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71-465: In addition to word recognition , the VWFA may participate in higher-level processing of word meaning. In 2003, functional imaging experiments raised doubts about whether the VWFA is an actual region. This skepticism has largely disappeared; however, there seems to be much variability in its size. An area that may fall within this mental organ in one person may fall outside it in someone else Anomalies in

142-523: 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

213-524: 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

284-425: A functionally specialized ventral pathway. Within 100 milliseconds (ms) of fixating on a word, an area of the left inferotemporal cortex processes its surface structure. Semantic information begins to be processed after 150 ms and shows widely distributed cortical network activation. After 200 ms, the integration of the different kinds of information occurs. The accuracy with which readers recognize words depends on

355-408: A more accurate temporal measurement by recording event-related potentials each millisecond. Though identifying where the electrical responses occur can be easier with an MEG, an EEG is a more pervasive form of research in word recognition. Event-related potentials help measure both the strength and the latency of brain activity in certain areas during readings. Furthermore, by combining the usefulness of

426-448: A more efficient use of combining reading ability and background knowledge for effective word recognition. The role of the frequency effect has been greatly incorporated into the learning process. While the word analysis approach is extremely beneficial, many words defy regular grammatical structures and are more easily incorporated into the lexical memory by automatic word recognition. To facilitate this, many educational experts highlight

497-511: A reader to recognize written words correctly and virtually effortlessly". It is sometimes referred to as "isolated word recognition" because it involves a reader's ability to recognize words individually from a list without needing similar words for contextual help. LINCS continues to say that "rapid and effortless word recognition is the main component of fluent reading" and explains that these skills can be improved by "practic[ing] with flashcards , lists, and word grids". In her 1990 review of

568-539: A reduction in lateral inhibition in the neural network. When letters are farther apart, it is more likely that individuals will focus their fixations at the beginning of words, whereas default letter spacing on word processing software encourages fixation at the center of words. Both PET and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) are used to study the activation of various parts of the brain while participants perform reading-based tasks. However, magnetoencephalography (MEG) and electroencephalography (EEG) provide

639-642: A sentence. According to the LINCS website, the role of word recognition results in differences between the habits of adults and the habits of children learning how to read. For non-literate adults learning to read, many rely more on word recognition than on phonics and word analysis. Poor readers with prior knowledge concerning the target words can recognize words and make fewer errors than poor readers with no prior knowledge. Instead of blending sounds of individual letters, adult learners are more likely to recognize words automatically. However, this can lead to errors when

710-414: A similar bouma shape than misspelled words with a different bouma shape. Though these effects have been consistently replicated, many of their findings have been contested. Some have suggested that the reading ability of upper-case words is due to the amount of practice a person has with them. People who practice become faster at reading upper-case words, countering the importance of the bouma. Additionally,

781-530: A similarly spelled, yet different word, is mistaken for one the reader is familiar with. Errors such as these are considered to be due to the learner's experiences and exposure. Younger and newer learners tend to focus more on the implications from the text and rely less on background knowledge or experience. Poor readers with prior knowledge utilize the semantic aspects of the word, whereas proficient readers rely on only graphic information for word recognition. However, practice and improved proficiency tend to lead to

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852-424: A word". Over time, other theories have been put forth proposing the mechanisms by which words are recognized in isolation, yet with both speed and accuracy. These theories focus more on the significance of individual letters and letter-shape recognition (ex. serial letter recognition and parallel letter recognition). Other factors such as saccadic eye movements and the linear relationship between letters also affect

923-402: A word, is consistent with a pre-lexical representation and later activity, from approximately 300-500 milliseconds is consistent with a lexical representation. These results potentially mediate between the pre-lexical and lexical hypotheses by showing that both levels of representation may be seen in the VWFA, but at different latencies after reading a word. Previous studies using fMRI did not have

994-751: 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

1065-442: Is a manner of reading based upon the immediate perception of what word a familiar grouping of letters represents. This process exists in opposition to phonetics and word analysis, as a different method of recognizing and verbalizing visual language (i.e. reading). Word recognition functions primarily on automaticity. On the other hand, phonetics and word analysis rely on the basis of cognitively applying learned grammatical rules for

1136-817: 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

1207-579: 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

1278-663: 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

1349-501: 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

1420-469: 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

1491-416: 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

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1562-425: Is one of the most robust and most commonly reported effects in contemporary literature on word recognition. It has played a role in the development of many theories, such as the bouma shape . Furthermore, the neighborhood frequency effect states that word recognition is slower and less accurate when the target has an orthographic neighbor that is higher in frequency than itself. Orthographic neighbors are words of all

1633-494: Is some evidence that the VWFA is not specialized for reading specifically but instead has a set of specific properties and functions that make it useful for reading—and particularly important for fluid reading—but may also allow it to play roles in other forms of visual processing. VWFA involvement appears to depend partly on the visual complexity of a stimulus, and it appears to process recognizable visual stimuli that are grouped together. This may explain why "letter by letter" reading

1704-405: Is still possible even when the VWFA suffers lesions that otherwise interfere with fluid reading ability. This may also address why the VWFA is activated even more strongly by line drawings and Amharic characters than by written words familiar to study participants. Some research suggests that children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) may rely more heavily on visual perception areas—including

1775-404: Is unimportant, and word recognition is often assessed with words presented in isolation in formats such as flash cards Nevertheless, ease in word recognition, as in fluency , enables proficiency that fosters comprehension of the text being read. The intrinsic value of word recognition may be obvious due to the prevalence of literacy in modern society. However, its role may be less conspicuous in

1846-534: 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,

1917-504: 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

1988-469: 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

2059-523: 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

2130-416: The VWFA causes reading-specific disruptions and can cause letter misperception. Put forward by Cohen and colleagues (2000). The basics of this theory state that the neurons in the ventral occipital-temporal cortex (vOT) – which the posterior fusiform gyrus is a part of – have receptive fields that are sensitive to bigrams, or two letter combinations that commonly occur in words. The neurons sense and process

2201-501: The VWFA—and less heavily on phonological areas during reading tasks compared to non-ASD children. Greater activation of the VWFA may be particularly significant in children with hyperlexia , or reading ability beyond one's training. Hyperlexia is thought to be associated with ASD, with estimates of prevalence in autistic children ranging from 6 to 20.7%. One study of a hyperlexic child with ASD showed elevated activation compared to controls of

Visual word form area - Misplaced Pages Continue

2272-423: The activation of this region have been linked to reading disorders . If the area is subjected to a surgical lesion, the patient will suffer a clear impairment to reading ability but not to recognition of objects, names, or faces or to general language abilities. There will be some improvement over the next six months, but reading will still take twice as long as it had before surgery. Electrical brain stimulation to

2343-449: 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

2414-649: The area of the retina that is stimulated. Reading in English selectively trains specific regions of the left hemiretina for processing this type of visual information, making this part of the visual field optimal for word recognition. As words drift from this optimal area, word recognition accuracy declines. Because of this training, effective neural organization develops in the corresponding left cerebral hemisphere . Eyes make brief, unnoticeable movements called saccades approximately three to four times per second. Saccades are separated by fixations, which are moments when

2485-709: The area of word recognition is helpful to future research regarding which learning styles may be most successful in classrooms. Correlations also exist between reading ability, spoken language development, and learning disabilities. Therefore, advances in any one of these areas may assist understanding in inter-related subjects. Ultimately, the development of word recognition may facilitate the breakthrough between "learning to read" and "reading to learn". Amharic 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] )

2556-419: The areas of literacy learning, second-language learning, and developmental delays in reading. As word recognition is better understood, more reliable and efficient forms of teaching may be discovered for both children and adult learners of first-language literacy. Such information may also benefit second-language learners with acquisition of novel words and letter characters. Furthermore, a better understanding of

2627-441: The bigrams, to detect their legality. Here the posterior left fusiform gyrus (part of the vOT), is thought to be one station in a long line of processing areas. The processing starts with visual feature detectors in extrastriate cortex, proceeding through letter detectors and letter-cluster detectors in the posterior fusiform, and then activating lexical representations stored in more anterior multimodal fusiform area. The theory states

2698-410: The blending of letters, sounds, graphemes , and morphemes . Word recognition is measured as a matter of speed, such that a word with a high level of recognition is read faster than a novel one. This manner of testing suggests that comprehension of the meaning of the words being read is not required, but rather the ability to recognize them in a way that allows proper pronunciation. Therefore, context

2769-531: The bouma theory. The theory holds that a novel bouma shape created by changing the lower-case letters to upper-case hinders a person's recall ability. James Cattell also supported this theory through his study, which gave evidence for an effect he called word superiority. This referred to the improved ability of people to deduce letters if the letters were presented within a word, rather than a mix of random letters. Furthermore, multiple studies have demonstrated that readers are less likely to notice misspelled words with

2840-537: 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

2911-441: The context of a word rather than in isolation. A more modern approach to word recognition has been based on recent research on neuron functioning. The visual aspects of a word, such as horizontal and vertical lines or curves, are thought to activate word-recognizing receptors. From those receptors, neural signals are sent to either excite or inhibit connections to other words in a person's memory. The words with characters that match

Visual word form area - Misplaced Pages Continue

2982-498: 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

3053-411: The correct word as part of word recognition in the neural network. Using positron emission tomography (PET) scans and event-related potentials , researchers have located two separate areas in the fusiform gyrus that respond specifically to strings of letters. The posterior fusiform gyrus responds to words and non-words, regardless of their semantic context. The anterior fusiform gyrus is affected by

3124-574: 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

3195-446: The energy needed for computation and therefore potentially reducing the magnitude of the haemodynamic response that is detected by BOLD fMRI. A recent intracranial electrocorticography study shows that the activity in the VWFA goes through multiple stages of processing. Using classification with direct neural recordings from the VWFA, Hirshorn et al. showed that early VWFA activity, from approximately 100-250 milliseconds after reading

3266-535: The event-related potentials with eye movement monitoring, researchers are able to correlate fixations during readings with word recognition in the brain in real-time. Since saccades and fixations are indicative of word recognition, electrooculography (EOG) is used to measure eye movements and the amount of time required for lexical access to target words. This has been demonstrated by studies in which longer, less common words induce longer fixations, and smaller, less important words may not be fixated on at all while reading

3337-426: The eyes are not moving. During saccades, visual sensitivity is diminished, which is called saccadic suppression. This ensures that the majority of the intake of visual information occurs during fixations. Lexical processing does, however, continue during saccades. The timing and accuracy of word recognition relies on where in the word the eye is currently fixating. Recognition is fastest and most accurate when fixating in

3408-412: The function of the VWFA is pre-lexical as it occurs before the word is understood to have meaning. Put forward by Kronbilcher et al. (2004), was based on functional imaging data that showed, in a parametric fMRI study, that a decrease in activation in the left fusiform gyrus was seen in response to an increase in the frequency of the word - where the frequency is how common the word is. This data refutes

3479-471: The importance of repetition in word exposure. This utilizes the frequency effect by increasing the reader's familiarity with the target word, and thereby improving both future speed and accuracy in reading. This repetition can be in the form of flash cards, word-tracing, reading aloud, picturing the word, and other forms of practice that improve the association of the visual text with word recall. Improvements in technology have greatly contributed to advances in

3550-460: The left fusiform gyrus is thought to be the interface in the processing of the words not a dictionary that computes a word based on its form alone, as the lexical word form hypothesis states. This paper also presents evidence that refutes the lexical hypothesis. Another major difference between this hypothesis and the prior ones mentioned is that it is not limited to words alone but to any "meaningful stimulus", in fact non-sensical objects may activate

3621-466: The left occipitotemporal region—particularly the VWFA—may be involved in dyslexics' difficulty with fluid reading. These reading difficulties may also be related to poor connectivity between the VWFA and associated regions in the parietal cortex responsible for visual attention. Word recognition Word recognition , according to Literacy Information and Communication System (LINCS) is "the ability of

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3692-419: The middle of the word. This is due to a decrease in visual acuity that results as letters are situated farther from the fixated location and become harder to see. The word frequency effect suggests that words that appear the most in printed language are easier to recognize than words that appear less frequently. Recognition of these words is faster and more accurate than other words. The word frequency effect

3763-482: 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

3834-490: The point where models of literacy learning can be digitally demonstrated. For example, a computer can now mimic a child's learning progress and induce general language rules when exposed to a list of words with only a limited number of explanations. Nevertheless, as no universal model has yet been agreed upon, the generalizability of word recognition models and its simulations may be limited. Despite this lack of consensus regarding parameters in simulation designs, any progress in

3905-431: The posterior fusiform cortex in order to extract their meaning from higher-level processes. However, the finding that disruption of the VWFA due to surgical lesions or electrical brain stimulation has little impact on a person's ability to extract meaning from non-word stimuli provides strong evidence that the function of the VWFA is primarily restricted to processing words and not "any meaningful stimulus." However, there

3976-419: The previous pre-lexical theory as if the VWFA was pre-lexical one would expect equal activation throughout all frequencies. Instead a lexical theory was proposed where the left fusiform gyrus neurons are thought not to detect words by attempting to match them to stored representations of known words. This would explain the data as more common words would take less time to detect than the less common words, reducing

4047-506: The processes involved in word recognition may enable more specific treatments for individuals with reading disabilities. Bouma shape, named after the Dutch vision researcher Herman Bouma , refers to the overall outline, or shape, of a word. Herman Bouma discussed the role of "global word shape" in his word recognition experiment conducted in 1973. Theories of bouma shape became popular in word recognition, suggesting people recognize words from

4118-465: The reader's area of focus without the reader being made aware. This has provided more information on where the eye focuses when an individual is reading and where the boundaries of attention lie. With this additional information, researchers have proposed new models of word recognition that can be programmed into computers. As a result, computers can now mimic how a human would perceive and react to language and novel words. This technology has advanced to

4189-425: The right posterior inferior temporal sulcus, where the right VWFA (R-VWFA) is thought to be located. This region is active during early stages of reading development, while a non-ASD child of the subject's reading level would be expected to make less use of this region in favor of phonological ("letter-to-sound") processes. Meta-analysis of studies of children and adults with dyslexia suggests that underactivation of

4260-639: 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

4331-563: The same length that differ by only one letter of that word. Serif fonts , i.e.: fonts with small appendages at the end of strokes, hinder lexical access. Word recognition is quicker with sans-serif fonts by an average of 8 ms. These fonts have significantly more inter-letter spacing, and studies have shown that responses to words with increased inter-letter spacing were faster, regardless of word frequency and length. This demonstrates an inverse relationship between fixation duration and small increases in inter-letter spacing, most likely due to

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4402-416: The science of learning to read, psychologist Marilyn Jager Adams wrote that "the single immutable and nonoptional fact about skilful reading is that it involves relatively complete processing of the individual letters of print." The article "The Science of Word Recognition" says that "evidence from the last 20 years of work in cognitive psychology indicates that we use the letters within a word to recognize

4473-403: The semantic context, and whether letter combinations are words or pseudowords (novel letter combinations that mimic phonetic conventions, ex. shing). This role of the anterior fusiform gyrus may correlate to higher processing of the word's concept and meaning. Both these regions are distinct from areas that respond to other types of complex stimuli, such as faces or colored patterns, and are part of

4544-423: The serial recognition model proposes that letters are recognized individually, one by one, before being integrated for word recognition. It predicts that single letters are identified faster and more accurately than many letters together, as in a word. However, this model was rejected because it cannot explain the word superiority effect , which states that readers can identify letters more quickly and accurately in

4615-418: The shape the letters make in a group relative to each other. This contrasts the idea that letters are read individually. Instead, via prior exposure, people become familiar with outlines, and thereby recognize them the next time they are presented with the same word, or bouma. The slower pace with which people read words written entirely in upper-case, or with alternating upper- and lower-case letters, supports

4686-491: The temporal resolution to differentiate between these two stages. Devlin et al. (2006) state that the left posterior fusiform gyrus is not a 'word form area' as such, but instead hypothesizes that the area is dedicated to determining word meaning. That is to say, that this area of the brain is where bottom-up information (visual shapes of words (form), and other visual attributes if necessary) comes into contact with top-down information (semantics and phonology of words). Therefore,

4757-458: The understanding and research in word recognition. New word recognition capabilities have made computer-based learning programs more effective and reliable. Improved technology has enabled eye-tracking, which monitors individuals' saccadic eye movements while they read. This has furthered understanding of how certain patterns of eye movement increases word recognition and processing. Furthermore, changes can be simultaneously made to text just outside

4828-409: The visual representation of the observed word receive excitatory signals. As the mind further processes the appearance of the word, inhibitory signals simultaneously reduce activation to words in one's memory with a dissimilar appearance. This neural strengthening of connections to relevant letters and words, as well as the simultaneous weakening of associations with irrelevant ones, eventually activates

4899-507: The way we recognize words. An article in ScienceDaily suggests that "early word recognition is key to lifelong reading skills". There are different ways to develop these skills. For example, creating flash cards for words that appear at a high frequency is considered a tool for overcoming dyslexia . It has been argued that prosody , the patterns of rhythm and sound used in poetry , can improve word recognition. Word recognition

4970-411: The word superiority effect might result from familiarity with phonetic combinations of letters, rather than the outlines of words, according to psychologists James McClelland and James Johnson. Parallel letter recognition is the most widely accepted model of word recognition by psychologists today. In this model, all letters within a group are perceived simultaneously for word recognition. In contrast,

5041-475: 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

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