Note that after /w/ the following vowel, if normally unrounded, is initially rounded. This is particularly noticeable with /ə/ and /ı/.
Examples:
| wədə | 'to' | wıl | 'agreement' | |
| wər | 'month' | wıha | 'water' | |
| wəgən | 'sect' | wısT | 'inside' |
Note 1.3 Consonants
All consonants in Amharic occur short (indicated by a single symbol: r, l, m, etc.) and long (indicated by doubling the symbol: rr, ll, mm, etc.).
The distinction between short (single) and long (doubled) consonants is very important, as it may distinguish otherwise identical words, e.g. /alə/ 'he said', /allə/ 'there is'.
Amharic has twenty-seven consonants which we write with the following symbols:
| Plain: | b c d f g h j k l m n ñ p r s š t w y z ž ' |
| Glottalized: | C K P S T |
Note 1.3.1
Most of the plain consonants have near equivalents either in English or in other familiar languages such as French, Italian or Spanish. Hints on pronunciation are given as necessary:
/b/ has two pronunciations: at the beginning of a word, when doubled, or when immediately following /m/ or /n/ it is like English b in bet. Between vowels or finally the air is not completely stopped, so that a fricative sound results, rather than a stop. This is a bilabial spirant (or fricative) comparable to the b in Spanish Habana. Technically [β].
Examples:
| bet | 'house' | mənbər | 'pulpit' | |
| abbat | 'father' | abəba | 'flower' | |
| wəmbər | 'chair' | gıb | 'goal' |
/c/ represents a sound like that of ch in church.
/g/ like g in gun.
/h/ has three pronunciations which sound somewhat different to a speaker of English:
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