ፀ (ḍa)
The Ge'ez letter ፀ is called ፀጰ (ḍappa). It represents a “alveolar ejective affricate”, which sounds like a forceful <ts> in English. The sound is rare but it appears in languages like Georgian, e.g. წელი (ts’eli) “year” and Hausa, e.g. tsáunìi “mountain”.
Its shape ፀ is derived from the epigraphic character: 𐩳. It correlates to the Arabic letter ﺽ.
Ge’ez words starting with ፀ include ፀሓይ (ḍaḥay) "sun", ፅማዌ (ḍəmmāwe) "silence" and ፅንስ (ḍəns) "pregnancy".
