Preface
The preparation of this dictionary began in 1995. It has taken twelve years to complete it. Although this dictionary will be of great help for English speakers who wish to study Oromo and/or Amharic, the aim in preparing it is, primarily to help Oromo and Amharic speakers who study English.
As Ororno is a recently codified language, there is a need for both students and teachers of 'Ororno to consult texts Written in English and/or Amharrc for additional" reference. Furthermore, as English ls a language of instruction for most subjects in secondary and tertiary education in the country and Amharic is a federal working language of Ethiopia, students who receive primary education in Oromo and who wish to pursue t'tre1i" education further··need .to study English. They would also need to know Amharic for general inl!eraction. Hence, this dictionary is expected to be of great help to native, Oromo speakers who pursue further education in English as well as for students and teachers wherever Oromo lanvguage is used as a medium of instruction. This dictionary is also an invalinvaluable material for Amharic speakers who want to learn Oromo or English or both of the languages.
This dictionary is unique as it has tried-to include the varieW of words that the people in the different parfs of Oromia use for the same English word. I hope the book will give the users the opportunity to know the wealth of the oromo language. This dictionary also contains list of major languages spoken indifferent countries, list of irregular verbs! geographical features (of continents; mountains, major bodies of water), facts about earth, metric and measures conversion charts in its appendices to build up the general knowledge of the users.
Hinsene Mekuria |