Amharic

## Overview

**Amharic** is one of the Ethiopian Semitic languages, which are a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amharas and as a lingua franca by other populations residing in major cities and towns of Ethiopia. The language serves as the official working language of Ethiopia, and is also the official or working language of several of the states within the federal system. With 21,811,600 total speakers as of 2007, including around 4,000,000 L2 speakers, Amharic is the second-most commonly spoken Semitic language in the world, after Arabic.

Amharic is written left-to-right using a system that grew out of the Ge'ez script, called, in Ethiopian Semitic languages, *Fidäl* (ፊደል), "writing system", "letter", or "character" or *abugida* (አቡጊዳ), from the first four symbols, which gave rise to the modern linguistic term abugida.

There is no agreed way of romanizing Amharic into Latin script. The Amharic examples in the sections below use one system that is common, though not universal, among linguists specialising in Ethiopian Semitic languages.

It has been the working language of courts, language of trade and everyday communications, the military, and the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church since the late 12th century and remains the official language of Ethiopia today. Additionally, 3 million emigrants outside of Ethiopia speak the language. Most of the Ethiopian Jewish communities in Ethiopia and Israel speak Amharic. In Washington DC, Amharic became one of the six non-English languages in the Language Access Act of 2004, which allows government services and education in Amharic. Furthermore, Amharic is considered a holy language by the Rastafari religion and is widely used among its followers worldwide. It is the most widely spoken language in the Horn of Africa.

## Rastafari Movement

The word *Rastafari* comes from *Ras Täfäri*, the pre-regnal title of Haile Selassie, composed of the Amharic words *Ras* (literally "Head", an Ethiopian title equivalent to duke) and Haile Selassie's pre-regnal name, Tafari.

Many Rastafarians learn Amharic as a second language, as they consider it to be sacred. After Haile Selassie's 1966 visit to Jamaica, study circles in Amharic were organized in Jamaica as part of the ongoing exploration of Pan-African identity and culture. Various reggae artists in the 1970s, including Ras Michael, Lincoln Thompson and Misty in Roots, have sung in Amharic, thus bringing the language to a wider audience. The Abyssinians, a reggae group, have also used Amharic, most notably in the song "Satta Massagana". The title was believed to mean "give thanks"; however, this phrase means "he thanked" or "he praised", as '**säṭṭä'** means "he gave", and '**amässägänä'** "thanks" or "praise". The correct way to say "give thanks" in Amharic is one word, *misgana*. The word "satta" has become a common expression in the Rastafari dialect of English, Iyaric, meaning "to sit down and partake".

## Amharic excerpt from Wikipedia article "ላሊበላ"

**ላሊበላ** በኢትዮጵያ፣ በአማራ ክልል በቀድሞው የወሎ ክፍለ ሃገር የምትገኝ ከተማ ነች። በ12.04° ሰ 39.04° ምዕ ላይ የምትገኘው የላሊበላ ከተማ ከባህር ጠለል በላይ 2,500 ሜትር ከፍታ ያላት ስትሆን የህዝቡም ብዛት ወደ 11,152 ነው።  ላሊበላ ኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ ካሉት ቅዱሳን ከተማዎች መካከል ከአክሱም ቀጥላ በሁለተኛነት ደረጃ የምትገኝ ከተማ ስትሆን፣ ለአብዛኞቹ የክርስትና እምነት ተከታዮች እንደ ዋና የእምነት ማእከል በመሆን ታገለግላለች። የላሊበላ ነዋሪዎች በአብዛኛው የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋህዶ ቤተክርስቲያን እምነት ተከታዮች ናቸው።

የላሊበላን ከተማ በዋነኛነት ታዋቂ ያረጉዋት ከክ.ል. በኋላ በ13ኛው መቶ ክፍለዘመን እንደ ተሰሩ የሚነገርላቸው 11 አብያተ-ክርስቲያናት ናቸው። በኢትዮጵያ ትውፊት መሰረት እነዚህ አብያተ-ክርስቲያናት በንጉሥ ላሊበላ ዘመን በቅዱሳን መላዕክት እረዳትነት እንደተሰሩ የሚታመን ሲሆን ግርሃም ሃንኮክ የተባለው እንግሊዛዊ ፀሃፊ ግን እኤአ በ1993 ዓ.ም ባሳተመውና The Sign and the Seal በተባለው መጽሃፉ አብያተ-ክርስቲያናቱን በማነፁ ሥራ ላይ ቴምፕላርስ የሚባሉት የመስቀል ጦረኞች ተካፍለዋል ሲል አትቷል ነገር ግን ማረጋገጫ አልነበረውም። እነዚሀ አብያተ-ክርስቲያናት ውስጥ አርባ ትንንሽ ቤተክርስቲያኖች አሉ።

ንጉሡ ላሊበላ የሚለውን ስም ያገኘው፣ ሲወለድ በንቦች ስለተከበበ ነው ይባላል። ላል ማለት ማር ማለት ሲሆን፤ ላሊበላ ማለትም -ላል ይበላል (ማር ይበላል) ማለት አንደሆነ ይነግራል። ውቅር ቤተክርስቲያናቱን ንጉሡ ጠርቦ የስራቸው ከመላእክት እገዛ ጋር እንደሆነ በኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ እምነት ተከታዮች ይነግራል። በ16ኛው ከፍለ ዘመን አውሮፓዊ ተጓዥ ላሊበላን ተመልክቶ «ያየሁትን ብናግር ማንም እንደኔ ካላየ በፍጹም አያምነኝም» ሲል ተናግሮ ነበር።

በላሊበላ 11 ውቅር ዐብያተ ክርስቲያናት ያሉ ሲሆን ከነዚህም ውስጥ ቤተ ጊዮርጊስ (ባለ መስቀል ቅርፁ) ሲታይ ውሃልኩን የጠበቀ ይመስላል። ቤተ መድሃኔ ዓለም የተባለው ደግሞ ከሁሉም ትልቁ ነው።