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RV 4 (Rh)

These letters should not be confused with those used for writing English or any other language. Every language has a unique sound system and symbols used to write a language must be defined in terms of that language. However, where the Amharic and English sounds are similar, the same letter is usually used in the transcription as is used in English. This does not mean that the sounds are identical. /l/, for example, is different in English and Amharic, even though the same symbol is used.

The following notes are rough hints on the pronunciation of Amharic. English sounds are given for comparison, or more accurately for contrast, since they are different sounds. Only careful listening and practice can give the student the Amharic sounds. It is also very important to realize the possible diversity of sounds covered by a single symbol, the actual sound being determined by the context.

The Amharic writing system is syllabic: that is to say, each 'letter' represents a consonant followed by a vowel. Since there are seven vowels in Amharic, it follows that there are seven different ways of writing a given consonant, depending on what vowel accompanies it. The writing system will be introduced at a later stage in the course.

In the notes below, the vowel sounds are discussed in the order in which they come in the Amharic syllabary (but the letters are our transcription; they are not letters of the Amharic syllabary).

Note 1.2