DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49272#0048
32 HARVARD AFRICAN STUDIES
In verse 64, dolgie is the Galla name of the adult male elephant called toiie in Amharic
In verse 66, birrusd is the Galla name for a kind of young elephant, but greater than the
gbrd, which is the Amharic and the Galla name of the elephant not yet reached maturity.
The birrusd is feared on account of its anger. As to other examples of the rich terminology
employed in the East-African languages to indicate the different kinds of elephants, see
my Canti Popolari Amarici.1
In verse 74, the text has ise dirsd kakatte meaning, “ she has made a holy oath against
the men.” About the holy oath, kaka, see song 143.
Raba (v. 80) is the name for the young men who have not yet sacrificed at the buttd
(see songs 34, 142). P. Martial de Salviac2 states that there are, among the Galla, “trois
dignitaires: VAbba-Bokou (Pere du sceptre), premier magistral, le Dori et le Raba, assesseurs
et juges ”; but the same author 3 says, that the Abba Bokku, the Dori, the Raba, are all
called dori “ comme denomination gen^rale.” Loransiyos tells me that the information
given by P. Martial de Salviac seems to him inexact. He does not recognize dori as a
dignitary; he knows this word only as a personal name, e.g. of a Sulu Galla chief, father
of Fitawrari Cufa Dori and relative of Fitawrari Habta Giyorgis.4
Watta Qarqa (v. 105) is a place in Guma near the frontier of Comma. Watta Qarqa
means “ Watta’s ascent.” Notice the old form of the genitive; the construction employed
today would be Qarqa Watta.5 Warn (v. 109) is a strong but not steady wind blowing
in the dry season (December-March) called by the Galla bond.
16
The signal for Tufa Roba’s flight, to acquaint him that his allies beyond the frontier
of Guma were ready to aid him, was the following song. At the time appointed, this
strophe was sung by the soldiers of G^nne Tufa Oirfa, a woman who governed a country
half-way between Hanna and the frontier of Guma.
dei hammarri yd Tute Ddnno
wdrqie Onco Gdwe hunguldle
1 Pass (the frontier) and seize, oh Tucco Dannb 2 the gold hoarded by Onco Gawe.
As to the verb hunguldle, see song 21, v. 60 and notes).
1 E. Cerulli, ‘ Canti popolari amarici,’ op. cit., p. 60-61.
2 P. Martial de Salviac, Les Galla, Paris, 1901, p. 183.
3 Ibid., p. 186.
4 Philipp Paulitschke, Beitrage zur Ethnographic und Anthropologie der Somal, Galla und Harari, Leipzig, 1886,
p. 56, says, “Bei den Galla am Gara Mulata (Gara Mulata, ‘ hill manifesting itself’) und bei den Ennia (two Galla
tribes living near Hara) hiess der Moti (king) dori, d. i. 'Furst des Landes.’ ”. Dori, then, is used only in the Borana
dialects, and is therefore unknown to Loransiyos.
s See Appendix, The Wdtta; a low caste of hunters, p. 200.
In verse 64, dolgie is the Galla name of the adult male elephant called toiie in Amharic
In verse 66, birrusd is the Galla name for a kind of young elephant, but greater than the
gbrd, which is the Amharic and the Galla name of the elephant not yet reached maturity.
The birrusd is feared on account of its anger. As to other examples of the rich terminology
employed in the East-African languages to indicate the different kinds of elephants, see
my Canti Popolari Amarici.1
In verse 74, the text has ise dirsd kakatte meaning, “ she has made a holy oath against
the men.” About the holy oath, kaka, see song 143.
Raba (v. 80) is the name for the young men who have not yet sacrificed at the buttd
(see songs 34, 142). P. Martial de Salviac2 states that there are, among the Galla, “trois
dignitaires: VAbba-Bokou (Pere du sceptre), premier magistral, le Dori et le Raba, assesseurs
et juges ”; but the same author 3 says, that the Abba Bokku, the Dori, the Raba, are all
called dori “ comme denomination gen^rale.” Loransiyos tells me that the information
given by P. Martial de Salviac seems to him inexact. He does not recognize dori as a
dignitary; he knows this word only as a personal name, e.g. of a Sulu Galla chief, father
of Fitawrari Cufa Dori and relative of Fitawrari Habta Giyorgis.4
Watta Qarqa (v. 105) is a place in Guma near the frontier of Comma. Watta Qarqa
means “ Watta’s ascent.” Notice the old form of the genitive; the construction employed
today would be Qarqa Watta.5 Warn (v. 109) is a strong but not steady wind blowing
in the dry season (December-March) called by the Galla bond.
16
The signal for Tufa Roba’s flight, to acquaint him that his allies beyond the frontier
of Guma were ready to aid him, was the following song. At the time appointed, this
strophe was sung by the soldiers of G^nne Tufa Oirfa, a woman who governed a country
half-way between Hanna and the frontier of Guma.
dei hammarri yd Tute Ddnno
wdrqie Onco Gdwe hunguldle
1 Pass (the frontier) and seize, oh Tucco Dannb 2 the gold hoarded by Onco Gawe.
As to the verb hunguldle, see song 21, v. 60 and notes).
1 E. Cerulli, ‘ Canti popolari amarici,’ op. cit., p. 60-61.
2 P. Martial de Salviac, Les Galla, Paris, 1901, p. 183.
3 Ibid., p. 186.
4 Philipp Paulitschke, Beitrage zur Ethnographic und Anthropologie der Somal, Galla und Harari, Leipzig, 1886,
p. 56, says, “Bei den Galla am Gara Mulata (Gara Mulata, ‘ hill manifesting itself’) und bei den Ennia (two Galla
tribes living near Hara) hiess der Moti (king) dori, d. i. 'Furst des Landes.’ ”. Dori, then, is used only in the Borana
dialects, and is therefore unknown to Loransiyos.
s See Appendix, The Wdtta; a low caste of hunters, p. 200.