Somali (af Soomaali)
The Somali or Osmanya alphabet was created in between 1920 and 1922 by Cismaan Yuusuf Keenadiid, brother of the Sultan of Obbia. In Somali it is known as far soomaali (Somali writing) or cismaanya. It replaced an attempt by Sheikh Uweys to devise an Arabic-based alphabet for Somali, and has in turn been replaced by the Latin orthography of Muuse Xaaji Ismaaciil Galaal (1914-1980).

In 1961 both the Latin and Osmanya scripts were adopted for use in Somalia, but in 1969 there was a coup, with one of its stated aims the resolution of the debate over the country's writing system. The Latin alphabet was finally adopted in 1972 and at the same time Somali was made the sole official language of Somalia.

The Osmanya alphabet is not used much these days, though during the 1970s quite a number of people used it for personal correspondence and bookkeeping. A few books and magazines have also been published in the alphabet.

Notable features

  • The Somali alphabet is written from left to right in horizontal rows.
  • The names of the letters are based on Arabic letter names.
  • The letters waw and ya are used to write the long vowels uu and ii respectively.
  • Somali is a tonal language with four tones which are not usually marked in writing. The tones have grammatical uses: theny indicate number, gender and case.

Used to write:

Somali, a Cushtic language with about 8,335,000 speakers in Somali, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya, Yemen, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Finland, Sweden and the UK.

Somali/Osmanya alphabet

 

Numerals

Sample text in the Osmanya alphabet

Latin alphabet for Somali

Sample text in the Latin alphabet

Aadanaha dhammaantiis wuxuu dhashaa isagoo xor ah kana siman xagga sharafta iyo xuquuqada Waxaa Alle (Ilaah) siiyay aqoon iyo wacyi, waana in qof la arkaa qofka kale ula dhaqmaa si walaaltinimo ah.

Translation

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

 

 

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