Language is a means of communication and symbol of national identity. As a means communication, languages serve at least for two different purposes: verbal and written communications. Writing system is a mother of all inventions in the history of human kind. Since the invention of the writing system, all other inventions started to be transferred to peoples across the world and retained for generations to follow. Communities with writing system were historically privileged in developing their cultures, languages and their historical heritages. A written language uses symbols that are systematically put in order to produce a message that can be understood. The symbols used to write within a language are called alphabet. The alphabet of any languages must have symbols representing all the sounds of that language. The symbols that make up an alphabet are expected to perfectly fit for the sounds they represent and must be easy to use. Contrasting the above facts, Afaan Oromo was written using the Ge’ez script for a long period of time. Although Afaan Oromo was the second most widely spoken indigenous language in Africa south of the Sahara and is considered to be a major African language that is extensively utilized and spoken in numerous regions of Ethiopia and some neighboring countries, it remained an unwritten language for a considerable duration of time [1].

Scholars have put forward various interrelated factors to explain the delayed and cumbersome transition of Afaan Oromo from an oral to a written language. One such factor is political issue. Definitely, past Ethiopian governments have played a significant role in prohibiting the development of Afaan Oromo by discouraging its use even in private conversations. Under the consecutive imperial and dictatorial regimes of Ethiopia, the expression of writing in languages other than Amharic is strictly prohibited. This notion is supported by Mohammed Hassen who attested that, "it was not permissible to write, preach, teach, and broadcast in the Oromo language in Ethiopia until the early 1970s." Consequently, other linguistic communities are coerced into abandoning their native tongues and instead, instructed to read and write in Amharic. The language of instruction, court, and all governmental offices was declared to be Amharic (Mohammed, 1994).

Besides policy of the Ethiopian regimes, other challenges such as absence of trained linguists, the lack of an Afaan Oromo training Academy, and the unavailability of suitable scripts have further impeded the advancement of writing in Afaan Oromo [2].

Despite political repression over the development of the Oromo language, the Oromo people at home country and diaspora, as well as other interested individuals, did not simply accept the condition as it is. On the contrary, they have made many efforts at home and abroad to remedy this situation and contribute to the development of Oromo writing system. In particular, since the early 1940s, various individuals contribute their share in writing Afaan Oromo using different scripts such as Arabic, Ethiopic and Latin scripts [3].

In spite of rigorous efforts made to transform the Oromo language into written language, evidences indicate that it was in the 1960s that Latin based orthography had been used to write Afaan Oromo mostly by Oromo intellectuals abroad. Among others, Haile Fida was the one who contributed a significant role for the development of script appropriate to write Afaan Oromo. Though various studies were done on historical development of Oromo writing system, there are gaps with regards to contribution of Haile Fida for the development of Afaan Oromo alphabet. Thus, this paper attempt fills that gaps using primary and secondary sources.

Language Policy of Ethiopian Regimes and the History of Afaan Oromo Writing

Language policy is what government does officially through legislation, court decisions, executive action, or other means to determine how languages are used in public contexts to cultivate language skills needed to meet national priorities, or establish the right of individuals or groups to learn to use and maintain languages. Accordingly, there are three language policy types that are relevant to language policy practices of Ethiopia. These are assimilation, internationalism and linguistic pluralism (Seyoum, 1996).

A policy of linguistic assimilation is one that uses measures to accelerate the downsizing of one or more linguistic minority groups. The vision of such policies is to foster national unity inside a state based on the idea that a single language in the country will favor that end. It is based on the idea that every person in a given society should be able to function in the dominant language regardless of which language or language dialect that person speaks. This language policy is the policy employed by previous regimes in Ethiopia. Meanwhile, the language policy of internationalism is the ideology which consists in adopting a non - indigenous language of wider communication either as an official language or as language of instruction.  This language policy underlies several posts -colonial countries and also relevant to Ethiopia since the Italian invasion.

On the other hand, a policy of linguistic pluralism promotes the evolvement of several languages simultaneously on equitable bases. This can be achieved in different ways such as based on territorial rights, individually based policies or combination of the two. This policy is relevant to the current language policy of Ethiopia [3].

Having such concepts on language ideology and policy types, it is possible to understand language policies of Ethiopia and their implications during the different regimes. Hence, the language policies of Ethiopia are briefly discussed starting from Tewodros II to the Darg regime as follows. To begin with, during the Axumite era, Ge'ez was a dominant language serving as a lingua-franca in every sector especially among the Semitic speaking peoples. After the decline of Axum when the power taken by the Solomonic dynasty, Amharic became language of the king. Even though, Ge'ez has become obsolete from this time onwards it has been serving as a literary and liturgical language till today [5]. In the history of Ethiopian monarchy, Emperor Tewodros II (1855- 1868) was the first to have chronicles written in Amharic. He intended to unify the country avoiding regional lords and kings by using a single language. This clandestine language policy of using Amharic throughout the country even by stopping Ge'ez from being a literary language was just the beginning of the mission of unification in the history of the country [5].

The second Ethiopian ruler who promote Amharic as a national official language was Emperor Yohannes IV (1872-1889) with his secret language policy to enhance the national unification. He abandoned his ethnic language, Tigrigna, and other languages of the country to bring national unity through the use of a single language. With respect to Emperor Menilek II (1889-1913), the promotion of a single language policy with Amharic continued to cover wider area with the territorial expansion. Since the army and local rulers appointed by the king were Amharic speakers, the hegemony of Amharic extremely increased even among societies newly annexed and had never spoken the language before [6].

The language policy of internationalism began in Ethiopia in the latter days of Menelik II along with his agreement of French for military aid and railway construction. As a result, the French language was included in the school system of Ethiopia. It continued up to the early days of Emperor Haile Selassie, who was himself tutored in the French language [4].

Haile Selassie I (1930-1974), was known for his ruling for a long period of time and a well-established constitution unlike his predecessors. He issued in August 1930 the first constitution in the history of the country yet it had stated nothing about language while it was written in Amharic.

As historical heritance, he assumed the use of one language was a pre-requisite for the formation of national unity against all existing background of diversity. Amharic culture, tradition and language were promoted, developed and presented as national characteristics [6].

Hence to pursue the policy of national unification, the government enforced to set up a uniform religion, culture and language for all Ethiopian. Haile Selassie was the first to declare the overt official position of the Amharic language in the constitution of 1955, which stated, "the official language of the empire is Amharic." During his era, even deviance to this language ideology was unthinkable. For instance, during the Italian invasion (1935-41), it had been tried to introduce local languages as a medium of instruction at primary level. Nevertheless, after power had been regained in 1941, he automatically stopped the action as his covert language policy did not allow and continued in building the Amharic hegemony. In the internationalism perspective, English started in the 1940's to be a medium of instruction in the junior and secondary schools starting this time onwards English increased its significance to be used in different sectors and become channels of communication in the history of the country [4].

However, a one language, one nation ideology started to be changed during the Darg regime. At that time language policies were developed in response to Lenin's theories of the right of nationalities, which included linguistic freedom as integral part of the development of an egalitarian state. For his political agenda Mengistu Haile Mariam argued that the language policies of Haile Selassie had been part of a deliberate strategy to increase the political hegemony of a dominant group, the Amhara. The use of nationality languages in the mass literacy campaign was a practical application of this policy in the recognition of minority language right. Though, his constitution of 1987 states, "The people’s Democratic Republic of Ethiopia ensures the equality, respect and development of the nationality languages," there was no language given any form of official status and introduced into the primary education system. Instead Amharic remained to be a sole official national language throughout the country with the slight difference of using other languages for literacy campaign from the previous regimes [6].

The Struggle to Search an Appropriate Alphabet for Afaan Oromo Writing

The history of written Afaan Oromo begins in the early 19th century. Religion, especially by Christian, Muslim and Oromo scholars, played a central role in the development of Oromo literature and writing system. In the 1950s, efforts were also made to develop an alphabet suitable for Afaan Oromo writing [3].

Accordingly, the first attempt to write in Afaan Oromo was made by the Oromo themselves, and the first script used was Arabic. This happened through the expansion of religion, especially by Muslims among Oromo. After a long period of Islamic education and Arabic literacy, the idea of using the Arabic alphabet for Afaan Oromo writing was born (Feyisa, 1996). Regarding the use of Arabic script to write Afaan Oromo, Feyisa illustrates that Wallo Oromo used the Arabic alphabet to write religious poetry in Afaan Oromo. Feyisa further explains that since the beginning of the 19th century, Afaan Oromo has been used as correspondence among all the Oromo kings as the language of education particularly in the five Gibe states and Wallo. In addition, the Muslim Oromo’s in the regions of Arsi, Bale and Hararghe used Arabic script to write Afaan Oromo [2].

The Arabic alphabet is mainly used to write religious poems and poems in praise of Muslim saints. In this regard, scholars such as Sheikh Ahmed Siraj, Sheikh Mohammad Asi Haba and Sheikh Mohammed Aliy Ta'oo have used the Arabic script and composed religious poems and various documents in Afaan Oromo. Thus, it can be said that the Arabic language and Islamic education have greatly contributed to the development of written Afaan Oromo at least in its early stages. But alphabet's incompatibility with the Oromo language is thought to have limited the expansion of written Afaan Oromo in the 19th century [7].

Gradually, the effort to make Afaan Oromo a written language continued with new and fresh ideas. Among others, the work of two Oromos named Sheikh Bakri Saphalo and Onesimos Nasib were worth mentioning. These individuals have made their own contributions to the development of written Afaan Oromo. Onesimos has translated many documents into Afaan Oromo. He wrote and translated most of them between 1885 and 1898. In those thirteen years he translated seven books, two of which were translated with Aster Ganno. He also compiled an Oromo-Swedish dictionary of about 6,000 words. However, the translation of the Bible into Afaan Oromo is Onesimos' most important contribution. His translation of the Bible is considered by historians and linguists to be a great intellectual feat and a remarkable achievement for an individual [3].

Sheikh Bakri Saphalo is another good writer who has contributed a lot to the development of the Oromo language. From the very beginning, he began to write in Afaan Oromo. In addition, he invented the native Oromo alphabet. The development of the indigenous alphabet is said to have taken place in 1956 in the village of Haii. Hayward and Mohammed described his invention as follows: "It seems likely that Sheikh Bakri was the first Oromo to clearly see the inherent problems in trying to write the Oromo language using a designed orthographic system mainly for other languages.” He was interested in developing an indigenous alphabet because he had strong nationalist aspirations and felt that lack of writing facilities is a big problem. He devised the writing system, an original and indigenous writing system, as part of an effort to overcome spelling problems in the Afaan Oromo script. He designed scripts that had different forms but followed the symbols and sounds that formed the pattern of the Geez system. After developing the alphabet, Sheikh Bakri taught it to all his students and others. Then people started exchanging the letters of the new alphabet. In addition to the letters, Sheik Bakri himself used his alphabet to write poems and other works, and these manuscripts are also thought to exist. It is claimed that there are still people who can use it [8].

In addition to the efforts of the Oromo people, foreign scholars also wrote Afaan Oromo using different scripts. For example, Bruce, a Scottish traveler, was the first European to put several words together and develop sentence structure in Afaan Oromo using the Latin alphabet. After Bruce, many other European scholars, who worked with Oromo in Africa and Europe became interested in the study of Afaan Oromo and attempted to write it in Latin as well as Ethiopic scripts [6].

One of the attempts at writing Afaan Oromo was made by Ludwig Krapf. He went to Ethiopia for missionary work and later showed great interest in the study and writing of the Oromo language. On his way to Showa around 1839, he met several Oromo people and gathered information about the Oromo language, culture, and religion. Krapf recognized the importance of Afaan Oromo for missionary purposes in Northeast Africa. For this reason, he wished to learn Afaan Oromo after coming to the court of King Showa. At the court of King Shoan, Krapf began to study Afaan Oromo with the help of his servant. He then published a book in 1840. In his book, Krapf specifically focused on the script used to write the Oromo language (Krapf, 1940).

The period before the Second World War is basically the effort of European Christian missionaries from Germany, Italy, France, and others.  The objective of the missionaries was not to develop Afaan Oromo but to propagate Christianity. Therefore, they did not pay attention to the differences in meaning resulting from vowel length (short and long vowels) as well as stressed and non-stressed sounds in Afaan Oromo [9].

When Italy occupied Ethiopia, it did not bring in armed forces and soldiers only. It also brought professionals that were well trained and experienced in every field of knowledge. One of those professionals brought into the country was a person named Martin Moreno. Moreno was a great scholar and a renowned linguist. Moreno was assigned to study the major languages of the newly conquered territories of the Italian Empire. He started his work by studying Afaan Oromo and other related languages. He learned the language, including the various dialects, in a short period of time. He studied the phonology, morphology, and syntax of the language and compiled the result of his study into a book which was published in 1939. Moreno clearly stated that both the Sabean and the Arabic alphabet are not suitable for the Oromo language. He developed the Latin-based Oromo Alphabet which is shown below.  During the period from 1935-1939, he presented a number of research papers on the Oromo language at the conferences of Italian linguists. Moreno was the first person that understood the linguistic properties of Afaan Oromo. In 1939 he published his monumental work “Grammatica Della Lingua Oromo” (Grammar of the Oromo Language) in which he had explained the phonology, morphology and syntax of the language [10].

When the war ended with the victory of the Allied Forces, Italy was kicked out from Ethiopia, the old status quo was reinstated, and the exiled king returned to the country, and his rule was reestablished. As a result, all voices dealing with reading and writing Afaan Oromo were silenced, possession of Oromo books became illegal. The relative light the Oromo saw during the war vanished; the hope to write and read in Afaan Oromo disappeared; and Oromo Land was once again engulfed by darkness (Mohammed, 1993).

After the war, young people started to go abroad for further studies. Depending on the mode of travel, two groups emerged. One group includes all those traveled abroad legally because of scholarship grants from other countries, international organizations or non-governmental agencies. This included all those traveled for BA/BSc, MA/MSc or Ph.D. degrees. All of them knew where they would go, which universities they would attend, what they would learn, the duration of time their study would last, the amount of pocket money or living expense they would receive monthly, etc. Their destinations were usually Europe and North America. Most belonged to the Amhara ethnic group, and some were from other ethnic groups. Not all who traveled abroad in this way focused only on studying; some showed political interests as well. They embraced politics with a tendency towards the left and became leftists. They accepted Marxist–Leninist philosophy. They established the Union of Ethiopian Students in Europe, and in North America. Among those in Europe, there were Oromos like Haile Fida and Abdullahi Yousuf. They were notable because they put significant effort to make Afaan Oromo a written language [10].

Although the Oromo people and European missionaries tried their best to develop the Oromo script, the language policy of successive Ethiopian regimes and the unsuitability of the Geez script silenced the development of Afaan Oromo literature. In the early 1940s, the Haile Selassie regime enacted legislation requiring the use of "Amharic only" for education, justice, administration, and religious preaching. This law made Amharic the sole national language and suppressed other languages until 1974. Non-Amharic speakers were forced to learn the national language and assimilate into the Abyssinian culture.  All government institutions, administrations, courts, and education systems place a heavy burden on non-Amharic speakers. For example, after years of ridicule for speaking non-standard Amharic, students from non-Amharic-speaking families face the final hurdle of taking the highly competitive national exam, the Ethiopian School Leaving Certificate (ESLC), to enter College. Admission to Haile Selassie I University (now Addis Ababa University), the only university in the country at the time, required a passing score (minimum C) in Amharic [11].

In the 1960s, in order to overcome the policy of language restriction and the problems that the Geez script posed with the development of the Oromo language, the Oromo intelligentsia decided to question the imperial system and end the memory of national domination and cultural eradication. Developing the literacy of the Oromo people was one of the main goals of the Macha-Tulama Association (MTA) when it was founded in 1963. But the organization was dissolved and its leaders imprisoned or killed three years later, partly for encouraging Oromo's literacy and sparking new national awakening in the Oromo people [12].

But the need to develop Oromo literature by adopting an appropriate writing system to write and teach in their language continued by Oromo intellectuals abroad. They recognized the lack of Geez script for this purpose. The absence or very slow development of Afaan Oromo literature until the 1960s made it clear that Geez Fidel could not facilitate writing in Afaan Oromo. Against the difficulties created by the language policy of the Ethiopian state, individual efforts have also been made to preserve the Oromo language and culture. Among these intellectuals, Haile Fida plays an important role. Haile was a brilliant intellectual and Oromo nationalist who recognized the need for suitable script for writing of Afaan Oromo. Haile put considerable effort into the creation of the Oromo alphabet. Realizing that the Geez spellings were not suitable for transcribing Oromo, he developed a Latin script to write Afaan Oromo [11].

The Search for an Oromo Alphabet and the contribution of Haile Fida

The current Oromo writing system, Qubee, is a by-product of the recognized and unrecognized efforts of a number of individuals and groups who have written that language policies in Ethiopia are not conducive to promoting and developing other languages than Amharic for official purposes. The official policy of the Ethiopian regime was to promote Amharic by making it the compulsory and official language of instruction in the 1970s and 1980s [12].

Despite the political situation that favors unification of the country through the use of Amharic as the official language and script in Ethiopia, some Oromo people have challenged the status quo and developed Latin script for Afaan Oromo writing. Among others, Haile Fida was one of the most respected and appreciated Oromo elites and has contributed greatly to the development of the Oromo alphabet and language. Haile contributed significantly to the development of the Latin script for writing of Afaan Oromo. This is not minor achievement for Oromo in general and for writers in particular, because under the Haile Selassie and Darg regimes, public speaking in Oromo, let alone writing in Oromo, would have attracted negative attention with the consequence of imprisonment or punishment [13]. It is reported that Haile Fida started thinking of developing Afaan Oromo alphabet when he was student of Addis Ababa University. But the political condition of the time did not allow him to discuss the issue with his friends let alone developing new alphabet suitable for writing Afaan Oromo. Hence, he took this issue as an assignment when he went to Europe for post graduate studies (Informants: Amare Tegbaru and Tadassa Gasasa).

Although Haile Fida pursued postgraduate studies in Paris, his dedication to the advancement of the Oromo language and literature remained fervent. Haile Fida initiated discussions with Oromo students throughout Europe to deliberate on the appropriate script for writing in Afaan Oromo. After reaching a consensus on the significance of a new script, specifically the Latin alphabet, Haile Fida convened Oromo students from various countries in Europe, including France, Germany, Sweden, the Soviet Union, Hungary, and Yugoslavia, to establish the Oromo Students Study Group in Europe (OSSGE) in 1970, also known as Garee Qorannoo Barattoota Oromoo Awurooppaa (Informant: Shibiru Tadla).

During that time, it is surprising to note that the Oromo people were not given the freedom to communicate in their own language, let alone form a political union. Nevertheless, Haile Fida, a socially and intellectually aware young man, was far ahead of his time and proposed the group's name to be the Oromo Students Study Group in Europe (OSSGE). The primary aim of the union was to undertake extensive research on the Oromo language and history that eventually helps them to search for an appropriate alphabet for Afaan Oromo. In addition, the study group organized various workshops that facilitated the discussion of non-Oromo students on the pressing issue of the political oppression of the imperial regime in their country [14]. 

The group, including Haile Fida, played a significant role in the development of the Qubee alphabet for writing Afaan Oromo. According to sources, Haile Fida was a brilliant individual with exceptional capacity and clarity during his time. In addition to his political endeavors, he was a scholar and expert on Afaan Oromo and Linguistics. Throughout his lifetime, he composed numerous essays on Afaan Oromo. Specifically, in the early 1970s, Haile Fida conducted a phonetic study of the Oromo language, which marked a pivotal moment in the quest for the Oromo script. In 1972, the phonetic study conducted by Haile proved to be instrumental in paving the way for the Oromo's acceptance of the Latin script. Haile's noteworthy contribution was pivotal in the initiation of the Latinization process of the Afaan Oromo language. Furthermore, while Haile and his colleagues were studying in Europe, they developed an early version of the Qubee alphabet, with their primary focus being the resolution of the Afaan Oromo orthography [15].

Additionally, Haile Fida was among the pioneers who endeavored to rouse the right of the Oromo people to communicate, comprehend, and inscribe in Afaan Oromo. Making a substantial contribution to our comprehension of Afaan Oromo grammar and the discourse on the manner in which Afaan Oromo should be committed to writing, he established an Oromo Study group in Europe. Together with his colleagues, he produced a research paper, titled "Languages in Ethiopia: Latin or Geez for writing Afaan Oromo" in 1972, which was published in Tatek, a theoretical Journal of Ethiopian Studies in Europe. This journal played a significant role as a fundamental point of reference for the adaptation of Latin script to inscribe Afaan Oromo [16].

In 1973 two books were written in Afaan Oromo by Haile Fida and both were published. The titles of these books were: Hirmaata Dubbii Afaan Oromo (the Oromo Grammar Book) and Bara Birraan Barihe (When the Autumn Comes). The first book is Parts of Speech in Afaan Oromo. It is a basic grammar Oromo book published in 1973 in Paris (France). The research was grounded on the adaptation of the Latin script to the Oromo phonology. Moreover, it marked the first instance of a systematically presented grammar book in Afaan Oromo, written by employing Qubee and Oromo language grammatical rules, such as short and long vowels (i, e, a, o, u) for the former and double (ii, aa, oo, uu) ones for the latter. Within his work, Haile also identified the single consonant for soft or double consonants for emphasis or stress of word (Haile, 1973).  The second one is a drama on life under the feudal system. This book mainly focused on the advancement of Oromo language and literature. The primary theme of the book centered on harsh living condition of Oromo peasant under feudal system and asserted that the young people ought to resist and eliminate this suppressive regime (Haile,1974). The Alphabet Haile Fida and his colleagues used.

A          B          C          ?          D              E          F          G         H          I           J            K          L          M         N          Ñ          O         H          P          Q         R          S          ?            T          ?          U          W         Y          Z

Both are the first books written and published by Oromo nationals, and were the first books showing short and long vowels as well as stressed and non-stressed sounds. Following the fall of the monarch, this group returned to Ethiopia as a political party under the name ‘MEISON’ (All Ethiopian Socialist Movement). They gave critical support to the military, which later consumed them. Both are the first books written and published by Oromo nationals, and were the first books showing short and long vowels as well as stressed and non-stressed sounds. Following the fall of the monarch, this group returned to Ethiopia as a political party under the name ‘MEISON’ (All Ethiopian Socialist Movement). They gave critical support to the military, which later consumed them [17].

Haile continued his efforts in the study of the Oromo language subsequent to his return to his home country in the latter part of 1974. Prior to his detainment and subsequent execution by the Darg, Haile composed a manuscript regarding the Oromo dictionary, which regrettably appears to have been misplaced. Despite his premature passing, Haile's contributions to Oromo literature were significant. Furthermore, the Union of Oromo Students in Europe (UOSE) and the Union of Oromo Students in North America (UOSNA) produced a variety of journals in the late 1970s and 1980s utilizing the Latin script. In the late 1970s, the Union of Oromo Students in Europe (UOSE) published Bakalcha sagalee Oromoo and karaa walabummaa, whereas the Union of Oromo Students in North America released Wallaansoo and sagalee Wallaansoo. Additionally, a separate publication entitled Oromtitti was produced in the early 1980s by the Union of Oromo Women in Europe (UOWE). The utilization of qubee for communication and literacy work among Oromo refugees in neighboring countries and at the base of the Oromo Liberation Front in the 1970s and 1980s adopted Haile Fida’s alphabet with some modifications (Informants: Andargachew Assagid and Tadassa Gassasa).

The Adoption of Latin Script (Qubee) as Formal Orthography of Afaan Oromo Writing

As described in the preceding section, Arabic, Geez, Sabean and Latin were suggested to be the scripts of Afaan Oromo writing. Various individuals also attempt their best in writing Afaan Oromo for different purposes using different scripts. But the previous regimes did not allow Afaan Oromo as a medium of instruction. During Darg time, Mengistu partially lifted the ban on the use of Afaan Oromo and allowed the use of Sabean script. In addition, after 1991, Oromo scholars proclaimed that the native languages can be used as medium of instruction as well as can be studied as a subject of a study. Thus, there is a need to develop one formal script that can be used by all speakers of the language uniformly [18].

Accordingly, in November 1991, five months after the downfall of Mengistu, Oromo scholars and intellectuals prepared a general meeting. The purpose of the meeting was to adopt appropriate script for writing Afaan Oromo. Over 1000 men and women attended the historic meeting which met in the Parliament Building in Finfinnee.  After long hours of discussion, it was decided that the Latin script was to be adopted. There are different reasons for the adoption of Latin script. However, the major ones are linguistic, pedagogical and practical reasons [19].

On the meeting, Sabean script was suggested as an alternative. However, it was argued that its roughly 250 characters are too clumsy to adapt to Afaan Oromo. Then, majority agreed up on the adoption of Latin script. Latin script was adapted to many languages of world. Thus, Qubee Afaan Oromo aligned itself with the so many countries of the world that use Latin script. For example, one practical advantage that is an Oromo child who has learned his own alphabet can learn the form of the English script in a relatively short period of time. Another practical reason is that its alphabetic writing’s adaptability to computer technology. To sum up, the decision to adapt Latin Script as the writing alphabet of Afaan Oromo was made by talking the above three main reasons into consideration. Subsequently, Afaan Oromo was made the medium of instruction for elementary level and administration in Oromia [7]. After the adoption, different textbooks and other useful reading materials began to be published by the new alphabet. In September 1993, school instruction was legally launched in Afaan Oromo for the first time. Hence, the use of Latin Script for Afaan Oromo writing is based on scientific evidence [3].

Afaan Oromo is spoken by more than 40 million people as a mother tongue. It is also the second-wide spread indigenous language in Africa south of the Sahara. Despite of these facts, Afaan Oromo didn’t get appropriate script for writing of Afaan Oromo until very recently. This is because of the fact that the policy of Ethiopian governments gives due attention to Ge’ez alphabet (Ethiopic script) and forbid other languages. However, many people try their best to write Afaan Oromo using different script. Among others, Haile Fida has made an outstanding contribution to the development of Oromo national orthography. He was one of the pioneers who attempt to shed light on the history of Oromo; and the right of the Oromo people to speak, read and write in Afaan Oromo. He initiated Oromo studies in Europe and made a major contribution to our knowledge of Afaan Oromo grammar and the debate about how to write the language between 1968 and 1974.

His first research paper entitled “Language in Ethiopia: Latin or Geez for Writing Afaan Oromo" was published in 1972 by Tatek, a theoretical journal of Ethiopian studies in Europe. He went on to publish in 1973 an Oromo grammar book entitled Hirmaata Dubbii Afaan Oromoo" using his adopted 35-letter Latin alphabet. These books are the result of a long study of the Oromo language and the problems of Oromo orthography. In this groundbreaking Afaan Oromo grammar book, he applied the Latin alphabet to the phonology of Afaan Oromo by modifying some of the shapes of the letters and adding diacritics. He made distinction between short vowels and long vowels by using single vowels (i, e, a, o and u) for the former and double letters (ii, aa, oo, uu) for the later ones.

He presented the results of his research at the European Ethiopian Student Union Conference in 1972 and this brought a debate on language issues within the Ethiopian and Oromo student movement abroad. His knowledge of the Oromo language was encyclopedic and his contribution to Oromo studies in Europe was so well known at the time, and his contribution was greatly acknowledged by the Oromo who knew him very closely. Indeed, Haile was one of the victims who died while attempting to change the environment of national oppression in Ethiopia. He was killed by Darg government while struggling against national oppression and for the right of the Oromo people to speak and write in their language. Though his early death robs Oromia an enthusiastic, hardworking and committed Oromo professional, the inspiration he provided throughout his life continues to influence Oromo scholars and new generations in the field of Oromo studies.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by authors.

Notes on contributors

Gebeyehu Temesgen Duressa is a senior lecturer in the department of History and Heritage Management at Bule Hora University, Southern Ethiopia. His research interests are Ethiopian history, cultural studies and Indigenous knowledge among others. Currently, he is PhD candidate of History at Jimma University. He authored three articles and published on Cogent Social Sciences. Contact: E-mail gebtemesgenoro@gmail.com Phone: 251965493373.  

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