Ethiopic Syllable Bi

It writes one syllable: b followed by i.

Fidel, the Ethiopic script, combines a consonant and vowel in each sign; ቢ sits inside words. Ge’ez, Amharic, and Tigrinya use it.

A consonant script gained vowels

Pseudo-Sabaean writing, related to South Arabian, is attested in Ethiopia and Eritrea by the 8th/7th centuries BCE. Ge’ez inscriptions appear in the second/third century CE in Aksum, an ancient kingdom.

By the fourth century, consonant writing had gained vowel forms, making an abugida. Ge’ez became a language for worship; Amharic adopted the script in the 13th or 14th century, and Tigrinya uses it too.