Osmanya script
script used for writing Somali
Osmanya (Farta Cismaanya, 𐒍𐒖𐒇𐒂𐒖 𐒋𐒘𐒈𐒑𐒛𐒒𐒕𐒖), known in Somali as Far Soomaali (𐒍𐒖𐒇 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘, "Somali writing") and in Arabic as al-kitābah al-ʿuthmānīyah (الكتابة العثمانية; "Osman writing"), is an alphabetic script created to transcribe the Somali language. It was invented by Osman Yusuf Kenadid, the son of Sultan Yusuf Ali Kenadid and brother of Sultan Ali Yusuf Kenadid of the Sultanate of Hobyo. Material written in the script is 'almost non-existent,' so it is difficult to describe its use with certainty.
History
While Osmanya gained reasonable acceptance for correspondence and bookkeeping at the local level, it met fierce resistance as a national script for several reasons: it was identified with the Majeerteen clan, who supported the Italian colonial government, rather than with the Somali nation as a whole (a view that has changed somewhat in the 21st century), there was opposition to making Somali rather than Arabic the official language of the country, and in addition there was opposition to using any indigenous script rather than either the Arabic script, long used for writing Arabic in Somalia, or the Latin script.
After independence a governmental commission was set up to decide on an official writing system for Somali. It favored Kaddare script, but judged it to be impractical for a developing nation. In October 1972 the Somali Latin alphabet was adopted as the official writing system for Somali because of its simplicity, ability to cope with all of the sounds in the language, and the widespread existence of machines and typewriters designed for the Latin script. The administration of President Mohamed Siad Barre subsequently launched a massive literacy campaign designed to ensure its adoption, which led to a sharp decline in use of Osmanya.
Description
The direction of reading and writing in Osmanya is from left to right, as in Latin script. Capitalization is sporadic.
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This entry incorporates text from “Osmanya script” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.