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The Amharic script - Part 3
We have now looked at all of the consonants in Amharic, and all the 7 vowel orders. There's now only one more variant of each letter which needs to be learnt - the consonant + ʷa form. This form uses the fourth order for each letter, with a horizontal bar added at the bottom. The exception to this rule is ረ, to which the bar is added at the top. The letters ሀ, የ, ኸ, and ፀ do not have a ʷa form.
So, what is this form of the letter used for? It's simply a different way of writing the consonant in its sixth order + ዋ. Because of this, you may see a word spelt with either the sixth order consonant + ዋ, or the ʷa form of the consonant.
An example is the word ïssʷa, which means ‘She’, and This can be spelt either እሷ or እስዋ.
Note that some of these letters, in particular ፗ, are rarely used.
The letters ኀ, ገ, ከ, and ቀ, as well as having a ʷa form, also have four other special forms. These are a ʷi, ʷe, and ʷï form, as well as a final form which is identical in sound to the regular consonant in the seventh order. These forms are very rare, however the consonant + o form is more common than the other three.
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