Overview
Ge’ez is a Semitic language that was once one of the main languages in Eritrea and Ethiopia. With the decline of the Axumites in the 13th-14th centuries, Ge’ez ceased to be used in everyday communication but has lived on in the readings and the liturgical life of the Church. Today, learning Ge’ez is the key to accessing the spiritual treasures of the Eritrean-Ethiopian liturgical world and is a necessary skill for those who want to immerse themselves in its spiritual life. The teaching takes its starting point from the perspective of the student’s existing knowledge.
Students who complete beginner’s Ge’ez can progress to continuation classes in which they can study at intermediate and advanced levels.
Geez module I
Goals
By the end of the course students should be able to:
- Enumerate basic grammatical, phonological, orthographic and lexical structures (grammar, reading, writing and vocabulary)
- Combine linguistic structures to translate basic texts
- Access and participate in the Liturgical heritage of the Tewahedo tradition by participating in the reading and recitation of basic liturgical texts in Ge’ez
Geez module II
Goals
By the end of the course students should be able to:
- Incorporate more advanced grammatical structures and expand vocabulary
- Analyze, relate and explain linguistic structures
- Combine linguistic structures to both produce and translate short texts with the help of reference resources
- Participate in the liturgical heritage of the Tewahedo tradition by fluent reading and recitation of liturgical texts in Ge’ez, thereby becoming an active agent and propagator of the linguistic and liturgical tradition.
Geez module III
Goals
By the end of the course students should be able to:
- Combine and relate linguistic structures to both produce and translate texts with some help
- Integrate the linguistic heritage of the Tewahedo into one’s own life, and contribute to its continued use in the community, by expressing one’s self in simple sentences in Ge’ez.
