Besides the symbols we already studied with their seven orders, there are special symbols for the combination of certain consonants and the sound “wa”.
The “letters wa” are formed by adding an horizontal or vertical line on top or under the simbol. This is the list of letters, and some of them have a variation in writing:
|
|
Besides these letters, the consonants k’, k, g and h also have special symbols for the combinations with the sounds wä, wi, we, and wï:
k’wä![]() |
k’wi![]() |
k’we![]() |
k’wï![]() |
kwä ![]() |
kwi![]() |
kwe![]() |
kwï![]() |
gwä![]() |
gwi![]() |
gwe![]() |
gwï![]() |
hwä![]() |
hwi![]() |
hwe![]() |
hwï![]() |
Note that the forms “wi” and “we” are rarely used in Amharic.
Also the letters “wä” (k’wä, kwä, gwä, hwä) are very similar in pronunciation to the seventh order of those consonants that is to say k’o, ko, go, and ho, and there are sometimes replaced in written Amharic.
In the same way, the letters “wï” (k’wï, kwï, gwï k’wï, hwï) are pronounced similar to the second order of those consonants k’u, ku, gu and hu and they are also replaced in writing:
|
|
There is also another way to write the “wa letters” that many people prefer instead of using the “wa” symbols and that is by writing a combination of the sixth order of the consonant followed by the letter (wa), or sometimes the second order of the consonant again followed by the letter
(wa), for example the word t’wat (early morning) can be written:
![]() ![]() t’wa + t |
![]() ![]() ![]() t’ + wa + t |
![]() ![]() ![]() t’u + wa + t |
Regarding the handwritten versions of these letters, my way of writing the “wa letters” is first writing the symbol where they come from and then adding an horizontal line where it corresponds, for example:
AliciA
No user commented in " Amharic - The letters Wa "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackLeave A Reply