ሀሁ - Amharic Alphabets

The Ethiopian alphabet (Ge'ez) is one of the oldest used in the world. This alphabet is used by many of the 85 Ethiopian languages including Guragigna and Tigrigna.

Each letter/character is phonetic meaning it represents a sound. The Amharic letters are usually portrayed in a grid format with 7 vowels (e, u, ee, a, ae, i, o) going across horizontally and the consonants vertically.

Labialized Consonants

In Amharic, labialized consonants are sounds made with lip rounding at the same time as another consonant, like adding a small "w" to it. For instance, in English wet, your lips round at the start; Amharic uses a similar effect but attaches it to different consonants.

These sounds are important because they blend the consonant and "w" before a vowel, and they can change word meanings entirely. Learning them is key for clear pronunciation and proper understanding of Amharic.