Ge'ez and other Ancient Scripts, Compared
Gəʽəz (the script) is a script that is said to have originated as an abjad (consonant-only alphabet) and – though it is now used for writing several languages in Eritrea and Ethiopia, including the closely related languages of Tigre, Tigrinya and Amharic – it was originally used to write it’s namesake language, ልሳነ ግዕዝ, which currently survives only as the liturgical language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church.
A straightforward comparison of the Ge’ez script and related ancient scripts; namely, the South Arabian script, the Phoenician script, the Greek alphabet and the Latin alphabet.
Compare to Wikipedia entry – Phoenician Script Table
ʾ (ʔ)
b (b) | "be"
g (ɡ)
d (d)
h (h)
w (w)
z (z)
ḥ (ħ)
ṭ (t')
y (j)
k (k)
l (l)
m (m)
n (n)
s (s)
ʿ (ʕ)
f (f)
ṣ (t͡s')
q (k')
r (r) | "ro"
ś (ɬ)
t (t)
h̬ (χ)
ṣ́ (tɬʼ)
"ps" | "so"
"ow" | "wo"
GE'EZ
አ
በ/ቤ
ገ
ደ
ሀ
ወ
ዘ
ሐ
ጠ
የ
ከ
ለ
መ
ነ
ሰ
ዐ
ፈ
ጸ
ቀ
ረ/ሮ
ሠ
ተ
ኀ/ኸ
ፀ
ሦ
ዎ
SA
PHOENICIAN
EXAMPLE
አእላፍ
(äʾəlaf)
thousands
(äʾəlaf)
thousands
ቤት
(bet)
house
(bet)
house
ገመል
(gämäl)
camel
(gämäl)
camel
ድልወት
(dəlwät)
weight [or]
worthiness
(dəlwät)
weight [or]
worthiness
ሀለለ
(hälälä)
give joy
(hälälä)
give joy
ወውዐ
(wäwəʿä)
clamor
(wäwəʿä)
clamor
ዘዐይን
(zäʿäyən)
watchmen/
spies
(zäʿäyən)
watchmen/
spies
ሐሠረ
(ḥäśärä)
fence off
(ḥäśärä)
fence off
ጥዕየት
(ṭʿəyät)
health
(ṭʿəyät)
health
የማን | ኢድ
(yäman | ʾid)
right |
hand
(yäman | ʾid)
right |
hand
ከብድ | ከብደ
(käbd | käbdä)
stomach [or]
heavy/severe
(käbd | käbdä)
stomach [or]
heavy/severe
ለዓምደ | ለመደ
(läʿämdä | lämädä)
pillar [or]
get used to
(läʿämdä | lämädä)
pillar [or]
get used to
ማይ
(may)
water
(may)
water
ናሕስ
(näḥṣ)
copper /
masonry
(näḥṣ)
copper /
masonry
ሰመከ
(sämäkä)
prop up/
support
(sämäkä)
prop up/
support
ዓይኒ | ዐየነ
(ʿayni | ʿäyänä)
eye [or]
set up camp
(ʿayni | ʿäyänä)
eye [or]
set up camp
ኣፍዑት
(ʾaf'üt)
viper
(ʾaf'üt)
viper
ጻዕዳ
(ṣaʿəda)
white
(ṣaʿəda)
white
ቆብዕ
(qobʿə)
[monk's] hood/hat
(qobʿə)
[monk's] hood/hat
ርእስ
(rʾəs)
head|chief
(rʾəs)
head|chief
ሥን | ስን
(śən | sən)
virtue
[or]tooth
(śən | sən)
virtue
[or]tooth
ተወድአ
(täwädəʾä)
come to an end
(täwädəʾä)
come to an end
ኆኀት
(h̬oh̬ät)
doorway/portal
(h̬oh̬ät)
doorway/portal
ፀሓይ
(ḍäḥay)
sun
(ḍäḥay)
sun
