consonants are variants of the non-labialized velar consonants: Consonantq [kʼ]h̬ [χ]g [ɡ]k [k]ቀኀገከLabialized variantqw [kʷʼ]h̬w [χʷ]gw [ɡʷ]kw [kʷ]ቈኈጐኰ
Unlike the other consonants, these labiovelar ones can be combined with only five different vowels:
ä [æ]i [i]a [aː]e [e]ə [ɨ]qw [kʷʼ]ቈቊቋቌቍh̬w [χʷ]ኈኊኋኌኍgw [ɡʷ]ጐጒጓጔጕkw [kʷ]ኰኲኳኴኵ
Adaptations to other languages The Geʽez abugida has been adapted to several modern languages of Eritrea and Ethiopia, frequently requiring additional letters. It has been speculated by some scholars in African studies that the Geʽez script had an influence on the Armenian alphabet after it may have been introduced to Armenia at the end of the fifth century.Richard Pankhurst. 1998. The Ethiopians: A History. p25
Additional letters Some letters were modified to create additional consonants for use in languages other than Geʽez. This is typically done by adding a horizontal line at the top of a similar-sounding consonant. Consonantb [b]t [t]d [d]ṭ [tʼ]በተደጠAffricated variantv [v]č [t͡ʃ]ǧ [d͡ʒ]č̣ [t͡ʃʼ]ቨቸጀጨ
Consonantq [kʼ]k [k]ቀከSpirantized variantq̱ [xʼ]x [x]ቐኸLabialized variantq̱ʷ [xʷʼ]xʷ [xʷ]ቘዀ
Consonants [s]n [n]z [z]ሰነዘPalatalized variantš [ʃ]ñ [ɲ]ž [ʒ]ሸኘዠ
Consonantg [ɡ]gw [ɡʷ]ገጐNasal variant [ŋ] [ŋʷ]ጘⶓ
The vocalised forms are shown below. Like the other labiovelars, these labiovelars can only be combined with five vowels.
ä [æ]u [u]i [i]a [aː]e [e]ə [ɨ]o [o]wa [waː]š [ʃ]ሸሹሺሻሼሽሾሿq̱ [xʼ]ቐቑቒቓቔቕቖ q̱ʷ [xʷʼ]ቘ ቚቛቜቝ v [v]ቨቩቪቫቬቭቮቯč [t͡ʃ]ቸቹቺቻቼችቾቿ[ŋʷ]ⶓ ⶔ ⶕⶖ ñ [ɲ]ኘኙኚኛኜኝኞኟx [x]ኸኹኺኻኼኽኾ xʷ [xʷ]ዀ ዂዃዄዅ ž [ʒ]ዠዡዢዣዤዥዦዧǧ [d͡ʒ]ጀጁጂጃጄጅጆጇ[ŋ]ጘጙጚጛጜጝጞጟč̣ [t͡ʃʼ]ጨጩጪጫጬጭጮጯ
Letters used in modern abugidas The Amharic abugida uses all the basic consonants plus the ones indicated below. Some of the Geʽez labiovelar variants are also used.
The Tigrinya abugida has all the basic consonants, the Geʽez labiovelar letter variants, except for (), plus the ones indicated below. A few of the basic consonants are falling into disuse in Eritrea (as they used "ጸ" for "ፀ"). See Tigrinya language#Writing system for details.
The Tigre abugida uses the basic consonants except for (), () and (ፀ). It also uses the ones indicated below. It does not use the Geʽez labiovelar letter variants.
The Bilen abugida uses the basic consonants except for (), () and (ፀ). It also uses the ones indicated below and the Geʽez labiovelar letter variants.
The Harari abugida uses the basic consonants except for (), (), (), (), (), and (ፀ). Although () is occasionally used, () is strongly favored. As Harari used the Arabic script before adopting the Geez script, Arabic phonemes entered the language due to loanwords and language contact and were ascribed to specific consonant forms when the Geez script was first adopted for the language. from () was assigned to (), from () to (), from () to (), from () to (), from () to (), from () to (), and from () to (). It also uses the ones indicated below.
š [ʃ]q̱ [xʼ]q̱ʷ [xʷʼ]v [v]č [t͡ʃ][ŋʷ]ñ [ɲ]x [x]xʷ [xʷ]ž [ʒ]ǧ [d͡ʒ][ŋ]č̣ [t͡ʃʼ] ሸቐቘቨቸⶓኘኸዀዠጀጘጨAmharic✓ ✓✓ ✓✓✓✓✓ ✓Tigrinya✓✓✓✓✓ ✓✓✓✓✓ ✓Tigre✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Bilen✓✓ ✓✓✓✓ ✓✓✓✓✓Harari✓ ✓✓ ✓✓ ✓ ✓
Note: "V" is used for words of foreign origin except for in some Gurage languages, e.g. cravat 'tie' from French. The consonant symbol "ኸ" is pronounced as "h" in Amharic.
List order