Interesting facts about the Amharic language

The Amharic language is an Afro-Asian language and belongs to the subgroup of Semitic languages. Semitic languages include Arabic, Hebrew and Amharic, as well as the ancient languages Assyrian-Babylonian, Aramaic, Phoenician and Moabitic. Amharic has been the official language in Ethiopia since the replacement of the ancient Ethiopian language (Ge'ez) and is also the main lingua franca in neighbouring countries. The language is named after the people of the Amhars, who have their home in the north of Ethiopia. Amharic has several dialects and regional variations. Mainly the dialects Gondar, Gojjam, Wollo and Shewa are distinguished. Since these language areas are not particularly well researched, one assumes a much larger number of dialects and a more complex breakdown of the Amharic languages.

As already mentioned, Amharic is the official language in Ethiopia and is spoken by around 17 million native speakers and a further four million second speakers. However, the language with the most speakers in Ethiopia is Cushitian Oromo with about 25 million native speakers. English is used as the language of education in Ethiopia and as the language of instruction in secondary schools. In border areas, however, regional languages are also used in some states, at least in primary schools and local administrations.

Until the 14th century, the Amharic language was only a relatively insignificant folk dialect in southern Ethiopia and only gained importance with the relocation of the royal residence to this area. Originally, Amharic was only passed on orally. After the extinction of Old Ethiopian, the font Ge'ez used there was transferred to Amharic and modified. Although Amharic is a Semitic language, it is written from left to right and is a true syllable language. The vowels are represented by small appendices to the consonants. The pronunciation of Amharic also differs from other Semitic languages.

With the Amharic Express Course of Sprachenlernen24 you learn the most important phrases of the Amharic language. The Amharic Express Course is designed to give you the most important vocabulary for your journey. Or surprise your friends and acquaintances from Ethiopia with a few words of Amharic.

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