Geezskriptet

Geezskriptet, also known as the Ge'ez script, is an ancient South Semitic abjad used to write Ge'ez, a language that originated in the northern region of Ethiopia and Eritrea. While Ge'ez is no longer widely spoken as a vernacular language, it remains the liturgical language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the Ethiopian Catholic Church, and the Eritrean Catholic Church.

The script's origins are believed to be around the 4th century CE, evolving from the Old South Arabian script. It is characterized by its distinctive syllabic nature, where each consonant has an inherent vowel, typically 'ä'. Modifications to the consonant shape indicate different vowel sounds. There are no dedicated symbols for vowels; instead, they are indicated by diacritics added to the consonant characters.

Geezskriptet is written from left to right. It is composed of 26 basic consonant characters, each with eight distinct forms representing different vowel combinations. This system makes the script an abugida, a type of syllabic alphabet where consonant-vowel units are written as a single character. The script has also been adapted to write other Ethiopian and Eritrean languages, such as Amharic, Tigrinya, and Tigre, with additional characters and modifications to accommodate their phonological systems. The aesthetics of Geezskriptet are often described as elegant and intricate, with a flowing and calligraphic appearance.