Geez
ግዕዝ
Geez was an Afro-Asiatic language once spoken in Ethiopia and Eritrea.
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Geʽez ( or ; ግዕዝ Gəʽ(ə)z [ˈɡɨʕ(ɨ)z]), sometimes referred to in scholarly literature as Classical Ethiopic, is an ancient South Semitic language. The language originates from what is now Ethiopia and Eritrea.
As of today, Geʽez is used as the main liturgical language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the Ethiopian Catholic Church, the Eritrean Catholic Church, and the Beta Israel Jewish community.
The first inscription of Ge'ez is from the Hawulti Obelisk in the historic region of Akele Guzay. It is an ancient pre-Aksumite obelisk located in ancient city of Metera in Eritrea. The monument dates tentatively to circa 400 CE in the early Aksumite period and bears the first known example of the ancient Geʽez script.
From Wikipedia · Geʽez · CC BY-SA 4.0
Words in Geez
| Meaning | Word | Romanization |
|---|---|---|
| father | ኣብ | ʾab |
| child | ወልድ | wäld |
| man | ዕድ | ʿəd |
| ear | እዝን | ʾəzn |
| tongue | ልስሳን | ləssan |
| hand | እድ | ʾəd |
| heart | ልብ | ləb |
| head | ርእስ | rəʾs |
| blood | ደም | däm |
| bone | ዐፅም | ʿäṣ́m |
| knee | ብርክ | bərk |
| liver | ከብድ | käbd |
| water | ማይ | may |
| fire | እሳት | ʾəsat |
| sun | ፀሐይ | ṣ́äḥäy |
| star | ኮከብ | kokäb |
| sky | ሰማይ | sämay |
| wind | ነፋስ | näfas |
| stone | እብን | ʾəbn |
| mountain | ደብር | däbr |
| sea | ባሕር | baḥr |
| tree | ዕፅ | ʿəṣ́ |
| leaf | ቈጽል | ḳʷäṣl |
| night | ሌሊት | lelit |
| dog | ከልብ | kälb |
| cat | ድመት | dəmät |
| fish | ዓሣ | ʿaśa |
| bird | ዖፍ | ʿof |
| horse | ፈረስ | färäs |
| pig | ሐሣም | ḥäśam |
Nearby languages
Elsewhere
Glottolog · geez1241 · Wikipedia (English) · Ethnologue · gez