Ge'ez script

The Ge'ez script or Ethiopic script is an abugida originally used to write the Ge'ez language and now used to write many languages of Ethiopia and Eritrea. It is most notable used in Amharic and Tigrinya, in which the script is often called fidäl (ፊደል), meaning "script" or "letter". It is used to write other Ethiopian Semitic languages such as Tigre, Guragigna, and Harari. It is also used to write a few Cushitic and Nilotic languages such as Bilen, Meʼen, and Anuak.

Usage
The diacritics for the vowels fuse with the consonants in a recognizable but slightly irregular way. Most consonants also have a form fro the diphthong -wa or -oa. A few consonants have a form for the diphthong -jä. To represent a consonant with no following vowel, such as in consonant cluster, the ə (/ɨ/) form is used.

There is no standard way of transliterating the Ge'ez script into the Latin alphabet.

Labialized consonants are variants of the non-labialized consonants. Unlike the other consonants, labialized consonants can be combined with only five different vowels.

Additional letters
When adapted to other languages the Ge'ez script often needs additional letters for sounds not in Ge'ez. Often times additional consonants symbols are created by adding a horizontal line at the top of a similar-sounding consonant.

Numerals
In modern use numbers can be written using Hindu-Arabic numerals or with Ge'ez numerals.

The Ge'ez numeral system is similar to Hebrew and Greek numerals. It has unique symbols for multiples of ten. So, for example, 42 is written as ፵፪ (40-2). However, it lacks unique symbols for the multiples of 100. For larger numbers function similarly to Chinese numerals. For example, 475 is written ፬፻፸፭ (4-100-70-5). 83,692 is (፰፼፴፮፻፺፪ (8-10,000-30-6-100-90-2). There is no symbol for zero.

Numbers are over- and underlined. In proper typesetting when numerals are placed next to each other these combine to make a single bar, but some less sophisticated fonts show separate bars above and below each character.

Punctuation
It modern languages words are generally separated with a space. Though, historically Ge'ez used a word separator (፡). The "preface colon" is used in ordered list or in transcribed interviews, after the name of the speaker whose transcribed speech immediately follows.

History
The Ge'ez script is derived from the Ancient South Arabian script, which was introduced to the region in the 9th century BCE. It was used to write Semitic languages in what is now Eritrea and Ethiopia. By the first century CE, "Old Ethiopic" or "Old Ge'ez" arose. At the time it was an abjad written right-to-left with 26 consonant letters. Though, the letters were basically identical to the first-order forms of the modern writing system.

Around the 4th century vocalization (the writing of vowels) occurred in Ge'ez and it was was written from left to right. The Ge'ez abugida developed under Christian influence by adding obligatory vowel diacritics. Vocalization may have been adopted to preserve the pronunciation of Ge'ez texts due to Ge'ez already being dead or nearly dead. The diacritics became fused with the consonants. The vowel was ä (/ə/), is the "inherent vowel" and the original base form of the consonant was used for it.