Typing in Geez

The Geez keyboard ( ) uses a system where the Geez sounds are matched to the
English letters (a style called phonetic). You can think of how a word sounds in
Geez and then type it out with English.
Example: typing selam becomes
Because Geez has more sounds than English we sometimes have to adjust this rule.
For example English does not have and the closest similar letter would be t. In
this case you should type with capital T:
Example: typing qTqaTie becomes
Notice that we needed both ie together to make the 5th letter . When the
letter you want to type does not appear when you hit the similar sounding key in
English, try using the capital next. If typing the capital does not work, then try hitting
the key two times:
Example: typing sselam becomes
Example: typing SSeHey becomes
Next, when you need to type the extra letters of Geez like , , you can do so by
typing an extra vowel after a u:
Example: typing mua becomes
Example: typing guie becomes
Finally, we must introduce a special rule for ' (apostrophe). Some words are spelt with
a (6th) letter followed by a vowel, like in . We use the apostrophe
here to type gebr'iel to make sure we get instead of .
Example: typing mel'ak becomes
Example: typing m'eeraf becomes
We also use the apostrophe for English numbers, so '1 becomes 1 and so on. If a ' is
needed in your document just type ' twice. This works for other punctuation as well,
typing ; once makes and a second time gives English ;. The typing table shows
how to type all Geez letters, numbers and punctuation.

Geez Typing Table

he

le

He

me

sse

re

se

qe

be

te

hhe

ne

ke

we

aaa

ze

ye

de

hu hi

lu
li

Hu Hi

mu mi

ssu ssi

ru
ri

su
si

qu
qi

bu
bi

tu
ti

hhu hhi

nu ni

u
i

ku
ki

wu wi

uu
ii

zu
zi

yu
yi

du di

ha

la

Ha

ma

ssa

ra

sa

qa

ba

ta

hha

na

ea

ka

wa

aa

za

ya

da

hie

lie

Hie

mie

ssie

rie

sie

qie

bie

tie

hhie

nie

ie

kie

wie

iie

zie

yie

die

ss

hh

ee

ho

lo

Ho

mo

sso

ro

so

qo

bo

to

hho

no

ko

wo

oo

zo

yo

do

-- -- -
-

que

qui

quu

hue

hui

huu

kue

kui

kuu

lua

Hua

mua

ssua

rua

sua

qua

bua

tua

hua

nua

kua

zua

dua

quie

huie

kuie


ge

Te

Pe

Se

SSe

fe

pe

gu

Tu

Pu

Su

SSu

fu

pu

gi

Ti

Pi

Si

SSi

fi

pi

ga gie

Ta Tie

Pa Pie

Sa Sie

SSa SSie

fa
fie

pa pie

SS

go

To

Po

So

SSo

fo

po

gue

10

::

20

30

40

:
6

60

70

:+

,,

50

gui

guu

gua

Tua

Pua

Sua

guie

fua

pua

80

:#

90

'

,
,,,

' '

100

;
;;

1000 10000

Zaima Notation

_1

_2

_3

_4

_5

_6

_7

_8

_0

Typing all languages

Since the creation of the Unicode system for Ethiopic many letters have become
available on the computer. Unicode defines 461 letters for Ethiopic writing in many
languages. This is too many letters for Geez so to avoid typing unexpected letters
they are not allowed in the Geez keyboard. However, on the occasion that you need
to type Ethiopic letters outside of Geez, you can do so with the Unicode Keyboard.
There are two ways to start the Unicode keyboard:
1. Type Ctrl + Alt + Y this should make the icon appear in your task bar
and the Unicode keyboard is ready.
2. Click on the icon in your task bar then select the icon and the
Unicode keyboard is ready.
The typing for letters of other languages are now shown:

Amharic

xe

xu

xi

xa

xie

xo

xua

ve

vu

vi

va

vie

vo

vua

ce

cu

ci

ca

cie

co

cua

Ne

Nu

Ni

Na

Nie

No

Nua

Ke

Ku

Ki

Ka

Kie

Ko

Ze

Zu

Zi

Za

Zie

Zo

Zua

Ce

Cu

Ci

Ca

Cie

Co

Cua

Awngi/Blin/Kayla/Kufal/Quara/Qimant/Xamtanga

Ge

Gu

Gi

Ga

Gie

Go

Gue

Guu

Gui

Gua

Guie

Bench

xxe

xxu

xxi

xxa

xxie

xx

xxo

cce

ccu

cci

cca

ccie

cc

cco

ZZe

ZZu

ZZi

ZZa

ZZie

ZZ

ZZo

CCe

CCu

CCi

CCa

CCie

CC

CCo

Meen/Mursi/Suri/Dizi

hoa

roa

soa

xoa

qoa

boa

toa

coa

hhoa

noa

Noa

oa

loa

moa

koa

woa

zoa

yoa

doa

Doa

joa

goa

Toa

Poa

SSoa

poa

Coa

Meen/Mursi/Suri/Dizi & Historical Oromo/Sidama

De

Du

Di

Da

Die

Do

Dua

Sebatbeit

qye

qyu

qye

qye

qye

qye

qyo

kye

kyu

kyi

kya

kyie

ky

kyo

Kye

Kyu

Kyi

Kye

Kyie

Ky

Kyo

gye

gyu

gyi

gya

gyie

gy

gyo

mue

mui

muie

muu

bue

mue

buie

buu

fue

fue

fuie

fuu

pue

pue

puie

puu

Tigrinya

Qe

Qu

Qi

Qa

Qie

Qo

Que

Quu

Qui

Qua

Quie

Kue

Kuu

Kui

Kua

Kuie

Installing and Using the Keyboard

The GeezKeyboard7.exe file contains the Tavultesoft Keyman and font installer.
To begin the installation:
1. Double click it and follow the installation instructions.
2. After successful installation you will find the Tavultesoft Keyman in your
Programs menu. To start the keyboard software click:
Start > All Programs
> Tavultesoft Keyman Desktop Light 7.1
> Keyman Desktop Light 7.1
3. Click the icon on the right bottom of your taskbar.
4. Select the icon from the pop-up menu that appears.
5. Select an Ethiopic font and begin typing.