Punctuation

Where an apostrophe appears, as in se'at ('time'), pronounce the sounds before and after the apostrophe as separate syllables. Hyphens are used to separate syllables in longer, more complex words. There are vowel sounds used in Amharic speech which are known as helping vowels. They are used to divide two words which end and begin with consonants so that the sound flows better, eg sent no is written as sent(e) no in the transliterations.