Ethiopic syllable ro

It reads “ro”: an r sound followed by the vowel o. In Amharic fidel, the Ethiopic writing system used for Amharic, ሮ is one syllable within a word. Its r-series forms keep the consonant while changing the vowel: ር has a reduced vowel, while ሮ has o. On the SIL Ethiopic layout, r followed by o produces ሮ.

Ethiopic writing grew from South Arabian consonant writing. The earliest writing found in Ethiopia and Eritrea includes pseudo-Sabaean inscriptions—texts in a South Arabian style—from the 8th/7th centuries BC. An Ethiopic consonant script for Geʿez, an older Ethiopian language, appears in the 1st–3rd centuries AD and shifts toward an abugida—a system where consonants carry built-in vowels—in the 4th century. It later served Amharic and other languages.

How do I type ሮ?

On the SIL Ethiopic layout, press r, then o. Other phonetic layouts may accept ro, but mappings vary. Check the active layout's instructions if another r-series form appears.

Ethiopic fonts can use alternate or language-specific shapes. A different outline alone does not mean the text or its reading has changed.