The Sheek Bakrii Saphaloo Script was created in 1956 by Sheikh Bakri Sapalo (1895-1980), an Oromo scholar, poet and religious teacher from Ethopia also known as Abubaker Usman Odaa. It is used to write Oromo, a Cushitic language spoken in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Egypt.
The script is also known as the Saphalo script or Qubee Sheek Bakrii Saphaloo. It was designed specifically for Oromo phonology, and is an abugida, like the Ge'ez script which is used to write Oromo. There are individual letters for consonants which are modified to indicate the vowels attached to them. Unlike in the Ge'ez script, there are no inherent vowels associated with the consonants.
At first, the script was widely accepted in the Haraghe region of Ethiopia, but the Ethiopian goverment were worried it would make the Oromo self-aware and endanger the unity of the country. So they tried to suppress it, and placed Sheikh Bakri Sapalo under house arrest in 1965. Sapalo wrote a short book entitled Shaldaa in his script about the oppression of the Oromo people. This is one of the few texts in the script. Sheikh Bakri Sapalo fled to Somali in 1978 after the overthrow of Haile Selassie in Ethiopia. He lived in a refugee camp there and was not allowed to publish his writings. He died in 1980 at the age of 84.
Download an alphabet chart for Sapalo (Excel)
Namooti hundinuu birmaduu ta'anii mirgaa fi ulfinaanis wal-qixxee ta'anii dhalatan. Sammuu fi qalbii ittiin yaadan waan uumamaan kennameef, hafuura obbolummaatiin walii-wajjin jiraachuu qabu.
ነሞ́ቲ ሁንዲኑ́ ቢርመዱ́ ተአኒ́ ሚርጋ ፊ ኡልፊናኒስ ወል-ቂጥጤ́ ተአኒ́ ፀለተን። ሰምሙ́ ፊ ቀልቢ́ ኢትቲ́ን ያደን ዋን ኡ́መማን ኬንነሜ́ፍ፣ ሀፉ́ረ ኦብቦሉምማቲ́ን ወሊ́-ወጅጂን ጂራቹ́ ቀቡ፨
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)
Some information and corrections provided by Oreen Yousuf, the author of the Sheek Bakrii Saphaloo script Unicode proposal
Information about Oromo | Sheek Bakrii Saphaloo Script for Oromo | Phrases | Numbers
Information about the Sapalo script
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oromo_language
https://www.jstor.org/stable/616613
http://abyssiniagateway.net/fidel/ShaykhBakriSapalo/index.html
https://orosoftblog.blogspot.com/2018/04/sheek-bakrii-saphaloo-fi-qubee-afaan.html (in Oromo)
https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2024/24109-sheek-bakrii-saphaloo.pdf
Download a font from the Sapalo script
https://github.com/athinkra/sheek-bakrii-saphaloo/releases
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Page created: 20.05.24. Last modified: 21.05.24
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