Unlocking the Oromooo Translation of the Papal Bull Ineffabilis Deus: Orthographic Preference

Abstract

The aim of this study is to unlock the Oromoo translation of the papal bull Ineffabilis Deus, focusing on its linguistic (orthographic) features. The papal bull was written by Pope Pius IX in 1854 and translated by unknown author/s. The study employs conventional linguistic methods, such as transcription, transliteration, interlinear glossing, and literal/free translation to analyze and present the data. The results indicate that there are twenty-eight consonant graphemes used in the papal bull, with varying degrees of frequency. Seven of these graphemes have one-to-one correspondences with Oromoo phonemes, while another seven have one-to-two, and three have one-to-many correspondences. The remaining graphemes have digraphic and diacritic representations. On the other hand, five vowel graphemes are identified for short vowels, while long vowels are inconsistently represented by grave and acute accents, and occasionally by digraphs of short vowels, totaling twelve. Comparisons with official Oromoo, Italian, and Latin languages, as well as earlier Oromoo writings, such as Krapf (1840; 1842) and Tutschek (1844; 1845), suggest that the papal bull's orthography is similar to the Italian system, particularly in its use of diacritics, digraphs, and special symbols. This study establishes the papal bull as an important historical source for further comparative and philological investigations of Oromoo.