Ethiopia’s Ge’ez script: An ancient alphasyllabary
One of Ethiopia’s major languages is Amharic, which is written in a script called Ge’ez or Ethiopic. It’s quite common to see signs and lettering on buildings in both English and Amharic. Amharic is a Semitic language; that is, it is related to Hebrew and Arabic.
The Ge’ez script is ancient. It was in use in Ethiopia centuries before the birth of Christ and probably developed from even more ancient scripts originating in the Middle East.
The script is an abugida or alphasyllabary, which means that each consonant in the language is represented by a particular symbol, and that symbol is modified depending on which vowel follows it.
I received this mug as a gift last night, and it’s an excellent illustration of this concept. In the two photos below, you can see the base consonant on the left side of each row, and then as you read across the row from left to right, you can see the various modifications to it as each vowel is added. If you read the columns from top to bottom, you can see that many of the vowels have similar effects on the consonants with which they occur (e.g., a similarly placed dot or hook).
Here’s a newspaper article to show you the script in action. (Disclaimer: I don’t know what the article says, and I’m posting it only to illustrate the script.) Unlike writing systems for some other Semitic languages (e.g., Arabic), the Ge’ez script is read from left to right.
The Ge’ez script is just one manifestation of Ethiopia’s long, rich, and unique history. We’ll look at some others in the coming days.
categories ethiopia
Comments
Comment from bungee
Time: June 9, 2009, 5:54 pm
Neat! Pray you stay safe and have fun!
Comment from baggins
Time: June 10, 2009, 2:04 am
When you were describing the construction of the symbols through modification of a base character, the first thing that sprang to my mind was- “Huh, that type of writing system must have been what provided Tolkien with his inspiration for the elvish script.” Kind of pathetic, really. :)
Seriously fascinating stuff, Bolt- looking forward to reading more.
Comment from Ahti
Time: July 2, 2009, 8:33 pm
Dear David!
Thank you for your interesting article and research. Here we can get a characterisation from an ancient language before the birth of Christ. It’s very interesting to know, that as opposed to Hebrew and Arabic this script is read from left to right. Might it have some very practical reason?
The idea to run off the structure of the language on the mug is an excellent combination of history and modern technology. Using the mug you can at the same time also visually see your language.
You are making very valuable work. Let our God bless you, your relatives and all citizens in Ethiopia.
Ahti
Comment from Piia Nurmela
Time: July 4, 2009, 2:23 pm
Hi David
It was very interesting to read your article about Amharic language.
It is very important that these ancient cultures hold their own original languages. The language has a very important role in their identity and self-esteem. Through their own language they can express themselves in a much richer way and it contains valuable information of the character and culture of the ethiopians. It is something they own and not something that was imported by some foreigners.
The scripture of the language looks very beautiful. It is like an ornament on the surface of the mug. Very nice gift!
Take care David and may God richly bless you in our work and private life.
Piia
Comment from Marjaana Reuhkala
Time: July 4, 2009, 11:04 pm
Oh dear, how interesting – and how many consonants! We only have – or used to have – about 10-11 consonants in Finnish, and 8 vowels. (Tolkien used Finnish for his inspiration, you may know? But Finnish isn´t that “beautiful” to look at nowadays.)
I´m interested in a job for the Wycliffe Organization in Finland and that´s why I´m commenting. But this blog is wonderful anyhow! Thank you and God bless!
Comment from Jaakko Hautamäki
Time: July 5, 2009, 10:48 am
Hello David!
It’s very interesting read this kind of linguistics research. I also read your earlier post about Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity and it shows how ancient language can give churches very long history and interesting roots. It seems to be very important how the language and Christianity together enabling greater and deeper understanding of our mighty God.
I just wondering if this language is still used as a liturgical language by Ethiopian Christians and the Beta Israel Jewish community of Ethiopia, is it possible that somewhere is still living people who use this as their own language? This kind of aspect I didn’t perceive.
Thank you for your posts and research. God bless your work.
Jaakko
PS. Nice gift, enjoy your tea or coffee breaks….
Comment from David J. Ringer
Time: July 5, 2009, 11:07 am
Hi everyone,
Thanks for your comments and your interest!
Jaakko, the Ge’ez script is still used today to write Amharic and several other modern languages. The Ge’ez language itself, for which the script was first used, is a “dead” language like Latin, but it is still used as the liturgical language in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.
Comment from Pekka Airaksinen
Time: July 5, 2009, 8:08 pm
Hi David. Thank You for your interesting article. In heaven we shall hear also Ge’ez speaking God’s people praising God.
“And they sing a new song, saying, Worthy art thou to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou was slain, and didst purchase unto God with thy blood men of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation …” Rev. 14:5:9.
What language might have been language of the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8:27? Is it possible that he spoke Ge’ez?
It is interesting to see many similarities in the use of vocals in Ge’ez to the vocal marks of Masorits Hebrew. is it possible they even got some idea from older Ge’ez to their use of vocals?
- Pekka -
Comment from nathandidlake
Time: June 9, 2009, 4:01 pm
I gotta be honest, man. That’s some beautiful script for language. I would love to hear what it sounds like!
I’m excited for your journeys out there! Do well!
(By the way, I’ve been reading your blog ever since the very beginning, only without many comments. Glad I finally broke the silence!)