Amharic

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Spoken by:	19 million
Spoken in:	Ethiopia
Language family:	Semitic

Amharic (አማርኛ amarəñña) is spoken by approximately 15 million native and 4 million second language speakers in Ethiopia. It is a member of the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family. After Arabic, it is the second most widely spoken Semitic language in addition to being the 4th largest overall in Africa.

Orthography

It is written using a modified form of the Ge'ez abugida which is called fidäl (meaning: 'script' or 'alphabet').

Sample Text

From Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

\VZ􏰀c􏰀OM􏰀c􏰀KO􏰀c􏰀VZOG􏰀c􏰀QLQ􏰀c􏰀ENEUQ􏰀c􏰀EPEWP􏰀c􏰀DNOQW􏰀c \OZ􏰀 c􏰀 QZ􏰀 c􏰀 \WIXU􏰀 c􏰀 \PVWZOQ􏰀 c􏰀 􏰁OQZ􏰀 c􏰀 VOOZ􏰀 c􏰀 DQG􏰀 c􏰀 OOZQ􏰀 c EZQGPPFQW􏰀c􏰀PQIV􏰀c􏰀PPONW􏰀c􏰀\JEZO􏰀􏰉 DQTL􏰀c􏰀􏰈􏰀􏰈

Common difficulties

The Foreign Service Institute has classified Amharic as a "Hard" language. It is estimated that learning Amharic to a Professional Working Proficiency in the language (a score of Speaking-3/Reading-3 on the Interagency Language Roundtable scale) will take an average of 44 weeks (1100 class hours).

Resources

There is an Foreign Service Institute course for Amharic.