Initia Amharica, An Introduction to spoken Amharic. Part I, Grammar. Volume 1 of 3 only (Complete in itself)

Armbruster, C. H. Initia Amharica, An Introduction to spoken Amharic. Part I, Grammar. Volume 1 of 3 only (Complete in itself). Cambridge: The University Press, 1908. First edition. Quarto. xxiii, [1], 398, [2]pp. Original olive cloth, with gold lettering to spine.

C. H. Armbruster (1874-1957) was a civil servant in the Anglo-Sudan government and a linguist specializing in African languages. After visiting Ethiopia on diplomatic missions in 1906 and 1907 Armbruster published a three-volume reference work on colloquial, spoken Amharic between 1908 and 1920. Armbruster’s study of Amharic was one of the first to be written in English, and exemplifies the shift among linguists away from the formal, classics-based style of earlier reference grammars towards a focus on colloquial speech and communication. The examples are drawn from direct knowledge of the contemporary language, unlike similar works of the period which were often based on centuries-old Ethiopian Orthodox biblical texts.

In this first volume devoted to grammar, Armbruster provides an extensive discussion of the phonetics and phonology of the language and their relation to Amharic script together with explanations and examples of verb conjugations, syntax and sentence formation. (From the Preface of the 2010 edition).

Ex-library copy, with sticker at upper front joint and tail of spine; bookplate on inside of front cover, pocket at rear, and stamp at top and bottom paper edges. Binding and interior in very good condition. vg. Hardcover. (46766) $65