Ethiopic Numerals (ዘጸ ቍጥሮች)
The Ge'ez numeral system predates the Arabic numerals used in modern Ethiopia. It is still used in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, religious manuscripts, and the Ethiopian calendar.
How the System Works
- • Separate symbols exist for ones (1–9), tens (10–90), hundreds (100, 200…), and ten-thousands (10,000 = ፼)
- • Compound numbers are formed by writing symbols left-to-right (largest to smallest): ፫፻፵፭ = 300 + 40 + 5 = 345
- • ፻ alone means 100; ፪፻ means 200 (2 × 100)
- • ፼ alone means 10,000; larger numbers combine this with multipliers
- • For 1,000+, modern practice mixes Ge'ez with the Amharic word ሺ (thousand)
Core Symbols
Ones (1–9)
| 1 | ፩ | አንድ |
| 2 | ፪ | ሁለት |
| 3 | ፫ | ሦስት |
| 4 | ፬ | አራት |
| 5 | ፭ | አምስት |
| 6 | ፮ | ስድስት |
| 7 | ፯ | ሰባት |
| 8 | ፰ | ስምንት |
| 9 | ፱ | ዘጠኝ |
Tens (10–90)
| 10 | ፲ | አስር |
| 20 | ፳ | ሃያ |
| 30 | ፴ | ሰላሳ |
| 40 | ፵ | አርባ |
| 50 | ፶ | ሃምሳ |
| 60 | ፷ | ስልሳ |
| 70 | ፸ | ሰባ |
| 80 | ፹ | ሰማንያ |
| 90 | ፺ | ዘጠና |
Special Symbols
| Number | Ge'ez Symbol | Amharic Word | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | ፻ | አንድ ሕቶ | Stands alone for exactly 100 |
| 200 | ፪፻ | ሁለት ሕቶ | 2 × 100 |
| 1,000 | ፩ሺ | አንድ ሺህ | Ge'ez + Amharic ኺ (thousand) |
| 10,000 | ፼ | አሥር ሺህ | Myriad symbol (10,000) |
| 20,000 | ፪፼ | ሃያ ሺህ | 2 × 10,000 |
Worked Examples
Ethiopic Punctuation
| Symbol | Name | Usage |
|---|---|---|
| ። | Full Stop (Arat Netib) | Sentence-ending punctuation |
| ፣ | Comma (Sost Netib) | Comma / list separator |
| ፤ | Semicolon (Hult Netib) | Semicolon / clause separator |
| ፥ | Colon | Colon / separator |
| ፦ | Preface colon | Introduces a list or quotation |
| «» | Quotation marks | Used for direct speech in Amharic text |
About Ethiopic Numerals
The Ethiopic numeral system (Ge'ez numerals) is a traditional number notation that evolved alongside the Ge'ez script in the Kingdom of Aksum. Unlike positional decimal systems, Ethiopic numerals use distinct symbols for 1–9, 10–90, 100, and 10,000, combined multiplicatively and additively to represent larger numbers. The system was historically used in religious manuscripts, administrative records, and land registers. While modern Ethiopia uses Hindu-Arabic numerals for everyday arithmetic and commerce, Ethiopic numerals remain in use in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, historical texts, and traditional calendar systems. The characters occupy the Unicode range U+1369–U+137C in the Ethiopic block.