Amharic
/æmˈhær.ɪk/noun
The Semitic language of the Amhara people, and the official language of Ethiopia.
Did you know?Amharic is written in the Geʽez script, a sacred writing system descended from an ancient South Arabian alphabet and preserved in Ethiopia’s liturgical tradition.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Ethiopia
Ethiopic
ʾämära / ʾAmhara
“The name of the Amhara people, likely from the ethnonym that gave the language its modern name”
Classical Ethiopic
Geʽez
ʾämahrä
“A form connected to the Amhara ethnonym in the Ethiopian linguistic tradition”
19th Century
English
Amharic
“The language of the Amhara people”
20th Century
English
Amharic
“The principal working language of Ethiopia and a major Semitic language”
Modern English
English
Amharic
“The official language of Ethiopia”