Ethiopic syllable Qwaa

Use an Ethiopic phonetic keyboard’s q-series entry. Set up an Ethiopic phonetic keyboard on your phone or computer; it may be labelled Geʽez or fidel. A layout may label the input qua, while phonetic transcription writes kʼwa for the sound.

What sound does ቋ make in a word?

It spells a qwa syllable; the whole word gives it meaning. The sound starts with a k-like consonant made farther back in the mouth, with rounded lips, followed by a. An Ethiopic sign joins a consonant and vowel into one written unit. In ቋንቋ, the Amharic and Tigrinya word for “language,” ቋ begins the word.

The earliest writing found in Ethiopia and Eritrea appears in pseudo-Sabaean inscriptions, written in a South Arabian consonant script, from the 8th/7th centuries BCE. Ethiopic writing for Geʾez first appears in the 1st–3rd centuries CE as a consonant-only system. By the 4th century CE it had become an abugida, a writing system whose signs combine consonants and vowels. The script later served Amharic and Tigrinya too; Geʾez is used in religious worship.

Why does ቋ show as a box?

The app’s current fonts may not support Ethiopic. A box or blank means the app cannot render the character with its current fonts or text layout. A font with Ethiopic coverage and script layout support displays it; typefaces can change its outline without changing the character.