Writing System
Ge'ez is written with Ethiopic or the Ge'ez abugida, a script that was originally developed specifically for this language. In languages that use it, such as Amharic and Tigrinya, the script is called Fidäl, which means script or alphabet.
Ge'ez is read from left to right.
The Ge'ez script has been adapted to write other languages, usually ones that are also Semitic. The most widespread use is for Amharic in Ethiopia and Tigrinya in Eritrea and Ethiopia. It is also used for Sebatbeit, Me'en, Agew and most other languages of Ethiopia. In Eritrea it is used for Tigre, and it is often used for Blin, a Cushitic language. Some other languages in the Horn of Africa, such as Oromo, used to be written using Ge'ez but have switched to Latin-based alphabets.
It also uses 4 symbols for labialized velar consonants, which are variants of the non-labialized velar consonants:
| Basic sign | ḳ | ḫ | k | g |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ቀ | ኀ | ከ | ገ | |
| Labialized variant | ḳʷ | ḫʷ | kʷ | gʷ |
| ቈ | ኈ | ኰ | ጐ |
Read more about this topic: Ge'ez Language
Famous quotes containing the words writing and/or system:
“Faithfulness to the past can be a kind of death above ground. Writing of the past is a resurrection; the past then lives in your words and you are free.”
—Jessamyn West (1902–1984)
“Exploitation and oppression is not a matter of race. It is the system, the apparatus of world-wide brigandage called imperialism, which made the Powers behave the way they did. I have no illusions on this score, nor do I believe that any Asian nation or African nation, in the same state of dominance, and with the same system of colonial profit-amassing and plunder, would have behaved otherwise.”
—Han Suyin (b. 1917)