Honouring Tekie Alibekit (1949–2023)

Tekie Alibekit was born in 1949 in the village of Enchinaq, west of Keren, Eritrea, and was raised in a rural farming community. He received his primary education in Ashera between 1960 and 1966, and later continued his middle and secondary education in Keren. Upon completing high school in 1971, Tekie began his professional career as a teacher at the Lalmba Orphanage and School, an institution founded by Mr. Hugh Downey. In addition to teaching, he later served as the school’s director, demonstrating early leadership and a strong commitment to education and social service.

Exile and Academic Formation

In 1977, Tekie travelled to the United States to attend a conference as a representative of Lalmba Orphanage and School. In the same year he moved to Norway. After acquiring proficiency in the Norwegian language, Tekie enrolled at the University of Oslo to study linguistics. This exposure to linguistics during this period ignited a lifelong scholarly engagement with his mother tongue, Blin.

Contribution to Blin Linguistics and Language Development

Despite geographical distance from his homeland, Tekie’s dedication to the Blin language and people intensified in exile. Access to academic networks, research resources, and emerging digital platforms enabled him to document, analyse, and promote Blin in ways previously unavailable. Through sustained independent research and writing, he emerged as a pioneering native scholar in Blin linguistics.

Tekie made substantial contributions to the study of Blin phonetics, grammar, orthography, and language standardisation. His work laid critical foundations for the teaching and learning of Blin in both community-based and formal educational contexts. A major milestone in his career occurred in 2005, when, in collaboration with Daniel Yacob, a computational linguist and ontologist, he played a key role in the successful registration of the Blin language in the Unicode Standard. This achievement enabled the use of Blin in modern digital environments and marked a transformative moment in the language’s technological accessibility.

In 2010, Tekie co-founded www.daberi.org together with Prof. Kiflemariam Hamde, Zeremariam Yohannes, and Fitsum Asfaha. Daberi has since become a vital online platform for the documentation and dissemination of Blin language, culture, and history.

Major Publications and Scholarly Works

Tekie’s scholarly output spans several decades and includes influential books, articles, and conference papers. His work was particularly significant in bridging traditional Ge’ez-based writing systems with Latin-based orthographies, thereby increasing accessibility for younger generations in the diaspora and for Latin-script-educated youth in Eritrea. Among his most notable contributions are:

• 1992 – ብሊና ክታበትዲ ግብራ ጋቡዅዲ
  (Blin Language: Introductory Phonetics and Grammar)
• 1993 – ክታበት ብሊናዅ ግእዝ ፍደላታዅዲ፡ ቆላት ብሊና ግብራ ጋብዅል ነፍዕስትነውዲ ድርጛዅድ
  (A Summary of Blin Writing in the Ge’ez Script and a Glossary of Blin Grammatical Terms)
• 1994 – ጠፍሓት ብሊና ክታበቱዅ
  (Some Standardisation of Blin Writing), co-authored with Kiflemariam Hamde and Fessehazion Zemicael
• 2002 – ብሊን ፍደላት ግእዙ
  (Blin Letters of the Ge’ez Alphabet)
• 2005 – Development of Blin Writing and Literature, presented at the First Conference on Blin Language and Culture, London
• 2005 – ብሊን ግእዝ ዩኒኮድ
  (Blin Ge’ez Unicode)
• 2005 – ዩኒኮድ ይና ውራ ይና ግን?
  (What Is Unicode?)
• 2006 – A Survey of Blin Language Classification, presented at Blin Cultural Day, Stockholm
• 2007 – ብሊና ድግም ሕያይቱዲ እንቍርቍራዲ
  (Blin Animal Fables and Riddles)
• 2015 – Leo Reinisch and His Contribution to the Development of Blin Language and Literature, Diaspora Blin Conference, Stockholm
• 2015 – The Registration of Blin in the Unicode Standard and Its Impact on the Development of the Blin Language and Its Writing System, Diaspora Blin Conference, Stockholm
• 2018 – Diaspora Blin: Are We Passing Our Language on to Our Children?
• 2019 – ጋባ ስታት
  (Language Planning)
• 2021 – Transliteration of Blin from Ge’ez to Latin

Cultural Activism and Historical Documentation
Beyond his formal scholarly achievements, Tekie was a committed cultural activist and organiser. He was an active member of the Blin Association in Oslo, where he played a significant role in community initiatives aimed at cultural preservation. He also engaged widely through social media, using these platforms to educate and raise awareness about Blin language, history, and culture.

Tekie’s historical research culminated posthumously in the publication of his 2023 book in Blin:

ብሊና ብራ በጐስትል ሰጛ ወራራትዲ እንሽኽዲ ምልክዲ፥ 1800–1941

(Raids, Battles, and Rules in the Bogos Region of the Blin, 1800–1941), further affirming his role as a historian and custodian of collective memory.

Additionally, Tekie transliterated Leo Reinisch’s Blin-Sprache dictionary (1887) into the Ge’ez script and led the documentation of the Ona Massacre of 1970, meticulously collecting testimonies and historical evidence. These important works have been entrusted to the Blin Language Forum (www.daberi.org) and remain unpublished, with the intention of future publication.

Legacy

Throughout his years in Norway, Tekie was widely respected for mentoring newly arrived immigrants and nurturing intellectual curiosity within the diaspora. He supported not only the Blin community but also the broader Eritrean community, serving as a source of guidance, ethical reflection, and intergenerational dialogue. He is remembered as a humble, principled, and compassionate leader who believed deeply in unity, respectful discourse, and the transformative power of knowledge.

Tekie Alibekit passed away on 27 January 2023, leaving behind an enduring intellectual and cultural legacy. Through his writings, teachings, and unwavering advocacy, he played a pivotal role in preserving and revitalising the Blin language and its cultural heritage. His life’s work continues to inspire scholars, educators, and community members committed to the survival and development of the Blin language.

Honouring Tekie Alibekit, whose dedication helped ensure the continuity of the Blin language.

Daberi Forum