ሰላም
sälam/ˈsəlam/
In Amharic, hello is ሰላም (sälam).
ሰላም is a common and versatile way to say hello in Amharic. It can be used in many different situations to greet others.
Meaning: greeting (intj)
What does it mean word for word?
The word ሰላም literally means 'peace'.
How does it change in a sentence?
You can expand this greeting into a question by adding the verb 'ነው' and a question mark to form ሰላም ነው?, which means 'Is it peace?' or 'How are you?' In response to this question, a common answer is ሰላም ነው, meaning 'It is peace' or 'I am well'.
How do you pronounce it?
The romanization is sälam and the IPA is /ˈsəlam/.
Did you know?
- While ሰላም is used for 'hello', the act of greeting in Ethiopia often involves a physical gesture where people touch shoulders or bump their right shoulders together.
- While ሰላም is written with the Ge'ez script, the characters used to form it are part of one of the only indigenous writing systems still in active use in Africa.
- The word ሰላም is also used as a common name for both males and females in various Ethiopian regions.
Examples in context
- ሰላም!selam!Hello!
- ሰላም፣ እንዴት ነህ?selam, endiet neh?Hello, how are you?
Example conversation
Elias and Helen meet at a cafe.
- ኤልያስ Eliasሰላም ሄለን!Selam Helen!Hello Helen!
- ሄለን Helenሰላም ኤልያስ፣ ደህና ነህ?Selam Elias, dehna neh?Hello Elias, are you doing well?
- ኤልያስ Eliasአዎ፣ በጣም ደህና ነኝ።Awo, betam dehna negn.Yes, I am very well.
- ሄለን Helenእኔም ደህና ነኝ።Enem dehna negn.I am doing well too.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “hello” translations and entries ሰላም, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
