Full Text

Ethiopian writing


Subject Linguistics

Place Eastern Africa » Ethiopia

DOI: 10.1111/b.9780631214816.1999.x


Extract

Old Ethiopic, a Semitic language, was first written in the Semitic manner without vowel signs, but as of the fourth century ce a script with vowel indication evolved, probably under Indian influence. This script which runs from left to right is alpha-syllabic, vowels being indicated as diacritic satellites to a consonant base. It is the script of Ge'ez, the liturgical language of the Ethiopian church. With minor modifications it was adjusted to Amharic in the fifteenth century. See also amharic writing . ... log in or subscribe to read full text

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Table of Contents

The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Writing Systems



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