Amharic (አማርኛ, ʾämharəñña) is a Semitic language spoken primarily in Ethiopia, serving as the official working language of the federal government and several regions. It belongs to the Ethio-Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic family and is the second most spoken Semitic language after Arabic, with over 57 million speakers worldwide as of recent estimates.
Amharic evolved from Ge’ez, an ancient Semitic language, and incorporates influences from Cushitic languages due to historical contact. Its grammar is characterized by root-and-pattern morphology typical of Semitic languages, with complex verb conjugations, gender distinctions, and a subject-object-verb (SOV) word order.
Script and Orthography
Amharic is written using the Ge’ez script (also called Fidel or Ethiopic script), an abugida system where each symbol represents a consonant-vowel combination. The script consists of 33 basic characters, each with seven forms (orders) representing different vowels, plus additional symbols for labialized consonants and other sounds, totaling over 200 characters. The script is written left to right and does not indicate gemination (consonant lengthening) or stress, which must be inferred from context. Punctuation is similar to Western systems, but traditional texts often lack spaces between words.
Phonology
Amharic has a phonemic inventory of 33 consonants and 7 vowels, featuring ejective consonants (emphatics) inherited from Proto-Semitic. Consonants include nasals (/m, n, ɲ/), plosives and affricates (voiceless /p, t, t͡ʃ, k, kʷ, ʔ/; voiced /b, d, d͡ʒ, ɡ, ɡʷ/; ejectives /pʼ, tʼ, t͡ʃʼ, kʼ, kʷʼ/), fricatives (voiceless /f, s, ʃ, h/; voiced /z, ʒ/; ejective /sʼ/), approximants (/β̞, l, j, w/), and a rhotic /ɾ/ (tap or trill when geminated). Vowels are /i, ɨ (ə), u, e, ə (ä), o, a/, with allophones like [ɪ, ɛ] after palatals and [ʊ, ɔ] after labialized velars. Gemination is contrastive, distinguishing meanings (e.g., alä ‘he said’ vs. allä ‘there is’), but not marked in writing.
Nouns
Nouns in Amharic are inflected for gender (masculine or feminine), number (singular or plural), definiteness, and case (primarily accusative). Most nouns are masculine by default, with feminine marked by suffixes like -t or -it (e.g., nǝgus ‘king’ vs. nǝgǝst ‘queen’; lǝǧ ‘boy’ vs. lǝǧit ‘girl’). Feminine can also denote diminutives or endearment (e.g., betitu ‘the little house’). Plural is formed with -očč (with variants like -wočč or -yočč based on the stem, e.g., bet-očč ‘houses’; wǝšša-wočč ‘dogs’). Archaic plurals from Ge’ez include external suffixes (-an for masculine, -at for feminine, e.g., mämhǝran ‘teachers’) or internal changes via apophony (e.g., dǝngǝl ‘virgin’ vs. dänagǝl ‘virgins’). Irregular plurals, often Ge’ez-influenced, apply to religious or abstract terms (e.g., kahnat ‘priests’).
Definiteness is marked by suffixes: -u/-w (masculine singular), -wa/-itwa/-ätwa (feminine singular), -u (plural, e.g., betu ‘the house’; särratäññawa ‘the maid’). The accusative case uses -(ə)n for definite or possessed direct objects (e.g., lǝǧu wǝššawǝn abbarrärä ‘The boy drove the dog away’). Nouns can be derived from verbs or other roots using patterns like CəCäC (e.g., ṭǝbäb ‘wisdom’) or suffixes like -ǝnna (e.g., krǝstǝnna ‘Christianity’). Feminine nouns include specific categories like countries, birds, and certain animals (e.g., bǝrd ‘bird’, mədr ‘earth’).
Pronouns
Amharic pronouns distinguish person (1st, 2nd, 3rd), number (singular, plural), and gender (in 2nd/3rd singular). They appear as independent forms, verb agreements, object suffixes, possessive suffixes, and prepositional infixes.
Personal Pronouns
Independent forms: ǝne ‘I’, antä ‘you (m. sg.)’, anči ‘you (f. sg.)’, ǝssu ‘he’, ǝsswa ‘she’, ǝñña ‘we’, ǝnnantä ‘you (pl.)’, ǝnnǝssu ‘they’. Polite forms include ǝrswo ‘you (pol. sg.)’ and ǝssaččäw ‘he/she (pol.)’, treated grammatically as 3rd plural.
Object suffixes attach to verbs (e.g., -ň ‘me’, -h ‘you (m.)’, -š ‘you (f.)’, -w ‘him’, -at ‘her’). Benefactive (-ll-) and adversative/locative (-bb-) infixes indicate ‘for’ or ‘on/against’ (e.g., käffätkullat ‘I opened for her’).
Possessive suffixes attach to nouns (e.g., bete ‘my house’, betwa ‘her house’). Possessive pronouns use yä- + independent pronoun (e.g., yäne ‘mine’). Reflexives use ras ‘head’ + possessive (e.g., rase ‘myself’).
Demonstrative Pronouns
Near: yǝh(ǝ) ‘this (m.)’, yǝčč(ǝ) ‘this (f.)’, ǝnnäzzih ‘these’; Far: ya ‘that (m.)’, yačč ‘that (f.)’, ǝnnäzziya ‘those’. Formal: ǝññih (near), ǝnniya (far).
Interrogative Pronouns
man ‘who?’, mǝn ‘what?’, yät ‘where?’, lämǝn ‘why?’, ǝndet ‘how?’.
Verb pronoun prefixes/suffixes vary by tense (e.g., perfect: ǝ- ‘I’, tǝ- ‘you (m.)’; imperfect: ǝ- ‘I’, tǝ- ‘you (m.)’).
Verbs
Verbs are central to Amharic grammar, using triconsonantal roots (e.g., s-b-r ‘break’) with patterns for stems. They inflect for person, number, gender (2nd/3rd sg.), tense/aspect/mood, voice, and derivation. Basic types: A (e.g., säbärä ‘he broke’), B (geminated middle radical), C (geminated first radical). Irregulars include alä ‘to say’ and composites like alä with nouns (e.g., mǝdr alä ‘to arrive’).
Basic Conjugation
Verbs have finite forms (perfect, imperfect, jussive/imperative) and non-finite (gerund, infinitive, participle).
- Perfect (past/completed): säbbär-ku ‘I broke’, säbbär-äh ‘you (m.) broke’, säbbär-äčč ‘she broke’, säbbär-ä ‘he broke’.
- Imperfect (present/future/incomplete): ǝ-sǝbr-allǝhu ‘I break’, tǝ-sǝbr-allǝh ‘you (m.) break’, tǝ-sǝbr-allǝš ‘you (f.) break’, yǝ-sǝbr-all ‘he breaks’.
- Jussive/Imperative: yǝ-sbǝr ‘let him break’, sǝbǝr ‘break! (m.)’.
Subject agreement uses prefixes/suffixes (e.g., yǝ- ‘he’ in imperfect).
Derived Stems
- Causative: a- (e.g., asbärä ‘he caused to break’), as- for indirect (e.g., assǝbǝrrä ‘he had broken’).
- Passive/Reflexive: tä- (e.g., täsäbbärä ‘it was broken’).
- Reduplicative: For iterative/intensive (e.g., säbsäbärä ‘he smashed’).
- Others: an-, tän-, astä- for specific nuances.
Compound Tenses
Combine auxiliary verbs like alä ‘to have’, näbbärä ‘was’ for aspects:
- Present perfect: Gerund + all (e.g., sǝbro-all ‘he has broken’).
- Past perfect: Gerund + näbbär (e.g., sǝbro näbbär ‘he had broken’).
- Future: Imperfect + all (simple future), or other auxiliaries for progressive, habitual.
Gerund (converb) for completed actions: sǝbro ‘having broken’, used in chains (e.g., ali mǝsa bälto wädä gäbäya hedä ‘Ali, having eaten lunch, went to the market’).
Adjectives
Adjectives precede nouns and agree in gender, number, and definiteness (e.g., tǝllǝqu bet ‘the big house’). Few primary adjectives (e.g., dägg ‘kind’, ṭǝqur ‘black’); most derived from roots (patterns like CäCCaC: käbbad ‘heavy’) or suffixes (-äñña: hayläñña ‘powerful’; -awi: lǝbbawi ‘intelligent’). Prefix yä- forms relational adjectives (e.g., yäkätäma ‘urban’). In definite phrases, the article attaches to the adjective (e.g., tǝllǝqu bete ‘my big house’).
Adverbs
Adverbs modify verbs/adjectives, often derived or fixed: ähun ‘now’, tǝnatǝna ‘yesterday’, zare ‘today’, nägä ‘tomorrow’, bät’am ‘very’, bäfǝt’ǝnät ‘quickly’, hulǝgize ‘always’, ʾälǝfo ʾälǝfo ‘rarely’. Placement varies, often before verbs (e.g., bät’am gobäz näč ‘she is very intelligent’).
Prepositions and Postpositions
Amharic uses prepositions (e.g., kä ‘from’, lä ‘to/for’, bä ‘in/with/by’, sǝlä ‘about’, kähala ‘behind’, bälay ‘above’). Some are postpositional or circumpositional. Examples: bäwǝsṭ ‘inside’, wǝč’ ‘outside’, kä gar ‘with’. Pronouns attach as suffixes (e.g., bäne ‘in me’).
Syntax
Amharic follows SOV word order (e.g., ǝssu wädä kätäma mät’t’a ‘He to the city came’). Simple sentences: subject + predicate (e.g., ʾItyop̣p̣ya ʾAfrika wǝsṭ nat ‘Ethiopia is in Africa’). Modifiers precede heads (adjective-noun, genitive-noun). Relative clauses use yä- (e.g., yäsäbbäräw bet ‘the house that he broke’).
Negation
Use al- prefix + -m suffix (e.g., alǝgäbañǝm ‘I don’t understand’; ʾälǝgobäñäčǝm ‘she didn’t visit’). Imperative: at- (e.g., attǝwäñ ‘don’t leave me’).
Questions
Yes/no questions add rising intonation or -näw? (e.g., tǝnagäraläč? ‘does she speak?’). Wh-questions use interrogatives fronted or in place (e.g., yät näw yämǝtǝnoräw? ‘where do you live?’).
Unique Features
As a Semitic language, Amharic employs non-concatenative morphology (root-pattern system) and has pro-drop tendencies (omitting pronouns when inferable). It features differential object marking, polite forms aligning with plurals, and influences from Cushitic substrates in syntax and vocabulary. Compound verbs and gerund chains allow complex expressions of aspect and subordination.