Osman Yusuf Kenadid
Encyclopedia
Osman Yusuf Kenadid was a Somali
poet and ruler.
for the Somali language
(which had long lost its ancient script), Kenadid, a leader in the Majeerteen
Sultanate of Hobyo
in Somalia
and nephew of Sultan
Yusuf Ali Kenadid
, devised a phonetically sophisticated alphabet
called Osmanya for representing the sounds of Somali.
Kenadid's Osmanya alphabet was subsequently introduced into the local schools in his Sultanate. When the Italian colonial authorities got wind of this, they promptly imprisoned him in Mogadishu
since they feared that the script was a manifestation of nationalism
. With Kenadid's arrest, all efforts to develop a standard orthography for the Somali language abruptly came to a halt for the next 25 years.
The rise of nationalist sentiment that followed the end of the Second World War – and especially the birth of the Somali Youth League
political party, of which Kenadid was a founding member – brought about a revival of interest in and use of the Osmanya script. This renaissance would last until the government of then President of Somalia Mohamed Siad Barre unilaterally elected in 1972 to make the modified Latin script
devised by Shire Jama Ahmed
the nation's official writing script.
Somali people
Somalis are an ethnic group located in the Horn of Africa, also known as the Somali Peninsula. The overwhelming majority of Somalis speak the Somali language, which is part of the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family...
poet and ruler.
Biography
In the early 1920s, in response to a national campaign to settle on a standard orthographyOrthography
The orthography of a language specifies a standardized way of using a specific writing system to write the language. Where more than one writing system is used for a language, for example Kurdish, Uyghur, Serbian or Inuktitut, there can be more than one orthography...
for the Somali language
Somali language
The Somali language is a member of the East Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family. Its nearest relatives are Afar and Oromo. Somali is the best documented of the Cushitic languages, with academic studies beginning before 1900....
(which had long lost its ancient script), Kenadid, a leader in the Majeerteen
Majeerteen
The Majeerteen is a Somali clan. Its members form a part of the Harti confederation of Darod sub-clans, and primarily inhabit the Puntland region in northeastern Somalia....
Sultanate of Hobyo
Sultanate of Hobyo
The Sultanate of Hobyo was a 19th century Somali ruling house in present-day northern Somalia. It was carved out of the former Majeerteen Sultanate by Yusuf Ali Kenadid, cousin of the Majeerteen Sultanate's ruler, Boqor Osman Mahamuud....
in Somalia
Somalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...
and nephew of Sultan
Sultan
Sultan is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who...
Yusuf Ali Kenadid
Yusuf Ali Keenadid
Yusuf Ali Kenadid was a Somali ruler. He was the founder of the Sultanate of Hobyo in the 1880s.-Family:Yusuf Ali Kenadid was born into a Majeerteen Darod family, the uncle of Osman Yusuf Kenadid, who would go on to create the Osmanya writing script for the Somali language.-Majeerteen and Hobyo...
, devised a phonetically sophisticated alphabet
Alphabet
An alphabet is a standard set of letters—basic written symbols or graphemes—each of which represents a phoneme in a spoken language, either as it exists now or as it was in the past. There are other systems, such as logographies, in which each character represents a word, morpheme, or semantic...
called Osmanya for representing the sounds of Somali.
Kenadid's Osmanya alphabet was subsequently introduced into the local schools in his Sultanate. When the Italian colonial authorities got wind of this, they promptly imprisoned him in Mogadishu
Mogadishu
Mogadishu , popularly known as Xamar, is the largest city in Somalia and the nation's capital. Located in the coastal Benadir region on the Indian Ocean, the city has served as an important port for centuries....
since they feared that the script was a manifestation of nationalism
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
. With Kenadid's arrest, all efforts to develop a standard orthography for the Somali language abruptly came to a halt for the next 25 years.
The rise of nationalist sentiment that followed the end of the Second World War – and especially the birth of the Somali Youth League
Somali Youth League
The Somali Youth League was the first political party in Somalia. It played a key role in the nation's road to independence during the 1950s and 1960s.-History:...
political party, of which Kenadid was a founding member – brought about a revival of interest in and use of the Osmanya script. This renaissance would last until the government of then President of Somalia Mohamed Siad Barre unilaterally elected in 1972 to make the modified Latin script
Somali alphabet
The Somali Latin alphabet has been the official writing script in Somalia since 1972. It was developed by the Somali linguist Shire Jama Ahmed specifically for transcribing the Somali language, and is based on the Latin script. The Somali Latin alphabet uses all letters of the English Latin...
devised by Shire Jama Ahmed
Shire Jama Ahmed
Shire Jama Ahmed was a Somali linguist who is credited with having devised a unique Latin script for transcribing the Somali language. Shire Jama's winning Somali Orthoraphy was chosen from eighteen competing new orthographies in 1972 by the Language Committee and the ruling party...
the nation's official writing script.
See also
- Osmanya script
- Borama scriptBorama scriptThe Borama script is a writing script for the Somali language. It was devised around 1933 by Sheikh Abdurahman Sheikh Nuur of the Gadabuursi clan.-History:...
- Kaddare scriptKaddare scriptThe Kaddare script is a writing script created to transcribe the Somali language.-History:The orthography was invented in 1952 by Hussein Sheikh Ahmed Kaddare of the Abgaal Hawiye clan....
- Wadaad's writingWadaad's writingWadaad's writing is the Somali language written with the Arabic script. Originally, it referred to "an ungrammatical Arabic containing some Somali words," as used by Somali religious men to write qasidas, and by merchants for business, letter writing, and to draft petitions...
- Sheikh Abdurahman Sheikh NuurSheikh Abdurahman Sheikh NuurSheikh Abdurahman Sheikh Nuur was a Somali religious leader and the inventor of the Borama script for the Somali language.-Biography:Nuur was born in Borama, Somalia to a Gadabuursi Dir family...
- Hussein Sheikh Ahmed KaddareHussein Sheikh Ahmed Kaddare-Biography:Kaddare was born near Mogadishu in the Banaadir region of Somalia to an Abgaal Hawiye family. In 1953, he created the Kaddare script, an orthography named after him that was used to transcribe the Somali language.-See also:* Osmanya script...
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