Who invented the Ethiopian alphabet?
It is distantly related to Sabaean, an alphabet brought to Abyssinia (ancient Ethiopia) from Arabia around the 6th century B.C. Christian Ethiopians in the 4th century A.D., intent on writing the Ge’ez language, developed the script into a distinctive syllabary, an alphabet in which each symbol represents a syllable …
How did Amharic language start?
The Amharic language possibly originated as result of a pidginization process with a Cushitic substratum and a Semitic superstratum to enable communication between people who spoke a mix of different languages.
Where did Ethiopian alphabet come from?
Apparently derived from Sabaean, a South Semitic script, the Ethiopic script probably originated in the early 4th century ad; it is unclear whether Ethiopic resulted from a gradual evolution of the Sabaean script or whether it was invented deliberately by some individual who used the Sabaean script as a model.
What is the oldest language in Ethiopia?
Extinct as a vernacular language, Geʿez is the ancestor of the modern Tigrinya and Tigré languages of Eritrea and Ethiopia. The oldest known inscription in the language dates from the 3rd or 4th century and is written in a script that does not indicate vowels.
Is Amharic older than Arabic?
It is the official and working language of Ethiopia. Amharic is one of the Southern Semitic languages spoken in Ethiopia alongside Argoba, Tigrinya, Tigre, Geez, Guragenya, Siltee etc.. which are considered much older than the Northern Semitic languages such as Hebrew & Arabic, according to recent research findings.
What language is closest to Amharic?
Amharic is an Afro-Asiatic language of the Southwest Semitic group and is related to Geʿez, or Ethiopic, the liturgical language of the Ethiopian Orthodox church; it also has affinities with Tigré, Tigrinya, and the South Arabic dialects.
