Editing Amharic (section)

==Writing system==
{{anchor|Alphabet}}
{{See also|Geʽez script|Amharic Braille}}
[[File:Ethiopian Air aircraft showing Ethiopic script.jpg|right|thumb|The Ethiopic (or Geʽez) writing system is visible on the side of this [[Ethiopian Airlines]] [[Fokker 50]]: it reads "Ethiopia's": {{lang|am|የኢትዮጵያ }} {{transliteration|am|ye-ʾityop̣p̣ya}}.]]
The Amharic script is an [[abugida]], and the [[grapheme]]s of the Amharic writing system are called {{transliteration|am|fidäl}}.<ref name="MajorLanguages">{{cite book |last=Hudson |first=Grover |chapter=Amharic |title=The World's Major Languages |date=2009 |editor-last=Comrie |editor-first=Bernard |location=Oxon and New York |publisher=Routledge |pages=594–617 |isbn=978-0-203-30152-4}}</ref> It is derived from a modification of the [[Geʽez script]].<ref name=":0" /> Each character represents a consonant+vowel sequence, but the basic shape of each character is determined by the consonant, which is modified for the vowel. Some consonant [[phoneme]]s are written by more than one series of characters: {{IPAslink|ʔ}}, {{IPAslink|s}}, {{IPAslink|tsʼ}}, and {{IPAslink|h}} (the last one has ''four'' distinct letter forms). This is because these {{Lang|am-latn|fidäl}} originally represented distinct sounds, but [[phonological change]]s merged them.<ref name="MajorLanguages" /> The citation form for each series is the consonant+''ä'' form, i.e. the first column of the {{Lang|am-latn|fidäl}}. The [[Ethiopic (Unicode block)|Amharic script]] is included in [[Unicode]], and glyphs are included in fonts available with major operating systems.

[[File:Amharic Coca Cola bottle.jpg|thumb|A modern usage of Amharic: the label of a [[Coca-Cola]] bottle. The script reads {{lang|am|ኮካ-ኮላ}} ({{transliteration|am|koka-kola}}).]]

===Alphasyllabary===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+Chart of Amharic {{Lang|am-latn|fidäl}}''s''<ref>
{{cite book
|chapter=Ethiopic Writing
|title=The World's Writing Systems
|year=1996
|last1=Haile
|first1=Getatchew
|author-link1=Getatchew Haile
|editor1-last=Daniels
|editor1-first=Peter T.
|editor2-last=Bright
|editor2-first=William
|publisher=Oxford University Press, Inc
|isbn=978-0-19-507993-7
|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780195079937/page/573 573]
|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780195079937/page/573
}}</ref>
|- valign="top"
! colspan="2" | &nbsp;!!{{transliteration|sem|ä/e}}<br />{{IPA|[ə]}}!!{{transliteration|sem|u}}!!{{transliteration|sem|i}}!!{{transliteration|sem|a}}!!{{transliteration|sem|ē}}!!{{transliteration|sem|ə}}<br />{{IPA|[ɨ], ∅}}!!o!!{{transliteration|sem|ʷä/ue}}<br />{{IPA|[ʷə]}}!!{{transliteration|sem|ʷi/ui}}!!{{transliteration|sem|ʷa/ua}}!!{{transliteration|sem|ʷē/uē}}!!{{transliteration|sem|ʷə}}<br />{{IPA|[ʷɨ/î]}}
|- style="font-size:2em"
! style="font-size:0.5em" |{{transliteration|sem|h}}
| style="font-size:0.5em" |{{IPA|/h/}}
|{{lang|am|ሀ}}||{{lang|am|ሁ}}||{{lang|am|ሂ}}||{{lang|am|ሃ}}||{{lang|am|ሄ}}||{{lang|am|ህ}}||{{lang|am|ሆ}}|| colspan="5" style="background:#ccc;" |&nbsp;
|- style="font-size:2em"
! style="font-size:0.5em" |{{transliteration|sem|l}}
| style="font-size:0.5em" |{{IPA|/l/}}
|{{lang|am|ለ}}||{{lang|am|ሉ}}||{{lang|am|ሊ}}||{{lang|am|ላ}}||{{lang|am|ሌ}}||{{lang|am|ል}}||{{lang|am|ሎ}}|| colspan="2" style="background:#ccc;" |&nbsp;||{{lang|am|ሏ}}|| colspan="2" style="background:#ccc;" |&nbsp;
|- style="font-size:2em"
! style="font-size:0.5em" |{{transliteration|sem|ḥ}}
| style="font-size:0.5em" |{{IPA|/h/}}
|{{lang|am|ሐ}}||{{lang|am|ሑ}}||{{lang|am|ሒ}}||{{lang|am|ሓ}}||{{lang|am|ሔ}}||{{lang|am|ሕ}}||{{lang|am|ሖ}}|| colspan="2" style="background:#ccc;" |&nbsp;||{{lang|am|ሗ}}|| colspan="2" style="background:#ccc;" |&nbsp;
|- style="font-size:2em"
! style="font-size:0.5em" |{{transliteration|sem|m}}
| style="font-size:0.5em" |{{IPA|/m/}}
|{{lang|am|መ}}||{{lang|am|ሙ}}||{{lang|am|ሚ}}||{{lang|am|ማ}}||{{lang|am|ሜ}}||{{lang|am|ም}}||{{lang|am|ሞ}}|| colspan="2" style="background:#ccc;" |&nbsp;||{{lang|am|ሟ}}|| colspan="2" style="background:#ccc;" |&nbsp;
|- style="font-size:2em"
! style="font-size:0.5em" |{{transliteration|sem|ś}}
| style="font-size:0.5em" |{{IPA|/s/}}
|{{lang|am|ሠ}}||{{lang|am|ሡ}}||{{lang|am|ሢ}}||{{lang|am|ሣ}}||{{lang|am|ሤ}}||{{lang|am|ሥ}}||{{lang|am|ሦ}}|| colspan="2" style="background:#ccc;" |&nbsp;||{{lang|am|ሧ}}|| colspan="2" style="background:#ccc;" |&nbsp;
|- style="font-size:2em"
! style="font-size:0.5em" |{{transliteration|sem|r}}
| style="font-size:0.5em" |{{IPA|/r/}}
|{{lang|am|ረ}}||{{lang|am|ሩ}}||{{lang|am|ሪ}}||{{lang|am|ራ}}||{{lang|am|ሬ}}||{{lang|am|ር}}||{{lang|am|ሮ}}|| colspan="2" style="background:#ccc;" |&nbsp;||{{lang|am|ሯ}}|| colspan="2" style="background:#ccc;" |&nbsp;
|- style="font-size:2em"
! style="font-size:0.5em" |{{transliteration|sem|s}}
| style="font-size:0.5em" |{{IPA|/s/}}
|{{lang|am|ሰ}}||{{lang|am|ሱ}}||{{lang|am|ሲ}}||{{lang|am|ሳ}}||{{lang|am|ሴ}}||{{lang|am|ስ}}||{{lang|am|ሶ}}|| colspan="2" style="background:#ccc;" |&nbsp;||{{lang|am|ሷ}}|| colspan="2" style="background:#ccc;" |&nbsp;
|- style="font-size:2em"
! style="font-size:0.5em" |{{transliteration|sem|š}}
| style="font-size:0.5em" |{{IPA|/ʃ/}}
|{{lang|am|ሸ}}||{{lang|am|ሹ}}||{{lang|am|ሺ}}||{{lang|am|ሻ}}||{{lang|am|ሼ}}||{{lang|am|ሽ}}||{{lang|am|ሾ}}|| colspan="2" style="background:#ccc;" |&nbsp;||{{lang|am|ሿ}}|| colspan="2" style="background:#ccc;" |&nbsp;
|- style="font-size:2em"
! style="font-size:0.5em" |{{transliteration|sem|q}}
| style="font-size:0.5em" |{{IPA|/kʼ/}}
|{{lang|am|ቀ}}||{{lang|am|ቁ}}||{{lang|am|ቂ}}||{{lang|am|ቃ}}||{{lang|am|ቄ}}||{{lang|am|ቅ}}||{{lang|am|ቆ}}||{{lang|am|ቈ}}||{{lang|am|ቊ}}||{{lang|am|ቋ}}||{{lang|am|ቌ}}||{{lang|am|ቍ}}
|- style="font-size:2em"
! style="font-size:0.5em" |{{transliteration|sem|b}}
| style="font-size:0.5em" |{{IPA|/b/}}
|{{lang|am|በ}}||{{lang|am|ቡ}}||{{lang|am|ቢ}}||{{lang|am|ባ}}||{{lang|am|ቤ}}||{{lang|am|ብ}}||{{lang|am|ቦ}}|| colspan="2" style="background:#ccc;" |&nbsp;||{{lang|am|ቧ}}|| colspan="2" style="background:#ccc;" |&nbsp;
|- style="font-size:2em"
! style="font-size:0.5em" |{{transliteration|sem|v}}
| style="font-size:0.5em" |{{IPA|/β/}}
|{{lang|am|ቨ}}||{{lang|am|ቩ}}||{{lang|am|ቪ}}||{{lang|am|ቫ}}||{{lang|am|ቬ}}||{{lang|am|ቭ}}||{{lang|am|ቮ}}|| colspan="2" style="background:#ccc;" |&nbsp;||{{lang|am|ቯ}}|| colspan="2" style="background:#ccc;" |&nbsp;
|- style="font-size:2em"
! style="font-size:0.5em" |{{transliteration|sem|t}}
| style="font-size:0.5em" |{{IPA|/t/}}
|{{lang|am|ተ}}||{{lang|am|ቱ}}||{{lang|am|ቲ}}||{{lang|am|ታ}}||{{lang|am|ቴ}}||{{lang|am|ት}}||{{lang|am|ቶ}}|| colspan="2" style="background:#ccc;" |&nbsp;||{{lang|am|ቷ}}|| colspan="2" style="background:#ccc;" |&nbsp;
|- style="font-size:2em"
! style="font-size:0.5em" |{{transliteration|sem|č}}
| style="font-size:0.5em" |{{IPA|/tʃ/}}
|{{lang|am|ቸ}}||{{lang|am|ቹ}}||{{lang|am|ቺ}}||{{lang|am|ቻ}}||{{lang|am|ቼ}}||{{lang|am|ች}}||{{lang|am|ቾ}}|| colspan="2" style="background:#ccc;" |&nbsp;||{{lang|am|ቿ}}|| colspan="2" style="background:#ccc;" |&nbsp;
|- style="font-size:2em"
! style="font-size:0.5em" |{{transliteration|sem|ḫ}}
| style="font-size:0.5em" |{{IPA|/h/}}
|{{lang|am|ኀ}}||{{lang|am|ኁ}}||{{lang|am|ኂ}}||{{lang|am|ኃ}}||{{lang|am|ኄ}}||{{lang|am|ኅ}}||{{lang|am|ኆ}}||{{lang|am|ኈ}}||{{lang|am|ኊ}}||{{lang|am|ኋ}}||{{lang|am|ኌ}}||{{lang|am|ኍ}}
|- style="font-size:2em"
! style="font-size:0.5em" |{{transliteration|sem|n}}
| style="font-size:0.5em" |{{IPA|/n/}}
|{{lang|am|ነ}}||{{lang|am|ኑ}}||{{lang|am|ኒ}}||{{lang|am|ና}}||{{lang|am|ኔ}}||{{lang|am|ን}}||{{lang|am|ኖ}}|| colspan="2" style="background:#ccc;" |&nbsp;||{{lang|am|ኗ}}|| colspan="2" style="background:#ccc;" |&nbsp;
|- style="font-size:2em"
! style="font-size:0.5em" |{{transliteration|sem|ñ}}
| style="font-size:0.5em" |{{IPA|/ɲ/}}
|{{lang|am|ኘ}}||{{lang|am|ኙ}}||{{lang|am|ኚ}}||{{lang|am|ኛ}}||{{lang|am|ኜ}}||{{lang|am|ኝ}}||{{lang|am|ኞ}}|| colspan="2" style="background:#ccc;" |&nbsp;||{{lang|am|ኟ}}|| colspan="2" style="background:#ccc;" |&nbsp;
|- style="font-size:2em"
! style="font-size:0.5em" |'''ʼ'''
| style="font-size:0.5em" |{{IPA|/ʔ/}}
|{{lang|am|አ}}||{{lang|am|ኡ}}||{{lang|am|ኢ}}||{{lang|am|ኣ}}||{{lang|am|ኤ}}||{{lang|am|እ}}||{{lang|am|ኦ}}|| colspan="2" style="background:#ccc;" |&nbsp;||{{lang|am|ኧ}}|| colspan="2" style="background:#ccc;" |&nbsp;
|- style="font-size:2em"
! style="font-size:0.5em" |{{transliteration|sem|k}}
| style="font-size:0.5em" |{{IPA|/k/}}
|{{lang|am|ከ}}||{{lang|am|ኩ}}||{{lang|am|ኪ}}||{{lang|am|ካ}}||{{lang|am|ኬ}}||{{lang|am|ክ}}||{{lang|am|ኮ}}||{{lang|am|ኰ}}||{{lang|am|ኲ}}||{{lang|am|ኳ}}||{{lang|am|ኴ}}||{{lang|am|ኵ}}
|- style="font-size:2em"
! style="font-size:0.5em" |{{transliteration|sem|x}}
| style="font-size:0.5em" |{{IPA|/h/}}
|{{lang|am|ኸ}}||{{lang|am|ኹ}}||{{lang|am|ኺ}}||{{lang|am|ኻ}}||{{lang|am|ኼ}}||{{lang|am|ኽ}}||{{lang|am|ኾ}}|||{{lang|am|ዀ}}||{{lang|am|ዂ}}||{{lang|am|ዃ}}||{{lang|am|ዄ}}||{{lang|am|ዅ}}
|- style="font-size:2em"
! style="font-size:0.5em" |{{transliteration|sem|w}}
| style="font-size:0.5em" |{{IPA|/w/}}
|{{lang|am|ወ}}||{{lang|am|ዉ}}||{{lang|am|ዊ}}||{{lang|am|ዋ}}||{{lang|am|ዌ}}||{{lang|am|ው}}||{{lang|am|ዎ}}|| colspan="5" style="background:#ccc;" |&nbsp;
|- style="font-size:2em"
! style="font-size:0.5em" |'''ʽ'''
| style="font-size:0.5em" |{{IPA|/ʔ/}}
|{{lang|am|ዐ}}||{{lang|am|ዑ}}||{{lang|am|ዒ}}||{{lang|am|ዓ}}||{{lang|am|ዔ}}||{{lang|am|ዕ}}||{{lang|am|ዖ}}|| colspan="5" style="background:#ccc;" |&nbsp;
|- style="font-size:2em"
! style="font-size:0.5em" |{{transliteration|sem|z}}
| style="font-size:0.5em" |{{IPA|/z/}}
|{{lang|am|ዘ}}||{{lang|am|ዙ}}||{{lang|am|ዚ}}||{{lang|am|ዛ}}||{{lang|am|ዜ}}||{{lang|am|ዝ}}||{{lang|am|ዞ}}|| colspan="2" style="background:#ccc;" |&nbsp;||{{lang|am|ዟ}}|| colspan="2" style="background:#ccc;" |&nbsp;
|- style="font-size:2em"
! style="font-size:0.5em" |{{transliteration|sem|ž}}
| style="font-size:0.5em" |{{IPA|/ʒ/}}
|{{lang|am|ዠ}}||{{lang|am|ዡ}}||{{lang|am|ዢ}}||{{lang|am|ዣ}}||{{lang|am|ዤ}}||{{lang|am|ዥ}}||{{lang|am|ዦ}}|| colspan="2" style="background:#ccc;" |&nbsp;||{{lang|am|ዧ}}|| colspan="2" style="background:#ccc;" |&nbsp;
|- style="font-size:2em"
! style="font-size:0.5em" |{{transliteration|sem|y}}
| style="font-size:0.5em" |{{IPA|/j/}}
|{{lang|am|የ}}||{{lang|am|ዩ}}||{{lang|am|ዪ}}||{{lang|am|ያ}}||{{lang|am|ዬ}}||{{lang|am|ይ}}||{{lang|am|ዮ}}|| colspan="5" style="background:#ccc;" |&nbsp;
|- style="font-size:2em"
! style="font-size:0.5em" |{{transliteration|sem|d}}
| style="font-size:0.5em" |{{IPA|/d/}}
|{{lang|am|ደ}}||{{lang|am|ዱ}}||{{lang|am|ዲ}}||{{lang|am|ዳ}}||{{lang|am|ዴ}}||{{lang|am|ድ}}||{{lang|am|ዶ}}|| colspan="2" style="background:#ccc;" |&nbsp;||{{lang|am|ዷ}}|| colspan="2" style="background:#ccc;" |&nbsp;
|- style="font-size:2em"
! style="font-size:0.5em" |{{transliteration|sem|ǧ}}
| style="font-size:0.5em" |{{IPA|/dʒ/}}
|{{lang|am|ጀ}}||{{lang|am|ጁ}}||{{lang|am|ጂ}}||{{lang|am|ጃ}}||{{lang|am|ጄ}}||{{lang|am|ጅ}}||{{lang|am|ጆ}}|| colspan="2" style="background:#ccc;" |&nbsp;||{{lang|am|ጇ}}|| colspan="2" style="background:#ccc;" |&nbsp;
|- style="font-size:2em"
! style="font-size:0.5em" |{{transliteration|sem|g}}
| style="font-size:0.5em" |{{IPA|/ɡ/}}
|{{lang|am|ገ}}||{{lang|am|ጉ}}||{{lang|am|ጊ}}||{{lang|am|ጋ}}||{{lang|am|ጌ}}||{{lang|am|ግ}}||{{lang|am|ጎ}}||{{lang|am|ጐ}}||{{lang|am|ጒ}}||{{lang|am|ጓ}}||{{lang|am|ጔ}}||{{lang|am|ጕ}}
|- style="font-size:2em"
! style="font-size:0.5em" |{{transliteration|sem|ṭ}}
| style="font-size:0.5em" |{{IPA|/tʼ/}}
|{{lang|am|ጠ}}||{{lang|am|ጡ}}||{{lang|am|ጢ}}||{{lang|am|ጣ}}||{{lang|am|ጤ}}||{{lang|am|ጥ}}||{{lang|am|ጦ}}|| colspan="2" style="background:#ccc;" |&nbsp;||{{lang|am|ጧ}}|| colspan="2" style="background:#ccc;" |&nbsp;
|- style="font-size:2em"
! style="font-size:0.5em" |{{transliteration|sem|č̣}}
| style="font-size:0.5em" |{{IPA|/tʃʼ/}}
|{{lang|am|ጨ}}||{{lang|am|ጩ}}||{{lang|am|ጪ}}||{{lang|am|ጫ}}||{{lang|am|ጬ}}||{{lang|am|ጭ}}||{{lang|am|ጮ}}|| colspan="2" style="background:#ccc;" |&nbsp;||{{lang|am|ጯ}}|| colspan="2" style="background:#ccc;" |&nbsp;
|- style="font-size:2em"
! style="font-size:0.5em" |{{transliteration|sem|p̣}}
| style="font-size:0.5em" |{{IPA|/pʼ/}}
|{{lang|am|ጰ}}||{{lang|am|ጱ}}||{{lang|am|ጲ}}||{{lang|am|ጳ}}||{{lang|am|ጴ}}||{{lang|am|ጵ}}||{{lang|am|ጶ}}|| colspan="2" style="background:#ccc;" |&nbsp;||{{lang|am|ጷ}}|| colspan="2" style="background:#ccc;" |&nbsp;
|- style="font-size:2em"
! style="font-size:0.5em" |{{transliteration|sem|ṣ}}
| style="font-size:0.5em" |{{IPA|/tsʼ/}}
|{{lang|am|ጸ}}||{{lang|am|ጹ}}||{{lang|am|ጺ}}||{{lang|am|ጻ}}||{{lang|am|ጼ}}||{{lang|am|ጽ}}||{{lang|am|ጾ}}|| colspan="2" style="background:#ccc;" |&nbsp;||{{lang|am|ጿ}}|| colspan="2" style="background:#ccc;" |&nbsp;
|- style="font-size:2em"
! style="font-size:0.5em" |{{transliteration|sem|ṣ́}}
| style="font-size:0.5em" |{{IPA|/tsʼ/}}
|{{lang|am|ፀ}}||{{lang|am|ፁ}}||{{lang|am|ፂ}}||{{lang|am|ፃ}}||{{lang|am|ፄ}}||{{lang|am|ፅ}}||{{lang|am|ፆ}}|| colspan="5" style="background:#ccc;" |&nbsp;
|- style="font-size:2em"
! style="font-size:0.5em" |{{transliteration|sem|f}}
| style="font-size:0.5em" |{{IPA|/f/}}
|{{lang|am|ፈ}}||{{lang|am|ፉ}}||{{lang|am|ፊ}}||{{lang|am|ፋ}}||{{lang|am|ፌ}}||{{lang|am|ፍ}}||{{lang|am|ፎ}}|| colspan="2" style="background:#ccc;" |&nbsp;||{{lang|am|ፏ}}|| colspan="2" style="background:#ccc;" |&nbsp;
|- style="font-size:2em"
! style="font-size:0.5em" |{{transliteration|sem|p}}
| style="font-size:0.5em" |{{IPA|/p/}}
|{{lang|am|ፐ}}||{{lang|am|ፑ}}||{{lang|am|ፒ}}||{{lang|am|ፓ}}||{{lang|am|ፔ}}||{{lang|am|ፕ}}||{{lang|am|ፖ}}|| colspan="2" style="background:#ccc;" |&nbsp;||{{lang|am|ፗ}}|| colspan="2" style="background:#ccc;" |&nbsp;
|-
! colspan="2" | &nbsp;!!{{transliteration|sem|ä/e}}<br />{{IPA|[ə]}}!!{{transliteration|sem|u}}!!{{transliteration|sem|i}}!!{{transliteration|sem|a}}!!{{transliteration|sem|ē}}!!{{transliteration|sem|ə}}<br />{{IPA|[ɨ], ∅}}!!o!!{{transliteration|sem|ʷ/ue}}<br />{{IPA|[ʷə/ū]}}!!{{transliteration|sem|ʷi/ui}}!!{{transliteration|sem|ʷa/ua}}!!{{transliteration|sem|ʷē/uē}}!!{{transliteration|sem|ʷə}}<br />{{IPA|[ʷɨ/ū]}}
|}

===Gemination===
As in most other [[Ethiopian Semitic languages]], [[gemination]] is [[phoneme|contrastive]] in Amharic.  That is, consonant length can distinguish words from one another; for example, {{transliteration|am|alä}} 'he said', {{transliteration|am|allä}} 'there is'; {{transliteration|am|yǝmätall}} 'he hits', {{transliteration|am|yǝmmättall}} 'he will be hit'.  Gemination is not indicated in Amharic orthography, but Amharic readers typically do not find this to be a problem.  This property of the writing system is analogous to the vowels of [[Arabic language|Arabic]] and [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] or the [[tone (linguistics)|tones]] of many [[Bantu languages]], which are not normally indicated in writing. Ethiopian novelist [[Haddis Alemayehu]], who was an advocate of Amharic [[orthography reform]], indicated gemination in his novel ''[[Love to the Grave]]'' by placing a dot above the characters whose consonants were geminated, but this practice is rare.

=== Punctuation ===
Punctuation includes the following:

:{{lang|am|[[፠]]}} section mark
:{{lang|am|[[፡]]}} [[word separator]]
:{{lang|am|[[።]]}} full stop (period)
:{{lang|am|[[፣]]}} comma
:{{lang|am|[[፤]]}} semicolon
:{{lang|am|[[፥]]}} colon
:{{lang|am|[[፦]]}} preface colon (introduces speech from a descriptive prefix)
:{{lang|am|[[፧]]}} question mark
:{{lang|am|[[፨]]}} paragraph separator