Geʽez script

Thus, there are 24 correspondences of Geʻez and the South Arabian writing system:

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:

h, l, ḥ, m, ś, r, s, ḳ, b, t, ḫ, n, ʾ, k, w, ʿ, z, y, d, g, ṭ, p̣, ṣ, ṣ́, f, p

It was properly written right-to-left.^[6] 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, u, i, a, e, ə, o, 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 ä (/ə/), 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 -wa or -oa, and for a number of those a ninth form for -jä.

To represent a consonant with no following phonemic vowel, for example at the end of a syllable or in a consonant cluster, the ə (/ɨ/) form is used (the character in the sixth column).

Labiovelar variants

The letters for the labialized velar consonants are variants of the non-labialized velar consonants:

Unlike the other consonants, these labiovelar ones can be combined with only five different vowels:

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 Ge'ez script had an influence on the Armenian alphabet after it may have been introduced to Armenia at the end of the fifth century.^[17][18][19]

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.

The vocalised forms are shown below. Like the other labiovelars, these labiovelars can only be combined with five vowels.

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 ḫʷ (ኈ), 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 ś (ሠ), ḫ (ኀ) and ḍ (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 ś (ሠ), ḫ (ኀ) and ḍ (ፀ). It also uses the ones indicated below and the Geʽez labiovelar letter variants.

The Harari abugida uses the basic consonants except for ś (ሠ), ḫ (ኀ), ʽ (ዐ), p̣ (ጰ), ṣ (ጸ), and ḍ (ፀ). Although h (ሀ) is occasionally used, ḥ (ሐ) is strongly favored. As Harari used the Arabic script before adopting the Geʽez script, Arabic phonemes entered the language due to loanwords and language contact and were ascribed to specific consonant forms when the Geʽez script was first adopted for the language. ḥ from (ح) was assigned to (ሐ), ṫ from (ث) to (ሠ), gh from (غ) to (ኀ), kh from (خ) to (ኸ), ʽ from (ع) to (ዐ), dˁ from (ض) to (ጰ), and dh from (ذ) to (ፀ). It also uses the ones indicated below.

Note: "V" is used for words of foreign origin except for in some

The alphabetical order is similar to that found in other South Semitic scripts, as well as in the ancient Ugaritic alphabet, which attests both the southern Semitic h-l-ħ-m order and the northern Semitic ʼ–b–g–d (abugida) order over three thousand years ago.

Numerals

Geʽez uses an additional alphabetic numeral system comparable to the Hebrew, Arabic abjad and Greek numerals. It differs from these systems, however, in that it lacks individual characters for the multiples of 100, thus making it function similarly to, but not exactly like, Chinese numerals. (Unlike the Chinese script, Geʽez has individual characters for multiples of 10.) For example, 475 is written (፬፻፸፭, that is "4-100-70-5", and 83,692 is (፰፼፴፮፻፺፪ "8–10,000-30-6-100-90-2". Numbers are over- and underlined with a vinculum; in proper typesetting these combine to make a single bar, but some less sophisticated fonts cannot render this and show separate bars above and below each character.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
× 1	፩	፪	፫	፬	፭	፮	፯	፰	፱
× 10	፲	፳	፴	፵	፶	፷	፸	፹	፺
× 100	፻
× 10,000	፼

Ethiopian numerals were borrowed from the

፠ section mark

፡ word separator

። full stop (period)

፣ comma

፥ colon

፤ semicolon

፦ preface colon. Uses:^[21]

In transcribed interviews, after the name of the speaker whose transcribed speech immediately follows; compare the colon in western text

In ordered lists, after the ordinal symbol (such as a letter or number), separating it from the text of the item; compare the colon, period, or right parenthesis in western text

Many other functions of the colon in western text

፧ question mark

፨ paragraph separator

Unicode

Ethiopic has been assigned

In western culture

• Geʽez is a sacred script in the
  album art
  .
• The films 500 Years Later (፭፻-ዓመታት በኋላ) and Motherland (እናት ሀገር) are the first two mainstream Western documentaries to use Geʽez characters in the titles. The script also appears in the trailer and promotional material of the films.
• In October 2020,
  othering.^[22]

• Ancient South Arabian script
• History of the alphabet

Literature

• ISBN 978-90-474-2792-6
  .
• Cohen, Marcel (October–December 1921). "La prononciation traditionnelle du Guèze (éthiopien classique)". Journal Asiatique. 11. 18: 217–269.
• Scelta, Gabe F. (2001-12-14). The Comparative Origin and Usage of the Geʽez writing system of Ethiopia (PDF) (Report).

References