Oromo script - Oromo script. During its existence, it was based on several graphic systems and was repeatedly reformed. Currently, Oromo scripts officially function on a Latin graphic basis.
The first records of the Oromo language were made in the Latin alphabet in the middle of the XIX century, however, the Oromo did not have official writing for a long time. In the 20th century, attempts were made to use the Oromo Ethiopian and the syllabic Bakri Sapalo for recording. The Arabic alphabet was also limitedly used. In 1991, the Latinized alphabet qubee became the official Oromo script in Ethiopia .
Content
Early Period
The first script used to record the Oromo language is Arabic. So, in 1839, the French traveler Antoine d'Abbadi purchased a document written in Arabic script in a language that he identified as Oromo [1] . However, the Arabic alphabet did not receive significant distribution among the Oromo - they recorded only certain Islamic religious texts. Only a few Oromo manuscripts using the Arabic script are found in Harare , Wallo, and Bale [2] .
In 1840, the first short grammar of the Oromo language was published, written by the German missionary I. L. Krapf [3] . In this and subsequent scientific works of Krapf, the Latin alphabet was used. To indicate specific Oromo phonemes, he used the following characters - sh for / s' /, tsh for / tʃ /, / tʃ '/, / dʒ /, gn for / n' /. Long vowels were indicated by a diacritical mark - a macron [4] .
The Oromo grammar of the early 20th century also used the Latin alphabet, with each researcher using his own sound designation system. So, in the Galla-English dictionary of Foote (1913), the signs sh were used for / s' /, ch for / tʃ /, / tʃ '/, j - for / dʒ /, ny for / n' /. In the writings of Enrico Cherulli (1920s) signs š were used for / s' /, q for / k '/, ṭ for / t' /, č for / tʃ /, č̣ for / tʃ '/, ḍ for / d' /, ğ - for / dʒ /, ṗ for / p '/, ñ for / n' /. A similar recording system in those years was used by Hudson and Walker. Long vowels, as in Krpaff's grammar, were denoted by macrons. At the same time, Cherulli, in his works, singled out 20 oromo 20 vowels, denoting them with various diacritics: a, ā, ä, å, ī, e, ë, ie, ę, ē̦, ĭ, i, ī, o , ō, ŏ, u, ū, ŭ, ūō [4] .
1970-1980s
Modern Alphabet
The modern Oromo alphabet, officially adopted in 1991 [5] :
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Notes
- ↑ The writings of the Muslim peoples of northeastern Africa / RS O'Fahey. - Leiden - Boston: Brill, 2003 .-- P. 37-38. - ISBN 90-04-10938-2 .
- ↑ Teferi Degeneh Bijiga, 2015 , p. 106.
- ↑ JL Krapf. An imperfect outline of the elements of the Galla language . - L. , 1840.
- ↑ 1 2 Teferi Degeneh Bijiga, 2015 , p. 90, 98.
- ↑ Teferi Degeneh Bijiga, 2015 , p. 229.
Literature
- Teferi Degeneh Bijiga. The Development of Oromo Writing System . - University of Kent, 2015 .-- 288 p.