Editing Geʽez (section)

==== Transliteration ====

Ge{{ayin}}ez is transliterated according to the following system (see the phoneme table below for IPA values):
<div style="float:left">
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
!translit.
| {{transliteration|sem|h}} || {{transliteration|sem|l}} || {{transliteration|sem|ḥ}} || {{transliteration|sem|m}}
| {{transliteration|sem|ś}} || {{transliteration|sem|r}} || {{transliteration|sem|s}} || {{transliteration|sem|q}}
| {{transliteration|sem|b}} || {{transliteration|sem|t}} || {{transliteration|sem|ḫ}} || {{transliteration|sem|n}}
| {{transliteration|sem|{{hamza}}}}
|- style="font-size:2em"
!style="font-size:0.5em"|Geʽez
| {{lang|gez|ሀ}} || {{lang|gez|ለ}} || {{lang|gez|ሐ}} || {{lang|gez|መ}}
| {{lang|gez|ሠ}} || {{lang|gez|ረ}} || {{lang|gez|ሰ}} || {{lang|gez|ቀ}}
| {{lang|gez|በ}} || {{lang|gez|ተ}} || {{lang|gez|ኀ}} || {{lang|gez|ነ}}
| {{lang|gez|አ}}
|}
</div>

<div style="float:left">

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
!translit.
| {{transliteration|sem|k}} || {{transliteration|sem|w}} || {{transliteration|sem|{{ayin}}}}
| {{transliteration|sem|z}} || {{transliteration|sem|y}} || {{transliteration|sem|d}} || {{transliteration|sem|g}}
| {{transliteration|sem|ṭ}} || {{transliteration|sem|p̣}} || {{transliteration|sem|ṣ}} || {{transliteration|sem|ḍ}}
| {{transliteration|sem|f}} || {{transliteration|sem|p}}
|- style="font-size:2em"
!style="font-size:0.5em"|Geʽez
| {{lang|gez|ከ}} || {{lang|gez|ወ}} || {{lang|gez|ዐ}}
| {{lang|gez|ዘ}} || {{lang|gez|የ}} || {{lang|gez|ደ}} || {{lang|gez|ገ}}
| {{lang|gez|ጠ}} || {{lang|gez|ጰ}} || {{lang|gez|ጸ}} || {{lang|gez|ፀ}}
| {{lang|gez|ፈ}} || {{lang|gez|ፐ}}
|}

</div>

{{clear}}

Because Ge{{ayin}}ez is no longer spoken in daily life by large communities, the early pronunciation of some consonants is not completely certain. Gragg writes that "[t]he consonants corresponding to the graphemes {{transliteration|sem|ś}} (Ge{{ayin}}ez {{lang|gez|ሠ}}) and {{transliteration|sem|ḍ}} (Ge{{ayin}}ez {{lang|gez|ፀ}}) have merged with ሰ and ጸ respectively in the phonological system represented by the traditional pronunciation—and indeed in all modern Ethiopian Semitic. ... There is, however, no evidence either in the tradition or in Ethiopian Semitic [for] what value these consonants may have had in Ge{{ayin}}ez."{{sfn|Gragg|1997b|p=244}}

[[File:Psalms.jpg|alt=a verse from Psalm written in Ge{{ayin}}ez|thumb|A verse from [[Psalms|the book of Psalms]] written in Ge{{ayin}}ez]]

A similar problem is found for the consonant transliterated {{transliteration|sem|ḫ}}. Gragg notes that it corresponds in etymology to velar or uvular fricatives in other Semitic languages, but it is pronounced exactly the same as {{transliteration|sem|ḥ}} in the traditional pronunciation. Though the use of a different letter shows that it must originally have had some other pronunciation, what that pronunciation was is not certain.{{sfn|Gragg|1997b|p=245}}

The chart below lists {{IPA|/ɬ/}} and {{IPA|/t͡ɬʼ/}} as possible values for {{transliteration|sem|ś}} ({{lang|gez|ሠ}}) and {{transliteration|sem|ḍ}} ({{lang|gez|ፀ}}) respectively. It also lists {{IPA|/χ/}} as a possible value for {{transliteration|sem|ḫ}} ({{lang|gez|ኀ}}). These values are tentative, but based on the reconstructed [[Proto-Semitic]] consonants that they are descended from.