REPORT ON THE CURRENT STATUS OF
UNITED NATIONS ROMANIZATION SYSTEMS FOR GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES
Compiled by the UNGEGN Working Group on Romanization Systems
Version 2.2, January 2003

Amharic

The United Nations recommended romanization system was approved in 1967 (resolution I/17), based on the Amharic to English Transliteration System (2nd revised edition, August 1962) by the Imperial Ethiopian Mapping and Geography Institute. The table has been published in volume II of the conference report (Second United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names. London, 10-31 May 1972. Vol. II. Technical papers, pp. 165-168 (Table 2)).

In all likelihood the UN-approved system is not being used in present-day Ethiopia. In international cartographic products mostly the BGN/PCGN 1967 system is used which differs from the former mainly by using diacritical marks differently. Often the same spellings are used without any diacritical marks.

Amharic uses the Ethiopic syllabic script whereby each syllable denotes a combination of a consonant and a vowel. It has 34 basic characters, each character having several different forms, usually called orders, according to the vowel with which the basic character is combined. The system is mainly reversible with the exception of some syllables of the 1st order which are pronounced in the same manner as the syllables of the 4th order, and some consonants.

Romanization

Combinations with W and YC:
1 2 3 4 5 6(A) 7 (1) (3) (4) (5) (6) (4)
1 ሀሁሂሃሄህ ሆሇ
haB hu hi ha he hi̠ ho hwa
2 ለሉሊላሌል ሎሏ
le̠ lu li la le li̠ lo lwa
3 ሐሑሒሓሔሕ ሖ
haB hu hi ha he hi̠ ho
4 መሙሚማሜም ሞ ሟ ፙ
me̠ mu mi ma me mi̠ mo mwa mya
5 ሠሡሢሣሤሥሦ
se̠ su si sa se si̠ so
6 ረሩሪራሬር ሮ ሯ ፘ
re̠ ru ri ra re ri̠ ro rwa rya
7 ሰሱሲሳሴስ ሶ ሷ
se̠ su si sa se si̠ so swa
8 ሸሹሺሻሼሽ ሾ ሿ
she̠ shu shi sha she shi̠ sho shwa
9 ቀቁቂቃቄቅ ቆቈቊቋቌቍ
k’e̠ k’u k’i k’a k’e k’i̠ k’o k’we̠ k’wi k’wa k’we k’wi̠
10 በቡቢባቤብ ቦ ቧ
be̠ bu bi ba be bi̠ bo bwa
11 ተቱቲታቴት ቶ ቷ
te̠ tu ti ta te ti̠ to twa
12 ቸቹቺቻቼች ቾ ቿ
che̠ chu chi cha che chi̠ cho chwa
13 ኀኁኂኃኄኅ ኆኈኊኋኌኍ
haB hu hi ha he hi̠ ho hwe̠ hwi hwa hwe hwi̠
14 ነኑኒናኔን ኖ ኗ
ne̠ nu ni na ne ni̠ no nwa
15 ኘኙኚኛኜኝ ኞ ኟ
nye̠ nyu nyi nya nye nyi̠ nyo nywa
16 አኡኢኣኤእ ኦ
aB u i a e i̠ o
17 ከኩኪካኬክኮ ኰኲኳኴኵ
ke̠ ku ki ka ke ki̠ ko kwe̠ kwi kwa kwe kwi̠
18 ኸኹኺኻኼኽ ኾ
he̠ hu hi ha he hi̠ ho
19 ወዉዊዋዌው ዎ
we̠ wu wi wa we wi̠ wo
20 ዐዑዒዓዔዕ ዖ
aB u i a e i̠ o
21 ዘዙዚዛዜዝ ዞ ዟ
ze̠ zu zi za ze zi̠ zo zwa
22 ዠዡዢዣዤዥ ዦ ዧ
zhe̠ zhu zhi zha zhe zhi̠ zho zhwa
23 የዩዪያዬይ ዮ ዯ
ye̠ yu yi ya ye yi̠ yo ywa
24 ደዱዲዳዴድ ዶ ዷ
de̠ du di da de di̠ do dwa
25 ጀጁጂጃጄጅ ጆ ጇ
je̠ ju ji ja je ji̠ jo jwa
26 ገጉጊጋጌግ ጎጐጒጓጔጕ
ge̠ gu gi ga ge gi̠ go gwe̠ gwi gwa gwe gwi̠
27 ጠጡጢጣጤጥ ጦ ጧ
t’e̠ t’u t’i t’a t’e t’i̠ t’o t’wa
28 ጨጩጪጫጬጭ ጮ ጯ
ch’e̠ ch’u ch’i ch’a ch’e ch’i̠ ch’o ch’wa
29 ጰጱጲጳጴጵ ጶ
p’e̠ p’u p’i p’a p’e p’i̠ p’o
30 ጸጹጺጻጼጽ ጾ ጿ
ts’e̠ ts’u ts’i ts’a ts’e ts’i̠ ts’o ts’wa
31 ፀፁፂፃፄፅ ፆ
ts’e̠ ts’u ts’i ts’a ts’e ts’i̠ ts’o
32 ፈፉፊፋፌፍ ፎ ፏ ፚ
fe̠ fu fi fa fe fi̠ fo fwa fya
33 ፐፑፒፓፔፕ ፖ
pe̠ pu pi pa pe pi̠ po
34C ቨቩቪቫቬ ቭቮ
ve̠ vu vi va ve vi̠ vo

Other systems of romanization

The BGN/PCGN 1967 System is practically very close to the system above, except for the diacritical marks used with vowels:
UN BGN/PCGN
1st order e̠e
1st order aā (ሀ hā, ሐ hā, ኀ hā, አ ā, ’ā, ዐ ‘ā)
3rd order iī
5th order eē
6th order i̠ i

Other differences:

  1. The vowel characters in row 16 should be romanized in the BGN/PCGN System ā, u, ī, a, ē, i, and o initially and ’ā, ’u, ’ī, ’a, ’ē, ’i, and ’o in all other positions.
  2. The characters in row 20 should be romanized in the BGN/PCGN System ‘ā, ‘u, ‘ī, ‘a, ‘ē, ‘ or ‘i, and ‘o.
  3. The syllables gwe̠, hwe̠, kwe̠, k’we̠ of the UN system are treated as variations of the syllables go, ho, ko, k’o in the BGN/PCGN system.
  4. For documentation purposes the following consonants may be romanized with diacritical marks in the BGN/PCGN system: ḥ (row 3), š (row 5), ḫ (row 13), ẖ (row 18), t͟s’ (row 31).