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Geʽez

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Ezana stone, written in Geʽez explaining his conquests and accomplishments

GeTemplate:Ayinez (Template:IPAc-en[1] or Template:IPAc-en;[2] Template:Lang Template:Transliteration[3] Template:IPA, and sometimes referred to in scholarly literature as Classical Ethiopic) is an ancient South Semitic language. The language originates from what is now Ethiopia and Eritrea.

Today, GeTemplate:Ayinez is used as the main liturgical language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the Ethiopian Catholic Church, the Eritrean Catholic Church, and the Beta Israel Jewish community.

Hawulti Obelisk is an ancient pre-Aksumite obelisk located in Matara, Eritrea. The monument dates to the early Aksumite period and bears an example of the ancient GeTemplate:Ayinez script.

In one study, Tigre was found to have a 71% lexical similarity to Geʽez, while Tigrinya had a 68% lexical similarity to Geʽez, followed by Amharic at 62%.[4] Most linguists believe that GeTemplate:Ayinez does not constitute a common ancestor of modern Ethio-Semitic languages but became a separate language early on from another hypothetical unattested common language.[5][6][7]

Phonology

Vowels

Geʽez vowels
  Front  Central Back
Close /Template:IPA link/ Template:Transliteration /Template:IPA link/ Template:Transliteration /Template:IPA link/ Template:Transliteration
Mid /Template:IPA link/ Template:Transliteration /Template:IPA link/ Template:Transliteration
Near-open /Template:IPA link ~ Template:IPA link/Template:Efn Template:Transliteration
Open /Template:IPA link ~ Template:IPA link/Template:Efn Template:Transliteration

Template:Notelist

Historically, Template:IPA has a basic correspondence with Proto-Semitic short Template:Transliteration and Template:Transliteration, Template:IPA with short Template:Transliteration, the vowels Template:IPA with Proto-Semitic long Template:Transliteration respectively, and Template:IPA with the Proto-Semitic diphthongs Template:Transliteration and Template:Transliteration.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn In Geʽez there still exist many alternations between Template:IPA and Template:IPA, less so between Template:IPA and Template:IPA, e.g. Template:Lang taloku ~ Template:Lang talawku ("I followed").Template:Sfn

In the transcription employed by the Encyclopaedia Aethiopica, which is widely employed in academia, the contrast here represented as a/ā is represented as ä/a.

Consonants

Transliteration

GeTemplate:Ayinez is transliterated according to the following system (see the phoneme table below for IPA values):

Template:Clear

Because GeTemplate:Ayinez is no longer spoken in daily life by large communities, the early pronunciation of some consonants is not completely certain. Gragg writes that "[t]he consonants corresponding to the graphemes Template:Transliteration (GeTemplate:Ayinez Template:Lang) and Template:Transliteration (GeTemplate:Ayinez Template:Lang) have merged with ሰ and ጸ respectively 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 GeTemplate:Ayinez."Template:Sfn

a verse from Psalm written in GeTemplate:Ayinez
A verse from the book of Psalms written in GeTemplate:Ayinez

A similar problem is found for the consonant transliterated Template:Transliteration. Gragg notes that it corresponds in etymology to velar or uvular fricatives in other Semitic languages, but it is pronounced exactly the same as Template:Transliteration 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.Template:Sfn

The chart below lists Template:IPA and Template:IPA as possible values for Template:Transliteration (Template:Lang) and Template:Transliteration (Template:Lang) respectively. It also lists Template:IPA as a possible value for Template:Transliteration (Template:Lang). These values are tentative, but based on the reconstructed Proto-Semitic consonants that they are descended from.

Phonemes of Geʽez

The following table presents the consonants of the GeTemplate:Ayinez language. The reconstructed phonetic value of a phoneme is given in IPA transcription, followed by its representation in the GeTemplate:Ayinez script and scholarly transliteration.

Geʽez consonants[8]
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Pharyngeal Glottal
Template:Small Template:Small Template:Small Template:Small
Nasal /Template:IPA link/ Template:Lang Template:Transliteration /Template:IPA link/ Template:Lang Template:Transliteration
Stop/
Affricate
voiceless /Template:IPA link/ Template:Lang Template:Transliteration /Template:IPA link/ Template:Lang Template:Transliteration /Template:IPA link/ Template:Lang Template:Transliteration /Template:IPA linkʷ/ Template:Lang Template:Transliteration /Template:IPA link/ Template:Lang Template:Transliteration
voiced /Template:IPA link/ Template:Lang Template:Transliteration /Template:IPA link/ Template:Lang Template:Transliteration /Template:IPA link/ Template:Lang Template:Transliteration /Template:IPA linkʷ/ Template:Lang Template:Transliteration
emphaticTemplate:Efn /Template:IPA link/ Template:Lang Template:Transliteration /Template:IPA link/ Template:Lang Template:Transliteration /Template:IPA link/ Template:Lang Template:Transliteration /Template:IPA link/ Template:Lang Template:Transliteration /Template:IPA link/ Template:Lang Template:Transliteration /kʷ/ Template:Lang Template:Transliteration
Fricative voiceless /Template:IPA link/ Template:Lang Template:Transliteration /Template:IPA link/ Template:Lang Template:Transliteration /Template:IPA link/ Template:Lang Template:Transliteration /Template:IPA link/ Template:Lang Template:Transliteration /Template:IPA linkʷ/ Template:Lang Template:Transliteration /Template:IPA link/ Template:Lang Template:Transliteration /Template:IPA link/ Template:Lang Template:Transliteration
voiced /Template:IPA link/ Template:Lang Template:Transliteration /Template:IPA link/ Template:Lang Template:Transliteration
Approximant /Template:IPA link/ Template:Lang Template:Transliteration /Template:IPA link/ Template:Lang Template:Transliteration /Template:IPA link/ Template:Lang Template:Transliteration /Template:IPA link/ Template:Lang Template:Transliteration

Template:Notelist

GeTemplate:Ayinez consonants in relation to Proto-Semitic

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

Stress

There is no evidence within the script of stress rules in the ancient period, but stress patterns exist within the liturgical tradition(s). Accounts of these patterns are, however, contradictory. One early 20th-century account[9] may be broadly summarized as follows:

  • primary stress only falls on the ultima (the last syllable) or the penult (the second-to-last syllable)
  • in finite verbs (including the imperative), stress falls on the penult: Template:Lang qatálat ("she killed"), Template:Lang nə́gər ("speak!", masculine singular), with the important exception of the 2nd-person feminine plural suffix Template:Lang -kə́n
  • in nouns and adjectives (in citation form), and most adverbs, stress falls on the ultima: Template:Lang nəgúś ("king"), Template:Lang hagár ("city"), Template:Lang Gə́ʽz ("Geʽez"), Template:Lang ṭabíb ("wise"), Template:Lang həyyá ("there"); an exception among adverbs is Template:Lang zə́ya ("here")
  • the suffix -a, marking the construct state or the accusative case (or both), is not stressed: Template:Lang nəgúśa, Template:Lang hagára, Template:Lang Gə́ʽza, Template:Lang ṭabíba
  • cardinal numbers are stressed on the ultima, even in the accusative, e.g. Template:Lang śalastú accusative Template:Lang śalastá ("three")
  • pronouns have rather unpredictable stress, so stress is learned for each form
  • enclitic particles (such as Template:Lang -(ə)ssá) are stressed
  • various grammatical words (short prepositions, conjunctions) and short nouns in the construct state are unstressed

As one example of a discrepancy, a different late 19th-century account[10] says the masculine singular imperative is stressed on the ultima (e.g. Template:Lang nəgə́r, "speak!"), and that, in some patterns, words can be stressed on the third-, fourth- or even fifth-to-last syllable (e.g. Template:Lang bárakata).

Due to the high predictability of stress location in most words, textbooks, dictionaries and grammars generally do not mark it. Minimal pairs do exist, however, such as yənaggərā́ ("he speaks to her", with the pronoun suffix -(h)ā́ "her") vs. yənaggə́rā ("they speak", feminine plural), both written Template:Lang.Template:Sfn

Morphology

Nouns

Geʽez distinguishes two genders, masculine and feminine, the latter of which is sometimes marked with the suffix Template:Lang Template:Transliteration, e.g. Template:Lang Template:Transliteration ("sister"). These are less strongly distinguished than in other Semitic languages, as many nouns not denoting humans can be used in either gender: in translated Christian texts there is even a tendency for nouns to follow the gender of the noun with a corresponding meaning in Greek.Template:Sfn

There are two numbers, singular and plural. The plural can be constructed either by suffixing Template:Lang Template:Transliteration to a word (regardless of gender, but often Template:Lang Template:Transliteration if it is a male human noun), or by using an internal plural.Template:Sfn

Nouns also have two cases: the nominative, which is not marked, and the accusative, which is marked with final Template:Transliteration. As in other Semitic languages, there are at least two "states", absolute (unmarked) and construct (marked with Template:Transliteration as well).

Declension of Template:Lang Template:Transliteration ("elder, chief")
Singular Plural
Absolute
state
Construct
state
Absolute
state
Construct
state
Nominative Template:Lang Template:Transliteration Template:Lang Template:Transliteration Template:Lang Template:Transliteration Template:Lang Template:Transliteration
Accusative Template:Lang Template:Transliteration Template:Lang Template:Transliteration Template:Lang Template:Transliteration Template:Lang Template:Transliteration

As in Classical/Standard Arabic, singular and plural nouns often take the same final inflectional affixes for case and state, as number morphology is achieved via attaching a suffix to the stem and/or an internal change in the stem.

There is some morphological interaction between consonant-final nouns and a pronoun suffix (see the table of suffix pronouns below). For example, when followed by Template:Lang Template:Transliteration ("my"), in both nominative and accusative the resulting form is Template:Lang Template:Transliteration (i.e. the accusative is not Template:Lang Template:Transliteration), but with Template:Lang Template:Transliteration ("your", masculine singular) there's a distinction between nominative Template:Lang Template:Transliteration and accusative Template:Lang Template:Transliteration, and similarly with Template:Transliteration ("his") between nominative Template:Lang Template:Transliteration (< Template:Transliteration) and accusative Template:Lang Template:Transliteration (< Template:Transliteration).Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Internal plural

Internal plurals follow certain patterns. Triconsonantal nouns follow one of the following patterns.

Patterns of internal plural for triconsonantal nounsTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn
(C=Consonant, V=Vowel)
Pattern Singular Meaning Plural
ʾaCCāC Template:Lang Template:Transliteration 'garment' Template:Lang Template:Transliteration
Template:Lang Template:Transliteration 'horse' Template:Lang Template:Transliteration
Template:Lang Template:Transliteration 'house' Template:Lang Template:Transliteration
Template:Lang Template:Transliteration 'fast' Template:Lang Template:Transliteration
Template:Lang Template:Transliteration 'name' Template:Lang Template:Transliteration
ʾaCCuC Template:Lang Template:Transliteration 'country' Template:Lang Template:Transliteration
Template:Lang Template:Transliteration 'ass' Template:Lang Template:Transliteration
ʾaCCəC(t) Template:Lang Template:Transliteration 'rod' Template:Lang Template:Transliteration
Template:Lang Template:Transliteration 'head' Template:Lang Template:Transliteration
Template:Lang Template:Transliteration 'servant, slave' Template:Lang Template:Transliteration
ʾaCāCəC(t) Template:Lang Template:Transliteration 'sheep' Template:Lang Template:Transliteration
Template:Lang Template:Transliteration 'devil' Template:Lang Template:Transliteration
CVCaC Template:Lang Template:Transliteration 'ear' Template:Lang Template:Transliteration
Template:Lang Template:Transliteration 'foot' Template:Lang Template:Transliteration
CVCaw Template:Lang Template:Transliteration 'hand' Template:Lang Template:Transliteration
Template:Lang Template:Transliteration 'father' Template:Lang Template:Transliteration
Template:Lang Template:Transliteration 'brother' Template:Lang Template:Transliteration

Quadriconsonantal and some triconsonantal nouns follow the following pattern. Triconsonantal nouns that take this pattern must have at least one "long" vowel (namely Template:IPA).Template:Sfn

Patterns of internal plural for quadriconsonantal nounsTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn
(C=Consonant, V=Vowel)
Pattern Meaning Singular Plural
CaCāCəC(t) 'virgin' Template:Lang Template:Transliteration Template:Lang Template:Transliteration
'prince' Template:Lang Template:Transliteration Template:Lang Template:Transliteration
'star' Template:Lang Template:Transliteration Template:Lang Template:Transliteration
'window' Template:Lang Template:Transliteration Template:Lang Template:Transliteration
'chicken' Template:Lang Template:Transliteration Template:Lang Template:Transliteration
'night' Template:Lang Template:Transliteration Template:Lang Template:Transliteration
'earth' Template:Lang Template:Transliteration Template:Lang Template:Transliteration
'river' Template:Lang Template:Transliteration Template:Lang Template:Transliteration
'priest' Template:Lang Template:Transliteration Template:Lang Template:Transliteration

Pronominal morphology

In the independent pronouns, gender is not distinguished in the 1st person, and case is only distinguished in the 3rd person singular.

Personal independent pronounsTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn
Singular Plural
1st person Template:Lang Template:Transliteration Template:Lang Template:Transliteration
2nd person masculine Template:Lang Template:Transliteration Template:Lang Template:Transliteration
feminine Template:Lang Template:Transliteration Template:Lang Template:Transliteration
3rd person masculine nominative Template:Lang Template:Transliteration Template:Lang Template:Transliteration,
Template:Lang Template:Transliteration
accusative Template:Lang Template:Transliteration
feminine nominative Template:Lang Template:Transliteration Template:Lang Template:Transliteration,
Template:Lang Template:Transliteration
accusative Template:Lang Template:Transliteration

Suffix pronouns attach at the end of a noun, preposition or verb. The accusative/construct Template:Transliteration is lost when a plural noun with a consonant-final stem has a pronoun suffix attached (generally replaced by the added Template:Transliteration, as in Template:Transliteration, "his"), thereby losing the case/state distinction,[11] but the distinction may be retained in the case of consonant-final singular nouns. Furthermore, suffix pronouns may or may not attract stress to themselves. In the following table, pronouns without a stress mark (an acute) are not stressed, and vowel-initial suffixes have also been given the base Template:Lang Template:IPA in the script.

Suffix pronounsTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn
Default With consonant-final
singular nouns
With consonant-final
plural nouns
noun/prep. verb nominative accusative
Singular 1st person Template:Lang Template:Transliteration Template:Lang Template:Transliteration Template:Lang Template:Transliteration Template:Lang Template:Transliteration, Template:Lang Template:TransliterationTemplate:Efn
2nd person masculine Template:Lang Template:Transliteration Template:Lang Template:Transliteration Template:Lang Template:Transliteration Template:Lang Template:Transliteration
feminine Template:Lang Template:Transliteration Template:Lang Template:Transliteration Template:Lang Template:Transliteration Template:Lang Template:Transliteration, Template:Lang Template:TransliterationTemplate:Efn
3rd person masculine Template:Lang Template:Transliteration Template:Lang Template:Transliteration Template:Lang Template:Transliteration Template:Lang Template:Transliteration
feminine Template:Lang Template:Transliteration Template:Lang Template:Transliteration Template:Lang Template:Transliteration
Plural 1st person Template:Lang Template:Transliteration Template:Lang Template:Transliteration Template:Lang Template:Transliteration Template:Lang Template:Transliteration
2nd person masculine Template:Lang Template:Transliteration Template:Lang Template:Transliteration Template:Lang Template:Transliteration Template:Lang Template:Transliteration
feminine Template:Lang Template:Transliteration Template:Lang Template:Transliteration Template:Lang Template:Transliteration Template:Lang Template:Transliteration
3rd person masculine Template:Lang Template:Transliteration Template:Lang Template:Transliteration Template:Lang Template:Transliteration
feminine Template:Lang Template:Transliteration Template:Lang Template:Transliteration Template:Lang Template:Transliteration

Template:Notelist

Verb conjugation

Person Perfect
Template:Transliteration
Imperfect
Indicative
Template:Transliteration
Jussive
Template:Transliteration
1st person singular Template:Transliteration Template:Transliteration Template:Transliteration
plural Template:Transliteration Template:Transliteration Template:Transliteration
2nd
person
masculine singular Template:Transliteration Template:Transliteration Template:Transliteration
plural Template:Transliteration Template:Transliteration Template:Transliteration
feminine singular Template:Transliteration Template:Transliteration Template:Transliteration
plural Template:Transliteration Template:Transliteration Template:Transliteration
3rd
person
masculine singular Template:Transliteration Template:Transliteration Template:Transliteration
plural Template:Transliteration Template:Transliteration Template:Transliteration
feminine singular Template:Transliteration Template:Transliteration Template:Transliteration
plural Template:Transliteration Template:Transliteration Template:Transliteration

Syntax

Noun phrases

Noun phrases have the following overall order:

(demonstratives) noun (adjective)-(relative clause)

Template:Fs interlinear

Template:Fs interlinear

Adjectives and determiners agree with the noun in gender and number:

Template:Fs interlinear

Template:Fs interlinear

Relative clauses are introduced by a pronoun which agrees in gender and number with the preceding noun:

Template:Fs interlinear

As in many Semitic languages, possession by a noun phrase is shown through the construct state. In Geʽez, this is formed by suffixing the construct suffix Template:Transliteration to the possessed noun, which is followed by the possessor, as in the following examples:Template:Sfn

Template:Fs interlinear

Template:Fs interlinear

Another common way of indicating possession by a noun phrase combines the pronominal suffix on a noun with the possessor preceded by the preposition /la=/ 'to, for':Template:Sfn

Template:Fs interlinear

LambdinTemplate:Sfn notes that in comparison to the construct state, this kind of possession is only possible when the possessor is definite and specific. Lambdin also notes that the construct state is the unmarked form of possession in Geʽez.

Prepositional phrases

Geʽez is a prepositional language, as in the following example:Template:Sfn

Template:Fs interlinear

There are three special prepositions, /ba=/ 'in, with', /la=/ 'to, for', /ʼəm=/ 'from', which always appear as clitics, as in the following examples:

Template:Fs interlinear

Template:Fs interlinear

Template:Fs interlinear

Template:Fs interlinear

These proclitic prepositions in Geʽez are similar to the Hebrew inseparable prepositions.

Sentences

The normal word order for declarative sentences is VSO. Objects of verbs show accusative case marked with the suffix /-a/:

Template:Fs interlinear

Questions with a wh-word ('who', 'what', etc.) show the question word at the beginning of the sentence:

Template:Fs interlinear

Negation

The common way of negation is the prefix Template:Lang ʾi- which descends from ʾəy- (which is attested in Axum inscriptions), from earlier *ʾay, from Proto-Semitic *ʾal by palatalization.Template:Sfn It is prefixed to verbs as follows:

Template:Fs interlinear

Writing system

Template:Main

Genesis 29.11–16 in Geʽez

Geʽez is written with Ethiopic or the Geʽez abugida, a script that was originally developed specifically for this language. In languages that use it, such as Amharic and Tigrinya, the script is called Template:Transliteration, which means script or alphabet.

Geʽez is read from left to right.

The Geʽez script has been adapted to write other languages, usually ones that are also Semitic. The most widespread use is for Amharic in Ethiopia and Tigrinya in Eritrea and Ethiopia. It is also used for Sebatbeit, Meʼen, Agew, and most other languages of Ethiopia. In Eritrea it is used for Tigre, and it is often used for Bilen, a Cushitic language. Some other languages in the Horn of Africa, such as Oromo, used to be written using Geʽez but have switched to Latin-based alphabets. It also uses four series of consonant signs for labialized velar consonants, which are variants of the non-labialized velar consonants:

Basic sign Template:Transliteration Template:Transliteration Template:Transliteration Template:Transliteration
Labialized variant Template:Transliteration Template:Transliteration Template:Transliteration Template:Transliteration

History and literature

Template:See also

Example of Geʽez taken from a 15th-century Ethiopian Coptic prayer book

In addition to the Bible including the Deuterocanonical books, there are many medieval and early modern original texts. Most important works are also the literature of the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church and Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, which include Christian liturgy (service books, prayers, hymns), hagiographies, and Patristic literature. For example, around 200 texts were written about indigenous Ethiopian saints from the fourteenth through the nineteenth century. Traditional education was the responsibility of priests and monks. "The Church thus constituted the custodian of the nation's culture", says Richard Pankhurst, who describes the traditional education as follows:

Template:Blockquote

However, works of history and chronography, ecclesiastical and civil law, philology, medicine, and letters were also written in Geʽez.[12]

Significant collections of Ethiopian manuscripts are found outside of Ethiopia in France, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The collection in the British Library comprises some 800 manuscripts dating from the 15th to the 20th centuries, notably including magical and divinatory scrolls, and illuminated manuscripts of the 16th to 17th centuries. It was initiated by a donation of 74 codices by the Church of England Missionary Society in the 1830s and 1840s, and substantially expanded by 349 codices, looted by the British from the Emperor Tewodros II's capital at Magdala in the 1868 Expedition to Abyssinia. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City has at least two illuminated manuscripts in Geʽez.

Origins

The Ezana Stone, engraved from AD 330 to 356, is written in ancient Geʽez, Sabaean and Greek.

The Geʽez language is classified as a South Semitic language, though an alternative hypothesis posits that the Semitic languages of Eritrea and Ethiopia may best be considered an independent branch of Semitic,[13] with Geʽez and the closely related Tigrinya and Tigre languages forming a northern branch while Amharic, Argobba, Harari and the Gurage languages form the southern branch.Template:Sfn

Inscriptions dating to the mid-1st millennium BCE, written in the Sabaean language in the epigraphic South Arabian script, have been found in the kingdom of Dʿmt, serving at least as a witness to a presence of speakers of Semitic languages in the region. There is some evidence of Semitic languages being spoken in Eritrea since approximately 2000 BC.Template:Sfn Unlike previously assumed, the Geʽez language is now not regarded as an offshoot of Sabaean or any other forms of Old South Arabian.[14]Template:Sfn

Early inscriptions in Geʽez from the Kingdom of Aksum (appearing varyingly in the epigraphic South Arabian script, and unvocalized or vocalized Ethiopic/Geʽez scriptTemplate:Sfn) have been dated to as early as the 4th century CE. The surviving Geʽez literature properly begins in the same century with the Christianization of the Aksum, during the reign of Ezana of Aksum.[12]Template:Sfn The oldest known example of the Geʽez script, unvocalized and containing religiously pagan references, is found on the Hawulti obelisk in Matara, Eritrea.[15] There exist about a dozen long inscriptions dating to the 4th and 5th centuries, and over 200 short ones.Template:Sfn

5th to 7th centuries

The oldest surviving Geʽez manuscript is thought to be the second of the Garima Gospels, dating to the 5th or 6th century.[16][17] Almost all transmitted texts from this early "Aksumite" period are religious (Christian) in nature, and translated from Greek. Indeed, the range and scope of the translation enterprise undertaken in the first century of the new Axumite church has few parallels in the early centuries of Christian history. The outcome was an Ethiopic Bible containing 81 Books: 46 of the Old Testament and 35 of the New. A number of these Books are called "deuterocanonical" (or "apocryphal" according to certain Western theologians), such as the Ascension of Isaiah, Jubilees, Enoch, the Paralipomena of Baruch, Noah, Ezra, Nehemiah, Maccabees, and Tobit. The Book of Enoch in particular is notable since its complete text has survived in no other language; and, for the other works listed, the Ethiopic version is highly regarded as a witness to the original text.

Also to this early period dates Qerlos, a collection of Christological writings beginning with the treatise of Saint Cyril (known as Hamanot Reteʼet or De Recta Fide). These works are the theological foundation of the Ethiopic Church. In the later 5th century, the Aksumite Collection—an extensive selection of liturgical, theological, synodical and historical materials—was translated into Geʽez from Greek, providing a fundamental set of instructions and laws for the developing Axumite Church. Included in this collection is a translation of the Apostolic Tradition (attributed to Hippolytus of Rome, and lost in the original Greek) for which the Ethiopic version provides much the best surviving witness. Another important religious document is Serʼata Paknemis, a translation of the monastic Rules of Pachomius. Non-religious works translated in this period include Physiologus, a work of natural history also very popular in Europe.Template:Sfn

The use of Geʽez is also known from many excavated inscriptions. Six Geʽez inscriptions are known from 6th-century South Arabia, from during the reign of Kaleb of Aksum, the Aksumite king who conquered the Himyarite kingdom. They record his military conquests and contain many religious references, including to biblical figures (such as Jesus, Mary, and David) and scriptural quotations (Isaiah 22:22–23, Psalms 65:16 and 68:2, Matthew 6:33, and with less certainty, Genesis 15:7).[18]

13th to 14th centuries

After the decline of the Aksumites, a lengthy gap follows; Some writers consider the period beginning from the 14th century an actual "Golden Age" of Geʽez literature—although by this time Geʽez was no longer a living language; in particular in the major enterprise of translating an extensive library of Coptic Arabic religious works into Geʽez.

While there is ample evidence that it had been replaced by Amharic in the south and by Tigrinya and Tigre in the north, Geʽez remained in use as the official written language until the 19th century, its status comparable to that of Medieval Latin in Europe.

At this time a lot of works of the Beta Israel had been turned into Hebraized (i.e. written in the Hebrew alphabet) Geʽez, which made the gradual process of Geʽez being the liturgical language of the Beta Israel.Template:Sfn

The Ethiopic Alexander Romance was produced in this period, the most important Geʽez-language Alexander legend, translated from an earlier Arabic recension of the Alexander Romance work.[19] Important hagiographies from this period include:

Also at this time the Apostolic Constitutions was retranslated into Geʽez from Arabic. Another translation from this period is Zena ʼAyhud, a translation (probably from an Arabic translation) of Joseph ben Gurion's "History of the Jews" ("Sefer Josippon") written in Hebrew in the 10th century, which covers the period from the Captivity to the capture of Jerusalem by Titus. Apart from theological works, the earliest contemporary Royal Chronicles of Ethiopia are date to the reign of Amda Seyon I (1314–44). With the appearance of the "Victory Songs" of Amda Seyon, this period also marks the beginning of Amharic literature. The 14th century Kebra Nagast or "Glory of the Kings" by the Neburaʼed Yeshaq of Aksum is among the most significant works of Ethiopian literature, combining history, allegory and symbolism in a retelling of the story of the Queen of Sheba (i.e., Saba), King Solomon, and their son Menelik I of Ethiopia. Another work that began to take shape in this period is the Mashafa Aksum or "Book of Axum".Template:Sfn

15th to 16th centuries

The early 15th century Fekkare Iyasus "The Explication of Jesus" contains a prophecy of a king called Tewodros, which rose to importance in 19th century Ethiopia as Tewodros II chose this throne name.

Literature flourished especially during the reign of Emperor Zara Yaqob. Written by the Emperor himself were Matsʼhafe Berhan ("The Book of Light") and Matshafe Milad ("The Book of Nativity"). Numerous homilies were written in this period, notably Retuʼa Haimanot ("True Orthodoxy") ascribed to John Chrysostom. Also of monumental importance was the appearance of the Geʽez translation of the Fetha Negest ("Laws of the Kings"), thought to have been around 1450, and ascribed to one Petros Abda Sayd — that was later to function as the supreme Law for Ethiopia, until it was replaced by a modern Constitution in 1931.

By the beginning of the 16th century, the Islamic invasions put an end to the flourishing of Ethiopian literature. A letter of Abba ʼEnbaqom (or "Habakkuk") to Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi, entitled Anqasa Amin ("Gate of the Faith"), giving his reasons for abandoning Islam, although probably first written in Arabic and later rewritten in an expanded Geʽez version around 1532, is considered one of the classics of later Geʽez literature.Template:Sfn During this period, Ethiopian writers begin to address differences between the Ethiopian and the Roman Catholic Church in such works as the Confession of Emperor Gelawdewos, Sawana Nafs ("Refuge of the Soul"), Fekkare Malakot ("Exposition of the Godhead") and Haymanote Abaw ("Faith of the Fathers"). Around the year 1600, a number of works were translated from Arabic into Geʽez for the first time, including the Chronicle of John of Nikiu and the Universal History of George Elmacin.

Current usage in Eritrea, Ethiopia and Israel

Geʽez is the liturgical language of Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo, Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo, Ethiopian Catholic and Eritrean Catholic Christians and the Beta Israel, and is used in prayer and in scheduled public celebrations.

The liturgical rite used by the Christian churches is referred to as the Ethiopic Rite[20][21][22] or the Geʽez Rite.[23][24][25][26]

Sample

The first sentence of the Book of Enoch:

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See also

References

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External history

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Phonology and grammar

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Literature

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Dictionaries

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External links

Template:Languages of Ethiopia Template:Semitic languages Template:Jewish languages Template:Authority control

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  7. Amsalu Aklilu, Kuraz Publishing Agency, Template:Lang p. 42
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  12. 12.0 12.1 Template:Cite web
  13. Template:Cite journal
  14. Weninger, Stefan, "Geʽez" in Encyclopaedia Aethiopica: D-Ha, p.732.
  15. Edward Ullendorff, "The Obelisk of Matara", Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, No. 1/2 (April, 1951), pp. 26–32
  16. Template:Cite web
  17. Template:Cite web
  18. Template:Cite journal
  19. Template:Cite journal
  20. Bryan D. Spinks, The Sanctus in the Eucharistic Prayer (Cambridge University Press 2002 Template:ISBN), p. 119
  21. Anscar J. Chupungco, Handbook for Liturgical Studies (Liturgical Press 1997 Template:ISBN), p. 13
  22. Archdale King, The Rites of Eastern Christendom, vol. 1 (Gorgias Press LLC 2007 Template:ISBN), p. 533
  23. Paul B. Henze, Layers of Time: A History of Ethiopia (C. Hurst & Co. 2000 Template:ISBN), p. 127
  24. Erwin Fahlbusch, Geoffrey William Bromiley (editors), The Encyclopedia of Christianity, vol. 2 (Eerdmans 1999 Template:ISBN), p. 158
  25. David H. Shinn, Thomas P. Ofcansky (editors), Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia (Scarecrow Press 2013), p. 93
  26. Walter Raunig, Steffen Wenig (editors), Afrikas Horn (Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, 2005, Template:ISBN), p. 171