LEARN AMHARIC THE LANGUAGE OF THE BLACKS By Dr.

Malaku Emanuel Bayen Some say that the Ethiopian language, Geez, from which Amharic is derived is the oldest written laguage in the world. Others say that Amharic is derived from the Hebrew and the Arabic. Whether Geez is the oldest, and the Hebrew, Arabic and Greek are derived from the Geez, or Geez is derived from the from the Hebrew and arabic is a question still to be settled. We know, however, that a large number of the amharic characters are found in the old Hebrew; also some of the Hreek letters and Arabic words are to be found in the Amnaric. It is quite safe to say that amharic is one of the

oldest laguages in the world. The Call for Amharic There have been constant request from a large number of people, for extension lessons of the Ethiopian language. Amharic, through The Voice of Ethiopia. We are now starting this course. For those whom we will not be able to reach in person, we will be glad to try to simplify the method of learning the Amharic language, so that those who are interested in may aquire a working knowledge of the laguage of the Blacks. The Amharic script is the only pure literature of the Africans in Africa. As a matter of fact it is-one of the main evidences to support the claim that Ethiopia has been the fountain of civilization in Africa. There is no reason the Ethiopian language should not be taught to every Black in the world, for a wealth of historical material of the Black man is found only in this language. In the present issue of the Voice of Ethiopia, we are printing the Amharic alphabet. We have given the prononunciation in English below each letter. Those who wish to learn the language should try to learn to write and recognize these characters by continuous practice. After these characters are learned, a great part of the learning the language may be termed accomplished. In the succeeding lessons we will give conversational Amharic in the simplest form possible. Within the near future, we hope to make records of these lessons so that people may learn them in their himes, and know how to pronounce them correctly. We have in the Amharic alphabet every conceivable sound in any language; therefore, the persons who have learned how to pronounce the Amharic letters will have acquired a power in the lingual and labial production of words in any language, thus making easy for one the process of learning other languages. Since we cannot have textbooks prepared for this purpose at this time, we wil utilize The Voice of Ethiopia in substitution for the textbooks; hence the lessons will be printed every week. By bringing to our people the language, the customs, traditions, and the history of the ancient Ethiopian people, we hope to remind our readers that Ethiopia deserves to exist. We welcome criticisms and suggestions from our readers everywhere. NOTE:---Group 1 ------------ There are three forms of HAH which though written differently, all have the same sound. They are used interchangeably. Groups 4, 13 & 21 --------------- In each of these there are two forms of the letter which are written differently, but pronounced the same.