Ethiopic Syllable Chu

It is the u-vowel form in its consonant series. In Amharic, the consonant is close to the “ch” at the start of “church,” but ejective: close the throat briefly, then release the sound with a short push. The vowel is part of the same character, so ጩ contributes a syllable sound rather than naming an object or idea.

How did Ethiopic writing develop?

The Ethiopic script grew from South Arabian writing. Old South Arabian was used from the 8th century BCE to the 6th century CE, chiefly for large inscriptions on stone, pottery and metal. In the Qatabanian tradition, inscriptions also served funerary, religious and administrative purposes. Around the end of the first millennium BCE, South Arabian writing was adapted in the Horn of Africa to write Ge’ez.

By the 4th century CE, Ge’ez writing had become a left-to-right syllabary: each character combined a consonant and a vowel. The script later served languages including Amharic, Tigre and Oromo.

How do I type ጩ?

Use a phonetic Ethiopic keyboard. On the GFF Amharic layout, capital C selects ጨ and lowercase u produces ጩ.

If that layout does not offer ጩ, choose a full Ethiopic or Ge’ez layout. Language-specific layouts may leave out characters beyond the language they target.