Osmanya
Type	Alphabet
Spoken languages	Somali language
ISO 15924	Osma
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode.

The Osmanya script (Somali: Cismaanya; Osmanya: 𐒋𐒘𐒈𐒑𐒛𐒒𐒕𐒀), also known as far soomaali or "Somali writing", is a writing script created to transcribe the Somali language. It was invented between 1920 and 1922 by Osman Yusuf Kenadid of the Majeerteen Darod clan, the nephew of Sultan Yusuf Ali Kenadid of the Sultanate of Hobyo.

Contents 1 History 2 Writing direction 3 Unicode 4 See also 5 Notes 6 References 7 External links

[edit] History

While Osmanya gained reasonably wide acceptance in Somalia and quickly produced a considerable body of literature, it proved difficult to spread among the population mainly due to stiff competition from the long-established Arabic script as well as the emerging Somali alphabet developed by Shire Jama Ahmed that was based on the Latin script.

As nationalist sentiments grew and since the Somali language had long lost its ancient script,^[1] the adoption of a universally recognized writing script for the Somali language became an important point of discussion. After independence, little progress was made on the issue, as opinion was divided over whether the Arabic or Latin scripts should be used instead.

In October 1972, due to its simplicity, the fact that it lent itself well to writing Somali since it could cope with all of the sounds in the language, and the already widespread existence of machines and typewriters designed for its use,^[2][3] the government of Somali president Mohamed Siad Barre unilaterally elected to only use the Latin script for writing Somali instead of the Arabic or Osmanya scripts.^[4] Barre's administration subsequently launched a massive literacy campaign designed to ensure its sole adoption. This led to a sharp decline in use of Osmanya.

[edit] Writing direction

The direction of reading and writing in Osmanya is from left to right. The letter names are based on the names of letters in Arabic, and the long vowels uu and ii are represented by the letters waw and ya, respectively.

[edit] Unicode

The Osmanya script is available in the Unicode range 10480-104AF [from U+10480 - U+104AF (66688–66735)].

[edit] See also

• Borama script
• Kaddare script
• Wadaad's writing

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• I.M. Lewis (1958) Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 21 pp 134-156.

[edit] External links

• Osmanya, Borama, Wadaad's writing and the Somali language
• Afkeenna iyo fartiisa - a book in Osmanya
• Somali Native Alphabet
• The Gadabuursi Somali Script - qasidas in Gadabuursi/Borama
• Unicode assignments for Osmanya characters
• Osmanya Unicode Fonts

v • d • e Writing systems Overview History of writing · History of the alphabet · Graphemes Lists Writing systems · Languages by writing system / by first written account · Undeciphered writing systems · Inventors of writing systems Types Featural alphabets · Alphabets · Abjads · Alphasyllabaries / Abugidas · Syllabaries · Ideogrammic · Pictographic · Logographic

This writing system-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v • d • e