The Struggle for Searching of Afaan Oromo Alphabet (Qubee) and the Contribution of Haile Fida

Duressa GT, Taa T and Debu D

Published on: 2024-04-25

Abstract

The article briefly presents the struggle for searching of Latin script known as Qubee to write Afaan Oromo. The article starts its analysis by discussing the language policy of Ethiopia under different regimes and their impacts on Afaan Oromo writing system. Previously, Afaan Oromo was written using the Ge’ez script as used by Amharic. Though the Ge’ez script has several limitations for writing of Afaan Oromo, the policy of Ethiopia under imperial and dictatorial regimes prohibited the development of Afaan Oromo by discouraging its use. Despite several challenges, however, a Latin script known as ‘Qubee’ was adopted as an official alphabet to write Afaan Oromo in the early 1970s. Various individuals and groups contributed for the development of Latin alphabet, known as Qubee to write Afaan Oromo. Among others, Haile Fida contributed significant role for the development of Latin script to write Afaan Oromo. Though there are fragmentary information regarding the contribution of Haile Fida for the development of Latin script, no organized records was done in this regard. Thus, this study attempt to fill such gaps by documenting the contribution of Haile Fida for the development of Latin script to write Afaan Oromo. The sources material for this paper was gathered from primary and secondary sources. Finally, data gathered were analyzed and interpreted qualitatively.