Amharic
A
Kim Hegerberg All Rights Reserved
Amharic Overview
You will see a ton of different way to transliterate Amharic. To make it simple I have come up with my own that is as close to English as possible to make it easy to understand how it is pronounced. So in my system the transliterated letter(s) for the Amharic letter are also the exact way you pronounce it. Each letter in Amharic has a base (consonant) and then 5 variations on that shape that constitute the vowels. The first base letter will be shown with its memory hint picture. The picture will help you memorize the shape of the letter and also represents an English word containing a similar sound to the Amharic letters pronunciation. If my transliteration spelling doesn't match the spelling in the English word I put the Amharic transliteration spelling in parenthesis within the word. The next 5 letters after that are the vowels. Remember those click sounds we talked about in Georgian? Amharic has something really similar. Any word where I show a after the letter means you basically smack your tongue against the roof of your mouth as you say it. Key To Understanding The Vowels: A circle extension. A line or circle that was in the previous vowel disappeared in this one. A straight line extension. The circle or line is rotated from its position in the previous vowel. Any arrow indicates something is pushed in from its position in the previous vowel or moved up or down. These two letters are mirror opposites of each other. I have purposely grouped the letters per series based on their vowel markings (not in their alphabetical order). Letters whose markings fall in a similar pattern are in the same series. However, if a letter is red and not blue in the series of letters following the base letter it means it doesnt follow a similar pattern to the others in that series. Note that Series 7 is made up of those letters that only have the first vowel in commonthe rest are irregular changes that dont match those of any other letters. Its the only case where there isnt a distinct pattern to help you memorize the shapes. The images you will see are printed Amharic like you would see in books. To handwrite these images is very simple. All circles and lines are exactly the same. The only difference between handwriting and print is this symbol marked in red
The following alphabet chart (in the true order of the Amharic alphabet). The yellow highlights indicate there are two different letters that have the same sound. The blue highlight indicates a letter with that click sound.
Amharic Alphabet
ha le ha me se re se she k'e be te che ha ne nye aa ke he we hoo loo hoo moo soo roo soo shoo k'oo boo too choo hoo noo nyoo aoo koo hoo woo hee lee hee mee see ree see shee k'ee bee tee chee hee nee nyee aee kee hee wee hah lah hah mah sah rah sah shah k'ah bah tah chah hah nah nyah aah kah hah wah hay lay hay may say ray say shay k'ay bay tay chay hay nay nyay aay kay hay way hoo-ee loo-ee hoo-ee moo-ee soo-ee roo-ee soo-ee shoo-ee k'ee bee tee chee hoo-ee noo-ee nyoo-ee aoo-ee koo-ee hoo-ee woo-ee hoh loh hoh moh soh roh soh shoh k'oh boh toh choh hoh noh nyoh aoh koh hoh who
Amharic Alphabet
aa ze zhe ye de je ge t'e ch'e p'e s'e s'e fe pe ve aoo zoo zhoo yoo doo joo goo t'oo ch'oo p'oo s'oo s'oo foo poo voo aee zee zhee yee dee jee gee t'ee ch'ee p'ee s'ee s'ee fee pee vee aah zah zhah yah dah jah gah t'ah ch'ah p'ah s'ah s'ah fah pah vah aay zay zhay yay day jay gay t'ay ch'ay p'ay s'ay s'ay fay pay vay aoo-ee zoo-ee zhoo-ee yoo-ee doo-ee joo-ee goo-ee t'ee ch'ee p'ee s'ee s'ee fee pee vee aoh zoh zhoh yoh doh joh goh t'oh ch'oh p'oh s'oh s'oh foh poh voh
The yellow highlights indicate there are two different letters that have the same sound. The blue highlight indicates a letter with that click sound.
Series 1
Vowel Pattern Hint
Base Letter
x x
Base Ltr + OO
x
Base Ltr + OH
Vowel Sound Created By A Straight Line Or Circle In Letters 2-7 After The Base Letter Base Ltr + EE Base Ltr + AH Base Ltr + AY Base Ltr + OO-EE
(NOTE: The red circles/squares are to help emphasize where the vowel markings go what you would write is either straight line or a circle. The x means a mark in the previous letter has been deleted it is not something that is written. The arrow indicates that side of the
Base Letter
Handwriting Steps
Base Letter
Handwriting Steps
Base Letter
Handwriting Steps
Start here
Base Letter
Handwriting Steps
Start here
Series 2
Vowel Pattern Hint
Base Letter
x
Base Ltr + OO
x
Base Ltr + OH
Vowel Sound Created By A Straight Line Or Circle In Letters 2-7 After The Base Letter Base Ltr + EE Base Ltr + AH Base Ltr + AY Base Ltr + OO-EE
Base Letter
Handwriting Steps
Base Letter
Handwriting Steps
Base Letter
Handwriting Steps
Base Letter
Handwriting Steps
Base Letter
Handwriting Steps
Base Letter
Handwriting Steps
Base Letter
Handwriting Steps
Base Letter
Handwriting Steps
Base Letter
Handwriting Steps
Series 3
Vowel Pattern Hint
Base Letter
Handwriting Steps
Base Letter
Handwriting Steps
Series 4
Vowel Pattern Hint
Base Letter Ke
Base Letter
Handwriting Steps
Base Letter
Handwriting Steps
Base Letter
Handwriting Steps
Base Letter
Handwriting Steps
Base Letter
Handwriting Steps
Series 5
Vowel Pattern Hint
Base Letter
x
Base Ltr + OO
Vowel Sound Created By A Straight Line Or Circle In Letters 2-7 After The Base Letter Base Ltr + EE Base Ltr + AH Base Ltr + AY Base Ltr + OO-EE
Base Ltr + OH
Picking Apples
Heres a way to remember where the vowel markings are placed starting with the 2nd letter. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. I see an apple Id like to eat. I pull down the branch so I can reach the apple. I pluck the apple off. I put the apple in my basket. This letter does not follow the same pattern as the rest of the seriesit is an exception that is why it is marked in red. I pull down the center branch to see if there are any more apples I can pick.
Base Letter
Handwriting Steps
Base Letter
Handwriting Steps
Series 6
Vowel Pattern Hint
Base Letter
x x
Base Ltr + OH
x
Base Ltr + OO
Vowel Sound Created By A Straight Line Or Circle In Letters 2-7 After The Base Letter Base Ltr + EE Base Ltr + AH Base Ltr + AY Base Ltr + OO-EE
Base Letter
Handwriting Steps
Base Letter
Handwriting Steps
Series 7
Vowel Pattern Hint
Base Letter Re
Playing Baseball
This is one of our most difficult patterns. Here is a set of clues to help you remember it. 1. Im approaching the plate where Ill take a swing. 2. Home plate disappears in a cloud of dust as I run for 1st base. 3. I start moving to the side of 1st base so I can get a head start running for 2nd base. 4. Back at the home plate the umpire has a glove wide open to catch the next pitch. 5. There is a runner on 2nd and a hitter at home plate. 6. The pitcher opens his glove wide as he prepares to throw the next ball.
Base Letter
Handwriting Steps
Base Letter
Handwriting Steps
Series 8
Vowel Patterns
This section is our irregular series of letters. Unfortunately except for the very first letter after the base letter each one in this series do not follow a similar pattern.
Base Letter
Handwriting Steps
Base Letter
Handwriting Steps
Base Letter
Handwriting Steps
Base Letter
Handwriting Steps
Base Letter
Handwriting Steps
Base Letter
Handwriting Steps
Base Letter
Handwriting Steps
Base Letter
Handwriting Steps
This brings us to the end of our Amharic lessons. If youd like to learn more about Amharic here are what I consider to be the best three resources: I want to know the basics: www.africanlanguage.com has several good computer programs for learning the basics of Amharic and also has some intermediate materials as well. I want to be able to type in Amharic: This was tricky there are not a lot of resources. After a lot of research I found the best site for downloading fonts and keyboard instructions for free was www.ethiosys.com. I used the 4.0 version. Are there other on-line resources? For Amharic there are still not a ton of options out there but amazon.com is always a good place to start. Ive always enjoyed the Talk Now! software series. It is approx. $30(US) and gives you a lot of basic words and phrases. Colloquial Amharic by D. Appleyard is also part of a good series of language instructional books.