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System for Ethiopic Representation in ASCII (SERA)

Dedicated to the work and memory of Abraham Demoz (1925 - 1994) 

In the time since the original publication of our paper
in "The Journal of EthioSciences" Volume 3 Number 1 on the
topic of representation of Fidel in 7-bit ASCII, the need
became apparent to extend the system to encompass
representation for Ethiopic numerals, punctuation, and mixed
script notations.  In the same period more was learned about
the treatment of certain characters outside of Amharic that
allowed for simplification of the ASCII representation.  The
following is a recapitulation of the original publication and
an assessment of some of the more recent developments.  A
complete discussion of many of these changes are available at
the Rensselar Polytechnic Institute ftp archive under the file
name SERA-94.

As we have indicated before, this system, though well
developed, is still not in its final form.  Further refinements
will only come after many have had the chance to use it and
test its strengths and weaknesses on their own.  As Abraham
Demoz, to whom we have dedicated this work, noted [1]: 

	"...script reform calls not only for a competent 
 	professional assessment of the technical aspects of 
	the script but also for a careful weighing of these 
	against the psychological and socio-political factors 
	that have a bearing on the written word and all that
	it stands for" 

(Demoz, "Amharic Script Reform Efforts".  ETHIOPIAN
STUDIES. S. Segert and A.J.E. Bodrogligeti, Eds. 1983).

Any and all feed back will be greatly appreciated.
 
   
 
                                     dan'El yaqob (Daniel Mulholland)
                                     yTna frdyweq (Yitna Firdyiwek)
 
 
 
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Contents

 1.   The SERA Table
 2.   Considerations We Took in the Development of SERA
 3.   Developments of the System
 4.   Some Commonly Asked Questions
 5.   A Full Sample Text with Statistics
 6.   Appendices





1.  The System for Ethiopic Representation of ASCII (SERA) Table


Although some questions still remain to be answered regarding
the number of "forms" to use for the ASCII/ETHIOPIC table, we
have retained the original arrangement of twelve (12) for SERA
pending decisions relating to the Unicode/ISO standards
currently under discussion.  We do not believe a change in the
matrix of the table will affect the work discussed in this paper.


              The Ethiopic Script in ASCII 
              ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
      1     2     3     4     5     6     7     8      9     10     11     12 
     g`Iz  ka`Ib sals  rab`I hams  sads  sab`I  diqala -->
  
 1    he    hu    hi    ha    hE    h     ho
 2    le    lu    li    la    lE    l     lo    lWa
 3    H2e   Hu    Hi    Ha    HE    H     Ho
 4    me    mu    mi    ma    mE    m     mo    mWa
 5   `se   `su   `si   `sa   `sE   `s    `so
 6    re    ru    ri    ra    rE    r     ro    rWa
 7    se    su    si    sa    sE    s     so    sWa
 8    xe    xu    xi    xa    xE    x     xo    xWa
 9    qe    qu    qi    qa    qE    q     qo    qWe    qWu   qWi    qWa    qWE
 10   Qe    Qu    Qi    Qa    QE    Q     Qo    QWe    QWu   QWi    QWa    QWE
 11   be    bu    bi    ba    bE    b     bo    bWa         (Q is Tigrignia)
 12   ve    vu    vi    va    vE    v     vo    vWa
 13   te    tu    ti    ta    tE    t     to    tWa
 14   ce    cu    ci    ca    cE    c     co    cWa
 15  `he   `hu   `hi   `ha   `hE   `h    `ho    hWe    hWu   hWi    hWa    hWE
 16   ne    nu    ni    na    nE    n     no    nWa
 17   Ne    Nu    Ni    Na    NE    N     No    NWa
 18    e\a   u\U   i     A     E    I      o\O   e3         (e3 as in "e3re!") 
 19   ke    ku    ki    ka    kE    k     ko    kWe    kWu   kWi    kWa    kWE
 20  `ke   `ku   `ki   `ka   `kE   `k    `ko                (`k is Chaha) 
 21   Ke    Ku    Ki    Ka    KE    K     Ko    KWe    KW    KWi    KWa    KWE
 22   Xe    Xu    Xi    Xa    XE    X     Xo                (X is Chaha )
 23   we    wu    wi    wa    wE    w     wo
 24   `e    `u    `i    `a   `E    `I     `o
 25   ze    zu    zi    za    zE    z     zo    zWa
 26   Ze    Zu    Zi    Za    ZE    Z     Zo    ZWa
 27   ye    yu    yi    ya    yE    y     yo
 28   de    du    di    da    dE    d     do    dWa
 29   De    Du    Di    Da    DE    D     Do                (D is Oromiffa)
 30   je    ju    ji    ja    jE    j     jo
 31   ge    gu    gi    ga    gE    g     go    gWe    gWu   gWi    gWa    gWE
 32   Ge    Gu    Gi    Ga    GE    G     Go                (G is Chaha)
 33   Te    Tu    Ti    Ta    TE    T     To    TWa
 34   Ce    Cu    Ci    Ca    CE    C     Co    CWa
 35   Pe    Pu    Pi    Pa    PE    P     Po
 36   Se    Su    Si    Sa    SE    S     So    SWa
 37  `Se   `Su   `Si   `Sa   `SE   `S    `So
 38   fe    fu    fi    fa    fE    f     fo    fWa
 39   pe    pu    pi    pa    pE    p     po
 
 
 (Letters will be referred to both by their ASCII spelling and by their
 position on the above number matrix (e.g. "he" or 1/1).  The columns are also
 known as "forms" (e.g., first form, second form, . . .etc.) or by their
 Ethiopic names: e.g. g`Iz, ka`Ib, sals, . . .etc.) 
 
						

2.  Considerations We Took in the Development of SERA


We have taken the following two considerations in coming up
with our proposed standard

      a)   The system must be easy to type on a 101 keyboard.  This entails:
 
           --   finding the closest match between the Latin and Ethiopic
                phonetic system (while being as systematic as possible with
                the inevitable exceptions),
 
           --   limiting the number of keystrokes necessary for each Ethiopic
                character to a minimum, and 
 
           --   placing the most frequently used keys as close as possible to
                the "home keys" row of the 101 keyboard
 
      b)   The system must also be easy for machine translation.  In this
           case, the systematicity of the mapping of Ethiopic to ASCII is
           exploited to make the machine translation between ASCII and 
           Ethiopic script (in word processors, for example) as fast as
           possible.




3.  Development of the System
 

 It may first occur to one when attempting to write Ethiopic script
 with Latin letters, to represent the 7 forms with numbers as so:
 
      Consonants:
      h1   h2   h3   h4   h5   h6   h7
 
      Independent Vowels:
      a1   a2   a3   a4   a5   a6   a7
 
 It is soon found in practice, however, that while this is a very simple
 system for representing the Ethiopic characters, it is not so simple to read
 or write in it (e.g., "T5n1y6s6T6l6N6", "a1d5s6 a1b1b4").  This is true
 largely because our minds are not trained to associate the Latin script with
 Arabic numbers to form words.  One will soon wonder why not use the Latin
 vowel letters to denote the 7 forms of the Ethiopic characters.  This is
 where the trouble begins:  How do you represent the standard 7 Ethiopic forms
 (plus the "W" forms) with only 5 Latin vowels?   
 
 The first step we took was to assign a punctuation mark (the apostrophe ')
 and "I" for the two extra Ethiopic vowels (plus "W" for forms 8-12).  So, 
 following phonetic guide lines we came up with the following system:
 
      Consonants:
      h'   hu   hi   ha   he   hI   ho
 
      Independent Vowels:
      a'   au   ai   aa   ae   aI   ao
 
 Again, after some trial use (e.g., "Ten'yIsITIlINI", "a'disI a'b'ba") we
 found that the writing can be made more readable if we used only one
 character for the pure vowel form.  Then the system reduces to:
 
      Consonants:
      l'   lu   li   la   le   lI   lo
 
      Independent Vowels:
       '    u    i    a    e    I    o
 
 and our sample text would look like:  "TenayIsITIlINI", "'disI 'b'ba"
 which becomes a little easier to read and to type.
 
 After a short time a reader is likely to find that trying to "read a sound"
 from punctuation proves too difficult.  Our minds have been conditioned for
 too long already to skip over apostrophes when reading possesive and
 contracted words.  We introduce the principle now that whenever possible
 punctuation be avoided to represent spoken sounds and seek another alphabetic
 character to replace the apostrophe.  

 We find a suitable substitute in "E" but recognize right away the draw back
 of the extra "shift" required to type it.  With only a small intuitive feeling
 one will come to realize that the 5th form letters are used less often in
 writing than are 1st form.  Hence a swap between the two forms makes the use
 of "E" a little easier and gives us the new table :

      Consonants:
      le   lu   li   la   lE   lI   lo
 
      Independent Vowels:
       e    u    i    a    E    I    o

 and our sample text appears a little more naturally as:  
     "TEnayIsITIlINI", "edisI ebeba"


 It is at this point that we began to notice two problems:  
 
      1)   the 6th (or "sadis") form of the Ethiopic characters occurs more
           often than any other form (about a third more often), and 
 
      2)   the use of "e" for the first vowel makes the "look" of some familiar
           Amharic words peculiar, and the sound association is poor.
 
 The quick solution:  
 
      1)   stop using "I" for the sadis (sixth form) consonants, letting the
           consonants stand by themselves, and 
 
      2)   allow the use of "a" for the first form independent vowel with "e", 
           and introduce "A" for the 4th form independent vowel.
 
 
      Consonants:
      le   lu   li   la   lE   l    lo
 
      Independent Vowels:
       e\a  u    i    A    E    I    o
 
      Examples: 
            TEna ysTlN
            adis abeba
            Indemn kermachWal
            zarE Tewat suq hEjE neber
            manew smh? manew smx?
 
 
 Ambiguity Problem with The Independent Vowel
 
 This system is easier to read and type, but there is still a problem.  If
 you have never before seen the word "Tena" how will you know if you
 are reading 2 Ethiopic characters or 4 -- "TE-na" or "T-E-n-a"?  This problem
 of ambiguity usually occurs because it is not clear whether a consonant
 letter is a sadis (6th) form followed by an independent vowel form, or a
 syllable made up of the consonant and following vowel form.  Of course, this
 is a problem only if the reader does not know the language.  An Amharic
 speaker would not make such a mistake.  
 
 In another scenario, the name "Gabriel" can be read "ge-b-r-E-l" (correctly),
 or "ge-b-rE-l" (not quite correct, but okay when speaking fast).  Though the
 ambiguity is there, whether you interpret the Latin as showing 5 (ge-b-r-E-l)
 characters or 4 (ge-b-rE-l) makes almost no difference.  
 
 These conditions may not always be true, however, and the difference does
 become a big problem for word processors and computer software for
 translation.  It is better then to insure that the characters are
 unmistakably represented.  To accomplish this, our decision was to recycle
 the apostrophe ' as a separator for independent vowels that appear after a 
 sadis (sixth form) consonant.  Thus, we can rewrite Gabriel as "gabr'El" and
 modify our system, which now includes a third category, accordingly:
 
      Consonants:
      le   lu   li   la   lE   l    lo
 
      Independent Vowels:
       e\a  u    i    A    E    I    o
 
      Independent Vowels Following a 6th Form Consonant:
      l'e   l'u   l'i   l'A   l'E   l'I   l'o
      l'a   lU                            lO     <--also
 
 If we consider now an application for the remaining uppercase vowels; "U"
 and "O", we find that in some instances, as shown in the 2nd row of the 
 third category, the use of the apostrophe may be omitted without confusion.
 


4.  Some Commonly Asked Questions

 
      1.   Why not use "sh" for "x" and "ie" or "y" for "E"?
 
           These would make logical choices for readers familiar with rules in 
           English but may not make sence in non-English speaking nations where
           a form of the Latin script is used.  It is desirable also to keep
           the keystrokes to a minimum for humans, the parsing requirements of
           computers as simple as possible, also media and transfer sizes to a
           minimum by avoiding multiple character representations when possible.
           
           Further, the reader is left to infer the meaning "sh" as one or two
           Fidel characters.  The separator ' presents a solution here but again
           complicates parsing and introduces special case rules vs generalized.
           The acception to the general rules also lends towards greater
           occurences of spelling errors.

           "ie" may be an easier keystroke than "E" but again introduces
           inference and parsing complexity.  The choice is not always logical
           as a phonetic model for the "ay" sound with Latin letters when
           considering such examples as "die", "vie", "pie", "lie", and "tie".

           "y" occurs more commonly in speech and written text as a consonant
           than as the 5th syllabic form.  Hence the lowercase Latin character
           is better reserved for the consonant to save on keystrokes.

           When an Ethiopic interface is available, these kinds of questions 
           become input method issues and not file IO and transfer which SERA 
           was primarily designed for.

 
      2.   What if I wish to show more sound for a sadis consonant?
 
           It is not always accurate to say that the vowel component of the
           sadis consonant is not spoken.  For many words the vowel in the 6th
           form consonant is clearly enounced.  If you wish to write in a more
           phonetic manner with out loss of clarity; this may be accomplished
           by writing the 2 character representation form of the sadis
           consonant when it is needed.  As you will recall we have redefined
           the 2 character form of the 6th consonant as "l|".  We can mix the
           two character and one character forms together in the same word to
           show when the vowel portion is voiced:
 
                ysTlN  =  y|sT|l|N
                tgrNa  =  tg|r|Na
                alfelgm  =  alfel|g|m
                TrE  =  T|rE
 
           Writing with both the one and two character representations of the
           6th form consonant together may be more laborious to the typist but
           has the advantage of giving the reader a better demonstration of
           the word's sound when spoken.   The mixed representation is not
           ambiguous and does not pose any problem for machine translation
           when going from Latin to Ethiopic.  If it would become a common
           practice to mix the two systems, we may wish to try alternate
           characters in place of the pipe ( "|" ).
 
      3.   I see the ' used in other ways, what are the complete rules? 
 
           The apostrophe was introduced as a separator to indicated that
           a vowel after a 6th form consonant does not modify the form of
           the consonant, ie "nE" is one Fidel letter and "n'E" is two. The
           principle of the separator may be applied elsewhere when it enhances 
           clarity.  For instance between vowels as in "beadis" vs "be'adis"
           or "keityoPya" vs "ke'ityoPya".  Here, the ' helps prevent the reader
           from slipping back into rules of English where the vowels would be
           combined into a single sound.  Also ' following a consonant as in 
           "t'" may be treated as another definition for the 6th form
           representation when convenient.
 
      4.   Why Are Numbers Used With Letters?
 
           A problem that occurs when trying to represent Ethiopic script
           phonetically in Latin is the presence of Ethiopic letters that are
           phonetic equivalents.  These cases are encountered with the two
           Ethiopic characters for "s" and "S" and the 4 characters for "h".
           Representing one of the 2nd forms with an unused Latin character,
           say F, R, or V, would be a digression from phonetic norms and adds
           a level of complication to the reading.  In the case of what would
           be h4 the uppercase "K" is chosen for representation.  This choice
           models the husky "kh" sound that the character has in Tigrignia and
           other languages.
 
           For the more common type of email exchanges omitting the number 2
           or 3 does not result in a loss of interpretation.  The use of the
           ordinals becomes more important later if the text is to be read and
           translated into Ethiopic script by computer.  
 
      5.   Why Does "s2" Come Before "s" ?
 
           The "2" is only needed to distinguish the difference between the
           two "s"s in Ethiopic script.  In modern writing it is the the 2nd "s"
           appearing in the fidel  that finds the most frequent use in the
           spelling of words.  The first "s" is represented as "s2" because it
           occurs less frequently in writing.  Were the 2nd "s" labeled as "s2"
           it would give the typist considerably more finger work to perform.
 
      6.   How was "e3" arrived at for the 8th vowel?

           The choice of "e3" is thought to be the best model for the sound of
           the character.  The sound of the character is in Amharic the same as
           that of "e" (the first vowel) in Tigrigna.  The choice of a numeral
           to follow "e" will detract from the reading quality of the character,
           which should come at a small cost when its infrequent use is
           considered.

      7.   Why is The Capital "W" Used For Diqala Forms?
 
           The uppercase "W" is used to remain phonetically consistent with 
           the sound of the diqala forms (forms 8 - 12).  The lower case "w" is 
           reserved exclusively for consonant 21 with the "w" sound.  Thus
           confusion and ambiguity is avoided with use of the uppercase "W".
 
      8.   Why is "Wu" Used For the Letter I learned was "W"?

           Actually both are valid under SERA.  In different geographic regions,
           and at different times within the same region, people have been
           taught two different sounds for the 2nd form labiovelar (which one
           may have learned as a 6th form).  Phonetic representations as "kWu"
           "kW" and "kW'", in example, are permitted for both ways a person may
           have been taught.  Each form is no more right or wrong than the
           other.

      9.   Why is "hWa" used in place of "`hWa" or "h2Wa"? 
 
           This is a break in consistency from how forms 1 through 7 of "h2"
           were represented.  However, as "h" does not have forms after
           the sab`I (the 7th form) there is no opportunity for confusion to
           arise from the omitted "2" of "h2W".  Hence "hW" will be uniquely
           identifiable as representing diqala forms of the h2 consonant.  The
           advantage of dropping the "2" in the diqalawoc range, will be the
           keystroke saved for typists.
 
     10.   What is done with the left-over Latin letters?

           The "left over" Latin uppercase consonants; B, F, J, L, M, R, V, and 
           Y, are now recognized as equivalent to their lowercase counterparts.
           That is "Y" in transliteration would be interpretted identically as
           "y" etc.  These same Latin characters are considered to be on a
           "reserve" status to model some overlooked sound in an Eritrean or
           Ethiopian language.


5.  A Full Sample Text with Statistics
 

 WORD COUNT : 170
 
 CONSONANT COUNT
 Form1 : 161     Form2 : 21      Form3 : 35      Form4 : 106
 Form5 : 14      Form6 : 216     Form7 : 25      Form8 : 3
 
 VOWEL COUNT
 Form1 : 25      Form2 : 0       Form3 : 5       Form4 : 2
 Form5 : 1       Form6 : 13      Form7 : 1
 
 
 
     From the Ethiopian Examiner January 1994 
 
 yeselamna yeIrqu konferans gizEyawiw mengst keslTan Indiwerd Teyeke
 
     bekefateNa gugut siTebeq yeneberew yeselamna ye`Irq gubae, ketahsas 
 9-13 1986 `a.m. beadis abeba ketema baderegew yeamst qen sbseba, 
 beih`adEg yemimeraw gizEyawi mengst slTanun Indiyasrekb Teyeqe.
 
     qedem blo paris lay sbsebaw  Indidereg keTeyequt sebat teqawami
 budnoc wsT, yesostun abalat wede ageracew sigebu awroplan Tabiya lay
 bepolis bemasyazna bmaser mengst bzihu sbseba lay Indaysatefu adrgWacewal.
 yetasrut abalat, ato abera yemaneab, we/rit genet grma, ato mesfn
 tefera, ato alemayehu dErEsana ato genenew asefa (keidE`haq): ato seyum 
 zenebe (kemed`hn) Ina ato ibsa gutema (keoneg) nacew.
 
     mengst Inezihu sewoc lay yewesedew yeIsrat Irmja sewocn beselamawi
 menged beageracew yepoletika hidet wesT Indaysatefa slemiyaderg bzu sewocn
 aseqoTtWal.  beadis abeba yemigeNu diplomatocm yKEw yemengst Irmja 
 yesbsebawn tesatafiwoc farhat lay bmeTal sbsebaw mnm bego wTEt IndayameTa 
 yaderg yhonal bemalet hesabacewn gel`Sewal.
 
     yeityoPya gizEyawi mengst (iH'adEg) besbsebaw lay saysatef qertWal.
 lezihum begizEyawi prEzidEntu beato meles zEnawi yeteseTew mknyat sbsebaw
 lepropaganda `alama bca yemidereg kentu sbseba new yemil new.


=====================================================================

 Notes:

      [2]  Syllabaries in general do not distinguish between vowels and
      consonants. They do not have a regularity, symmetry, or any kind of
      matrix. The ancient Cypriot syllabary, the newly invented (1821?)
      Cherokee syllabary, and even the modern Japanese Katakana system have
      very little regularity.  The syllables are arbitrary marks that contain
      the consonant and vowel in one symbol that does not allow any disassembly
      into constituent phonetic parts.  This aspect of syllabaries is
      sometimes used to show that they are a less developed form of writing
      system.

      Fidel, the Ethiopic syllabary, on the other hand, is highly regular and
      has a quite clearly defined set of vowel markings which were *added* to
      a base consonant/radical.  In fact, just looking at the Fidel one can
      see a clearly outlined alphabetic underpinning.  It seems that what we
      have in the Ethiopic system is not a sort of pre-alphabetic syllabary,
      but an outright further development of an alphabet--the Sabaean alphabet
      (1) which, like Hebrew and Arabic had no vowel representation.  It is more
      plausible to see in Ethiopic a move from the Sabaean alphabet back into
      a syllabic form, but with a standardization based on awareness of the
      explicit relationship between consonants and vowels.  To dismiss
      Ethiopic as an underdeveloped writing system is to overlook an example
      (perhaps the only one) of post-alphabetic development in writing
      systems.

      As Coulmas Observes :

      "     Old Ethiopic was first written in the typical Semitic manner
      without vowel signs, but in the fourth century AD the writing of
      Ethiopic underwent drastic changes.  The resulting script is interesting
      because of its unusual and quite un-Semitic vowel indication. " (2)


      [3]  The traditional matrix of the Ethiopic script is in rows of seven
      columns with the base "W" form (here column 8), and the other "W" forms
      (here column 9-12) presented separately at the end of the list as
      extensions to the core set.   We felt a 37 x 12 matrix would be a more
      natural arrangement both because of the similarity of the characters
      as well as the efficiency it provides for machine access and
      manipulation of the characters.


=====================================================================


 APPENDIX A:  Questionnaire and Sample Text
 
 
 
 Greetings to Ethiopic Script Readers,
 
 
 
      Following you will find a sample Amharic text (an article
 fragment from Ethiopian Examiner) written in 5 systems of representation.  
 It is not the purpose of this document to discuss the development
 of the systems or to debate the merits and faults of each.  I solicit
 your opinion with respect to where you find the most comfort and ease 
 of reading.  Please return to me a ranking of the various systems in
 your order of preference (e.g. 3,5,1,4,2; 3 is best, 2 worst).  Any 
 additional comments are welcomed.  Please pass this letter on to your
 friends and colleagues.  Results of the survey will be posted when 
 available.  A discussion of the latin representation system, along with
 an ascii fidel, will be presented at that time. Note that the difference
 between some systems is subtle, you may wish to print this article to
 aid your evaluation.  Your help is much appreciated.
 
 
     Thank You,
 
 
                  danEl yaqob   (System 1,5)
                  d'nEl y'qob   (System 2)
                  da'nEl ya'qob (System 3)
                  dan"l yaqob   (System 4)
         
 
                  yacob@apollo.aoe.vt.edu
 
 
 
 
 System 1:
 ~~~~~~~
 
 Consonants:
 l'   lu   li   la   le   l    lo
 
 Independent Vowels:
  a    u    i    '    e    I    o
 
 Independent Vowel Following a 6th Form Consonant:
 lA   lU   l|i  l"   lE   lI   lO
 
     b'k'ft'Na gugut siT'b'q y'n'b'r'w y's'lamna y'Irq gubae, k'tahsas
 9-13 1986 '.m. b'adis ab'ba k't'ma bad'r'g'w y'amst q'n sbs'ba,
 b'ihAdeg y'mim'raw gizeyawi m'ngst slTanun Indiyasr'kb T'y'q'.
 
     q'd'm blo paris lay sbs'baw  Indid'r'g k'T'y'qut s'bat t'qawami
 budnoc wsT, y'sostun abalat w'd' ag'rac'w sig'bu awroplan Tabiya lay
 b'polis b'masyazna bmas'r m'ngst bzihu sbs'ba lay Indaysat'fu adrgWac'wal.
 y'tasrut abalat, ato ab'ra y'man'ab, w'/rit g'n't grma, ato m'sfn
 t'f'ra, ato al'may'hu deresana ato g'n'n'w as'fa (k'idehaq): ato s'yum 
 z'n'b' (k'm'dhn) Ina ato ibsa gut'ma (k'on'g) nac'w.
 
 
 System 2:
 ~~~~~~~
 
 la   lu   li   l'   le   l    lo
  a    u    i    '    e    I    o
 lA   lU   l|i  l"   lE   lI   lO
 
     bakaftaN' gugut siTabaq yanabaraw yasal'mn' yaIrq gub'e, kat'hs's
 9-13 1986 '.m. baadis abab' katam' b'daragaw yaamst qan sbsab',
 baihAdeg yamimar'w gizey'wi mangst slT'nun Indiy'srakb Tayaqa.
 
     qadam blo p'ris l'y sbsab'w  Indidarag kaTayaqut sab't taq'w'mi
 budnoc wsT, yasostun ab'l't wada agar'caw sigabu awropl'n T'biy' l'y
 bapolis bam'sy'zn' bm'sar mangst bzihu sbsab' l'y Ind'ys'tafu adrgWacaw'l.
 yat'srut ab'l't, ato abar' yam'naab, wa/rit ganat grm', ato masfn
 tafar', ato alam'yahu deres'n' ato gananaw asaf' (kaideh'q): ato sayum
 zanaba (kamadhn) In' ato ibs' gutam' (kaonag) n'caw.
 
 
 System 3:
 ~~~~~~~
 
 la   lu   li   la'   le   l    lo
  a    u    i    a'    e    I    o
 lA   lU   l|i  lA'   lE   lI   lO
 
     bakaftaNa' gugut siTabaq yanabaraw yasala'mna' yaIrq guba'e, kata'hsa's
 9-13 1986 a'.m. baadis ababa' katama' ba'daragaw yaamst qan sbsaba',
 baihAdeg yamimara'w gizeya'wi mangst slTa'nun Indiy'srakb Tayaqa.
 
     qadam blo pa'ris la'y sbsaba'w  Indidarag kaTayaqut saba't taqa'wa'mi
 budnoc wsT, yasostun aba'la't wada agara'caw sigabu awropla'n Ta'biya' la'y
 bapolis bama'sya'zna' bma'sar mangst bzihu sbsaba' la'y Inda'ysa'tafu 
 adrgWacawa'l.
 yata'srut aba'la't, ato abara' yama'naab, wa/rit ganat grma', ato masfn
 tafara', ato alama'yahu deresa'na' ato gananaw asafa' (kaideha'q): ato sayum
 zanaba (kamadhn) Ina' ato ibsa' gutama' (kaonag) na'caw.
 
 System 4:
 ~~~~~~~
 
 le   lu   li   la   l'   l    lo
  a    u    i    e    '    I    o
 lA   lU   l|i  lE   l"   lI   lO
 
     bekefteNa gugut siTebeq yeneberew yeselamna yeIrq guba', ketahsas
 9-13 1986 e.m. beadis abeba ketema baderegew yeamst qen sbseba,
 beihAd'g yemimeraw giz'yawi mengst slTanun Indiyasrekb Teyeqe.
 
 
     qedem blo paris lay sbsebaw  Indidereg keTeyequt sebat teqawami
 budnoc wsT, yesostun abalat wede ageracew sigebu awroplan Tabiya lay
 bepolis bemasyazna bmaser mengst bzihu sbseba lay Indaysatefu adrgWacewal.
 yetasrut abalat, ato abera yemaneab, we/rit genet grma, ato mesfn
 tefera, ato alemayehu d'r'sana ato genenew asefa (keid'haq): ato seyum
 zenebe (kemedhn) Ina ato ibsa gutema (keoneg) nacew.
 
 
 System 5:
 ~~~~~~~
 
 le   lu   li   la   l'   l    lo
  a    u    i    '    e    I    o
 lA   lU   l|i  l"   lE   lI   lO
 
     bekefteNa gugut siTebeq yeneberew yeselamna yeIrq gubae, ketahsas
 9-13 1986 '.m. beadis abeba ketema baderegew yeamst qen sbseba,
 beihAd'g yemimeraw giz'yawi mengst slTanun Indiyasrekb Teyeqe.
 
 
     qedem blo paris lay sbsebaw  Indidereg keTeyequt sebat teqawami
 budnoc wsT, yesostun abalat wede ageracew sigebu awroplan Tabiya lay
 bepolis bemasyazna bmaser mengst bzihu sbseba lay Indaysatefu adrgWacewal.
 yetasrut abalat, ato abera yemaneab, we/rit genet grma, ato mesfn
 tefera, ato alemayehu d'r'sana ato genenew asefa (keid'haq): ato seyum
 zenebe (kemedhn) Ina ato ibsa gutema (keoneg) nacew.
 
 
 
=====================================================================

 APPENDIX B:  On The Character Specific Representation of Numbers:


 For most practical email exchanges it is enough to type "1987" to communicate
 to the reader the year nineteen-hundred-and-eighty-seven.  But for a machine
 to interpret the Arabic numbers into Ethiopic, "1987" becomes a highly 
 ambiguous sequence of numbers.  The following is offered to present a method to
 represent Ethiopic numbers with Arabic for simple computer translation.  

 In our example, "1987", though understood as a Christian year could easily
 have been a part of a phone number, a street address, or most anything in 
 another context.  As there are 20 Ethiopic numbers (21 if the letter "xi",
 used for 1,000 is counted) we are presented with the problem of interpreting
 then, which numbers the typist had intended to communicate.

 In example:  is 1987 to be read as the  6 Ethiopic numbers 10-100-9-100-80-7.
 Or the 5 numbers 10-9-100-80-7, or the 4 numbers 10-9-80-7 , 10-9-8-7,
 1-90-8-7, or finally (skipping a few other possibilities) 1-9-8-7.

 Writing each of the 20 Ethiopic numbers discreetly avoids the ambiguity problem
 and the Christian year 1987 is written as 109100807. 

 It may seem a little ungainly to have to type 9 Arabic numbers so that a
 computer can understand that 5 Ethiopic numbers are desired.  This problem
 can be affected slightly by applying some of the same philosophy that was
 presented for denoting the forms of consonants for Ethiopic letters.
 With the same method applied here the numbers 1,2,3,4...9 are thought of
 as consonants and the vowels are then 0, 00, 000, and 0000 to denote the
 forms "tens", "hundreds", "thousands", and "ten-thousands" (analogous to
 "g`Iz", ka`Ib , sals, and rab`I).  We then have a fidel for numbers : 


 ones   tens   hundreds  thousands  ten-thousands ....
          0       00        000         0000

  1      10      100       1000        10000
  2      20      200       2000        20000
  3      30      200       3000        30000
  4      40      400       4000        40000
  .
  .
  9      90      900       9000        90000


 and we may write the same 5 Ethiopic numbers for the year 1987 with the
 8 Arabic numbers 10900807.  It is intrinsic in this system that when the
 number of zeros, 0, following a one (1,2,3...9) is greater than 2, that
 2 Ethiopic numbers are being represented.  That is, it is understood that
 200 is equivalent to the Ethiopic 2-100 and 2000 is 20-100.  If one wishes 
 to use "xi" as a number, 2000 should then be written as 2xi.  A small computer 
 algorithm that determines Ethiopic numbers with the system described, is 
 available from the authors.

 As a last thought on the representation of Ethiopic numbers with Arabic
 we suggest that if commas "," or decimals "." be used to denote orders
 of a thousand as in $5,362 , that the number be interpreted strictly as a
 summation.  In this instance 5,362 = 5000 + 300 + 60 + 2 and is written in
 Ethiopic as either the 5 characters 50-100-400-60-2 or 5-xi-400-60-2.


=====================================================================


 APPENDIX C:  Generalized Pseudo-Code for Latin --> Ethiopic Translation


 When programming for applications for Ethiopic script consideration must be
 made for the presence of the user.  During the ascii interpretation from any
 input source there will be updating made to a character as its form number is
 determined from subsequent characters.  We identify and discuss two scenarios
 where a computer is called upon to perform the interface between Latin-Ascii
 and Ethiopic.
 
 The first case is document composition, or the active entry and interpretation
 of Ethiopic from Ascii.  If a user is keying in a document or chatting with a
 friend with an Ethiopic version of Unix "talk", considerable aesthetic appeal
 is found by the user when he or she is rewarded with an Ethiopic character for
 each keystroke.  

 With the convention presented in this document it is the sadis or 6th form 
 Ethiopic character that is represented with a single letter from the Latin
 alphabet.  Hence after one keystrike a vowel or sadis consonant character is 
 sent to the screen.  If the user then strikes a vowel (lowercase) the last
 character, if it was a consonant, is deleted from the screen and is replaced
 with the appropriate form represented by the vowel.  If a vowel is not struck,
 then the new character is sent to the screen and becomes the next candidate
 in the entry cycle available for updating. 

 The basic rules for updating the last character entered are :

 1)  only consonants may be updated by lowercase vowels and the letter "W". 
 2)  vowels will have their screen address modified by the number 2. 
 3)  the consonants h, s, and S will have their screen address modified by
     the number 2 (and 3 for e) and remain consonants.  Thus they remain
     updatable for form number by a following vowel.
 4)  a character is sent to the screen after each update, replacing the
     original.

 The standard entry synopsis is depicted in the illustration below.

 Active Entry Logical Flow For Latin Conversion into Ethiopic :
   _____
  |     |
  |    \|/
  |  read new;
  |  determine new type; 
  |  if edit flag  ------->  update last address with new;
  |     |                    new = updated last;
  |     |                    back-delete over last screen char;
  |     |          <-------  continue
  |     |
  |  if number   --------->  check if number is 2 and last is h,
  |     |                             s, S, or vowel, OR number
 /|\    |                             is 3 and last is e;
  |     |          <-------  If not true continue (number is displayed);
  |     |                    If true :
  |    \|/                      update last address with new;
  |     |                       new = updated last;
  |     |                       back-delete over last screen char;
  |     |          <-------  continue
  |     |
  |  display new;
  |  last = new;
  |_____|


 The edit flag can be set only when the new character (or updated character 
 in the cases of h2, s2 and S2) is recognized as a consonant.  In the case
 of vowels and consonants with 2nd or 3rd forms, the numbers 2 and 3 will act to
 modify the previous address.  

 The second case occurs when the user is not involved with the ascii to Ethiopic
 conversion.  For the translation of a text file, for instance, it is not 
 necessary to follow the same steps as it would be for keyed entry.  In fact it
 would be inefficient to do so.  The same rules follow as for active entry
 except that we do not display the character each time it is updated.  Rather,
 after an update has occurred, the reading cycle starts over, the updated
 character now becoming the last.  Rule 4 becomes:

 4) An Ethiopic character is only sent to output after it has been entirely
    identified.

 The following illustration is given to aid in the description of this process.

 File Read-In Logical Flow For Latin Conversion into Ethiopic : 
   _____ _____________________________/_____________________________
  |     |                             \                             |
  |    \|/                                                         /|\
  |  last = new;                                                    |
  |  read new;                                                      |
  |  determine new type;                                            |
  |  if edit flag  ------->  update last address with new;          |
  |     |                    new = updated last;                    |
  |     |                    break.  -------------------->----------|
  |     |                                                           |
  |  if number   --------->  check if number is 2 and last is h,    |
  |     |                             s, S, or vowel, OR number     |
  |     |                             is 3 and last is e;           |  
 /|\    |          <-------  If not true continue;                 /|\
  |     |                    If true :                              |
  |     |                       update last address with new;       |
  |    \|/                      new = updated last;                 |
  |     |                       break.  ---------------->-----------|
  |     |
  |     |
  |  display last;
  |_____|


 The generic form code below presents the logic sequences that would follow in
 machine translation described in the above for arbitrary input and output
 streams.  Specifics on character addressing and the association of characters
 with addresses is left out in this elementary presentation.  The logic shown is
 given for clarity, its form is reducible in application.  Fully function C
 language routines are available from the authors that perform both kinds of
 Ascii to Ethiopic interfacing.
 
 Pseudo Code for SERA-101*  Machine Translation :
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 BEGIN LOOP :
 {
 
  last = new;   
  new  = read_char(file); 

 [ Determine new's character type : vowel, consonant, number, or punctuation ]
 
   
  if (new = vowel) 
     then 
        if (edit = 1  AND new is lowercase)        // last = consonant
           then 
                new = last + last + form#_of_new;   // update consonant to form
                edit = 0;                           // of new
                [restart loop OR delete last and continue] 
        end if 
  end if 


  if (new = "W")
     then
        new = last + form#_of_new;  
        if (last has 12 forms)
           then
               sadis = 1;         // will be edited to form 8-12 in next cycle
           else
               read_char(new);   // 8 forms only, following "a" read & discarded
           end if
           [restart loop OR delete last and continue] 
  end if


  if (new = number) 
     then 
        if ( (new = "2" AND last = "a", "h","s", or "S")   OR 
                    (new = "3" AND last = "e")         )
           then
               new = last + address_change_to_2nd_form;
               if (last NOT = "a") edit = 1;
               [restart loop OR delete last and continue] 
        end if
  end if


 // Printing to the Screen or to An Output File is Done Below

  out_put(last);                   // or out_put(new) if delete last was used

  if (new = vowel && edit = 0)
     then
           [restart loop] 
  end if

  if (new = consonant)
     then
          edit = 1; 
     else    
          edit = 0;                // new was a number or punctuation
  end if                          //  and will not be edited next cycle

 } END LOOP, REPEAT LOOP
        

 * SERA-101 :  System for Ethiopic Representation in Ascii for 101 Keyboards.
               A more formal name for "System 6" used in previous sections.

=====================================================================

APPENDIX D : A Convention for Mixed Script Notation

Punctuation and Rules for Mixed Script Notation


  For mixed script compositions, a set of interpretation rules have have
  been devised for SERA text files.  Upon initial analysis the escape rules
  may appear inconsistant.  Their logical use should become apparent when
  working with them, as they are designed in part to go naturaly with their
  frequency of use.


The \ Text Escape

    \  Followed any undefined char, toggles the script interpretter
       mode (Ethiopic<->Latin).  An alphabetic (readible) character
       may not be used as an escape sequence following the \ text
       escape.  The defined escapes sequences may have different
       functions in the two script modes.  When followed by a blank
       space " ", the mode toggle occurs and the space is deleted.

    \\         Sends "\" from either mode.
          _
    \.     |
    \,     |   Sends the equivalent punctuation
    \;     |   of the OTHER mode to the screen.
    \:    _|

                                    _
    \_     Eth. Word Separator       |  Sends the defined Ethiopic 
    \*     Eth. Paragraph Terminator |  character from both modes.
    \1..9  Eth. Numerals             |
    \<     Eth. Left Quote (<<)      | 
    \>     Eth. Right Quote (>>)    _|  

          _
    \|     |   In Ethiopic mode |, ' or ` is sent to the screen.
    \'     |   In Latin mode, the toggle is made to Ethiopic
    \`    _|   and |,` or ' is treated as the first char in the
               text segment and treated with the normal rules
               (i.e. just the stanard toggle into Ethiopic).

    \!         The "Hard Mode Toggle".  The switch toggles modes but
               treats all text until the ending \! as one script.
               This allows extended use of \ and \~ without the
               requirement for \\ and \\~ but at the cost of using only
               one script within the text region.  

   \~ Graphic Escape

    ~  If followed by a defined character, the appropraite event occurs.
       It is left to software houses to recognize each others' graphic
       escape sequences and provide filters.  ~ is recommended as a means 
       to denote the nonstandard characters of a font set in ascii.

   Default
    \~x      "x" is undefined in an application, then "x" is ignored. 
             and nothing appears when transliterated.  Also true if
             x = " ".
     

If a user truly wants to toggle modes and  have _ , <, >, !, *, ~ 
or an Arabic number apear as the first character in the new mode,
the simple solution is to type the character before toggle 
such as :

        ~\      <\
        _\      >\
        *\      !\


=====================================================================


APPENDIX E :  Changes From SERA System 5
 
[Revision:  10/30/94, Originally the ADDENDUM Document]

The Ethiopic Fidel in ASCII 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

he    hu    hi    ha    hE    h    ho
le    lu    li    la    lE    l    lo    lWa
He    Hu    Hi    Ha    HE    H    Ho
me    mu    mi    ma    mE    m    mo    mWa
s2e   s2u   s2i   s2a   s2E   s2   s2o         *
re    ru    ri    ra    rE    r    ro    rWa
se    su    si    sa    sE    s    so    sWa
xe    xu    xi    xa    xE    x    xo    xWa
qe    qu    qi    qa    qE    q    qo    qWe    qWu   qWi    qWa    qWE
Qe    Qu    Qi    Qa    QE    Q    Qo    QWe    QWu   QWi    QWa    QWE
be    bu    bi    ba    bE    b    bo    bWa        (Q is Tigrigna/Chaha)
ve    vu    vi    va    vE    v    vo    vWa
te    tu    ti    ta    tE    t    to    tWa
ce    cu    ci    ca    cE    c    co    cWa
h2e   h2u   h2i   h2a   h2E   h2   h2o   hWe    hWu   hWi    hWa    hWE    *
ne    nu    ni    na    nE    n    no    nWa
Ne    Nu    Ni    Na    NE    N    No    NWa
 e/a   u/U   i     A     E    I     o     O
ke    ku    ki    ka    kE    k    ko    kWe    kWu   kWi    kWa    kWE
`ke   `ku   `ki   `ka   `kE   `k   `ko             (`k is Chaha)   *
Ke    Ku    Ki    Ka    KE    K    Ko    KWe    KW    KWi    KWa    KWE
Xe    Xu    Xi    Xa    XE    X    Xo              (X is Chaha )
we    wu    wi    wa    wE    w    wo    wWa
`e    `u    `i    `a    `E   `I    `o            *
ze    zu    zi    za    zE    z    zo    zWa
Ze    Zu    Zi    Za    ZE    Z    Zo    ZWa
ye    yu    yi    ya    yE    y    yo
de    du    di    da    dE    d    do    dWa
De    Du    Di    Da    DE    D    Do              (D is Afan Oromiffa)
je    ju    ji    ja    jE    j    jo
ge    gu    gi    ga    gE    g    go    gWe    gWu   gWi    gWa    gWE
Ge    Gu    Gi    Ga    GE    G    Go              (G is Bileen/Chaha)
Te    Tu    Ti    Ta    TE    T    To    TWa
Ce    Cu    Ci    Ca    CE    C    Co    CWa
Pe    Pu    Pi    Pa    PE    P    Po
Se    Su    Si    Sa    SE    S    So    SWa
S2e   S2u   S2i   S2a   S2E   S2   S2o           *
fe    fu    fi    fa    fE    f    fo    fWa
pe    pu    pi    pa    pE    p    po


*  The characters written with either ` or 2 may be written in an alternate
   form as shown:

s2e   s2u   s2i   s2a   s2E   s2   s2o = `se   `su   `si   `sa   `sE   `s   `so 
S2e   S2u   S2i   S2a   S2E   S2   S2o = `Se   `Su   `Si   `Sa   `SE   `S   `So 
h2e   h2u   h2i   h2a   h2E   h2   h2o = `he   `hu   `hi   `ha   `hE   `h   `ho 

`ke   `ku   `ki   `ka   `kE   `k   `ko = k2e   k2u   k2i   k2a   k2E   k2   k2o 
`e    `u    `i    `a    `E    `I   `o  = a2    u2    i2    A2    e2    I2   o2    

A Discussion of Changes Made in SERA System 6
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Ascii Fidel :

A part of the original design premise of the SERA Ascii Fidel (AF) was that it
take advantage of the sounds found in all languages that use Ethiopic for their
written script.  During discussions with tgrNa (Tigrigna) speakers at the Dehai
network's Eritrea-Info, it was learned that the first and second "h" in the
fidel do not have the same sound as they do in amarNa (Amharic).  The rationale
for the appendage of "2" following a consonant was to denote a second character
that was the phonetic equivalent of some other.  In spoken Ge'ez tables the 2nd
"h" of the fidel is represented with phonetic symbology as "h" with a "."
underneath.  It is consistent with the choices of the upper case "T", "C", "S",
and "P" to then use "H" for what had been "h2".  This is indeed the same
character used in the Dehai fidel as well as "K" for h4 or what had previously
been "H" in SERA.  The Dehai convention is now adopted in the SERA Ascii Fidel. 
Further, h3 logically became h2.  These changes allow for a simpler use by
members of any language group where Ethiopic script is used as well as for some
simplification in transliteration computer code.

The second set of vowels in the AF were also updated to reflect more of the way
that tgrNa relates to the fidel.  The 2nd set of vowels are more important in
written and spoken tgrNa and do not have the same sounds as does (are not
homophonic to) the first vowel group.  This second set of vowels (or perhaps
vowels-like letters) will be represented with the ` character used by many
Ge'ez and Arabic tables for the "`ain".  The original system of "a2" may also
be used if the typist finds the ` more difficult to reach or if thinking by the
sounds the characters have in the typist's language, "a2" becomes a more natural
choice in agreement with the logic for h2, s2, and S2.

2nd Vowel Set   `e    `u    `i    `a    `E   `I    `o
     also -->   a2    u2    i2    A2    E2   I2    o2

It can be argued that the 2nd vowel group now depicts a higher degree of
syllabic thinking.  This arises from how the characters relate to each other
through the ` , vs the first vowel group where each character is symbolically
independent (and indicate then a more alphabetic thinking).  The original lone
vowel ordering of the first form vowels will maintain their Amharic bias.

Likewise the same alternate denotation was applied to the characters h2, s2,
and S2.  The use of ` here to imply a different pronunciation for the
letters is valid when considering the original sounds of the characters in
spoken g`Iz (Ge'ez).  The choice is left to the typist then to select the
prefixed ` or appended 2 form.  Which s/he may do so based upon the ease of
reach of the character or by the sound of the character that the typist wish
to impart with the modifier.



The Ordering of The First 7 Forms:

----------------------------------------------------------------------
SERA-101 System 6c
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
          Consonants:
           le    lu    li    la    lE    l    lo
 
          Independent Vowels:
            e\a   u\U   i     A     E    I     o    e3    (as in e3re!)

Rule :    First Vowel Set Following a 6th Form Consonant:
           l'e   l'u   l'i   l'A   l'E   l'I   l'o   
also -->   l'a   lU                      lI    lO         (minimal punctuation)

The writer may choose to use ' as a separator between vowels for clarity:

		keErtra  = ke'Ertra
		leabebe = le'abebe = le'ebebe = leebebe
--------------------------------------------------------------------

The primary changes from System 5 are the use of "E" for the hams and "A" for
the lone rab`I vowel.  This comes in part from early user comments that
punctuation requires one to "...stop and remember what the letter is."  In
System 6 all forms of consonants and all of the vowels are given by alphabetic
(readable) ascii characters except for the sads consonants which in a special
instance have a two character form.  It is believed that the elimination of
punctuation for the vowels will allow for easier reading.  Particularly in tgrNa
where a4 may occur more commonly than a1 and in Gurage languages where a8 is
found more often than other vowels.  The character | is retained to imply that
the vowel element of a sads consonant is enunciated.

The dual use of "e" and "a" for the first form vowel is introduced now to
permit the logical choices in ascii for the sounds of the character in amarNa
and for the majority of Ethiopian and Eritrean languages that use the
stricter, traditional, writing conventions.  Allowing dual representation does 
not introduce conflicts for computer transliterators, as it is valid only for
the lone vowel and not for consonant forms.  It is hoped the system will work
naturally for humans, the letter choices being in agreement with how one would
think of the vowel's sound from his or her language in Latin form.

The choice of "e3" is thought to be the best model for the sound of the
character -the 8th vowel.  The sound of the character is in Amharic the same as
that of "e" (the first vowel) in Tigrigna.  The choice of a numeral to follow
"e" will detract from the reading quality of the character, which should come
at a small cost when its infrequent use is considered.

Finally, the "left over" Latin uppercase consonants; B, F, J, L, M, R, V, and 
Y, are now recognized as equivalent to their lowercase counterparts.  That is
"Y" in transliteration would be interpretted identically as "y" etc.  These
same Latin characters are considered to be on a "reserve" status to model some
overlooked sound in an Ethiopian or Eritrean language.

A test document written with System 5 and the previous Ascii Fidel was rewritten
with the new logic presented here and showed a "cleaner", easier to read form.
This was primarily do to the reduction of punctuation of for the hams forms as
well as the trade described for "2" and ` .


The reader is reminded at this point that SERA was not intended to close the
book on the subject of the Ascii representation of Ethiopic -merely to offer a
better place to start.  System 6 represents the first step in the advancement
of improved representation after the gain of new insight and additional input
from users of the previous system proposed.  The Ascii representation of Ge'ez
script will remain an evolving process as computer users continue to find ways
to make natural language communication with the Ascii medium both easier to
write and read.


=====================================================================


 REFERENCES


 1.  Demoz, "Amharic Script Reform Efforts".  ETHIOPIAN STUDIES. 
     S. Segert and A.J.E. Bodrogligeti, Eds. 1983.

 2.  Diringer, David, Writing, New York, NY, Frederick A. Praeger Inc., 1962.

 3.  Coulmas, Florian, The Writing Systems of The World, New York, NY,
     B. Blackwell, 1989.

 4.  Committee for Standardization of Ethiopian Script, "View and Recommendation
     on The Unicode Technical Report #1 Draft Proposal on Ethiopian Script",
     unpublished, August, 1993.

