Amharic alphabet (Ge’ez fidel): every letter to copy
Amharic (አማርኛ) is the working language of Ethiopia, spoken by more than 50 million people. It is written in the Ge’ez script, also called Ethiopic or fidel (ፊደል), which is also used for Tigrinya in Eritrea and Ethiopia and for the ancient Ge’ez language of the Ethiopian church. This page lists the fidel in order, starting with ሀ ሁ ሂ ሃ ሄ ህ ሆ, along with Ethiopic numbers and punctuation.
Tap any character to copy it.
How the fidel works
Each fidel character stands for a whole syllable: a consonant plus a vowel. There are 33 basic consonants, and each one has seven forms, called orders, for the seven vowels. For example, the consonant l gives ለ (le), ሉ (lu), ሊ (li), ላ (la), ሌ (le), ል (l or li) and ሎ (lo). That makes more than 230 basic characters, plus extra forms like ሏ (lwa).
Because each character is a full syllable, you do not add separate vowel signs. Just copy the character with the sound you need.
What you will find
- Syllables: ሀ ለ ሐ መ ሠ ረ ሰ ሸ ቀ በ ተ ቸ ኀ ነ ኘ አ ከ ኸ ወ ዐ ዘ ዠ የ ደ ጀ ገ ጠ ጨ ጰ ጸ ፀ ፈ ፐ, each in seven orders.
- Labialised forms: ሏ ሟ ሯ ሷ and more, for wa sounds.
- Numbers: ፩ ፪ ፫ ፬ ፭ ፮ ፯ ፰ ፱ ፲ ፳ ፻ ፼.
- Punctuation: ። full stop, ፣ comma, ፡ word separator, ፤ semicolon, ፧ question mark.
Ethiopic numbers
Ethiopic has its own number signs. There are signs for 1 to 9 (፩ to ፱), for the tens 10 to 90 (፲ to ፺), for 100 (፻) and for 10,000 (፼). There is no zero. Numbers are built by combining signs, like ፲፪ for 12. They are used on calendars, church texts and formal documents, though 0 to 9 is common in daily life.
Punctuation and the word separator
Traditional Ge’ez writing separates words with ፡, which looks like a colon. Today many people use a normal space instead. The full stop is ።, the comma is ፣ and the semicolon is ፤. Copy them here to write Amharic sentences correctly.
Amharic for learners and families
Ethiopian families around the world teach children the fidel using the ሀ ሁ ሂ chart. Copy characters here to make learning charts, write names, or send greetings like ሰላም (selam, hello and peace) and እንኳን አደረሳችሁ for holidays like Enkutatash, the Ethiopian New Year.
Typing Amharic
Gboard, the iPhone keyboard, Windows and Mac support Amharic, usually with a phonetic layout where you type the consonant and vowel in English letters. For a single character, number or punctuation mark, copying from this page is easiest.
Frequently asked questions
- How many characters are in the Amharic alphabet?
- Amharic uses 33 base consonants in seven vowel forms each, over 230 basic characters, plus extra forms.
- What is the Amharic alphabet called?
- It is called fidel (ፊደል) and is written in the Ge’ez or Ethiopic script.
- Do Ethiopic numbers have a zero?
- No. Ethiopic numbers have signs for 1 to 9, the tens, 100 and 10,000, but no zero.
- What is the Amharic full stop?
- The Amharic full stop is ።.
- How do I say hello in Amharic?
- Hello is ሰላም (selam), which also means peace.