Unit 1
Amharic
| In making the /e/ the center of the tongue is raised almost to the roof of the mouth. Consonants immediately preceding this vowel may be slightly palatalized, that is, the tongue is close to the position it takes for y, so that the consonants have a slight y off-glide: by, sy, hy, etc. | ||||
| Technically: | a higher-mid front unrounded vowel [e] | |||
| /ı/ | may be best compared with a regular pronunciation of the u of just in just a minute. | bırr dıbb sım |
'dollar' 'bear' 'name' | |
| Technically: | a lower-high central unrounded vowel [ɨ] | |||
| In initial position (at the beginning of an utterance) this vowel is voiceless and may be heard as a breathed glide to the following sound. | ıbakkıwo ızziya ızzih |
'please' 'there' 'here' | ||
| /o/ | something like the o of note but short, rounded from the beginning and without the w glide of English after the vowel. Consonants preceding /o/ are usually labialized, that is, are pronounced with rounded lips, resulting in a slight w off-glide: bw, pw, kw, etc. |
mənor ıngócca doro |
'to live' 'bread' 'chicken' | |
| Technically: | a mean-mid back unrounded vowel [Ω] | |||
Vowels in Amharic are generally short. When final or followed by only one consonant they may be longer than when followed by two consonants, or by a long (double) consonant.
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