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46-646: Wollo ( Amharic : ወሎ) was a historical province of northern Ethiopia . During the Middle Ages this province name was Bete Amhara and it was the centre of the Solomonic emperors. Bete Amhara had an illustrious place in Ethiopian political and cultural history. It was the center of the Solomonic Dynasty established by Emperor Yekuno Amlak around Lake Hayq in 1270. Bete Amhara was bounded on

92-466: A holy language by the Rastafari religion and is widely used among its followers worldwide. Early Afro-Asiatic populations speaking proto- Semitic , proto- Cushitic and proto- Omotic languages would have diverged by the fourth or fifth millennium BC. Shortly afterwards, the proto-Cushitic and proto-Omotic groups would have settled in the Ethiopian highlands, with the proto-Semitic speakers crossing

138-524: A pidgin as early as the 4th century AD to enable communication between Aksumite soldiers speaking Semitic, Cushitic, and Omotic languages, but this hypothesis has not garnered widespread acceptance. The preservation in Old Amharic of VSO word order and gutturals typical of Semitic languages, Cushitic influences shared with other Ethio-Semitic languages (especially those of the Southern branch), and

184-546: A Mekdes, Kidist and Kine Mahilet. The four sides of the Mekdes and Kidist were equal in size and shape but the shape of the Kine Mahlet was circular. The Church was also much wider and bigger than other Churches of the time found around Wesel. The Portuguese priest and historian writer, Francisco Alvaraze said the following about its architectural design: “the wall of this Church was made from systematically carved stones and it

230-512: A great Church and more beautiful than his father. At the inauguration of the Church in 1513 many famous persons were present. Among them, the Portuguese priest and historian writer, Francisco Alvarez was the one who recorded the ceremonies of the Church inauguration at that time. He admired and writes about the Church's architectural design. The Church was constructed from Geha stone and it had

276-751: Is a South Ethio-Semitic language, along with Gurage , Argobba , Harari , and others. Due to the social stratification of the time, the Cushitic Agaw adopted the South Ethio-Semitic language and eventually absorbed the Semitic population. Amharic thus developed with a Cushitic substratum and a Semitic superstratum . The northernmost South Ethio-Semitic speakers, or the proto-Amhara, remained in constant contact with their North Ethio-Semitic neighbors, evidenced by linguistic analysis and oral traditions. A 7th century southward shift of

322-817: Is an Ethiopian Semitic language , which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages . It is spoken as a first language by the Amharas , and also serves as a lingua franca for all other populations residing in major cities and towns in Ethiopia . The language serves as the official working language of the Ethiopian federal government, and is also the official or working language of several of Ethiopia's federal regions . As of 2020, it has over 33,700,000 mother-tongue speakers and more than 25,100,000 second language speakers in 2019, making

368-579: Is an abugida , and the graphemes of the Amharic writing system are called fidäl . It is derived from a modification of the Ge'ez script . Each character represents a consonant+vowel sequence, but the basic shape of each character is determined by the consonant, which is modified for the vowel. Some consonant phonemes are written by more than one series of characters: / ʔ / , / s / , / tsʼ / , and / h / (the last one has four distinct letter forms). This

414-663: Is because these fidäl originally represented distinct sounds, but phonological changes merged them. The citation form for each series is the consonant+ ä form, i.e. the first column of the fidäl . The Amharic script is included in Unicode , and glyphs are included in fonts available with major operating systems. As in most other Ethiopian Semitic languages , gemination is contrastive in Amharic. That is, consonant length can distinguish words from one another; for example, alä 'he said', allä 'there is'; yǝmätall 'he hits', yǝmmättall 'he will be hit'. Gemination

460-501: Is called an abugida ( አቡጊዳ ). The graphemes are called fidäl ( ፊደል ), which means "script", "alphabet", "letter", or "character". There is no universally agreed-upon Romanization of Amharic into Latin script . The Amharic examples in the sections below use one system that is common among linguists specializing in Ethiopian Semitic languages. Amharic has been the official working language of Ethiopia, language of

506-465: Is in Africa.' ልጁ Lǝǧ-u the boy ተኝቷል täññǝtʷall. asleep is ልጁ ተኝቷል Lǝǧ-u täññǝtʷall. {the boy} {asleep is} 'The boy is asleep.' ( -u is a definite article. Lǝǧ is 'boy'. Lǝǧu is 'the boy') አየሩ Ayyäru the weather ደስ däss pleasant Na%27od Na'od was the second son of Baeda Maryam I and his second wife Kalyupe (also called "Calliope"), and

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552-427: Is known to be the origin of the four melodic-modes ( kignits ) of Ethiopia. 11°30′N 40°00′E  /  11.500°N 40.000°E  / 11.500; 40.000 Amharic language Amharic ( / æ m ˈ h ær ɪ k / am- HARR -ik or / ɑː m ˈ h ɑːr ɪ k / ahm- HAR -ik ; native name : አማርኛ , romanized :  Amarəñña , IPA: [amarɨɲːa] )

598-469: Is mostly heard as the affricate sound [ t͡sʼ ]. The rhotic consonant is realized as a trill when geminated and a tap otherwise. The closed central unrounded vowel ⟨ə⟩ /ɨ/ and mid-central vowel ⟨ä⟩ /ə/ are generally fronted to [ ɪ ] and [ ɛ ], respectively, following palatal consonants , and generally retracted and rounded to [ ʊ ] and [ ɔ ], respectively, following labialized velar consonants . The Amharic script

644-416: Is not indicated in Amharic orthography, but Amharic readers typically do not find this to be a problem. This property of the writing system is analogous to the vowels of Arabic and Hebrew or the tones of many Bantu languages , which are not normally indicated in writing. Ethiopian novelist Haddis Alemayehu , who was an advocate of Amharic orthography reform , indicated gemination in his novel Love to

690-503: The Jantirar of Ambassel (the center of Bete Amhara and lordship of Yekuno Amlak himself prior to his ascension as Emperor of Ethiopia ), was tasked with protecting Amba Geshen . Believers contend that the monastic life is the highest stage of Christian life. Devout Christians hope to live their last years as monks or nuns, and many take monastic vows during old age. The Monastic school of Lake Hayq founded in 1248 by Aba Iyesus-Mo'a

736-534: The Sinai Peninsula into Asia . A later return movement of peoples from South Arabia would have introduced the Semitic languages to Ethiopia. Based on archaeological evidence, the presence of Semitic speakers in the territory date to some time before 500 BC. Linguistic analysis suggests the presence of Semitic languages in Ethiopia as early as 2000 BC. Levine indicates that by the end of that millennium,

782-504: The total number of speakers over 58,800,000. Amharic is the largest, most widely spoken language in Ethiopia, and the second most spoken mother-tongue in Ethiopia (after Oromo ). Amharic is also the second most widely spoken Semitic language in the world (after Arabic ). Amharic is written left-to-right using a system that grew out of the Geʽez script . The segmental writing system in which consonant-vowel sequences are written as units

828-475: The Church by covering all part of it with gold above what his father had done. So the Church reflects like a fire, because, it was covered by gold and all the church holy treasures liturgical objects) were made from gold and silver. The width of the Church was more than a hundred yards and the height was also more than fifty yards ... Christians called the Church Mekane Silasse..... In this Church,

874-583: The Church from an essential part of tradition and culture to this area. Evidence of Wollo's political importance to Ethiopia in the medieval era was that the region's rulers played a disproportionate role in the politics of the Ethiopian state. In the medieval era, the Tsahife Lam (ጻሕፈ ላም), governor of the Bete Amhara province, was the most senior military officer next to the Emperor. Along with that,

920-469: The Ethiopianist tradition they are often transcribed with a dot below the letter. The notation of central vowels in the Ethiopianist tradition is shown in angled brackets. The voiced bilabial plosive /b/ is phonetically realized as a voiced labial approximant [β̞] medially between sonorants in non- geminated form. The fricative ejective / sʼ / is heard as a fricative ejective [ sʼ ], but

966-488: The Ethiopians. Mekane Silasse Church was established before 485 years in 1513 E.C. The foundation was started by Atse Naod (1489-1500) and it was finished by his son Atse Lebna Dengel (1500-1513). This Church is different from other Churches because it took 25 years to construct it. Atse Naod worked on it for 13 years but he died before finishing it. So, his son Lebna Dengel finished it after 12 years by constructing

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1012-523: The Grave by placing a dot above the characters whose consonants were geminated, but this practice is rare. Punctuation includes the following: One may construct simple Amharic sentences by using a subject and a predicate . Here are a few simple sentences: ኢትዮጵያ ʾItyop̣p̣ya Ethiopia አፍሪካ ʾAfrika Africa ውስጥ wǝsṭ in ናት nat is ኢትዮጵያ አፍሪካ ውስጥ ናት ʾItyop̣p̣ya ʾAfrika wǝsṭ nat {Ethiopia} {Africa} {in} {is} 'Ethiopia

1058-529: The Monastic community of Gasecha. As a result of this, several Church works were performed and it was the land of Saints and Christian kings. Therefore, many famous Churches were built by Christian kings and Monasteries were established by great Saints and wonderful Rock Hewn Churches were carved out of rock. Furthermore, it was the center of Church Education. For example, from the Monastery of Hayq Estifanos

1104-674: The Muslim population of the region “Wollo Galla” but many of the Wollo do not belong to the Oromo ethnic group at all. That is especially the case with the population in the highland regions of Wollo; such as the massifs of Legambo and Legahida and the Were Ilu Plateau. These from ethnical point of view are Abyssinians whom their only common link with Oromo is the Islam religion. With

1150-603: The Oromo over the atrocities that they committed against the Christian population of Bete Amhara but failed to completely operate it due to internal problems that he faced. The Amhara were pushed into the western districts of Sayint , Delanta and Wadla . Whereas part of them remain isolated and clustered in highland areas of wollo; especially in Warra Himano and Ambassel . Christianity virtually disappeared in much of what

1196-489: The adoption of the 1995 constitution & the establishment of ethnic federalism system in Ethiopia , parts of the expanded Wollo province, which were mostly inhabited by Afar people were given to the new Afar Region . The new Amhara Region absorbed the remainder of the province in the Ethiopian Highlands and kept the name Wollo for its two new zones ( South Wollo Zone & North Wollo Zone ). Wollo

1242-449: The alphabet used for writing the Geʽez language. There are 34 basic characters, each of which has seven forms depending on which vowel is to be pronounced in the syllable. There are also 49 "wa" letters, which form compound sounds involving "w." All together, the alphabet has some 280 letters. Until 2020 Amharic was the sole official language of Ethiopia. The 2007 census reported that Amharic

1288-537: The center of gravity of the Kingdom of Aksum and the ensuing integration and Christianization of the proto-Amhara also resulted in a high prevalence of Geʽez sourced lexicon in Amharic. Some time after the 9th century AD, Amharic diverged from its closest relative, Argobba , probably due to religious differences as the Argobba adopted Islam. In 1983, Lionel Bender proposed that Amharic may have been constructed as

1334-423: The centre of Islam and Islamic studies. The Oromo clans that invaded Wollo in the late 16th century adopted Islam during their expansion process. And when they arrived in the province they committed various atrocities against its local Christian Amhara population; they burnt churches in every district which they invade, killed the clergy and sold Christians into slavery. Emperor Tekle Giyorgis I decided to punish

1380-498: The core inhabitants of Greater Ethiopia would have consisted of dark-skinned agropastoralists speaking Afro-Asiatic languages of the Semitic, Cushitic and Omotic branches. Other scholars such as Messay Kebede and Daniel E. Alemu argue that migration across the Red Sea was defined by reciprocal exchange, if it even occurred at all, and that Ethio-Semitic-speaking ethnic groups should not be characterized as foreign invaders. Amharic

1426-574: The courts, the language of trade and everyday communications and of the military since the late 12th century. The Amhara nobles supported the Zagwe prince Lalibela in his power struggle against his brothers which led him to make Amharic Lessana Negus as well as fill the Amhara nobles in the top positions of his Kingdom. The appellation of "language of the king" ( Ge'ez : ልሳነ ነጋሢ ; "Lǝssanä nägaśi," Amharic : የነጋሢ ቋንቋ "Yä-nägaśi qʷanqʷa") and its use in

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1472-520: The destruction of the Church. He admired its construction and architectural design and said that the following: “there was one church in Bete Amhara which no church could imitate in Habesha land" . It was constructed by the father of Lebene Dengel , King Naod. Its work and ornament had taken 13 years but king Naod died before finishing it. His son Lebna Dengel finished it after 25 years. He finished

1518-482: The number of geographically distinct Cushitic languages that have influenced Amharic at different points in time (e.g. Oromo influence beginning in the 16th century) support a natural evolution of Amharic from a Proto-Ethio-Semitic language with considerable Cushitic influences (similar to Gurage, Tigrinya, etc.). The Amharic ejective consonants correspond to the Proto-Semitic " emphatic consonants ." In

1564-510: The rock Church builder - 1140-79 A.D. had a set of ten Rock Hewn Churches built in his capital of Roha, which was later renamed Lalibela. It is also said that he built the Gezaza Abune Gebre Menfes Kidus Church (Gezaza Abbo) in this region around Wegde. All these are rock hewn Churches carved in solid rock, deserve to be taken as few among wonders and are a remarkable monument to the skill and craftsmanship of

1610-639: The royal court are otherwise traced to the Amhara Emperor Yekuno Amlak . It is one of the official languages of Ethiopia , together with other regions like Oromo , Somali , Afar , and Tigrinya . Amharic is an Afro-Asiatic language of the Southwest Semitic group and is related to Geʽez , or Ethiopic, the liturgical language of the Ethiopian Orthodox church; Amharic is written in a slightly modified form of

1656-595: The structure and set it afire. Emperor Na'od was killed by Imam Mafuz of the Adal Sultanate in battle. The defence of the Empire was very strong during the reign of Na'od as he scored many victories over the Muslims. G.W.B Huntingford claims that Na'od was killed near Jejeno (possibly Mekane Selassie) while campaigning against Muslim forces. Taddesse Tamrat states that Na'od died on his way to repulse

1702-449: The tomb of Emperor Na'od who is the grand son of Zera Yacob and the son of Be’ede Mariam is found.” Although the presence of Muslim communities in Wollo is dated to at least the 8th century the province was chiefly inhabit by Christians Amhara . The Jihad of Ahmad Gran and the Oromo expansion latter on brought a significant cultural change in /Wollo. A province which was once a centre of Christianity and Christian culture have become

1748-482: The well-known Saints and Christian kings had learnt Church education. For this reason, literature, paintings and other heritages flourished throughout the land. In the region many Rock Hewn Churches were built by Saints like, King Abrha and Astbha. Most of them were in the place of Woleka Debresina but they destructed and hidden during the invasion of Ahmad Gragn. Aba Betselote Micheal, Aba Giorgis Zegasecha, Aba Tsegie Dengel, Abune Yaekob Zedebrekerbe and by King Lalibela,

1794-703: The west by the Abbay , on the south by the river Wanchet , on the north by the Bashilo River and on the east by the Escarpment that separate it from the Afar Desert . The original Wollo province was mainly only the area of modern-day South Wollo . But in the 1940s, under Emperor Haile Selassie, administration changes were made and provinces such as Lasta , Angot (now known as Raya), and parts of Afar lands were incorporated into Wollo. Today's Wollo

1840-529: Was born at Gabarge . Like Eskender before him, he relied on the counsel of the Queen Mother Eleni . Despite her help, his reign was marked by internal dissension. Na'od was very talented in Amharic and Ge'ez poetry. He was also a notable author who wrote a number of religious books. Na'od began construction on a lavish church in the Amhara province , which was decorated with gold leaf and known as Mekane Selassie . However, he died before it

1886-501: Was completed, and he was buried in a tomb inside the church. His son Emperor Lebna Dengel completed the construction in 1530. Francisco Álvares records seeing the church as it was being constructed, and mentions that he was kept from entering it by the local clergy. However, not long after its completion, Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi (also known as Ahmad Gurey/Gragn) penetrated the Amhara province, and on 3 November 1531, pillaged

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1932-462: Was designed by a graphic decoration …..the door of the main entrance was covered by gold and silver. Inside the gold and silver there were some precious stones. The roof was laid down on the six columns of the Church and the outer part of the roof was supported by 61 long columns. There were also sixteen curtains made of golden cotton cloth. On the other hand, the historical writer of Ahmad Gragn, Arab Faqeh, recorded about its architectural design before

1978-556: Was long the center of Ethiopia (half under Agew / Zagwe and half under the Amhara / Solomonic leadership). The people of Amhara and Zagwe Provinces (today's Wollo) were the strongest adherents of Christianity and both believed in Israelite Semitic Biblical Ancestry Zagwe claimed lineage from Moses while the Solomonids claimed lineage from Solomon , and the beliefs and customs of

2024-475: Was spoken by 21.6 million native speakers in Ethiopia. More recent sources state the number of first-language speakers in 2018 as nearly 32 million, with another 25 million second-language speakers in Ethiopia. Additionally, 3 million emigrants outside of Ethiopia speak the language. Most of the Ethiopian Jewish communities in Ethiopia and Israel speak Amharic. Furthermore, Amharic is considered

2070-679: Was the fundamental school to Saints, scholars and Christians. The Monasteries spread along with the Ethiopian Empire and Tekle-Haymanot (1215-1313) was trained at Hayq by Iyasus Mo'a and started the important Monastic community of Debre Asbo in Shewa Amhara Debre Libanos , Abune Hirute Amlak was also trained in this Monastery by Iyasus Mo'a and started the imperative Monastic community of Daga Estifanos in Lake Tsana and Aba Georgis Zegasecha trained and started

2116-453: Was the medieval province of Amhara. After occupying and settling in the province, the Oromos changed the original names of many districts in Bete Amhara and named them after their clans and sub-clans, such as: Borona, Qallu, Bati, Wuchale, Worra Himano, Lagga Ghora, Tehuladere, Laggambo, and Lagga-Hidda. According to J. Spencer Trimingham it become regular among foreign travellers to call all

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