Amharic Translation Services: Amharic to English and English to Amharic

Amharic Translation Services

Language Scientific provides high quality Amharic translation services, supplying technical, medical and scientific translation, localization and interpreting into and out of Amharic. We are a US-based language services company serving over 1,500 global corporations. Our specialization, focus, industry-leading quality management standards and customer-centered attitude have earned us the trust of many of the world’s best technology, engineering, biomedical and pharmaceutical companies.

Our approach to translation quality management is founded on the principle that engineering documents should be translated by professional translators who are also engineers, and medical documents need to be translated by linguists trained in the medical sciences. We use a combination of advanced people, certified processes and applied technologies to deliver you a better translations experience. We deliver reliable, high quality translations with confirmed turnaround times at competitive prices.

Language Scientific has two divisions—Technical and Engineering Localization and Translation Services Division and Medical and Pharmaceutical Localization and Translation Services Division. Both groups provide a full range of Amharic translation services to support your strategic global communication goals, including:

We offer a unique depth of subject-matter expertise via our Advanced Scientific Knowledge network (ASKnetwork™) and globalization know-how for companies in the Aerospace & Defense, Chemical, Clinical Research, Energy, Healthcare, Industrial Manufacturing, Medical Device, Pharmaceutical, Technology and related industries. Our ASKnetwork™ of over 5,000 specialists comprises multilingual engineers, doctors and scientists working in over 75 countries on 5 continents.

Language Scientific’s unique Accreditation Program for Technical and Medical Translators, along with a rigorous Quality Management System, ensures the quality standards that our clients have come to depend on. Language Scientific’s Quality Management System is ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 17100:2015 certified. We work closely with you to tailor a solution to best fit your needs.

At Language Scientific, we are driven by the mission to set the new Standard of Quality for technical Amharic translation and localization. It is this mission that drives our success and sets us apart as a company. When you need precise global communication, Language Scientific is the clear choice.

Amharic Language Statistics/Facts

A South Semitic language, Amharic is the native language of Ethiopia. There are four main language families in Ethiopia, one of which is the Afroasiatic languages with which Semitic language belongs. Amharic is also called Ethiopian, Amhara, Amarigna, Amarinya and Abyssinian. The Amharic written alphabet is also known as Ge’ez or Amharic Braille. Amharic has a unique writing procedure following ‘fidel,’ a semi-syllabic form of writing. Amharic is strongly influenced by Arabic and Cushitic languages, specifically Afaan Oromo.

Amharic has official status in Ethiopia, hence it is spoken nationally in every province. Amharic is also considered to be the working language in various states in Ethiopia including Amhara Region, Addis Ababa City Council, Dire Dawa Administrative Council, Gambela Region, Benishangul-Gumuz Region and SNNPR. Religiously, Amharic is the liturgical language of the Orthodox Church in Ethiopia.

Amharic is considered to be the second most spoken language behind Arabic and the fiftieth most spoken worldwide. In 2007, there were 25 million native Amharic speakers. Although Amharic is Ethipia’s official language, only about 29.3% of the population speaks it, mainly because Amharic is regarded as the language of the affluent (upper and middle class) members of the Ethiopian society, especially those living in the central highlands. Nonetheless, Amharic is also spoken by 2.7 million immigrants outside Ethiopia. Worldwide, the estimated number of Amharic speakers are between 7 and 15 million people.

Amharic Dialects

Dialect Region
Gondar Amharic Widely spoken in Semien Gondar Zone where Gondar is considered as a highly urbanized woreda
Gojjam Amharic Widely spoken in North-West Ethiopia
Shewa Amharic Widely spoken in Shewa region

The dialects have no major variations. These are thus mutually intelligible.

Countries where Amharic is spoken

  • Canada
  • Eritrea
  • Norway
  • Sweden
  • Djibouti
  • Germany
  • Somalia
  • United States
  • Egypt
  • Israel
  • Sudan
  • Yemen

Amharic Speaking Country Data

Country: Ethiopia

Capital: Addis Ababa

Population: 126 m

Federal Parliamentary Republic: President Mulatu Teshome and Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn

Currency: Ethiopian Birr

GDP (ppp): $120 b

Unemployment: 3%
Government Type: Federal Parliamentary Republic

Industries: Agriculture, food processing, beverages, textiles, leather, chemicals, metals processing, cement

Country: Djibouti

Capital: Djibouti

Population: 1.17 m

Constitutional Parliamentary Republic: President Ismail Omar Guelleh and Prime Minister Abdoulkader Kamil Mohamed

Currency: Djiboutian Franc

GDP (ppp): $3.4 b

Unemployment: 27.5%
Government Type: Constitutional Parliamentary Republic

Industries: Agriculture processing and construction

Country: Eritrea

Capital: Asmara

Population: 3.5 m

Single-Party Presidential Republic: President Isaias Afewerki

Currency: Nakfa

GDP (ppp): $9.7 b

Unemployment: 7.2%

Government Type: Single-Party Presidential Republic

Industries: Food and beverages processing, light manufacturing, textile and clothing, cement and salt

Amharic History

The origin of the Amharic language can be traced back to the 1st millennium BC. Ethiopian historians noted that some of the early rulers used the Amharic languages. In fact, there are Biblical passages as early as 1,000 BC that document Ethiopian episodes.

Further, from Southwest Arabia, King Solomon and apparently, the Queen of Sheba’s descendants traveled through the Red Sea into Eritrea. Menelik I, the son of the Queen, was the first Ethiopian emperor. The immigrants mixed with the Cushitic people, giving birth to the union of a new language we now know as Ge’ez. Ge’ez was the noted classical language of the Axum Empire from the 1st to 6th century AD until Amhara overthrew Axum. Amhara remained powerful from the 10th to 12th century AD, although the existence of Amhara was recognized in the mid-9th century AD.

Since the 13th century, Amharic has been the official language used in Ethiopian courts and by dominant populations in Ethiopia. Amharic became Ethiopia’s national language in the 14th century. Amharic documents written in the 14th century proved that the language was widely spoken and written at that time. Some of these documents include songs that were specifically written to praise the king. However, it was only in the 17th century when Amharic became Ethiopia’s lingua franca.

In 1991, the Ethiopian government allowed ethnic groups to develop their languages and use such languages for teaching primary students. Today, primary schools in Ethiopia use Amharic and other ethnic languages, while the secondary and tertiary schools use English as their medium of instruction. Amharic has only recently been used as a medium in areas of literature and journalism.

Interesting Amharic Facts

  • When the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 1) was translated in Amharic, ‘:’ became a comma and ‘::’ became a period
  • Amharic is written starting from the left side to the right side
  • Rastafarians regard Amharic as a sacred language
  • In 1970, reggae songs written in Amharic surfaced including that of Misty-in-Roots and Ras Michael
  • Numbers in the Amharic language are actually loaned from the Greek alphabet
  • Amharic characters have no direct conversion to Roman characters. The Amharic language must be translated aurally
  • Amharic has no neutral pronouns; speakers either use a feminine pronoun or a masculine pronoun
  • The Amharic language is a Category II language in terms of difficulty

Amharic Translation Services

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