DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49272#0028
12
HARVARD AFRICAN STUDIES
III. Borana or Eastern Galla dialects. (Bar-ana is derived from the root bdr, “east.”)
The dialects of the Galla living in the neighborhood of Harar, that of the Ittu, the Arussi,
and other Galla groups as far as the great lakes, belong to the Borana group. Loransiyos 1
tells me that the Amara Burgi living in the country near the southern bank of Lake Regina
Margherita is a Galla group.2 Burgi, he says, is the Galla pronunciation of the Amharic
word birz, “ honeyed water,” the favorite drink of these Galla. Other Borana groups live
by the streams of Canal Gudda, Canal Diggo, Doria, and Dawa, as far as the Somali coun-
tries near Lugh. A few miles from Dolo, at the frontier of Italian Somaliland, the maps
bear Galla names, e.g. Malka Rze ’e, 11 the ford of the she-goat; ” 3 Mata namd fakkdte, i.e.
“ the hill resembling the head of a man.” 4 These dialects differ considerably from the
1 Vide infra, p. 14.
2 It appears to me that this information given me by Loransiyos is not exact. Dr. Conti Rossini has published
from the unedited notes of Captain Bottego one hundred words of the language spoken in Amara Burgi (cf. Carlo
Conti Rossini, I Bambala di Amara Burgi ed il loro linguaggio; Studii su populazioni dell’ Etiopia, vol. 6). The natives
of Amara Burgi call themselves Bambala. Dr. Conti Rossini examining this material and comparing it with allied
languages, thus concludes his essay: “ If the notes of Captain Bottego show us the real character of the language
spoken by the Bambala of Amara Burgi, my examination leads to these conclusions: 1. The Bambala grammar is
Galla grammar, or, at least, largely influenced by the Galla grammar; 2. On the contrary, the Bambala vocabulary
for the most part is Sidama; 3. The Sidama language spoken by the Bambala does not belong to the southern
Sidama group, i.e. the Ometi dialects, Dfiwro, W&lamo, etc., but to the eastern Sidama, i.e. it is allied with
Hfidiya, Tambdro, etc.”
However, a recent examination of Captain Bottego’s material in comparison with the result of my researches on
the Galla dialects, shows other Galla Lehnwbrter among the Bambala words published by Dr. Conti Rossini, e.g. Cap-
tain Bottego translates mar And, mdrra, “ to go ” (I agree with the hypothesis of Conti Rossini that these words are
not infinitives, but first persons plural of the imperfect). The word is certainly derived from the Galla root mar (in
MdcQa dialects as in southern Galla, “ surround,” “ go round,” “ walk about ”). Is the Somali, mar, “ to pass,”
derived from the same Kushitic root, or is it the Arabic mdrra? Moreover, the Bambala ddnsa, “ fine ” = southern
Galla dansa, “good”; yera, “ugly” is perhaps the Galla yard, “lame” (cf. Antonio Cecchi, Da Zeila alle frontiere
del Caffa, vol. 3, p. 267). Bambala mina, “ hut,” is certainly the Galla mdna (but not mana) as Dr. Conti Rossini
says. The connection between the eastern Sidama words, min, mine, and the Galla mdna is demonstrated by the
Somali mtn. Thus lukkanco, “ hen,” (perhaps the real meaning of the word is “ fowl ”), appears to be derived from
the Bordna Galla lukku, (southern Galla, lukku, Somali in Harar, luki). Bambala aju, “ mother ” is the Galla ayd;
Bambala inanada does not mean “fear” but “he is afraid,” and is derived from the Galla root na’, “to frighten”
(cf. Somali, nd‘, “pain,” “trouble,” “weariness”), reflexive form nad, “to be afraid.” Bambala inagata, “to sell,” is
allied, I think, with the Somali (Marreh&n dialect) gad, “to sell.” Therefore, out of one hundred words selected by
Captain Bottego, about thirty are derived from Galla roots. The eastern Sidama roots of Bambala are about twenty,
more numerous than the southern and western Sidama roots, of which there are five or six. Among the personal
names collected by Bottego, beside those already noted by Dr. Conti Rossini, the following nouns are certainly Galla;
bitacco, the “left-handed,” burge, dambald (is dambald a personal name? In Galla, dambald means “rising in waves,”
and is the Galla name for Lake Regina Margherita); darg6 (“the fine young man”), gob'e, godana, guya (more
frequently guydtu; it means “[born] by day”); gild is perhaps the following gild, iddd, kolbe, wacce, wayu, yaya (which
is not connected with the Arabic Yahya, “ John,” as Conti Rossini supposed, but is the Galla ydyd, “wolf”). Others
may be discovered after collecting further examples of the Galla onomasticon.
All this proves, I think, the extensive Galla influence on the Bambala vocabulary; however I will refer to the
statement made by Vannutelli and Citerni in their account of Captain Bottego’s expedition (Vannutelli e Citerni,
L’Omo, Milano, 1899, p. 184) that almost all the Bambala of Amara Burgi also speak Bordna Galla. Loransiyos’s
mistake may have arisen in this way, and it seems to me also that the many Galla elements in the words collected
by Bottego are probably derived from the same source; on the southern frontier of the Amara Burgi there are cer-
tainly Galla tribes. And in addition to the information of travellers, the toponomy of this country is Galla: Bis&n
Gurrficca, Gubba, Ballesa, Dada, Bultf Iddo, Galena Sagan, etc. Loransiyos adds that he has heard in Amara Burgi
a legendary genealogy of the Galla living round Burgi. According to this genealogy, these Galla are descended from
the Karrayii, the well-known eastern Galla tribe near Harar.
3 Mdlkd Re’d at 4° lat. North, 42° East Greenwich. 4 West of Mdlka Rie ’e.
HARVARD AFRICAN STUDIES
III. Borana or Eastern Galla dialects. (Bar-ana is derived from the root bdr, “east.”)
The dialects of the Galla living in the neighborhood of Harar, that of the Ittu, the Arussi,
and other Galla groups as far as the great lakes, belong to the Borana group. Loransiyos 1
tells me that the Amara Burgi living in the country near the southern bank of Lake Regina
Margherita is a Galla group.2 Burgi, he says, is the Galla pronunciation of the Amharic
word birz, “ honeyed water,” the favorite drink of these Galla. Other Borana groups live
by the streams of Canal Gudda, Canal Diggo, Doria, and Dawa, as far as the Somali coun-
tries near Lugh. A few miles from Dolo, at the frontier of Italian Somaliland, the maps
bear Galla names, e.g. Malka Rze ’e, 11 the ford of the she-goat; ” 3 Mata namd fakkdte, i.e.
“ the hill resembling the head of a man.” 4 These dialects differ considerably from the
1 Vide infra, p. 14.
2 It appears to me that this information given me by Loransiyos is not exact. Dr. Conti Rossini has published
from the unedited notes of Captain Bottego one hundred words of the language spoken in Amara Burgi (cf. Carlo
Conti Rossini, I Bambala di Amara Burgi ed il loro linguaggio; Studii su populazioni dell’ Etiopia, vol. 6). The natives
of Amara Burgi call themselves Bambala. Dr. Conti Rossini examining this material and comparing it with allied
languages, thus concludes his essay: “ If the notes of Captain Bottego show us the real character of the language
spoken by the Bambala of Amara Burgi, my examination leads to these conclusions: 1. The Bambala grammar is
Galla grammar, or, at least, largely influenced by the Galla grammar; 2. On the contrary, the Bambala vocabulary
for the most part is Sidama; 3. The Sidama language spoken by the Bambala does not belong to the southern
Sidama group, i.e. the Ometi dialects, Dfiwro, W&lamo, etc., but to the eastern Sidama, i.e. it is allied with
Hfidiya, Tambdro, etc.”
However, a recent examination of Captain Bottego’s material in comparison with the result of my researches on
the Galla dialects, shows other Galla Lehnwbrter among the Bambala words published by Dr. Conti Rossini, e.g. Cap-
tain Bottego translates mar And, mdrra, “ to go ” (I agree with the hypothesis of Conti Rossini that these words are
not infinitives, but first persons plural of the imperfect). The word is certainly derived from the Galla root mar (in
MdcQa dialects as in southern Galla, “ surround,” “ go round,” “ walk about ”). Is the Somali, mar, “ to pass,”
derived from the same Kushitic root, or is it the Arabic mdrra? Moreover, the Bambala ddnsa, “ fine ” = southern
Galla dansa, “good”; yera, “ugly” is perhaps the Galla yard, “lame” (cf. Antonio Cecchi, Da Zeila alle frontiere
del Caffa, vol. 3, p. 267). Bambala mina, “ hut,” is certainly the Galla mdna (but not mana) as Dr. Conti Rossini
says. The connection between the eastern Sidama words, min, mine, and the Galla mdna is demonstrated by the
Somali mtn. Thus lukkanco, “ hen,” (perhaps the real meaning of the word is “ fowl ”), appears to be derived from
the Bordna Galla lukku, (southern Galla, lukku, Somali in Harar, luki). Bambala aju, “ mother ” is the Galla ayd;
Bambala inanada does not mean “fear” but “he is afraid,” and is derived from the Galla root na’, “to frighten”
(cf. Somali, nd‘, “pain,” “trouble,” “weariness”), reflexive form nad, “to be afraid.” Bambala inagata, “to sell,” is
allied, I think, with the Somali (Marreh&n dialect) gad, “to sell.” Therefore, out of one hundred words selected by
Captain Bottego, about thirty are derived from Galla roots. The eastern Sidama roots of Bambala are about twenty,
more numerous than the southern and western Sidama roots, of which there are five or six. Among the personal
names collected by Bottego, beside those already noted by Dr. Conti Rossini, the following nouns are certainly Galla;
bitacco, the “left-handed,” burge, dambald (is dambald a personal name? In Galla, dambald means “rising in waves,”
and is the Galla name for Lake Regina Margherita); darg6 (“the fine young man”), gob'e, godana, guya (more
frequently guydtu; it means “[born] by day”); gild is perhaps the following gild, iddd, kolbe, wacce, wayu, yaya (which
is not connected with the Arabic Yahya, “ John,” as Conti Rossini supposed, but is the Galla ydyd, “wolf”). Others
may be discovered after collecting further examples of the Galla onomasticon.
All this proves, I think, the extensive Galla influence on the Bambala vocabulary; however I will refer to the
statement made by Vannutelli and Citerni in their account of Captain Bottego’s expedition (Vannutelli e Citerni,
L’Omo, Milano, 1899, p. 184) that almost all the Bambala of Amara Burgi also speak Bordna Galla. Loransiyos’s
mistake may have arisen in this way, and it seems to me also that the many Galla elements in the words collected
by Bottego are probably derived from the same source; on the southern frontier of the Amara Burgi there are cer-
tainly Galla tribes. And in addition to the information of travellers, the toponomy of this country is Galla: Bis&n
Gurrficca, Gubba, Ballesa, Dada, Bultf Iddo, Galena Sagan, etc. Loransiyos adds that he has heard in Amara Burgi
a legendary genealogy of the Galla living round Burgi. According to this genealogy, these Galla are descended from
the Karrayii, the well-known eastern Galla tribe near Harar.
3 Mdlkd Re’d at 4° lat. North, 42° East Greenwich. 4 West of Mdlka Rie ’e.