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The Influence of Evangelical Christianity on the Development of the Oromo Language in Ethiopia

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The Influence of Evangelical Christianity on the Development of the Oromo Language in Ethiopia THE INFLUENCE OF EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANITY ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE OROMO LANGUAGE IN ETHIOPIA by TEMESGEN NEGASSA SIBILU Submitted in accordance with the requirements For the degree of DOCTOR OF LITERATURE AND PHILOSOPHY in the subject LINGUISTICS at the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA SUPERVISOR: PROF L A BARNES NOVEMBER 2015 DECLARATION Student Number: 46307575 I declare that THE INFLUENCE OF EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANITY ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE OROMO LANGUAGE IN ETHIOPIA is my own work and that all the sources that I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by means of complete references. Temesgen Negassa Sibilu ________________ November 2015 i Dedicated to the memory of Onesimos Nesib and Aster Ganno, who played a major role in the maintenance and development of the Oromo language. ii ABSTRACT This study investigates the role of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY) in the development of the Oromo language. The main aim of the study is to provide an account of the contribution of this particular church to the maintenance and development of Oromo, which is spoken by the largest speech community in Ethiopia. The study draws on theoretical and methodological frameworks from the field of language planning and development. The main source of data was interviews and focus group discussions conducted with church leaders at different organisational levels and other members of the church community. In addition, documents found in the church archives were analysed. The findings indicate that a number of church activities have contributed to the maintenance and development of the language. These activities include translation and transliteration work of the Bible and other religious literature, literacy and educational programmes, media work as well as use of Oromo in the liturgy and church services. This study also examined the obstacles that hindered the development of Oromo. The main obstacle was the conflict within the EECMY that arose in 1995 over the use of the language. The study unearths the roots of the controversy through a brief historical examination of the church’s attempts to develop the language, despite opposition from the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and earlier regimes, which proscribed the use of the vernacular languages in Ethiopia. Thereafter it focuses on the internal conflict after the change to a democratic government when the situation in Ethiopia became more favourable towards use of vernacular languages. It identifies the causes of the conflict, the way in which it was resolved and the effects which it had on the development of the language. Recommendations are made for further research and some suggestions are given regarding ways to promote the future development of the Oromo language. Key words: dominant language, Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Evangelical Christianity, language conflict, language development, language maintenance, language planning, language policy, language politics, language rights, language shift, minority language, Oromo, sociolinguistics, vernacular. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to thank the almighty God who has given me health and strength throughout this study. It is only through His help that this work could be completed. There are also a number of people whom I am indebted to for contributing towards the completion of this study. The first of these is my supervisor, Prof. L. A. Barnes, who has sacrificed so much of his precious time to read and comment on my work, not only once but several times. He was not only an advisor, but he also acted as my friend, and gave me valuable help and support. My heartfelt thanks go also to my wife, Mulunesh Getachew Jabessa, and my children (Meti, Kia and Nafim) who have encouraged and supported me throughout all the years that I was working on this thesis. I am grateful also to those people who gave me information for my research, both those whose names are indicated in the study and those who did not want their names to be mentioned. Without them this study would not have been possible. I am indebted also to different level leaders of the College and the church in which I work, who supported me in different ways throughout the study. It is due to the fact that all stood with me that this work could be completed. God bless all of them. Finally, I would like to acknowledge the financial support received from the University of South Africa in the form of a bursary. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ............................................................................................................................. i ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................... iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................................ v LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES.............................................................................................. ix ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS ....................................................................................... x CHAPTER 1 ................................................................................................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 1 1.1. The land and the people ....................................................................................................... 1 1.1.1 The Abyssinian people and their dominance ................................................................. 3 1.1.2 The Oromo people ......................................................................................................... 6 1.2 The languages of Ethiopia .................................................................................................... 9 1.2.1 The Semitic languages ................................................................................................. 11 1.2.2 The Cushitic languages ................................................................................................ 13 1.2.3 The Oromo language .................................................................................................... 15 1.3 Christianity in Ethiopia and among the Oromo .................................................................. 17 1.3.1 Orthodox Christianity .................................................................................................. 17 1.3.2 Evangelical Christianity ............................................................................................... 20 1.4 Statement of the problem .................................................................................................... 26 1.5 Significance of the Study .................................................................................................... 27 1.6 Objectives of the Study ....................................................................................................... 29 1.7 Overview of thesis .............................................................................................................. 29 CHAPTER 2…………………………………………………………………………………….31 LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND LITERATURE REVIEW ....................................................................................................................................... 31 2.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 31 2.2 Language planning and development ................................................................................. 31 2.2.1 Definition of language planning .................................................................................. 31 2.2.2 Goals of language planning ......................................................................................... 32 2.2.3 Components of language planning............................................................................... 34 2.2.4 Language planning orientations ................................................................................... 35 v 2.2.5 Levels of language planning ........................................................................................ 38 2.2.6 Aspects of language planning ...................................................................................... 38 2.3 Language development ....................................................................................................... 40 2.4 Overview of development of African languages ................................................................ 45 2.5 Language development in Ethiopia .................................................................................... 48 2.6 Role played by Christianity in the development of languages ........................................... 51 2.7 Christianity and language development in Africa .............................................................. 59 2.8 Christianity and language development in Ethiopia ........................................................... 69 2.9 Language conflict and its management ............................................................................... 77 2.10 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................
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