Transliteration Systems

gez-Latn is not sufficient by itself. Ge’ez transliteration may be scholarly, phonetic, pedagogical, or parish-specific. OLS v1.0 therefore requires transliteration metadata when Latin-script Ge’ez is used.

Transliteration Metadata

{
  "text": {
    "gez-Ethi": "ቅዱስ እግዚአብሔር",
    "gez-Latn": "Qəddus Ǝgziʾabəḥer"
  },
  "textMeta": {
    "transliteration": {
      "sourceLanguage": "gez-Ethi",
      "targetTag": "gez-Latn",
      "system": "scholarly-ies",
      "purpose": "study",
      "pronunciationBase": "classical-geez",
      "reversible": true,
      "reviewStatus": "needs-review"
    }
  }
}

Transliteration Systems

System	Purpose
scholarly-ies	Academic transliteration preserving classical distinctions.
bgn-pcgn	Standardized romanization where available.
phonetic-amharic	Pronunciation-oriented guide for Amharic-speaking readers.
phonetic-english	Pronunciation-oriented guide for English-speaking diaspora learners.
parish-custom	Local parish handout style; MUST identify source or reviewer.
custom	Requires a declared mapping table.

Publishing a Transliteration

Always identify the source text, target tag, system, purpose, and review status. Two gez-Latn values can look similar while following different scholarly or parish conventions; the language tag alone cannot distinguish them.

For a custom or parish-custom system, publish enough documentation for a reader to interpret the spelling. Include a mapping table or a stable reference to one, note how ambiguous characters are handled, and identify the reviewer.

Do not mark a transliteration reversible: true unless every relevant source distinction can be reconstructed. Pronunciation-oriented systems commonly merge distinctions and should normally be treated as non-reversible.