Typing in Amharic

The Amharic keyboard ( ) uses a system where the Amharic sounds are matched to
the English letters (a style called “phonetic”). You can think of how a word sounds in
Amharic and then type it out with English.

Example: typing selam becomes ሰላም

Because Amharic has more sounds than English we sometimes have to adjust this
rule. For example English does not have ‘ጠ’ and the closest similar letter would be
‘t’. In this case you should type with “capital T”:

Example: typing TienaysTlN becomes ጤናይስጥልኝ

Notice that we used capital ‘N’ also for ‘ኝ’ and we needed both “ie” together to make
the 5th ‘ጠ’ letter ‘ጤ’. When the letter you want to type does not appear when you hit
the similar sounding key in English, try using the capital next. If typing the capital
does not work, then try hitting the key two times:

Example: typing sselam becomes ሠላም

Example: typing SSeHey becomes ፀሐይ

Next, when you need to type the extra letters of Amharic like ሏ, ሟ, ኴ you can do so
by typing an extra vowel after a ‘u’:

Example: typing mua becomes ሟ

Example: typing guie becomes ጔ

Finally, we must introduce a special rule for ' (apostrophe). Some words are spelt with
a ሳድስ (6th) letter followed by a vowel, like ርኤ in ገብርኤል. We use the apostrophe
here to type “gebr'iel” to make sure we get “ርኤ” instead of ‘ሬ’.

Example: typing mel'ak becomes መልአክ

Example: typing m'eeraf becomes ምዕራፍ

We also use the apostrophe for Ethiopic numbers, so '1 becomes ፩ and so on. If a ' is
needed in your document just type ' twice. This works for other punctuation as well,
typing ‘;’ once makes ‘፤’ and a second time gives English ‘;’. The typing table shows
how to type all Amharic letters, numbers and punctuation.
 Amharic Typing Table
ዘመደ-
ዘመደ- ዘመደ
ዘመደ-- ዘመደ-
ዘመደ- ዘመደ
ዘመደ-- ዘመደ-
ዘመደ-
ቤተሰብ ግዕዝ ካዕብ
ካዕብ ሣልስ
ሣልስ ራብዕ
ራብዕ ኃምስ
ኃምስ ሳድስ
ሳድስ ሳብዕ
ሳብዕ
ግዕዝ ካዕብ ሣልስ ራብዕ ኃምስ
ሀ ሁ ሂ ሃ ሄ ህ ሆ
ሆይ
he hu hi ha hie h ho
ለ ሉ ሊ ላ ሌ ል ሎ ሏ
ላዊ
le lu li la lie l lo lua
ሐ ሑ ሒ ሓ ሔ ሕ ሖ ሗ
ሐውት
He Hu Hi Ha Hie H Ho Hua
መ ሙ ሚ ማ ሜ ም ሞ ሟ
ማይ
me mu mi ma mie m mo mua
ሠ ሡ ሢ ሣ ሤ ሥ ሦ ሧ
ሠውት
sse ssu ssi ssa ssie ss sso ssua
ረ ሩ ሪ ራ ሬ ር ሮ ሯ
ርእስ
re ru ri ra rie r ro rua
ሰ ሱ ሲ ሳ ሴ ስ ሶ ሷ
ሳት
se su si sa sie s so sua
ሸ ሹ ሺ ሻ ሼ ሽ ሾ ሿ
ሻ-ሳት
xe xu xi xa xie x xo xua
ቀ ቁ ቂ ቃ ቄ ቅ ቆ ቈ ቊ ቍ ቋ ቌ
ቃፍ
qe qu qi qa qie q qo que qui quu qua quie
በ ቡ ቢ ባ ቤ ብ ቦ ቧ
ቤት
be bu bi ba bie b bo bua
ቨ ቩ ቪ ቫ ቬ ቭ ቮ ቯ
ቬ-ቤት
ve vu vi va vie v vo vua
ተ ቱ ቲ ታ ቴ ት ቶ ቷ
ታው
te tu ti ta tie t to tua
ቸ ቹ ቺ ቻ ቼ ች ቾ ቿ
ቻ-ታው
ce cu ci ca cie c co cua
ኀ ኁ ኂ ኃ ኄ ኅ ኆ ኈ ኊ ኍ ኋ ኌ
ኀርም
hhe hhu hhi hha hhie hh hho hue hui huu hua huie
ነ ኑ ኒ ና ኔ ን ኖ ኗ
ነሐስ
ne nu ni na nie n no nua
ኘ ኙ ኚ ኛ ኜ ኝ ኞ ኟ
ኛ-ነሐስ
Ne Nu Ni Na Nie N No Nua
አ ኡ ኢ ኣ ኤ እ ኦ ኧ
አልፍ
a u i ea ie e o ae
ከ ኩ ኪ ካ ኬ ክ ኮ ኰ ኲ ኵ ኳ ኴ
ካፍ
ke ku ki ka kie k ko kue kui kuu kua kuie
ኸ ኹ ኺ ኻ ኼ ኽ ኾ
ኻ-ካፍ
Ke Ku Ki Ka Kie K Ko
 ወ ዉ ዊ ዋ ዌ ው ዎ
ወዌ
we wu wi wa wie w wo
ዐ ዑ ዒ ዓ ዔ ዕ ዖ
ዐይን A / Au / Ai / Aa / Aie / Ae / Ao /
aaa uu ii aa iie ee oo
ዘ ዙ ዚ ዛ ዜ ዝ ዞ ዟ
ዘይ
ze zu zi za zie z zo zua
ዠ ዡ ዢ ዣ ዤ ዥ ዦ ዧ
ዠ-ዘይ
Ze Zu Zi Za Zie Z Zo Zua
የ ዩ ዪ ያ ዬ ይ ዮ
የመነ
ye yu yi ya yie y yo
ደ ዱ ዲ ዳ ዴ ድ ዶ ዷ
ድንት
de du di da die d do dua
ጅ- ጀ ጁ ጂ ጃ ጄ ጅ ጆ ጇ
ድንት je ju ji ja jie j jo jua
ገ ጉ ጊ ጋ ጌ ግ ጎ ጐ ጒ ጕ ጓ ጔ
ገምል
ge gu gi ga gie g go gue gui guu gua guie
ጠ ጡ ጢ ጣ ጤ ጥ ጦ ጧ
ጠይት
Te Tu Ti Ta Tie T To Tua
ጨ- ጨ ጩ ጪ ጫ ጬ ጭ ጮ ጯ
ጠይት Ce Cu Ci Ca Cie C Co Cua
ጰ ጱ ጲ ጳ ጴ ጵ ጶ ጷ
ጰይት
Pe Pu Pi Pa Pie P Po Pua
ጸ ጹ ጺ ጻ ጼ ጽ ጾ ጿ
ጸደይ
Se Su Si Sa Sie S So Sua
ፀ ፁ ፂ ፃ ፄ ፅ ፆ
ፀጳ
SSe SSu SSi SSa SSie SS SSo
ፈ ፉ ፊ ፋ ፌ ፍ ፎ ፏ
አፍ
fe fu fi fa fie f fo fua
ፐ ፑ ፒ ፓ ፔ ፕ ፖ ፗ
ፕሳ
pe pu pi pa pie p po pua

፡ ። ፣ ፤ ፥ ፦ ' , ;
: :: , ; ,, :- ' ' ,,, ;;
፩ ፪ ፫ ፬ ፭ ፮ ፯ ፰ ፱
'1 '2 '3 '4 '5 '6 '7 '8 '9
፲ ፳ ፴ ፵ ፶ ፷ ፸ ፹ ፺ ፻ ፲፻ ፼
'10 '20 '30 '40 '50 '60 '70 '80 '90 '100 '1000 '10000
Typing all languages
Since the creation of the Unicode system for Ethiopic many letters have become
available on the computer. Unicode defines 461 letters for Ethiopic writing in many
languages. This is too many letters for Amharic so to avoid typing unexpected letters
they are not allowed in the Amharic keyboard. However, on the occasion that you
need to type Ethiopic letters outside of Amharic, you can do so with the “Unicode
Keyboard”.

There are two ways to start the Unicode keyboard:

1. Type Ctrl + Alt + Y this should make the icon appear in your task bar
and the Unicode keyboard is ready.
2. Click on the icon in your task bar then select the icon and the
Unicode keyboard is ready.

The typing for letters of other languages are now shown:

Awngi/Blin/Kayla/Kufal/Quara/Qimant/Xamtanga
ጘ ጙ ጚ ጛ ጜ ጝ ጞ
Ge Gu Gi Ga Gie G Go
ⶓ ⶖ ⶔ ጟ ⶕ
Gue Guu Gui Gua Guie

Bench
ⶠ ⶡ ⶢ ⶣ ⶤ ⶥ ⶦ
xxe xxu xxi xxa xxie xx xxo
ⶨ ⶩ ⶪ ⶫ ⶬ ⶭ ⶮ
cce ccu cci cca ccie cc cco
ⶰ ⶱ ⶲ ⶳ ⶴ ⶵ ⶶ
ZZe ZZu ZZi ZZa ZZie ZZ ZZo
ⶸ ⶹ ⶺ ⶻ ⶼ ⶽ ⶾ
CCe CCu CCi CCa CCie CC CCo
Ge’ez
ኅጺር፡
ይዘት ደረት ርክርክ ድፋት ቅናት ጭረት ሒደት ቁርጥ
ርክርክ
᎐ ᎑ ᎒ ᎓ ᎔ ᎕ ᎖ ᎘ ᎙
_1 _2 _3 _4 _5 _6 _7 _8 _0
Punctuation
፧ ፠ ፨
? :+ :#

Ge’ez numbers can also be typed with the Unicode keyboard without requiring the
typing of a ' before a number. This way is a little easier than typing numbers from the
Amharic keyboard.

Me’en/Mursi/Suri/Dizi
ሇ ⶀ ⶁ ⶂ ⶃ ⶄ ቇ ⶅ ⶆ ⶇ ኇ ⶈ ⶉ ⶊ
hoa loa moa roa soa xoa qoa boa toa coa hhoa noa Noa oa
ኯ ዏ ⶋ ዯ ⶌ ⶍ ⶎ ጏ ⶏ ⶐ ⶑ ፇ ⶒ
koa woa zoa yoa doa Doa joa goa Toa Coa Poa SSoa poa

Me’en/Mursi/Suri/Dizi & Historical Oromo/Sidama

ዸ ዹ ዺ ዻ ዼ ዽ ዾ ዿ
De Du Di Da Die D Do Dua

Sebatbeit
ⷀ ⷁ ⷂ ⷃ ⷄ ⷅ ⷆ
qye qyu qye qye qye qye qyo
ⷈ ⷉ ⷊ ⷋ ⷌ ⷍ ⷎ
kye kyu kyi kya kyie ky kyo
ⷐ ⷑ ⷒ ⷓ ⷔ ⷕ ⷖ
Kye Kyu Kyi Kye Kyie Ky Kyo
ⷘ ⷙ ⷚ ⷛ ⷜ ⷝ ⷞ
gye gyu gyi gya gyie gy gyo

ᎀ ᎁ ᎂ ᎃ
mue mui muie muu
ᎄ ᎅ ᎆ ᎇ
bue mue buie buu
ᎈ ᎉ ᎊ ᎋ
fue fue fuie fuu
ᎌ ᎍ ᎎ ᎏ
pue pue puie puu
Tigrinya
ቐ ቑ ቒ ቓ ቔ ቕ ቖ
Qe Qu Qi Qa Qie Q Qo
ቘ ቝ ቚ ቛ ቜ
Que Quu Qui Qua Quie
ዀ ዅ ዂ ዃ ዄ
Kue Kuu Kui Kua Kuie

Installing and Using the Keyboard

The AmharicPowerPack7.exe file contains the Tavultesoft Keyman and font
installer. To begin the installation:

1. Double click it and follow the installation instructions.

2. After successful installation you will find the Tavultesoft Keyman in your
“Programs” menu. To start the keyboard software click:
Start > All Programs
> Tavultesoft Keyman Desktop Light 7.1
> Keyman Desktop Light 7.1
3. Click the icon on the right bottom of your taskbar.
4. Select the icon from the pop-up menu that appears.
5. Select an Ethiopic font and begin typing.