Amharic Alphabet: Learn the Amharic Alphabet Step by Step!

In this post, I’ll teach you 7 important facts about the Amharic alphabet step by step. These facts will help you start identifying and differentiating Amharic letters easily, especially when you see them in words. After that, we’ll read each Amharic letter along with its English transliteration.

Let me first explain what the Amharic alphabet is called in Amharic. It’s called Fidel (ፊደል). Also, the word “Amharic” in Amharic is “Amargna” (አማርኛ), and “language” is “quanqua” (ቋንቋ). Many people ask about these terms, so I wanted to clarify that first.

How many letters are there in the Amharic alphabet?

The Amharic alphabet has

• 34 pure consonant letters
• 204 consonant-vowel combinations
• 20 hybrid letters

Altogether, that’s 258 consonant-vowel combinations. But don’t worry! Many of these letters are rarely used, and we don’t use all of them in daily writing. Some Amharic letters look different but sound very similar. For example:

1. There are three types of “h” sounds: ህ, ሕ, and ኅ.
2. Two “s” sounds: ስ and ሥ — they look different but sound almost the same.
3. Two “a” sounds: እ and ዕ — also written differently.
4. Two “ts” sounds: ጽ and ፅ — both mean “ts,” but with different shapes.

You see? The Amharic alphabet has many similar-sounding letters. So don’t be overwhelmed. You don’t have to memorize all of them now. Just focus on the most commonly used ones, and I’ll guide you step by step—showing which letters are essential and which ones you can skip for now.

In the next section, I’ll teach you 7 simple and effective methods to master every Amharic letter’s sound and shape.

The 7 facts you should know about the Amharic alphabet:

The letters in the first row are all simple letters with little addition to their bodies. They are pronounced like “ኧ” or “eh, e.”

Amharic Alphabet Fact 1:

The letters in the first row are all simple letters with little addition to their bodies. They are pronounced like “ኧ” or “eh, e.”

Amharic Alphabet Fact 2:

The Amharic letters in the second row have a small mark on their right side, but the suffix mark for “ሩ and ፉ” is under them. This symbol makes them read as “u.” Example: ሁ Hu፣ ሉ Lu፣ ሙ Mu.

Amharic Alphabet Fact 3:

All the Amharic letters except “ሪ ri, ዪ yi, and ፊ fi” in the third row have a right-pointing suffix on their right leg. For example: ሂ hi፣ ሊ Li፣ ሚ, ሲ Si, etc. This suffix makes the Amharic letter read as “i.”

Amharic Alphabet Fact 4:

The letters with two or more legs, such as “ሓ/ha, ላ/la, ሳ/sa, ባ/ba” in the fourth row, have the shortest leg on the left. That is why they are pronounced as “a.” You can look at them now.

Amharic Alphabet Fact 5:

Figure 5: All the Amharic letters in the fifth row have a ring on their right leg. This makes them read as “ie.” For example: ሄ Hie, ሌ Lie, ሜ Mie, ሤ, ሴ, Sie.

Amharic Alphabet Fact 6:

But the Amharic alphabet in the sixth row are consonant letters. So we need to read them like “ህ H, ል L, ም M, ስ S, ር R.” For example, “ምስር / MSR,” which means “lentil,” and “ስድስት / SDST,” which means “six.” If we add another vowel symbol to these letters, their shape, sound, and meaning will change. The remaining 6 letters are vowel letters. They change their shape and sound due to the addition of vowel letters. (አ, ኡ, ኢ, ኣ, ኤ, ኦ, (a u i a ie o)

Amharic Alphabet Fact 7:

The letters in the seventh row, such as “ሆ / ho, ሎ / lo, ሮ / ro, ኖ / no,” have a ring on the right. Two-legged letters like “ሶ / so, ቦ / bo, ሾ / sho” have the shortest leg on the right. And those with one leg, like Fidel, ቆ / Qo, ቾ / Cho, and ቶ / To, have a ring mark on their head. But they are all pronounced as “o.”

If you understand these facts well, you can learn and even memorize these Amharic letters very easily. Now, when you read the letters below, read them keeping in mind the facts that we have seen above. But if you have a problem with pronouncing these Amharic letters correctly, contact me on Telegram; I will give you a 1-hour paid tutor for only $10.

I will teach you additional facts in the next lessons about the Amharic alphabet, but now read the following Amharic alphabet using the transliterations under each of them or by watching this short YouTube video.

All the Amharic alphabet lists:

1. ሀ ሁ ሂ ሃ ሄ ህ ሆ
2. ሐ ሑ ሒ ሓ ሔ ሕ ሖ
3. ኀ ኁ ኂ ኃ ኄ ኅ ኆ
   He Hu Hi Ha Hie H Ho
4. ለ ሉ ሊ ላ ሌ ል ሎ
   Le  Lu  Li  La Lie  L  Lo
5. መ ሙ ሚ ማ ሜ ም ሞ
   Me Mu Mi Ma Mie M Mo
6. ሠ ሡ ሢ ሣ ሤ ሥ ሦ
7. ሰ ሱ ሲ ሳ ሴ ስ ሶ
   Se Su Si Sa Sie  S So
8. ረ ሩ ሪ ራ ሬ ር ሮ
   Re Ru Ri Ra Rie  R Ro
9. ሸ ሹ ሺ ሻ ሼ ሽ ሾ
   She Shu Shi Sha Shie Sh Sho
10. ቀ ቁ ቂ ቃ ቄ ቅ ቆ
    Qe Qu Qi Qa Qie Q Qo
11. ከ ኩ ኪ ካ ኬ ክ ኮ
    Ke Ku Ki Ka Kie K Ko
12. በ ቡ ቢ ባ ቤ ብ ቦ
    Be Bu Bi  Ba Bie  B Bo
13. ቸ ቹ ቺ ቻ ቼ ች ቾ
    Che Chu Chi Cha Chie Ch Cho
14. ጨ ጩ ጪ ጫ ጬ ጭ ጮ
    Che Chu Chi Cha Chie Ch Cho
15. ነ ኑ ኒ ና ኔ ን ኖ
    Ne Nu Ni Na Nie N No
16. ኘ ኙ ኚ ኛ ኜ ኝ ኞ
    Gne Gnu Gni Gna Gnie Gn Gno
17. አ ኡ ኢ ኣ ኤ እ ኦ
18. ዐ ዑ ዒ ዓ ዔ ዕ ዖ
    A U I A Aie I O
19. ወ ዉ ዊ ዋ ዌ ው ዎ
    We Wu Wi Wa Wie W Wo
20. ዘ ዙ ዚ ዛ ዜ ዝ ዞ
    Ze Zu Zi Za Zie Z Zo
21. ዠ ዡ ዢ ዣ ዤ ዥ ዦ
    Zhe Zhu Zhi Zha Zhie Zh Zho
22. የ ዩ ዪ ያ ዬ ይ ዮ
    Ye Yu Yi Ya Yie Y Yo
23. ደ ዱ ዲ ዳ ዴ ድ ዶ
    De Du Di Da Die D Do
24. ጀ ጁ ጂ ጃ ጄ ጅ ጆ
    Je Ju Ji Ja Jie J Jo
25. ገ ጉ ጊ ጋ ጌ ግ ጎ
    Ge Gu Gi Ga Gie G Go
26. ተ ቱ ቲ ታ ቴ ት ቶ
    Te Tu Ti Ta Tie T To
27. ጠ ጡ ጢ ጣ ጤ ጥ ጦ
    Te Tu Ti Ta Tie T To
28. ጸ ጹ ጺ ጻ ጼ ጽ ጾ
29. ፀ ፁ ፂ ፃ ፄ ፅ ፆ
    Tse Tsu Tsi Tsa Tsie Ts Tso
30. ጰ ጱ ጲ ጳ ጴ ጵ ጶ
    Pe Pu Pi Pa Pie P Po
31. ፈ ፉ ፊ ፋ ፌ ፍ ፎ
    Fe Fu Fi Fa Fie F Fo
32. ኸ    ኹ     ኺ    ኻ    ኼ    ኽ   ኾ
    Khe Khu Khi Kha Khie Kh Kho
33. ቨ   ቩ   ቪ  ቫ   ቬ   ቭ  ቮ
    Ve Vu Vi Va Vie V Vo
34. ፐ    ፑ   ፒ  ፓ  ፔ   ፕ  ፖ
    Pe Pu Pi Pa Pie P Po

Understanding Amharic Alphabet Basics:

The Amharic alphabet consists of around 34 consonant letters. It is organized into 7 rows; the letters in each row follow specific patterns:

1. First Row: Simple letters pronounced with “eh, e.”
2. Second Row: Small mark on the right side indicating the vowel sound “u.”
3. Third Row: Right-pointing suffix indicating the vowel sound “i.”
4. Fourth Row: Shortest leg on the left indicating the vowel sound “a.”
5. Fifth Row: Ring on the right leg indicating the vowel sound “ie.”
6. Sixth Row: Consonant letters without vowel additions, read as consonants alone.
7. Seventh Row: Characters with rings on the right or specific leg arrangements indicating the vowel sound “o.”

• The seventh row of Amharic fidels has specific markers, such as a ring on the right side of the character. Examples like “ሆ” (ho), “ሎ” (lo), “ሮ” (ro), and “ኖ”
• Two-legged letters in this row have the shortest leg on the right. Examples like “ሶ” (so), “ቦ” (bo), and “ሾ” (sho) 
• One-legged letters have a ring mark on their head, like “ቆ” (Qo), “ቾ” (Cho), and “ቶ” (To).
• All these Amharic letters in the seventh row are pronounced with the vowel sound “o.” You need to circle your mouth to pronounce them correctly. 

By understanding these distinctive Amharic alphabet patterns and practicing with the provided examples, you can more easily identify and differentiate the seventh row of Amharic letters from others.

Homework: Connect Amharic letters together to make words.

I want you to take two or three of the letters we learned and write them down on your paper. For example, you could write ‘Bal,’ ‘tew,’ or ‘Abatie.’

Keep making up new words on your page using two letters each time. Don’t worry about what they mean; just focus on putting the letters together.

You will need to practice saying the words out loud too. When you’re done, send them to me through this Telegram group. I will look to them and give you gold stars for the best made-up words!

Okay, you can begin your word writing now! I’m excited to see what creative words you come up with.

Now, read the next Amharic Alphabet lesson here.

• Read Part one (here)
• Read Part Two (Here)
• Read Part Three (Here)

If you have a problem with pronouncing these Amharic letters correctly, contact me on WhatsApp, and I will give you a 1-hour paid tutor for only 10 dollars, and you will master them in four hours only, God willing.

Download the Amharic Alphabet Free PDF here. Master the Amharic Alphabet now with a free pdf download