Ethiopic Alphabet (ፊደል)
The Ethiopic script (Fidel) has 31 base consonants, each with 7 vowel orders — giving 217+ unique characters. Click any cell to hear it spoken (browser speech synthesis).
| Order | 1 ä / e | 2 u | 3 i | 4 a | 5 é | 6 ə | 7 o |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | ዐ | ካዕብ | ሣልስ | ራብዕ | ኃምስ | ሳድስ | ሳብዕ |
| Sound | like "a" in about | like "u" in rule | like "ee" in see | like "a" in father | like "ay" in way | schwa — neutral vowel | like "o" in go |
| Base | 1 ä / e | 2 u | 3 i | 4 a | 5 é | 6 ə | 7 o |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ሀ h | ሀ hä | ሁ hu | ሂ hi | ሃ ha | ሄ hé | ህ h | ሆ ho |
| ለ l | ለ lä | ሉ lu | ሊ li | ላ la | ሌ lé | ል l | ሎ lo |
| ሐ H | ሐ Hä | ሑ Hu | ሒ Hi | ሓ Ha | ሔ Hé | ሕ H | ሖ Ho |
| መ m | መ mä | ሙ mu | ሚ mi | ማ ma | ሜ mé | ም m | ሞ mo |
| ሠ s̈ | ሠ s̈ä | ሡ s̈u | ሢ s̈i | ሣ s̈a | ሤ s̈é | ሥ s̈ | ሦ s̈o |
| ረ r | ረ rä | ሩ ru | ሪ ri | ራ ra | ሬ ré | ር r | ሮ ro |
| ሰ s | ሰ sä | ሱ su | ሲ si | ሳ sa | ሴ sé | ስ s | ሶ so |
| ሸ sh | ሸ shä | ሹ shu | ሺ shi | ሻ sha | ሼ shé | ሽ sh | ሾ sho |
| ቀ q | ቀ qä | ቁ qu | ቂ qi | ቃ qa | ቄ qé | ቅ q | ቆ qo |
| በ b | በ bä | ቡ bu | ቢ bi | ባ ba | ቤ bé | ብ b | ቦ bo |
| ቨ v | ቨ vä | ቩ vu | ቪ vi | ቫ va | ቬ vé | ቭ v | ቮ vo |
| ተ t | ተ tä | ቱ tu | ቲ ti | ታ ta | ቴ té | ት t | ቶ to |
| ቸ ch | ቸ chä | ቹ chu | ቺ chi | ቻ cha | ቼ ché | ች ch | ቾ cho |
| ነ n | ነ nä | ኑ nu | ኒ ni | ና na | ኔ né | ን n | ኖ no |
| ኘ gn | ኘ gnä | ኙ gnu | ኚ gni | ኛ gna | ኜ gné | ኝ gn | ኞ gno |
| አ ʾ | አ ä | ኡ u | ኢ i | ኣ a | ኤ é | እ ə | ኦ o |
| ከ k | ከ kä | ኩ ku | ኪ ki | ካ ka | ኬ ké | ክ k | ኮ ko |
| ኸ kh | ኸ khä | ኹ khu | ኺ khi | ኻ kha | ኼ khé | ኽ kh | ኾ kho |
| ወ w | ወ wä | ዉ wu | ዊ wi | ዋ wa | ዌ wé | ው w | ዎ wo |
| ዘ z | ዘ zä | ዙ zu | ዚ zi | ዛ za | ዜ zé | ዝ z | ዞ zo |
| ዠ zh | ዠ zhä | ዡ zhu | ዢ zhi | ዣ zha | ዤ zhé | ዥ zh | ዦ zho |
| የ y | የ yä | ዩ yu | ዪ yi | ያ ya | ዬ yé | ይ y | ዮ yo |
| ደ d | ደ dä | ዱ du | ዲ di | ዳ da | ዴ dé | ድ d | ዶ do |
| ጀ j | ጀ jä | ጁ ju | ጂ ji | ጃ ja | ጄ jé | ጅ j | ጆ jo |
| ገ g | ገ gä | ጉ gu | ጊ gi | ጋ ga | ጌ gé | ግ g | ጎ go |
| ጠ T | ጠ Tä | ጡ Tu | ጢ Ti | ጣ Ta | ጤ Té | ጥ T | ጦ To |
| ጨ Ch | ጨ Chä | ጩ Chu | ጪ Chi | ጫ Cha | ጬ Ché | ጭ Ch | ጮ Cho |
| ጸ ts | ጸ tsä | ጹ tsu | ጺ tsi | ጻ tsa | ጼ tsé | ጽ ts | ጾ tso |
| ፀ Ts | ፀ Tsä | ፁ Tsu | ፂ Tsi | ፃ Tsa | ፄ Tsé | ፅ Ts | ፆ Tso |
| ፈ f | ፈ fä | ፉ fu | ፊ fi | ፋ fa | ፌ fé | ፍ f | ፎ fo |
| ፐ p | ፐ pä | ፑ pu | ፒ pi | ፓ pa | ፔ pé | ፕ p | ፖ po |
Click any cell to hear the pronunciation via your browser's speech synthesis. Best results with a voice that supports Ethiopic or phonetic English.
Historical Notes
- • ሀ and ሐ and ኸ were originally distinct sounds but merged in modern Amharic
- • ሠ and ሰ merged; both now pronounced as "s"
- • ጸ and ፀ were distinct but now both pronounced "ts"
- • These doubled characters persist in writing for historical/etymological reasons
Script Facts
- • Ethiopic (Ge'ez) is one of the oldest alphabets in the world — over 2,000 years old
- • Used for Amharic, Tigrinya, Ge'ez, Bilen, and other Ethiopian languages
- • Written left-to-right, unlike Amharic's regional neighbor Arabic
- • Each syllable is a single character — Ethiopic is technically a syllabary (abugida)
About the Ethiopic Alphabet
The Ethiopic script (also called Ge'ez or Fidel) is one of the oldest continuously used writing systems in the world, with documented use going back to at least the 4th century CE in the Kingdom of Aksum. As an abugida, each base character represents a consonant combined with the vowel /a/, with systematic modifications to the character shape indicating different vowels. The full Ethiopic syllabary contains 231 core characters (33 consonant rows × 7 vowel orders) plus additional characters for labiovelar consonants. It is used today for Amharic (the official language of Ethiopia with 40+ million speakers), Tigrinya (Eritrea and Ethiopia), Ge'ez (liturgical), Bilen, and several other Ethiopian languages.