BYTEKELBIRHAN GEBREMICHAEL
“Tigrigna is the most beautiful language in the world,” Kiros said to his university classmate Dejene and added,” If you don’t believe me look it up in Encyclopedia Britannica”’.
Dejene, who was taken aback at the comment, raised his head from the textbook he was reading in preparation for the upcoming mid- semester exam and asked: “What prompted you to say that? Did you come across English words you don’t understood in the handout you are studying?” They were both at Kennedy Library going over lecture topics in the relevant text books and handouts given by their economics instructors.
“There is no basis for that inference although I must confess I don’t fully grasp the exact meaning of rent –seeking”?
“Well, Kiros, I admit it is a pretty confusing concept, but it is not a question of vocabulary but rather of conceptual comprehension. ‘Rent and seek’ are quite elementary words. It is the idea behind the term that is pretty difficult to grasp. Since you ask, ‘rent ’ in this sense is not the usual due payment for the use of a resource like a rented house or car.
For example, a government official in Ethiopia who gets a monthly salary of 100,000 birr (when his earned salary should be no more than 20,000birr) for no other extra reason than blindly supporting those in power, would qualify as engaging in rent –seeking behavior”, Dejene tried to explain.
“Would I have found it so difficult to understand if the concept had been expressed in my mother tongue Tigrigna?”
Dejene stopped talking for a moment and started mulling over Kiros’s question. We think with our minds. Language does help us think by representing thoughts in our minds, but we can think without languages just by observation and forming in our minds characteristics of objects we are observing. For example, when we observe two persons, one tall and the other short, we form a mental picture of two human beings, one taller than the other, thus creating the concept of height.
All the above basic ideas rushed through Dejene’s head in a matter of seconds and then he remarked thus: “Kiros, the issue you have with the term ‘rent-seeking’ is not a linguistic problem but a conceptual one. Unless you realize this, you would not have done any better on the matter of comprehension even if the term ‘rent–seeking’ had been expressed in your mother tongue Tigrigna.”
“I still insist that Tigrigna is the most beautiful language in the world,” Kiros stood pat on the issue.
“How do you mean? In terms of the sound system, particularly the pharyngeal glottals,” Dejene asked “Tigrina is simply music to the ears, mellifluous and euphonious! It is hard to describe the philharmonic symphony orchestra of the sound system of Tigrigna, “the hyperbole in the bombast of Kiros’s vocabulary sounded simply crazy.
“Are you alright, Kiros? By the way, your English sounds a lot more expressive than your Tigrina and that is mainly because of the much larger vocabulary of the English language which some estimates put at as high as one million words compared to less than 70,000 words for Amharic, the most widely and most developed language in Ethiopia” Dejene said, obliquely suggesting that Tigrigna’s vocabulary would be even smaller.
“Dejene, I know what you are trying to get at. I still insist Tigrigna is the most beautiful language in the whole wide world and perhaps in the whole wide universe!” Kiros went on in an apparent fit of delusional linguistic euphoria.
“It is not the beauty of a language but its expressive power that is most important. It would of course do no harm if it is sweet –sounding as well somewhat like French,” Dejene replied.
“It is this Euro –centric thinking of yours that dimmed beyond recognition the glory and splendor of Axum. I am determined, as well as my comrades, to launch and nurture an Ethiopian renaissance in the mould of the glorious Axumite civilization. I am sorry, Dejene, but you have been completely immersed in Eurocentricism and there seems to be no way to rescue you from the ravages of identity erosion wreaked on your psycho – emotional personality.
Bye! I don’t think I want to meet you ever again!” Kiros’s diatribe in a sudden temper tantrum was completely beyond Dejene’s comprehension. But he had no choice but to accept the unexpected rupture of a long –standing friendship.
Kiros started looking for Tselote, the leader of the secret Marxist- Leninist group called “Crocodile.” The manifesto of this underground group clandestinely distributed was predicated on the following fundamental principles and objectives:
- Restoration of the glory of ancient Axum
- Re –instating the usurped dynasty of Emperor Yohannes IV, and
- Ensuring the dominance of Tigrigna.
Kiros did manage to find Tselote at a café near the University. This was no ordinary bar. This was indeed the notorious café where the inception principles of the infamous manifesto of Crocodile were drafted and where all the shenanigans of political scheming were orchestrated and choreographed.
Tselote was sitting around a table accompanied by his de facto bodyguard Dawit. Kiros made eye contact with Tselote and indicated by sign language that he wanted to have a few minutes with him. Tselote reluctantly rose from his seat, insinuating that it was all infra dig for a student leader of his stature.
“Well, Kiros, what is it this time around?” Tselote said walking towards Kiros.
“I want to join Croc”, Kiros said.
“Kiros, Croc is not a supermarket which you can get into and back out as you damn please. You’ve got to pass through a number of theoretical, commitment and integrity tests before you can be a card carrying member of Croc”, Tselote said
“No problem. I can guarantee you that I am more committed to restoring the glory and splendor of Ancient Axum than ever before after what Dejene indirectly said about Tigrigna,” Kiros said
“What did he say?”
“He didn’t say it directly but he did say Amharic is the most widely spoken language in Ethiopia and the most developed,” Kiros replied.
“That is a fact. What is wrong with it?” Tselote said.
“Well, if Amharic continues its exponential growth development and expansion, Tigrina could be extinct like Gafat and Woyeto in a matter of decades”, Kiros replied.
“As long as the population that speaks Tigrigna continues to exist and grows over time, there is no reason why Tigrigna should become extinct. The problem may be concerning when the whole Tigrigna –speaking population intermarries with a much larger population which speaks another language and the more widely spoken gets to be more dominant and Tigrigna peters out. Of course, this would be a highly protracted linguistic development process perhaps taking centuries rather than decades.
The truth is that even the more widely spoken language will have been so profoundly influenced by the less widely spoken languages that it will have been significantly different from what it was at the beginning of the process.
In other words and in brief Amharic will have transformed into “Ethiopic” through hybridization and inter –mixing with all the other Ethiopian languages,” Tselote tried to explain the issue at length. And then he added: “who said Tigrina was the language of Aksum?”
A lump of extreme anger almost choked Kiros’s throat but he managed to moderate it by converting it into some sort of a speech hiccup. So, instead of blurting out, “You traitor!” he said:
“You may be right. In fact, you are, but I want you to know that I desperately need to be a member of Croc”.
“Ok, I’ll discuss it with members of Crocodile’s executive committee which you know I chair. Bye for now,” Tselote replied.
As promised, Tselote convened the executive committee of Crocodile and convinced the other members that Kiros was fit to be accorded full membership on all the criteria for admission. Kiros thus became a full member of Croc and later rose through the ranks to be a voting member of the Executive Committee.
Soon, Tselote and Kiros got embroiled a mortal internal power struggle which Kiros won on his argument shared by the majority of the members of the Executive Committee, that the alternative of secession from Ethiopia may he used as a last resort to stave off the possibility of the extinction of Tigrigna.
Meantime, results of government intelligence investigations prompted a crackdown during which all members of the Executive Committee of Croc fled to Sudan, where they launched a robust military campaign against the Mengistu regime.
The simmering power struggle between Tselote and Kiros finally ended in a brief movie –style shootout in which Tselote was fatally wounded. Hence, the extremist wing of Crocodile carried the day and a final assault on Mengistu’s better armed and trained army was unleashed. Kiros triumphed and controlled Addis Ababa on Ginbot 20,1983 (E.C.). Mengistu fled to Zimbabwie.
As a new constitution was being drafted Kiros insisted that Tigrigna should be the official language of Ethiopia. However, pragmatism prevailed and Amharic continued to be the official language of the land. After twenty –seven years of Crocodile rule, Abayneh toppled the Croc dictatorship and became the ruler of Ethiopia. The extremist wing of his party ardently supported the idea of making Oromigna (Oromiffa) the official language of Ethiopia. However, Abayneh put forward the following proposal:
1. Lingua franca of Ethiopia: Amharic.
2. Official languages: Amharic and English.
3. Oromiffa to be taught as a subject from grade one in all regions where Amharic is spoken as a mother tongue.
4. All the other major languages including Somaligna, Afarigna, Tigrina, etc. to establish their own language academies.
The executive committee which Abayneh was chairing erupted in open rebellion and the meeting had to be discontinued.
The Ethiopian Herald January 20/2021
