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
20 core words in Ge'ez
Water
ማይ
/maːj/
Fire
እሳት
/ʔəsaːt/
Sun
ፀሐይ
/sˤaħaj/
Moon
ወርኅ
/warχ/
Mother
እም
/ʔəmm/
Father
አብ
/ʔab/
Eat
በልዐ
/balʕa/
Drink
ሰትየ
/satja/
Love
አፍቀረ
/ʔafqara/
Heart
ልብ
/ləbb/
Tree
ዕፅ
/ʕasˤ/
House
ቤት
/beːt/
Dog
ከልብ
/kalb/
Cat
ድሙ
/dəmmu/
Hand
እድ
/ʔəd/
Eye
ዐይን
/ʕajn/
Hello
ሰላም
/salaːm/
Thank you
ምስጋና
/məsɡaːnaː/
One
አሐዱ
/ʔaħadu/
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 | Arabic (Gulf) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | ማይ /maːj/ | ማይ /maj/ | 𐩣𐩺 /maːʔ/ | 𐎎𐎊 /maju/ | מין /majin/ | 𐤌𐤌 /majim/ | ماي /maːj/ |
| Fire | እሳት /ʔəsaːt/ | እሳት /ʔəssat/ | 𐩱𐩪 /ʔas/ | 𐎛𐎌𐎚 /ʔiʃt/ | אש /ʔɛʃ/ | 𐤀𐤔 /ʔeʃ/ | نار /naːɾ/ |
| Sun | ፀሐይ /sˤaħaj/ | ጸሓይ /tsʼəħaj/ | 𐩦𐩣𐩪 /ʃams/ | 𐎌𐎔𐎌 /ʃapʃ/ | שמש /ʃamʃ/ | 𐤔𐤌𐤔 /ʃameʃ/ | شمس /ʃams/ |
| Moon | ወርኅ /warχ/ | ወርሕ /waɾəħ/ | 𐩥𐩧𐩭 /warkʰ/ | 𐎊𐎗𐎈 /jaːriχ/ | שהר /sahr/ | 𐤉𐤓𐤇 /jaræħ/ | قمر /ɡamaɾ/ |
| Mother | እም /ʔəmm/ | እሞ /ʔəmmo/ | 𐩱𐩣 /ʔumm/ | 𐎜𐎎 /ʔumm/ | אמ /ʔem/ | 𐤀𐤌 /ʔem/ | أم /ʔumm/ |
| Father | አብ /ʔab/ | አቦ /ʔabbo/ | 𐩱𐩨 /ʔab/ | 𐎜𐎁 /ʔabu/ | אב /ʔab/ | 𐤀𐤁 /ʔab/ | أب /ʔab/ |
| Eat | በልዐ /balʕa/ | በልዐ /balʕa/ | 𐩱𐩫𐩡 /ʔakal/ | 𐎍𐎈𐎎 /laħam/ | אכל /ʔakal/ | 𐤀𐤊𐤋 /ʔakal/ | ياكل /jaːkil/ |
| Drink | ሰትየ /satja/ | ሰትየ /satja/ | 𐩪𐩩𐩺 /ʃataja/ | 𐎌𐎚𐎊 /ʃataju/ | שתה /ʃataː/ | 𐤔𐤕 /ʃat/ | يشرب /jiʃɾab/ |
| Love | አፍቀረ /ʔafqara/ | ፍቅሪ /fəqʼri/ | 𐩥𐩵𐩵 /wadda/ | 𐎜𐎈𐎁 /ʔaːhab/ | רחם /raħem/ | 𐤀𐤇𐤁 /ʔaheb/ | حب /ħubb/ |
| Heart | ልብ /ləbb/ | ልቢ /ləbbi/ | 𐩡𐩨 /lubb/ | 𐎍𐎁 /libbu/ | לב /leb/ | 𐤋𐤁 /lib/ | قلب /ɡalb/ |
| Tree | ዕፅ /ʕasˤ/ | ዕጨይ /ʕətʃʼaj/ | 𐩲𐩳 /ʕaːð/ | 𐎓𐎕 /ʕasˤu/ | עץ /ʕeːsˤ/ | 𐤏𐤑 /ʕesˤ/ | شجرة /ʃijaɾa/ |
| 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/ | بزّونة /bazzuːna/ |
| Hand | እድ /ʔəd/ | እድ /ʔəd/ | 𐩺𐩵 /jad/ | 𐎊𐎄 /jadu/ | יד /jad/ | 𐤉𐤃 /jad/ | يد /jad/ |
| Eye | ዐይን /ʕajn/ | ዐይን /ʕajn/ | 𐩲𐩺𐩬 /ʕajn/ | 𐎓𐎐 /ʕajnu/ | עין /ʕajn/ | 𐤏𐤍 /ʕajin/ | عين /ʕeːn/ |
| Hello | ሰላም /salaːm/ | ሰላም /salaːm/ | 𐩪𐩡𐩣 /salaːm/ | 𐎌𐎍𐎎 /ʃalaːmu/ | שלם /ʃəlaːm/ | 𐤔𐤋𐤌 /ʃalom/ | هلا /hala/ |
| Thank you | ምስጋና /məsɡaːnaː/ | የቀንየለይ /jəqanjəlej/ | 𐩢𐩣𐩵 /ħamad/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | مشكور /maʃkuːɾ/ |
| One | አሐዱ /ʔaħadu/ | ሓዲ /ħadi/ | 𐩱𐩢𐩵 /ʔaħad/ | 𐎀𐎈𐎄 /ʔaːħadu/ | חד /ħad/ | 𐤀𐤇𐤃 /ʔeħad/ | واحد /waːħid/ |
| Good | ሠናይ /sanaːj/ | ጽቡቕ /tsʼəbbuqʼ/ | 𐩷𐩨 /tˤajjib/ | 𐎉𐎁 /tˤaːbu/ | טב /tˤab/ | 𐤈𐤁 /tˤob/ | زين /zeːn/ |
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