Sounds, Tones and Special Letters
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Lesson overview
How Amharic is written and pronounced: tones and special letters.
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Pacing
Read the stem stem-last (question clause first), eliminate two distractors, then verify constraints.
How Languages marks this
Focus on how Languages scenarios frame constraints, qualifiers ("FIRST", "BEST", "MOST likely"), and boundary cases.
Watch out for
Technically true statements that do not solve the specific constraint in the scenario.
Lesson content
Overview
Amharic (አማርኛ, Amarigna) is spoken in Ethiopia, where it is the working language of the federal government. Before learning phrases, get to know how it sounds and how it is written.
How It's Written
Amharic is written in the Ge'ez script (fidel), read left to right. Each character stands for a whole syllable — a consonant plus a vowel — so ሰ is "se", ሱ "su" and ሳ "sa". This course shows the script with a pronunciation guide in brackets. Many words change depending on whether you speak to a man or a woman: forms here are for speaking to a man, with the woman's form in the notes.
Examples
Here are some of the greetings you'll learn in the next lesson: • ሰላም (selam) — Hello • እንደምን አደርክ? (endemin aderk?) — Good morning • እንደምን ዋልክ? (endemin walk?) — Good afternoon • ደህና ነህ? (dehna neh?) — How are you?
Learning Tip
Learn the fidel a column at a time: each base letter has seven forms for the seven vowels. Use the pronunciation in brackets until you can read the script.
Practise
Say every word aloud, then take the 10-question check below (60% to pass) to unlock the next lesson. Stuck? Ask the AI tutor about this lesson. This course is in beta: it sticks to common, everyday language, but it has not yet been reviewed by native speakers, and many phrases have regional variants. If something looks wrong, please tell us.
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