Ge'ez script

The Ge'ez script (Ge'ez: ግዕዝ, Gəʿəz), also known as Ethiopic, is a writing system native to Eastern Africa. It is the alphabet used in several languages of Eritrea and Ethiopia.

The script is used as an abugida (alphasyllabary) for languages such as Amharic and Tigrinya. It originally was an abjad, writing consonants only. In Amharic and Tigrinya, the script is often called fidäl (ፊደል), meaning "script" or "alphabet".

Distribution

Ge'ez script was first used to write the Ge'ez language. Ge'ez is now the liturgical language of the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, and Beta Israel, the Jewish community in Ethiopia.

Ge'ez Script Media

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  A painting of St. Sisinnios on horseback spearing the demon Wǝrzalyā on a Geʻez prayer scroll meant to dispel evil spirits that were thought to cause various ailments, Wellcome Collection, London

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  himjarza

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  Sign in Amharic using the Geʻez script at the Ethiopian millennium celebration

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  Genesis 29.11–16 in Geʽez

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  Coin of Emperor Menelik II. On the reverse is the date ፲፰፻፹፱ (1889). Punctuation marks in the text of the legend: ፡ and ።