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Ge’ez is to Ethiopia as Latin is to the west

Source (MEDREK)
Ge’ez is to Ethiopia as Latin is to the west. Ge’ez, like Latin, was not used as a spoken language for a very long time. But like Latin, Ge’ez is the precursor of Ethiopia’s three major Semitic languages:

“In order to convey an idea of the relationship of Amharic, Tigrinya and Tigré towards each other and towards Ge’ez, we might enlist the helpful parallel of the Romance languages. If Ge’ez is compared to Latin, Tigrinya takes the place of Italian (both because it is most closely akin to the ‘parent’ tongue and also on account of its continuance in the original home). Tigré would then be likened to Spanish and Amharic to French.’’ (Edward Ullendorff qtd. in Buxton 31).

Amharic is the official language of Ethiopia and it is spoken most widely in the northwest and central part of the country. Tigrinya is mostly spoken in northern and northeastern Ethiopia. Tigré is spoken in the independent nation of Eritrea, formerly part of Ethiopia (Pankhurst 7-).

The south Arabian immigrants brought with them the Sabean language into Ethiopia sometime early in the first millennium BCE, possibly by the Aguezat settlers (Doresse 23). By early in the next millennium, a distinctive Ethiopian version, influenced by the indigenous Cushitic peoples, was being used in stone inscriptions (Hetzron 242).

Tigrigna is so geez, many semitic lanaguage experts simply prefer to call it a " geez dialect". I`ve also known people who were experts in geez, and who speak Tigre,Tigrigna and Amharic . Non of them disputed the well-known fact, that Tigrigna is above 95% geez. Amharic , being a derivative of Tigrigna, Agew and geez is 75% semitic. While Tigre is about 70 Tigrigna/Geez , its remaining 30%is derived from the Hadandewa language groups(hidareb, forexample) . Tigrigna is also much older than Tigre and Amharic.

Southern and Eastern Tigrayans speak a kind of Tigrigna, which has identical accent to geez. Central Tigrayans , Wesetern Tigrayans and Merebmilashans have similar accent, which is but a bit different from geez`s. Forexample, instead of "l" " Le" or" la", they`ll say , "n" " ne" or "na"; as in, natey nabey, naymen, nmen, nef'qrey etc). However, In such cases, geez uses "l" " le" or "la" as prefixes. Southern and Eastern Tigrayans likewise, will do the same. So in such cases, they will say: latey, labey, laymen, l'men, lefiqrey, etc) .

Such minor differences are the reason why, people like DTW, who do not understand geez, continue to belittle the Tigrigna that is spoken in some parts of Tigray. People like him are so ignorant, by belittling the Tigrigna accent that is identical to geez, they are weakening the primal link Tigrigna has with geez. But on the other hand, because Tigre uses such accents, they consider it as a a proof of its closer relation to geez. what a hyopcrisy!!!

Your problem is that you assume amharic is owned by amhara. A language is owned by its speakers. More people speak amharic than just the amharas. Therefore, we amharic speakers all feel the same sense of ownership you feel. I hope this would help you correct your defensive posturing and your feeling of exclusive ownership of the language.

It was Emperor Yohannes, who had elevated Amharic to a dejure national language and that he also had contributed immensely to its wide-spread acceptance throughout the country, he would have understood that Tigrayans have a birth and a legal right- may be even more than anyone else in Ethiopia, to claim Amharic as their own.

As Amharic is" Tigrigna mixed with Agew", Tigrayans and Agews are its primary owners. Also,these are the two main groups of people who contributed to Amharic's expansion,starting / during the 70-years of Zemene mesafint,and until the late 19th century. This latter piece of information may be knew to Liku and to many others here, but as it is a very long story to expound on, at this time I WOULD prefer to simply point it out for the record and to leave it as is.

Before I go to work , let me give you some historical examples, that may show you as to why Tigrayans always felt "Amharic was theirs":

Throughout the last few hundred years, the Tigrayan ruling elites treated Amharic as their own language. Forexample, Ras Sehul Mikael`s Army, which was largely from today`s Artera, Lasta And Tigray did not only speak in Amharic, but it was also officially known as "Serawite Ze Amhara".

PS, Tedros can be credited for making Amharic the " defacto National language of the Habesha people`s - ( but as pointed above, not a "dejure national language", as this was done by Yohannes).

Minilik can be credited for Expanding it to the deep south,albeit it was done in haste and by force of gun But, Emperor H.selassie is the one who had expanded it like wild fire-( through the use of new mass media & the new school system)) . E. Haileselassie is also the one who started modernizing it - beyond rercognition. His was Ethiopian modernists` Era).

A little tidbit : ... "The Emperor- himself having been born and raised in Harar, is thought to have imposed his own dialect , the version of Amharic that was re-incubated in Harar."

Sehul Mikael is credited for starting Ethiopia`s modern army(James Bruce). His soldiers were well-armed, uniformed and salaried. And as as I said before, not only did they speak in Amharic, but they were also known as "Serawite ze Amhara".

All the different Armies that were created After Sehul Mikael- be that of his children's and grandchildren's, or of those who took power from them : Ras weldeSelassie`s, Ras Sebagadis`, Nigus/RAs/Dejat wuhbe`s , Ali`s , Tedros` and Yohannes` Armies all spoke in Amharic. It is these modern Armies that had immensely contributed to the expansion of Amharic. Even today, the era of the hypermedia, it is our gallant defense forces who are quietly and discreetly taking Amharic to every remote Ethiopian village.

Therefore, Amharic is not just our lingua franka, it is also the software for our national defense. So at the very least- even at a future time when the 80 Ethiopian languages are declared ethiopia`s national languages, Amharic will always remain to be the language of our soldiers and the federal gov`s.

Besides the aforementioned history and Amharic`s upperhand in the status quo, practicality dictates, " there is no better alternative to Amharic from now on!".

The earliest known inscripts of Gi-ez are dated to the 3rd century AD in South Arabian Script which lacked vowels. About the time of king Ezana (4th century AD) the South Arabian Script was modified to include vowels , and some writers credit him with this charge.

The Gi-ez language is generally considered a South Semetic language. It has replaced the Sabaean language and alphabet. Gi-ez was in turn replaced around 13th century AD by the Amharic language in the south and the Tigrigna language in the north. The Tigre (Eritrea) language also uses the Gi-ez alphabet and is more closely related to Gi-ez than either Tigrigna and Amharic.

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