Amharic
Amharic
(አማርኛ)
is a Afro-Asiatic language
with approximately 32M speakers speakers.
It is written using the
Ethiopic (Geʻez)
script.
Its BCP 47 language code is am.
Amharic (አማርኛ, Amariñña) is a Semitic language and the official working language of Ethiopia, the second most populous country in Africa. It is the second-most spoken Semitic language after Arabic, with approximately 32 million native speakers.
Amharic is written in the Ge'ez (Ethiopic) script, an abugida in which each symbol represents a consonant-vowel syllable. Ethiopia is one of the few African countries that has used its own indigenous script throughout recorded history, giving Amharic a rare continuous literary tradition on the continent.
Writing Systems Used for Amharic
Frequently Asked Questions
What alphabet or script does Amharic use?
What direction is Amharic written?
How many people speak Amharic?
What language family does Amharic belong to?
What is the language code for Amharic?
Language Facts
- BCP 47 Code
- am
- ISO 639-3
- amh
- Status
- living
- Speakers
- 32M speakers
- Language Family
- Afro-Asiatic
- Scripts
- 1
- Primary Script
- Ethiopic (Geʻez)
Data sourced from Unicode CLDR and ISO 639-3. Last updated April 20, 2026.