Ethiopic Syllable Co

In Amharic, ቾ writes “cho,” like “ch” in “church” plus o. That reading is specific to Amharic: Ethiopic writing also serves Ge’ez, Tigre and Oromo, so the language matters when reading a word. The Latin “co” spelling in the Unicode name is not a universal pronunciation guide.

The earliest Ethiopic evidence comes from pre-Aksumite Ethiopia, where early inscriptions show Ethiopic writing alongside the older South Arabian alphabet. The script developed from that consonant-based tradition into a system that marks vowels on consonant signs; this syllabic system developed in the 3rd–4th centuries to write Ge’ez. Ge’ez later became liturgical, and Ethiopic writing continued in manuscripts before being adapted for Amharic, Tigre and Oromo.

How do I type ቾ?

On the GFF Amharic layout as of 2026, press c, then o. This mnemonic layout uses a syllable grid: c selects the ቸ series and o its o-vowel form. Unicode does not prescribe keyboard shortcuts, so another Ethiopic layout may map the syllable differently.

On other Ethiopic layouts, follow that layout’s consonant-and-vowel mapping. The character is still text even when the input method takes two keystrokes.