Amharic

Dictionary: Am·har·ic (ăm-hăr'ĭk, äm-hä'rĭk) pronunciation

A Semitic language that is the official language of Ethiopia.

[After Amhara, a former kingdom of northwest Ethiopia.]

Amharic Am·har'ic adj.

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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Amharic language

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Semitic language of Ethiopia. Amharic is spoken by more than 18 million people as a first language and is used as a lingua franca throughout much of central highland Ethiopia. Its status as a de facto national language is largely due to the long dominance of the Ethiopian monarchy by Amhara sovereigns. Amharic is written in a modified form of the partly syllabic, partly alphabetic script used to write Ge'ez, the classical language of Christian Ethiopian civilization (see Ethiopic languages). Though manuscripts in Amharic are known from the 14th century, the language has only recently been used as a general medium for literature, journalism, and education.

For more information on Amharic language, visit Britannica.com.

Columbia Encyclopedia: Amharic

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Amharic (ămhâr'ĭk) , language of Ethiopia belonging to the South Ethiopic group of South Semitic languages, which, in turn, belong to the Semitic subfamily of the Afroasiatic family of languages (see Afroasiatic languages). The official tongue of Ethiopia since the 14th cent., Amharic is spoken by about 20 million people in that country. Amharic employs a modification of the Ethiopic script (see Ethiopic). The earliest extant texts in Amharic go back to the 14th cent. Amharic has been considerably influenced in its grammar and vocabulary by the nearby Cushitic tongues.

Bibliography

See W. Leslau, Amharic Textbook (1968); C. A. Ferguson, The Ethiopian Language Area (1971); W. Leslau, Concise Amharic Dictionary (1980).

WordNet: Amharic

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Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: the dominant and official language of Ethiopia; a semitic language much influenced by the Cushitic language with which Amhara people have been in close contact
Synonym: Ethiopian language

The adjective Amharic has one meaning:

Meaning #1: related to or characteristic of or written in Amharic
Pertains to noun: Amharic (meaning #1)

Translations: Amharic

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - amharisk, det amhariske sprog
adj. - amharisk

Nederlands (Dutch)
Amharisch (taal van Ethiopië)

Français (French)
n. - Amharique
adj. - amharique

Deutsch (German)
n. - Amharisch
adj. - amharisch

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - αμαρική γλώσσα
adj. - αμαρικός

Italiano (Italian)
(ling.) amarico, etiopico

Português (Portuguese)
n. - amárico (m)
adj. - amárico

Русский (Russian)
амхарец, амхарский

Español (Spanish)
n. - amhárico
adj. - amhárico

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - amhariska
adj. - amharisk

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
阿比西尼亚官话, 阿比西尼亚的, 阿比西尼亚官话的

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 阿比西尼亞官話
adj. - 阿比西尼亞的, 阿比西尼亞官話的

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 암하라말(아비시니아의 공용어)
adj. - 암하라 말의

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - アムハラ語
adj. - アムハラ語の

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) الأمهريه (صفه) لغه الحبشه الرسميه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮אמהרית, השפה הרשמית באתיופיה‬
adj. - ‮של האמהרית‬

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		Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more
		Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more
		Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/ Read more
		WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. Read more
		Translations. Copyright © 2007, WizCom Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved. Read more