Learn the Amharic Fidel First
Fidel is the foundation of written Amharic. When you learn the Amharic Fidel, you also learn how to pronounce Amharic properly and how to read and write it.
By learning the Amharic Fidel from the beginning, you’re laying a solid foundation for understanding how the language is written and pronounced. This can make it easier to progress to more advanced aspects of the Amharic language later on.
There are also some ድቃላ ሆሄያት (hybrid letters). We use them sometimes. I listed them on the right side below. We’ll see them with some examples. But first, let’s study the main Fidel:
| 1st Form | 2nd Form | 3rd Form | 4th Form | 5th Form | 6th Form (Amharic consonants) | 7th Form | Hybrid Letters (ድቃላ ሆሄያት) | Examples & Notes |
| ሀ | ሁ | ሂ | ሃ | ሄ | ህ | ሆ | ||
| Ha | Hu | Hi | Ha | Hie | H | Ho | ||
| ለ | ሉ | ሊ | ላ | ሌ | ል | ሎ | ሏ | አሏቸው (they said to them or they have / they possess them.) |
| Le | Lu | Li | La | Lie | L | Lo | Lua | |
| ሐ | ሑ | ሒ | ሓ | ሔ | ሕ | ሖ | ||
| Ha | Hu | Hi | Ha | Hie | H | Ho | ||
| መ | ሙ | ሚ | ማ | ሜ | ም | ሞ | ሟ | ሟሟ፣ አሟላ (he completed), አሟታል (she completed him/it), አሟሟቱ (his demise) |
| Me | Mu | Mi | Ma | Mie | M | Mo | Mua | |
| ሠ | ሡ | ሢ | ሣ | ሤ | ሥ | ሦ | ||
| Se | Su | Si | Sa | Sie | S | So | ||
| ረ | ሩ | ሪ | ራ | ሬ | ር | ሮ | ሯ | ፀጉሯ (her hair), እግሯ (her leg), አገሯ (her country) |
| Re | Ru | Ri | Ra | Rie | R | Ro | Rua | |
| ሰ | ሱ | ሲ | ሳ | ሴ | ስ | ሶ | ሷ | እሷ (she/her), ፈሷ አመለጣት (she lost control of her bowels) |
| Se | Su | Si | Sa | Sie | S | So | Sua | |
| ሸ | ሹ | ሺ | ሻ | ሼ | ሽ | ሾ | ሿ | ሿሚ (one who is appointed), ተሿሚ (appointee) |
| She | Shu | Shi | Sha | Shie | Sh | Sho | Shua | |
| ቀ | ቁ | ቂ | ቃ | ቄ | ቅ | ቆ | ቋ | ቋንቋ (language), ቋጥኝ (boulder), ቋር (a kind of traditional food) |
| Qe | Qu | Qi | Qa | Qie | Q | Qo | Qua | |
| በ | ቡ | ቢ | ባ | ቤ | ብ | ቦ | ቧ | ቧልት (joke/prank), ቧንቧ (pipe), ወገቧ (her waist), አስገቧት (they brought her in) |
| Be | Bu | Bi | Ba | Bie | B | Bo | Bua | |
| ቨ | ቩ | ቪ | ቫ | ቬ | ቭ | ቮ | This Fidel is almost never used. | |
| Ve | Vu | Vi | Va | Vie | V | Vo | ||
| ተ | ቱ | ቲ | ታ | ቴ | ት | ቶ | ቷ | አባቶቷ (her father), እናቶቷ (her mother), አክስቶቷ (her aunt), አጎቶቷ (her uncle), እህቶቷ (her sister) |
| Te | Tu | Ti | Ta | Tie | T | To | Tua | |
| ቸ | ቹ | ቺ | ቻ | ቼ | ች | ቾ | ቿ | ዘመዶቿ (her relatives), ወገኖቿ (her people/countrymen), አጎቶቿ (her uncles) |
| Che | Chu | Chi | Cha | Chie | Ch | Cho | Chua | |
| ኀ | ኁ | ኂ | ኃ | ኄ | ኅ | ኆ | ኋ | ኋላ ቀር (backward/outdated), ከኋላ (from behind), በኋላ (after), የኋላ (of the back) |
| Ha | Hu | Hi | Ha | Hie | H | Ho | Hua | |
| ነ | ኑ | ኒ | ና | ኔ | ን | ኖ | ኗ | አኗኗር (lifestyle), አኗኗረ (his/her lifestyle) |
| Ne | Nu | Ni | Na | Nie | N | No | Nua | |
| ኘ | ኙ | ኚ | ኛ | ኜ | ኝ | ኞ | ||
| Gne | Gnu | Gni | Gna | Gnie | Gn | Gno | ||
| አ | ኡ | ኢ | ኣ | ኤ | እ | ኦ | ኧ | ኧረ! (An exclamation like “Oh!”) |
| A | U | I | A | Ae | I | O | E | |
| ከ | ኩ | ኪ | ካ | ኬ | ክ | ኮ | ኳ | አንኳኳ (he knocked), ኳስ (ball) |
| Ke | Ku | Ki | Ka | Kie | K | Ko | Kua | |
| ኸ | ኹ | ኺ | ኻ | ኼ | ኽ | ኾ | This Fidel is used rarely. | |
| Khe | Khu | Khi | Kha | Khie | Kh | Kho | ||
| ወ | ዉ | ዊ | ዋ | ዌ | ው | ዎ | ||
| We | Wu | Wi | Wa | We | W | Wo | ||
| ዐ | ዑ | ዒ | ዓ | ዔ | ዕ | ዖ | ||
| A | U | I | A | Ae | I | O | ||
| ዘ | ዙ | ዚ | ዛ | ዜ | ዝ | ዞ | ዟ | ተዟዙሮ ጠየቀ (he went around asking) |
| Ze | Zu | Zi | Za | Zie | Z | Zo | Zua | |
| ዠ | ዡ | ዢ | ዣ | ዤ | ዥ | ዦ | This Fidel is used occasionally. | |
| Zhe | Zhu | Zhi | Zha | Zhie | Zh | Zho | ||
| የ | ዩ | ዪ | ያ | ዬ | ይ | ዮ | ||
| Ye | Yu | Yi | Ya | Yie | Y | Yo | ||
| ደ | ዱ | ዲ | ዳ | ዴ | ድ | ዶ | ዷ | ዘመዷ (her relative), መንገዷ (her way), ገመዷ (her rope), ወሰዷት (they took her) |
| De | Du | Di | Da | Die | D | Do | Dua | |
| ጀ | ጁ | ጂ | ጃ | ጄ | ጅ | ጆ | ||
| Je | Ju | Ji | Ja | Jie | J | Jo | ||
| ገ | ጉ | ጊ | ጋ | ጌ | ግ | ጎ | ጓ | አጓጊ (interesting/exciting), ያጓጓል (it makes one excited), የሚያጓጓ (exciting) |
| Ge | Gu | Gi | Ga | Gie | G | Go | Gua | |
| ጠ | ጡ | ጢ | ጣ | ጤ | ጥ | ጦ | ጧ | ጧት (morning), ሰጧት (they gave her) |
| Te | Tu | Ti | Ta | Tie | T | To | Tua | |
| ጨ | ጩ | ጪ | ጫ | ጬ | ጭ | ጮ | ጯ | ምንጯ (its source) |
| Che | Chu | Chi | Cha | Chie | Ch | Cho | Chua | |
| ጰ | ጱ | ጲ | ጳ | ጴ | ጵ | ጶ | This Fidel has a distinct sound. We use it in words like ኢትዮጵያ (Ethiopia), ላጲስ (pencil), ጳጳስ (bishop), and ጴጥሮስ (Peter). | |
| Pe | Pu | Pi | Pa | Pie | P | Po | ||
| ጸ | ጹ | ጺ | ጻ | ጼ | ጽ | ጾ | ጸር (enemy), ጹም (fast), ጺም (beard), ጻር (struggle), ጽልመት (darkness), ተዋዕጾ (fellowship) | |
| Tse | Tsu | Tsi | Tsa | Tsie | Ts | Tso | ||
| ፀ | ፁ | ፂ | ፃ | ፄ | ፅ | ፆ | ||
| Tse | Tsu | Tsa | Tsa | Tsie | Ts | Tso | ||
| ፈ | ፉ | ፊ | ፋ | ፌ | ፍ | ፎ | ፏ | ፏ በል (cheer up), ፏፏቴ (waterfall), አፏ (her mouth), ካፏ (from her mouth) |
| Fe | Fu | Fi | Fa | Fie | F | Fo | Fua | |
| ፐ | ፑ | ፒ | ፓ | ፔ | ፕ | ፖ | ||
| Pe | Pu | Pi | Pa | Pie | P | Po |
Category: Amharic Alphabet