Ethiopic Syllable Ya

It represents a y-and-vowel syllable in Ethiopic writing. In Amharic, word-initial የ acts as yä-, linking possession or introducing a clause that describes a noun. Tigrinya uses it as the first y-series form; ያ and ይ mark other vowels.

From consonants to an abugida

Pseudo-Sabaean inscriptions—early South Arabian-style texts—attest regional writing from the 8th–7th centuries BCE. Geʽez writing appears by the 1st–3rd centuries CE. In the 4th century CE, vowel marks made the consonant script an abugida: each sign combines a consonant and vowel. Ethiopic is linked to Epigraphic South Arabian, an old inscription script, and later served Geʽez liturgy.