Editing Oromo language (section)

== Language policy ==
The Oromo people use a highly developed oral tradition. In the 19th century, scholars began writing in the Oromo language using [[Latin script]]. In 1842, [[Johann Ludwig Krapf]] began translations of the Gospels of John and Matthew into Oromo, as well as a first grammar and vocabulary. The first Oromo dictionary and grammar was produced by German scholar Karl Tutschek in 1844.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Tutschek |first1=Karl |title=Dictionary of the Galla Language |last2=Tutschek |first2=Lorenz |date=1844 |publisher=L. Tutschek |location=Munich |language=en}}</ref> The first  printing of a transliteration of Oromo language was in 1846 in a German newspaper in an article on the Oromo in Germany.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Smidt |first=Wolbert G. C. |title=Cultural Research in Northeastern Africa: German Histories and Stories |date=2015 |publisher=Frobenius-Institut |editor-last=Smidt |editor-first=Wolbert G. C. |location=Frankfurt |page=63 |language=en |chapter=A Remarkable Chapter of German Research History: The Protestant Mission and the Oromo in the Nineteenth Century |editor-last2=Thubauville |editor-first2=Sophia |chapter-url=http://www.ityopis.org/Issues-Extra-1_files/ityopis-extra-smidt2.pdf}}</ref>

After [[Abyssinia|Abyssinia's]] southward expansion under [[Menelik II]], the language's development into a full-fledged writing instrument was interrupted. The few works that had been published, most notably [[Onesimos Nesib]]'s and [[Aster Ganno]]'s translations of the [[Bible]] from the late 19th century, were written in the [[Ge'ez alphabet]]. Following the [[1974 Revolution]], the government undertook a literacy campaign in several languages, including Oromo, and publishing and radio broadcasts began in the language. All Oromo materials printed in Ethiopia at that time, such as the newspaper {{lang|om|Bariisaa}}, {{lang|om|Urjii}} and many others, were written in the traditional Ethiopic script.{{cn|date=July 2021}}

Plans to introduce Oromo language instruction in schools, however, were not realized until the government of [[Mengistu Haile Mariam]] was overthrown in 1991, except in regions controlled by the [[Oromo Liberation Front]] (OLF). With the creation of the regional [[Oromia Region|state of Oromia]] under the new system of [[ethnic federalism]] in Ethiopia, it became possible to introduce Oromo as the [[medium of instruction]] in elementary schools throughout the region, including areas where other ethnic groups live speaking their languages, and as a language of administration within the region. Ever since the OLF left the transitional Ethiopian government in the early 1990s, the [[Oromo Peoples' Democratic Organization]] (OPDO) continued furthering the development of the Oromo community in Ethiopia.{{cn|date=July 2021}}

Radio broadcasts began in the Oromo language in Somalia in 1960 by [[Radio Mogadishu]].<ref name="Tlvb">{{Cite book |last=Blair |first=Thomas Lucien Vincent |title=Africa: A Market Profile |date=1965 |publisher=Praeger |location=New York |page=126 |language=en}}</ref> The programme featured music and propaganda. A song {{lang|om|Bilisummaan Aannaani}} (Liberation is Milk) became a hit in Ethiopia. To combat Somali wide-reaching influence, the Ethiopian Government initiated an Oromo language program radio of their own.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lata |first=Leenco |title=The Ethiopian State at the Crossroads: Decolonization and Democratization or Disintegration? |date=1999 |publisher=The Red Sea Press |location=Lawrenceville, NJ |pages=174–176 |language=en}}Leenco Lata, ''The Ethiopian State at the Crossroads'' p.</ref> Within [[Kenya]] there has been radio broadcasting in Oromo (in the Borana dialect) on the [[Voice of Kenya]] since at least the 1980s.<ref>{{harvp|Stroomer|page=4}}</ref> The Borana Bible in Kenya was printed in 1995 using the Latin alphabet, but not using the same spelling rules as in Ethiopian Qubee. The first comprehensive online Oromo dictionary was developed by the Jimma Times Oromiffa Group (JTOG) in cooperation with SelamSoft.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2009-04-15 |title=Online Afaan Oromoo–English Dictionary |language=en |work=Jimma Times |url=http://www.jimmatimes.com/article/ARTS/ARTS/Ethiopia_Online_Afaan_Oromoo_English_Dictionary/32153 |access-date=2013-08-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120615082250/http://jimmatimes.com/article/ARTS/ARTS/Ethiopia_Online_Afaan_Oromoo_English_Dictionary/32153 |archive-date=2012-06-15}}</ref> [[Voice of America]] also broadcasts in Oromo alongside its other horn of Africa programs. In May 2022, [[Google Translate]] added Afaan Oromo as translation. Oromo and Qubee are currently utilized by the Ethiopian government's state radios, TV stations and regional government newspaper.