language fact file: Amharic

Amharic is spoken as a language in: Ethiopia

Number of speakers: 60 million (as first and second language)

Learn some: Common pleasantries include ‘selam’ (ሰላም), which means hello, and ‘ameseginalew’ (አመሰግናለሁ), which is thank you.

Fast facts:

Amharic is a semitic language, so has links to Arabic and Hebrew, and has its roots firmly in Africa. It is the world’s second most widely spoken semitic language (after Arabic).

It has a writing system often called Fidel, with more than 200 characters, each of which is made up of a consonant and a vowel. The script dates to between the first and fourth centuries but was adapted for Amharic around the thirteenth or fourteenth century. Thanks to this longevity, there is a wealth of literature available in the language, giving historical and cultural insight.

Outside of Ethiopia, Amharic has particular importance to followers of Rastafarianism, which takes its name from former leader Haile Selassie (whose non-royal name was Ras Täfäri). The language has been linked to the Pan Africanism movement and there have been several reggae songs written in Amharic.