Onesimos Nesib, Spelling Book (1894)

Onesimus Nesib, ed. Jalqaba Barsiisaa: The Galla Spelling-Book [and Reader]. Imkullu: Swedish Mission-Press, 1894.

Source: EFS [aka SEM] historical archives

Note on the book’s content

Key, “Onesimos Nesib,” p. 89‒90 reads:

“[p. 89] Psalm 119 opens the Spelling Book, and the largest section is Christian tales. The Jalqaba Barsiisa also includes the History of [p. 90] 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 [p. 42ff]);
Ururuu (Babies’ Songs [p. 48ff]);
Weedduu Jaalalaa (Love Songs [p. 56ff]);
[Makmaaksa (Proverbs [p. 66ff; 97ff]]
Durii Durii or Fakkeenya (Stories and Folktales [p. 79ff]);
Hibboo (Riddles [p. 89ff]);
Tapha Ijoollee (Children’s Songs);
Weedduu Ateetee (Songs of Ateetee, or Women’s Spiritual Songs [p. 104ff]);
Sagadu Oromoo (Oromo prayers [p. 118f]);
Geerarsa (Warrior Songs [p. 129ff]);
Faaruu Gaddaa (Lamentations [p. 149]); and
Weedduu Heerumaa (Marriage Songs [p. 138f]).”
[Page numbers and line breaks added]

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

Cross-references

1. [Partial] editions in Roman script

» A Qubee edition was published in Ethiopia in 2022.

» View the traditional songs republished in Roman script in Paulitschke, Ethnographie, vol. 2, pp. 181 ff. [View online]

  • For an English translation, view Sumner, Oromo […] Songs
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]