Amharic: The Language of Ethiopian Kings, Novels and "Wax and Gold"
Written in the ancient Ge'ez script and spoken by tens of millions, Amharic is Ethiopia's working language, with a literary tradition famous for poetry that hides a second meaning.
An Amharic poet once wrote a couplet that seemed, on the surface, to praise a dish of food. Listeners who knew the language well heard something else entirely: a sharp joke about a powerful man. This double meaning has a name in Ethiopian tradition: säm-ənna wärq — "wax and gold." It is the art of saying two things at once, and it captures something essential about Amharic, one of Africa's most important languages.
What is Amharic?
Amharic (Amarəñña) is a Semitic language — part of the same family as Arabic, Hebrew and Tigrinya — spoken mainly in Ethiopia. It is the first language of tens of millions of people, especially in the Amhara region and in cities, and is spoken as a second language by many millions more across the country's many ethnic groups.
Amharic is the working language of Ethiopia's federal government, used in national institutions, much of the media and in schools in many regions. Ethiopia has more than 80 languages, and several, including Afaan Oromoo, Tigrinya and Somali, are also official working languages at regional level or are being expanded at federal level.
Written in fidel
Amharic is written in the Ge'ez script, or fidel, an abugida in which each character represents a consonant plus a vowel. The script developed in the ancient kingdom of Aksum to write the Ge'ez language, as described in our story on Ge'ez, and was later adapted for Amharic, with additional characters for sounds that Ge'ez did not have.
A royal language
Amharic emerged as an important language in the Ethiopian highlands in the medieval period. From the 13th century, it became the language of the royal court of the Solomonic dynasty, earning the name ləsanä nəgus — "the language of the king." For centuries, however, the Ge'ez language remained the main written language of the church and of learning, much as Latin was in medieval Europe.
From the 19th century, under emperors such as Tewodros II and Menelik II, Amharic increasingly became a written language of government, chronicles and literature, and it was promoted as a national language in the 20th century.
Wax and gold
The tradition of qəne, a form of poetry rooted in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, prized ambiguity and wit. Its most famous technique, säm-ənna wärq, works like the old method of casting gold jewellery: a goldsmith makes a wax model, covers it in clay, melts out the wax and pours in gold. In the poem, the "wax" is the obvious, surface meaning; the "gold" is the hidden, deeper meaning that appears when you listen more closely.
The American sociologist Donald Levine made "wax and gold" famous in his 1965 book of that name, arguing that the love of double meaning shaped Ethiopian conversation, politics and humour. Ethiopians themselves enjoy it in jokes, songs and everyday speech.
Modern literature
Amharic has a rich modern literature. Among its landmarks:
- Haddis Alemayehu's novel Fiqir Iske Meqabir ("Love Unto the Grave," 1966), an epic of love and social class, often described as the greatest Amharic novel. It has been adapted for radio and the stage.
- The poetry and plays of Tsegaye Gebre-Medhin, Ethiopia's poet laureate, who also wrote the lyrics of a former national anthem.
- A lively tradition of journalism, popular fiction, song lyrics and, today, online writing.
Amharic is also the language of much of Ethiopia's music, from the golden-age singers of "Swinging Addis" to today's pop stars.
A few words of Amharic
- Selam — hello (literally "peace")
- Ameseginalehu — thank you
- Awo / Aydelem — yes / it isn't so
- Indemin neh? — how are you? (to a man) / Indemin nesh? (to a woman)
- Ciao — goodbye (a borrowing from Italian, widely used)
Why it matters
Amharic carries the history of an ancient kingdom, the script of Aksum, the poetry of the church, and the voice of modern Ethiopia. Its tradition of "wax and gold" is a reminder that language is not just for saying what we mean — it is also for hiding meaning, playing with it, and leaving the cleverest listeners to find the gold.
Further reading
- Donald N. Levine, Wax and Gold: Tradition and Innovation in Ethiopian Culture (University of Chicago Press, 1965)
- Thomas Leiper Kane, Ethiopian Literature in Amharic (Harrassowitz, 1975)
- Wolf Leslau, Reference Grammar of Amharic (Harrassowitz, 1995)
