Onesimus Nesib, ed. Jalqaba Barsiisaa: The Galla Spelling-Book [and Reader]. Imkullu: Swedish Mission-Press, 1894.
Source: EFS [aka SEM] historical archives
Contents
E.M. Key, “Onesimos Nesib” (M.A. thesis), pp. 89‒90 summarizes:
“Psalm 119 [correct: Psalm 19] opens the Spelling Book, and the largest section is Christian tales. The Jalqaba Barsiisa also includes the History of Martyrs, the Ten Commandments, the Articles of Faith, the Confession of Sins, the Lord’s Prayer, and Christian liturgy. […]
The section sharing and preserving Oromo oral literature included:
Weedduu Tiksituu (Shepherd Songs [pp. 42ff]);
Ururuu (Babies’ Songs [pp. 48ff]);
Weedduu Jaalalaa (Love Songs [pp. 56ff]);
[Makmaaksa (Proverbs [pp. 66ff; 97ff]]
Durii Durii or Fakkeenya (Stories and Folktales [pp. 79ff]);
Hibboo (Riddles [pp. 89ff]);
Tapha [?] Ijoollee (Children’s Songs);
Weedduu Ateetee (Songs of Ateetee, or Women’s Spiritual Songs [pp. 104ff]);
Sagadu Oromoo (Oromo prayers [pp. 118f]);
Geerarsa (Warrior Songs [pp. 129ff]);
Faaruu Gaddaa (Lamentations [pp. 149]); and
Weedduu Heerumaa (Marriage Songs [pp. 138f]).”
Cross-references
1. Partial editions in Qubee transcription (2022)
» Prayers and other liturgical texts
2. Statements
» Onesimos to SEM (1893), Remarks on the “Oromo Spelling-Book.” [View online]
» Cerulli (1922), “Folk-Literature of the Galla of Southern Abyssinia” [HathiTrust]
» Hylander (1969), “Remarks on Cerulli’s ‘The Folk-Literature of the Galla’.” [View online]
3. Amharic Spelling-Book
» Flad (1899), Amharic Spelling-Book, 2nd edition. [View online]
- Isenberg (1840), Spelling-Book, 1st edition. [Digitale Sammlungen]
Further reading
Kebede Hordofa Janko, “Missionaries, Enslaved Oromo and Their Contribution to the Development of the Oromo Language: An Overview,” Ethiopia and the Missions: Historical and Anthropological Insights, edited by Verena Böll, et al., p. 63‒76. Münster: Lit, 2005. [See esp. p. 70; Google Books]
Key, Ethan Michael. “Onesimos Nasib and the Macaafa Qulqulluu:
Language, Religion, and Culture in Ethiopia.” M.A. thesis. Georgia
State University, 2017. https://doi.org/10.57709/11024580