This is a quick cheat sheet for the sounds found in Amharic.
There are at least 2 i sounds in Amharic. In terms of all possible i sounds, there is the basic most common i sound, the secondary i sound, and the tertiary i sound, as well as long and nasal forms of each.
| i | i | Like "ee" sound. | i |
| i5 | i$ | German i sound. | y ɨ ʏ |
There is at least 1 e sound in Amharic. In terms of all possible e sounds, there is the basic most common e sound, the secondary e sound, and the tertiary e sound, as well as long and nasal forms of each.
| e | e | Like "day" sound. | e |
There is at least 1 a sound in Amharic. In terms of all possible a sounds, there is the basic most common a sound, the secondary a sound, and the tertiary a sound, as well as long and nasal forms of each.
| a | a | Like "ah" in father sound. | a ɑ ä |
There is at least 1 o sound in Amharic. In terms of all possible o sounds, there is the basic most common o sound, the secondary o sound, and the tertiary o sound, as well as long and nasal forms of each.
| o | o | Like "oh" sound. | o |
There are at least 2 u sounds in Amharic. In terms of all possible u sounds, there is the basic most common u sound, the secondary u sound, and the tertiary u sound, as well as long and nasal forms of each.
| u | u | Like "oo" in "you" sound. | u |
| U | U | Like "uh" in "up" sound. | ə ɞ ɐ ɘ ʌ |
There is at least 1 m sound in Amharic. Notice the English m and mm have a similar shape.
| m | m | Regular m | m |
There is at least 1 n sound in Amharic. Notice the English n and nn have a similar shape.
| n | n | Regular n | n |
There is at least 1 g sound in Amharic.
| g | g | Regular g | ɡ ɢ |
There is at least 1 d sound in Amharic. Notice the English d and dd have a similar shape.
| d | d | Regular d | d |
There is at least 1 b sound in Amharic. Notice the English b and bb have a similar shape.
| b | b | Regular b | b |
There are at least 2 p sounds in Amharic.
| p | p | Regular p | p |
| p93 | p! | Ejective p | pʼ |
There are at least 2 t sounds in Amharic.
| t | t | Regular t | t |
| t05 | t! | Ejective t | tʼ |
There are at least 3 k sounds in Amharic.
| k | k | Regular k | k |
| k93 | k! | Ejective k | kʼ |
| k33 | kw~ | Labialized k | kʷ |
There is at least 1 h sound in Amharic.
| h | h | Regular h | h |
There is at least 1 y sound in Amharic. Notice the English y and yy have a similar shape, although the Tone yy is like a Tone OO with a tail.
| y | y | Regular y | j |
There is at least 1 w sound in Amharic. Notice the English w and ww have a similar shape.
| w | w | Regular w | w |
There is at least 1 ' sound in Amharic. This is a glottal stop in its base form.
| ' | ' | Regular ', used a lot in Hebrew and Arabic, amongst other languages | ʔ |
There is at least 1 sh sound in Amharic.
| x | x | Regular sh | ʃ |
There is at least 1 v sound in Amharic.
| v3 | V | Soft v (pressing just your lips softly together, or lips and teeth) | β |
There is at least 1 f sound in Amharic.
| f | f | Regular f | f |
There is at least 1 l sound in Amharic.
| l | l | Regular l | l |
There is at least 1 s sound in Amharic.
| s | s | Regular s | s |
There is at least 1 z sound in Amharic.
| z | z | Regular z | z |
There is at least 1 j sound in Amharic.
| j | j | Regular j (as in "measure") | ʒ |
There is at least 1 r sound in Amharic.
| r | r | Regular r (trilled or flap) | ɾ |
There is at least 1 dj sound in Amharic.
| dj | dj | Regular dj (as in "judge") | dʒ |
There is at least 1 ch sound in Amharic.
| tx | tx | Regular ch sound (like English "chip") | tʃ |