ግዕዝ
Ge'ez
Afro-Asiatic (Semitic, South, Ethio-Semitic, Northern) · historical / hidden variety
Ge'ez (ግዕዝ Gəʿəz) is the South Semitic Ethio-Semitic language of the Aksumite Empire (4th-7th c. CE) of modern Ethiopia and Eritrea — possibly the oldest Christian liturgical language still in regular use. Native L1 transmission ended around the 10th-13th centuries as it was succeeded by the modern Ethio-Semitic languages Tigrinya (ti), Amharic (am), and Tigre (tig), but Ge'ez has continued unbroken as the liturgical language of the Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Churches and the Ethiopian Catholic Church. The Ge'ez fidäl abugida (the Ethiopic script) gave its name to the modern Ethiopic script family. Major texts include the Bible (translated 4th-7th c.), the Book of Enoch (preserved only in Ge'ez), the Kebra Nagast.
Where it is spoken
31 core words in Ge'ez
Water
ማይ
/maːj/
Fire
እሳት
/ʔəsaːt/
Sun
ፀሐይ
/sˤaħaj/
Moon
ወርኅ
/warχ/
Star
ኮከብ
/kokab/
Mother
እም
/ʔəmm/
Father
አብ
/ʔab/
I
አነ
/ʔana/
You
አንተ
/ʔanta/
Name
ስም
/səm/
Eye
ዐይን
/ʕajn/
Hand
እድ
/ʔəd/
Heart
ልብ
/ləbb/
Love
አፍቀረ
/ʔafqara/
Tree
ዕፅ
/ʕasˤ/
House
ቤት
/beːt/
Dog
ከልብ
/kalb/
Cat
ድሙ
/dəmmu/
Eat
በልዐ
/balʕa/
Drink
ሰትየ
/satja/
One
አሐዱ
/ʔaħadu/
Two
ክልኤ
/kəlʔeː/
Hello
ሰላም
/salaːm/
Thank you
ምስጋና
/məsɡaːnaː/
Good
ሠናይ
/sanaːj/
Sources
- Ethnologue: gez
- Lambdin (1978) Introduction to Classical Ethiopic (Geʻez)
- Dillmann (1865) Lexicon Linguae Aethiopicae
Words compared
Compared with related Afro-Asiatic (Semitic, South, Ethio-Semitic, Northern) languages
| Meaning | Ge'ez | Tigre | Sabaean | Ugaritic | Old Aramaic | Phoenician | Palestinian Arabic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | ማይ /maːj/ | ማይ /maj/ | 𐩣𐩥 /maw/ | 𐎎𐎊 /maju/ | מין /majin/ | 𐤌𐤌 /meːm/ | ميّ /majj/ |
| Fire | እሳት /ʔəsaːt/ | እሳት /ʔəssat/ | 𐩱𐩪 /ʔas/ | 𐎛𐎌𐎚 /ʔiʃt/ | נור /nuːr/ | 𐤀𐤔 /ʔeʃ/ | نار /naːr/ |
| Sun | ፀሐይ /sˤaħaj/ | ጸሓይ /tsʼəħaj/ | 𐩦𐩣𐩪 /ʃams/ | 𐎌𐎔𐎌 /ʃapʃ/ | שמש /ʃamʃ/ | 𐤔𐤌𐤔 /ʃameʃ/ | شمس /ʃams/ |
| Moon | ወርኅ /warχ/ | ወርሕ /waɾəħ/ | 𐩥𐩧𐩭 /warχ/ | 𐎊𐎗𐎈 /jaːriχ/ | שהר /sahr/ | 𐤉𐤓𐤇 /jaræħ/ | قمر /ʔamar/ |
| Star | ኮከብ /kokab/ | ኮከብ /kokəb/ | 𐩫𐩨𐩫𐩨 /kabkab/ | 𐎋𐎁𐎋𐎁 /kabkabu/ | כוכב /kawkab/ | 𐤊𐤊𐤁 /koːkab/ | نجمة /nidʒme/ |
| Mother | እም /ʔəmm/ | እሞ /ʔəmmo/ | 𐩱𐩣 /ʔumm/ | 𐎜𐎎 /ʔumm/ | אמ /ʔem/ | 𐤀𐤌 /ʔem/ | إمّ /ʔemm/ |
| Father | አብ /ʔab/ | አቦ /ʔabbo/ | 𐩱𐩨 /ʔab/ | 𐎜𐎁 /ʔabu/ | אב /ʔab/ | 𐤀𐤁 /ʔab/ | أب /ʔab/ |
| I | አነ /ʔana/ | አነ /ʔana/ | 𐩱𐩬 /ʔana/ | 𐎀𐎐𐎋 /ʔanaːku/ | אנה /ʔanaː/ | 𐤀𐤍𐤊 /ʔanoːkiː/ | أنا /ʔana/ |
| You | አንተ /ʔanta/ | አንታ /ʔɨnta/ | 𐩱𐩬𐩩 /ʔanta/ | 𐎀𐎚 /ʔatta/ | אנת /ʔantaː/ | 𐤀𐤕 /ʔatta/ | إنت /ʔinta/ |
| Name | ስም /səm/ | ስም /sɨm/ | 𐩪𐩣 /sim/ | 𐎌𐎎 /ʃumu/ | שם /ʃum/ | 𐤔𐤌 /ʃem/ | اسم /ʔism/ |
| Eye | ዐይን /ʕajn/ | ዐይን /ʕajn/ | 𐩲𐩺𐩬 /ʕajn/ | 𐎓𐎐 /ʕajnu/ | עין /ʕajn/ | 𐤏𐤍 /ʕajin/ | عين /ʕeːn/ |
| Hand | እድ /ʔəd/ | እድ /ʔəd/ | 𐩺𐩵 /jad/ | 𐎊𐎄 /jadu/ | יד /jad/ | 𐤉𐤃 /jad/ | إيد /ʔiːd/ |
| Heart | ልብ /ləbb/ | ልቢ /ləbbi/ | 𐩡𐩨 /lubb/ | 𐎍𐎁 /libbu/ | לב /leb/ | 𐤋𐤁 /lib/ | قلب /ʔalb/ |
| Love | አፍቀረ /ʔafqara/ | ፍቅሪ /fəqʼri/ | 𐩥𐩵𐩵 /wadda/ | 𐎜𐎈𐎁 /ʔaːhab/ | רחם /raħem/ | 𐤀𐤇𐤁 /ʔaheb/ | حب /ħobb/ |
| Tree | ዕፅ /ʕasˤ/ | ዕጨይ /ʕətʃʼaj/ | 𐩲𐩳 /ʕaːð/ | 𐎓𐎕 /ʕasˤu/ | עץ /ʕeːsˤ/ | 𐤏𐤑 /ʕesˤ/ | شجرة /ʃajara/ |
| House | ቤት /beːt/ | ቤት /beːt/ | 𐩨𐩺𐩩 /bajt/ | 𐎁𐎚 /bajtu/ | בית /beːt/ | 𐤁𐤕 /bajit/ | بيت /beːt/ |
| Dog | ከልብ /kalb/ | ከልብ /kalb/ | 𐩫𐩡𐩨 /kalb/ | 𐎋𐎍𐎁 /kalbu/ | כלב /kalb/ | 𐤊𐤋𐤁 /kalb/ | كلب /kalb/ |
| Cat | ድሙ /dəmmu/ | ድሙ /dəmmu/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | 𐤔𐤍𐤓 /ʃunaːr/ | بسّة /bissa/ |
| Eat | በልዐ /balʕa/ | በልዐ /balʕa/ | 𐩱𐩫𐩡 /ʔakal/ | 𐎍𐎈𐎎 /laħam/ | אכל /ʔakal/ | 𐤀𐤊𐤋 /ʔakal/ | ياكل /jaːkol/ |
| Drink | ሰትየ /satja/ | ሰትየ /satja/ | 𐩪𐩩𐩺 /ʃataja/ | 𐎌𐎚𐎊 /ʃataju/ | שתה /ʃataː/ | 𐤔𐤕 /ʃat/ | يشرب /jiʃrab/ |
| One | አሐዱ /ʔaħadu/ | ሓዲ /ħadi/ | 𐩱𐩢𐩵 /ʔaħad/ | 𐎀𐎈𐎄 /ʔaːħadu/ | חד /ħad/ | 𐤀𐤇𐤃 /ʔeħad/ | واحد /waːħad/ |
| Two | ክልኤ /kəlʔeː/ | ክልኦት /kɨlʔot/ | 𐩻𐩬𐩺 /θanay/ | 𐎘𐎐 /θnaː/ | תרין /treːn/ | 𐤔𐤍𐤌 /ʃnem/ | اثنين /tneːn/ |
| Hello | ሰላም /salaːm/ | ሰላም /salaːm/ | 𐩪𐩡𐩣 /salaːm/ | 𐎌𐎍𐎎 /ʃalaːmu/ | שלם /ʃəlaːm/ | 𐤔𐤋𐤌 /ʃalom/ | مرحبا /marħaba/ |
| Thank you | ምስጋና /məsɡaːnaː/ | የቀንየለይ /jəqanjəlej/ | 𐩢𐩣𐩵 /ħamad/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | شكراً /ʃukran/ |
| Good | ሠናይ /sanaːj/ | ጽቡቕ /tsʼəbbuqʼ/ | 𐩷𐩨 /tˤajjib/ | 𐎉𐎁 /tˤaːbu/ | טב /tˤab/ | 𐤈𐤁 /tˤob/ | منيح /mniːħ/ |
Part of LangMap — a linguistic visualization project. This is a static, crawlable summary; the interactive maps offer pronunciation audio, filters, and a globe view.