Ge'ez (also known as Classical Ethiopic) is the ancient liturgical language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, with a written tradition spanning over 2,000 years. It is still used today in worship, prayer, and scripture.

How can I translate Ge'ez to English?

You can request professional Ge'ez to English translation services at Geez Online (geezonline.com/translate/). The service is provided by a native Ge'ez speaker with theological training.

What is the Ge'ez alphabet?

The Ge'ez alphabet (fidel) is an Abugida script where each consonant has seven vowel forms. It consists of 33 basic consonants, each with 7 orders, creating over 200 characters.

What are Ge'ez numerals?

Ge'ez numerals are the ancient Ethiopian number system using characters like ፩ (1), ፪ (2), ፲ (10), ፻ (100), and ፼ (10,000). A free Ge'ez numeral calculator is available at geezonline.com/tools/calculator.html.

Adjectives in Ge'ez: The Architecture of Description (Qitsil)

The Ge'ez adjective system (Qitsil) gives each noun its quality, number, origin, and syntactic role. A comparative study with English adjectives.

References

Ethiopian Sources

ʾAfeWerq Zewde (ʾAba). ሀገረ-መጻሕፍት ሰዋሰው ግእዝ ወዐማርኛ. Addis Ababa: Tensae Publishing House, 1982 EC.
Dase Keleb (Memhr). ትንሣኤ ግእዝ. Mahbere Qidusan, Sunday Schools Department of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (EOTC), 2012 EC.
Liqe Hiruyan Beley Mekonnen. ሕያው ልሳን ግዕዝ-አማርኛ መዝገበ ቃላት. Addis Ababa: Mahbere Qidusan, 2018 EC.
መጽሐፈ ሰዋሰው መጽሔተ አእምሮ. Addis Ababa: Tesfa Gebre Selassie Printing House, 1982 EC.
Yeshaneh Tariku (Memhr). ልሳነ ልሳናት ልሳነ ግእዝ መጽሐፈ ረዳኢ. 2015 EC.
Metsehaf Qedus: Ge'ez Bible. Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church Patriarchate, 1980.

English Reference Works

Lambdin, Thomas O. Introduction to Classical Ethiopic. Harvard Semitic Studies No. 24. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1978.
Butts, Aaron Michael. "Gǝʿǝz (Classical Ethiopic)." In The Semitic Languages: An International Handbook, edited by Stefan Weninger, 117–153. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2011.
Quirk, Randolph, Sidney Greenbaum, Geoffrey Leech, and Jan Svartvik. A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. London: Longman, 1985.

Companion Articles

Tadasea, Samuel. "Nouns and the Concept of Naming (Seme) in Ge'ez." Published on Geez Online.
Tadasea, Samuel. "A Comparative Study of Nouns in Ge'ez and English: Where Two Linguistic Worlds Meet." Published on Geez Online.
Tadasea, Samuel. "Pronouns in Ge'ez: The Meraḥyan (Leaders) of Grammar." Published on Geez Online.

Author: Samuel Tadasea (B.Th, B.Sc) is a postgraduate student pursuing a Master's degree in Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church Dogmatic and Scriptural Studies. He is the founder of Geez Online, offering professional Ge'ez-to-English manuscript translation and free Ge'ez language tools.

If you have a Ge'ez manuscript you would like translated, contact ethiopicgeez@gmail.com or use the translation request form.