The Amharic alphabet (fidel)

Amharic is written in fidel (ፊደል), a script descended from ancient Ge'ez. It has 33 base characters, each written in 7 vowel forms. Read the chart left to right: the first column is the plain “ä” sound, and each column after it swaps in a different vowel.

	1ä	2u	3i	4a	5e	6(ə)	7o
h	ሀhe	ሁhu	ሂhi	ሃha	ሄhay	ህh	ሆho
l	ለle	ሉlu	ሊli	ላla	ሌlay	ልl	ሎlo
ḥ	ሐḥe	ሑḥu	ሒḥi	ሓḥa	ሔḥay	ሕḥ	ሖḥo
m	መme	ሙmu	ሚmi	ማma	ሜmay	ምm	ሞmo
ś	ሠśe	ሡśu	ሢśi	ሣśa	ሤśay	ሥś	ሦśo
r	ረre	ሩru	ሪri	ራra	ሬray	ርr	ሮro
s	ሰse	ሱsu	ሲsi	ሳsa	ሴsay	ስs	ሶso
sh	ሸshe	ሹshu	ሺshi	ሻsha	ሼshay	ሽsh	ሾsho
q	ቀqe	ቁqu	ቂqi	ቃqa	ቄqay	ቅq	ቆqo
b	በbe	ቡbu	ቢbi	ባba	ቤbay	ብb	ቦbo
t	ተte	ቱtu	ቲti	ታta	ቴtay	ትt	ቶto
ch	ቸche	ቹchu	ቺchi	ቻcha	ቼchay	ችch	ቾcho
h̬	ኀhe	ኁhu	ኂhi	ኃha	ኄhay	ኅh	ኆho
n	ነne	ኑnu	ኒni	ናna	ኔnay	ንn	ኖno
ñ	ኘñe	ኙñu	ኚñi	ኛña	ኜñay	ኝñ	ኞño
ʾ	አe	ኡu	ኢi	ኣa	ኤay	እ	ኦo
k	ከke	ኩku	ኪki	ካka	ኬkay	ክk	ኮko
kh	ኸkhe	ኹkhu	ኺkhi	ኻkha	ኼkhay	ኽkh	ኾkho
w	ወwe	ዉwu	ዊwi	ዋwa	ዌway	ውw	ዎwo
ʿ	ዐe	ዑu	ዒi	ዓa	ዔay	ዕ	ዖo
z	ዘze	ዙzu	ዚzi	ዛza	ዜzay	ዝz	ዞzo
zh	ዠzhe	ዡzhu	ዢzhi	ዣzha	ዤzhay	ዥzh	ዦzho
y	የye	ዩyu	ዪyi	ያya	ዬyay	ይy	ዮyo
d	ደde	ዱdu	ዲdi	ዳda	ዴday	ድd	ዶdo
j	ጀje	ጁju	ጂji	ጃja	ጄjay	ጅj	ጆjo
g	ገge	ጉgu	ጊgi	ጋga	ጌgay	ግg	ጎgo
ṭ	ጠṭe	ጡṭu	ጢṭi	ጣṭa	ጤṭay	ጥṭ	ጦṭo
ch'	ጨch'e	ጩch'u	ጪch'i	ጫch'a	ጬch'ay	ጭch'	ጮch'o
p'	ጰp'e	ጱp'u	ጲp'i	ጳp'a	ጴp'ay	ጵp'	ጶp'o
ts'	ጸts'e	ጹts'u	ጺts'i	ጻts'a	ጼts'ay	ጽts'	ጾts'o
ts	ፀtse	ፁtsu	ፂtsi	ፃtsa	ፄtsay	ፅts	ፆtso
f	ፈfe	ፉfu	ፊfi	ፋfa	ፌfay	ፍf	ፎfo
p	ፐpe	ፑpu	ፒpi	ፓpa	ፔpay	ፕp	ፖpo

Tap the play button on any row to hear its seven forms in order.

How to read the chart

Each row is one consonant. Moving across the row, the base shape is bent, looped, or given a stroke to mark the vowel — so በ is “be”, ቡ is “bu”, ባ is “ba”. The 6th column is the bare consonant with no vowel, used inside clusters and at the end of words.

A few rows (h, ḥ, h̬; s, ś; ts, ts') were separate letters in Ge'ez but are pronounced the same in modern Amharic. You still need to recognize all of them when reading.

Learn to write fidel by hand. The Gursha app teaches each character with guided stroke-order tracing, then builds it into real words and sentences.

Download the app Browse the Amharic dictionary →

Frequently asked questions

What is the Amharic alphabet called?

The Amharic writing system is called fidel (ፊደል). It is an abugida derived from the ancient Ge’ez (Ethiopic) script, also used to write Tigrinya and other Ethiopian and Eritrean languages.

How many letters are in the Amharic alphabet?

There are 33 base consonant characters. Each one is written in 7 forms — one per vowel — which gives roughly 231 core symbols, plus extra labialized forms and Ethiopic numerals.

Is fidel an alphabet or a syllabary?

It is an abugida: each character represents a consonant plus a vowel. You change the vowel by modifying the shape of the base consonant rather than adding a separate letter.

What order do the vowels go in?

The seven columns are the vowel orders: ä, u, i, a, e, ə (bare consonant), and o. The 6th order with no written vowel is used for consonant clusters and word-final consonants.