Ge'ez Vocabulary Library
A Note on the Ge'ez Script
The Ge'ez language is written using an abugida (an alphasyllabary). This means each character represents a combined consonant-vowel sequence. Unlike an alphabet where vowels are separate letters, every symbol in the lists below carries its own specific vowel sound.
👪 Family (አዝማድ)
| English |
Ge'ez |
Transliteration |
Usage Example |
| Father |
አብ |
Ab |
አብ ቅዱስ (Holy Father) |
| Mother |
እም |
Emm |
እመ አምላክ (Mother of God) |
| Son | ወልድ | Weld | ወልድ ዋሕድ (Only Son) |
| Daughter | ወለት | Welet | ወለተ ብርሃን (Daughter of Light) |
| Brother | እኁ | Ehu | እኁየ ክቡር (My honored brother) |
👋 Greetings (ሰላምታ)
| English |
Ge'ez |
Transliteration |
Usage Example |
| Peace to you | ሰላም ለከ | Selam Leke | ሰላም ለከ ኦ እግዚእ (Peace to you, O Lord) |
| How are you? | እፎ አንተ | Ifo Ante | እፎ አንተ እኁየ (How are you, my brother?) |
| Welcome | በሰላም መጻእከ | Beselam Metsa’ike | በሰላም መጻእከ ኀቤነ (Welcome to us) |
| Go in peace | ሑር በሰላም | Hur Beselam | ሑር በሰላም ፍኖተከ (Go in peace on your way) |
| Thank you | እሴብሐከ | 'Esēbehaka | ስብሐት ለአብ (Praise be to the Father) |
🌦️ Time & Seasons (ጊዜያት)
| English |
Ge'ez |
Transliteration |
Usage Example |
| Year | ዓመት | ‘Amet | ዓመተ ምሕረት (Year of Mercy) |
| Month | ወርኅ | Werh | በውእቱ ወርኅ (In that month) |
| Day | ዕለት | ‘Ilet | ዕለተ ሰንበት (The Sabbath day) |
| Evening | ሰርክ | Serk | ጸሎተ ሰርክ (Evening prayer) |
| Always | ወትረ | Wetre | ስቡሕ ውእቱ ወትረ (He is praised always) |
🏃 Actions & Verbs (ግብራት)
| English |
Ge'ez |
Transliteration |
Usage Example |
| To Say | ብህለ | Bihle | ይቤሎሙ ንጉሥ (The King said to them) |
| To Go | ሖረ | Hore | ሖረ ፍኖቶ (He went his way) |
| To Give | ወሀበ | Wehabe | ወሀበኒ ሰላመ (He gave me peace) |
| To Know | አእመረ | A’imere | አእመረ ልቦሙ (He knew their hearts) |
| To Hear | ሰምዐ | Sem’a | ሰምዐ ቃለ (He heard a voice) |
👤 Body Parts (አካላት)
| English |
Ge'ez |
Transliteration |
Usage Example |
| Head | ርእስ | Re’is | ርእሰ ማዕዘን (Cornerstone) |
| Eye | ዓይን | ‘Ayn | ዓይነ ልብ (The eye of the heart) |
| Hand | እድ | Id | በእደ ሰብእ (By the hand of man) |
| Heart | ልብ | Lib | በኵሉ ልብከ (With all your heart) |
| Foot | እግር | Igir | ታሕተ እግሩ (Under his foot) |
🦁 Animals (እንስሳ)
| English |
Ge'ez |
Transliteration |
Usage Example |
| Lion | አንበሳ | Anbesa | አንበሳ እምነገደ ይሁዳ (Lion of Judah) |
| Ox | ላህም | Lahm | ሐረደ ላህመ (He slaughtered an ox) |
| Sheep | በግዕ | Begi’i | በግዐ መሥዋዕት (Sacrificial sheep) |
| Horse | ፈረስ | Feres | ጸዋሬ ፈረስ (Horse rider) |
| Bird | ዖፍ | Of | አዕዋፈ ሰማይ (Birds of the sky) |