Gabriella F. Scelta wrote:

> - Ethiopic is derived over the years from Ge'ez, though far enough
> removed to be its own script. It is neither an alternate name or a
> derogatory one. Ge'ez was used most recently in christian scripture
> writing, even though it stopped being used elsewhere and in spoken
> language long before, and achieved essentially the same status as the
> latin language did for the western christian scriptures.

I think you are confusing script and language. Ge'ez is the name of a classical Ethiopic
language, now used exclusively for religious texts and ceremonies, which is written in the
same Ethiopic script as modern Ethiopian and Eritrean languages such as Amharic, Tigrinya
and Tigre (and approx. 80 other languages). Some of these languages use extensions of the
script, i.e. new syllabic signs to represent sounds that are not found in Ge'ez or
Amharic, but the core set of signs used for both Ge'ez and Amharic are largely identical.
Indeed, Amharic is written using signs whose pronunciation has changed over time, but with
spellings that reflect earier Amharic and Ge'ez pronunciation.

Note that Latin is still the official language of the Roman church, and is used
extensively for much more than scripture or liturgy, e.g. in canon law, the editio typica
of any Vatican document, etc.

John Hudson

--

Tiro Typeworks www.tiro.com
Vancouver, BC tiro@...

I often play against man, God says, but it is he who wants
to lose, the idiot, and it is I who want him to win.
And I succeed sometimes
In making him win.
- Charles Peguy