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The Full Fidel & the Lord's Prayer
ጸሎተ፡ አቡነ — Lesson Two

Now that you know the seven orders, here is the complete Ge'ez consonant chart — every letter you will ever need to read — followed by your first passage of scripture: the opening of the Lord's Prayer.

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In Lesson One you learned the engine of the script: one consonant, seven orders, seven vowels. That single pattern is all you need — apply it to every consonant and the entire writing system opens before you. This lesson gives you the complete set.

Quick recap — the seven vowels

1 ä 2 u 3 i 4 a 5 e 6 ə 7 o

I.The complete consonant chart

Classical Ge'ez has 26 base consonants. Each one is shown below across all seven orders — the full ፊደል, 182 characters. Read each row left to right and you will hear the vowels march in the same order every time.

↔ On a phone, swipe the chart sideways to see all seven orders.

Consonant 1stä 2ndu 3rdi 4tha 5the 6thə 7tho
hhäሀሁሂሃሄህሆ
lläለሉሊላሌልሎ
ḥḥäሐሑሒሓሔሕሖ
mmäመሙሚማሜምሞ
śśäሠሡሢሣሤሥሦ
rräረሩሪራሬርሮ
ssäሰሱሲሳሴስሶ
qqäቀቁቂቃቄቅቆ
bbäበቡቢባቤብቦ
ttäተቱቲታቴትቶ
ḫḫäኀኁኂኃኄኅኆ
nnäነኑኒናኔንኖ
ʾʾäአኡኢኣኤእኦ
kkäከኩኪካኬክኮ
wwäወዉዊዋዌውዎ
ʿʿäዐዑዒዓዔዕዖ
zzäዘዙዚዛዜዝዞ
yyäየዩዪያዬይዮ
ddäደዱዲዳዴድዶ
ggäገጉጊጋጌግጎ
ṭṭäጠጡጢጣጤጥጦ
ṗṗäጰጱጲጳጴጵጶ
ṣṣäጸጹጺጻጼጽጾ
ṣ́ṣ́äፀፁፂፃፄፅፆ
ffäፈፉፊፋፌፍፎ
ppäፐፑፒፓፔፕፖ
Why some letters look like twins. In the modern Ethiopian reading tradition several letters share a sound even though they are written differently: ሀ ሐ ኀ are all read h; ሰ and ሠ are both s; ጸ and ፀ are both ts; አ and ዐ both carry the plain vowel. They preserve distinctions from the ancient language and from the spelling of sacred words — so you keep all of them when you write, even though your tongue treats them alike.

II.Your first passage of scripture

The Lord's Prayer — ጸሎተ አቡነ (ṣälotä abuna, "the Prayer of Our Father") — is the most beloved prayer in Christendom, and in the Ethiopian Church it is prayed in Ge'ez. Here is its opening, line by line.

አቡነ፡ ዘበሰማያት።
abuna zä-bä-sämayat
Our Father, who art in heaven,
ይትቀደስ፡ ስምከ።
yətqäddäs səməkä
hallowed be thy name;
ትምጻእ፡ መንግሥትከ።
təmṣaʾ mängəśtəkä
thy kingdom come;
ወይኩን፡ ፈቃድከ።
wä-yəkun fäqadəkä
thy will be done —
በከመ፡ በሰማይ፡ ከማሁ፡ በምድር።
bäkämä bä-sämay kämahu bä-mədr
as in heaven, so on earth.

The first line, word by word

አቡነ
abuna
our Father
ዘ
zä
who / which
በ
bä
in
ሰማያት
sämayat
the heavens

Notice three habits of Ge'ez you can already spot: the ending -ከ (-kä) means "thy" — it appears on ስምከ (thy name), መንግሥትከ (thy kingdom), and ፈቃድከ (thy will). The little letter ወ (wä, "and") again rides at the front of a word. And ዘ (zä) is the relative "who/which," joining "Father" to "in heaven."

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Study Guide & Self-Check

Try each from memory, then open the answer.

  1. How many base consonants does classical Ge'ez have, and how many characters in the full Fidel?
  2. Name the three letters all pronounced h in the modern reading tradition.
  3. What does the ending -ከ add to a word? Give one example from the prayer.
  4. Read aloud and translate: ስምከ
  5. What does ዘ mean, and what work does it do in the first line?
Answer 1

26 base consonants; 26 × 7 = 182 characters in the full Fidel.

Answer 2

ሀ, ሐ, and ኀ — all read h, though they remain distinct in writing.

Answer 3

-ከ (-kä) means "thy / your." Example: ስምከ = "thy name" (also መንግሥትከ, ፈቃድከ).

Answer 4

ስ (s) + ም (m) + ከ (kä) = səm-kä → "thy name."

Answer 5

ዘ (zä) is the relative pronoun "who / which." It links "our Father" to "in the heavens": Father — who — in heaven.

How to practice this week

Pick three rows of the chart each day and write them out by hand until the seven shapes flow. Then read the prayer's opening aloud, slowly, pointing to each word. By week's end, try to spot the -ከ ending and the word ወ wherever they appear — recognizing small recurring pieces is how fluent reading begins.

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"The Full Fidel & the Lord's Prayer — Lesson Two" © Abyssinian Orthodox University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. You are free to copy, share, translate, and adapt this lesson for any purpose, provided you credit Abyssinian Orthodox University and indicate any changes.