Ge'ez phonology

Vowels

 * a  < Proto-Semitic *a; later e
 * u < Proto-Semitic *ū
 * i < Proto-Semitic *ī
 * ā < Proto-Semitic *ā; later a
 * e < Proto-Semitic *ay
 * ə < Proto-Semitic *i, *u
 * o < Proto-Semitic *aw

Also transliterated as.

The interpretation of the Geʻez writing system
Geʻez is transliterated according to the following system:

Because Geʻez is no longer a spoken language, the pronunciation of some consonants is not completely certain. Gragg (1997:244) writes "The consonants corresponding to the graphemes (Geʻez ) and  (Geʻez ) have merged respectively with /s/ and // in the phonological system represented by the traditional pronunciation—and indeed in all modern Ethiopian Semitic.  ... There is, however, no evidence either in the tradition or in Ethiopian Semitic [for] what value these consonants may have had in Geʻez."

A similar problem is found for the consonant transliterated ḫ. Gragg (1997:245) notes that it corresponds in etymology to velar or uvular fricatives in other Semitic languages, but it was pronounced exactly the same as ḥ in the traditional pronunciation. Though the use of a different letter shows that it must originally have had some other pronunciation, what that pronunciation was is not certain.

The chart below lists /ɬ/ and /ɬ'/ as possible values for Geʻez and Geʻez  respectively. It also lists /χ/ as a possible value for. These values are tentative, but based on the Proto-Semitic consonants that they are descended from.

Phonemes of Geʻez
In the chart below, IPA values are shown. When transcription is different from the IPA, the character is shown in angular brackets. Question marks follow phonemes whose interpretation is controversial (as explained in the preceding section).


 * 1) In Geʻez, Emphatic consonants are phonetically ejectives. As is the case with Arabic, emphatic velars may actually be phonetically uvular ( and ).

Geʻez consonants in relation to Proto-Semitic
Geʻez consonants have a triple opposition between voiceless, voiced, and ejective (or emphatic) obstruents. The Proto-Semitic "emphasis" in Geʻez has been generalized to include emphatic. Geʻez has phonologized labiovelars, descending from Proto-Semitic biphonemes. Geʻez   Sawt (in Amharic, also called ', i.e. the se letter used for spelling the word ' "king") is reconstructed as descended from a Proto-Semitic voiceless lateral fricative. Like Arabic, Geʻez merged Proto-Semitic š and s in (also called : the se letter used for spelling the word isāt "fire"). Apart from this, Geʻez phonology is comparably conservative; the only other Proto-Semitic phonological contrasts lost may be the interdental fricatives and ghayin.